SNL really hit the nail on the head with this one. During Saturday's show, the cast, along with SNL host Dakota Johnson, paid a wonderful homage to recently deceased Star Trek star, Leonard Nimoy. Even though the Word M.D. sketch wasn't entirely in his honor, SNL's message was still clear, and the hat tip to a legendary actor — and character — rang true.
The sketch circled around Johnson and Leslie Jones, nurses in an E.R., and their on-call doctor, played by Keenan Thompson, trying to save an elderly man. Much to Johnson and Jones' surprise, the doctor shows up too late to save the man — here's the surprinsing part — dressed in a full Star Trek Worf costume (voice and all). The nurses clearly had a million questions, as any semi-professional health care worker would, as to why the doctor who was supposed to be saving a man's life was dressed as if he walked off the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was at a convention, OK?
While the entire sketch was a joy to see, as any Star Trek-inspired sketch is always welcome, the timing of this sketch seemed just right. Nimoy, who played Spock in the Star Trek franchise, died Feb. 27 at age 83 from pulmonary disease.
At the end of the sketch, Thompson held up Spock's famous hand salute, as well as a title card appearing on the screen that read the famous line "Live long and prosper." But that sketch wasn't the only homage present for the late actor. During Johnson's send-off, the camera cut to her father, Miami Vice star Don Johnson, who was also holding up Spock's Vulcan hand salute. Back on stage, Bobby Moynihan and Keenan Thompson also gave a salute to Nimoy. And while it was sad, it seemed completely perfect to be sending off such a famed actor the best way he knew how.
