Sept 28, 1987 — Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted with its pilot ‘Encounter At Farpoint’ and has what is still one of my favorite scenes in all of Star Trek history.

Roddenberry asked him to do the cameo. According to his biography Kelley would not take more than the minimum Screen Actors Guild fee for the cameo. His freindship goes further before Star Trek. Both were WW2 veterans even when Kelley was stateside in Reagans Motion Picture training unit. Kelley did two pilots with him that unfortunately didn’t sell 333 Montgomery (based on a real lawyer) and much later Police Story (playing a fiorensics expert ) The latter convinced the network that Kelley was right as the ship’s Doctor. The network thought he was just a villain in westerns after passing on him during the pilots. This was his way of saying Thank you.

@StarTrek So good. Direct callback to Bones and Spock, who arguably had the most entertaining relationship in all of Star Trek. One of my favorites:

@StarTrek Can we all just take a moment to talk about how much we respect McCoy for refusing to use a transporter.

@StarTrek This was less than 20 years after the last episode of the Original Series aired on June 3, 1969. By comparison, the last episode of Enterprise (the end of the "Golden Era" of Trek) was broadcast on May 13, 2005. We were a proper country once. 🙏

@StarTrek I just watched the episode where they found Scotty. :)

@StarTrek There really won’t be another like him in our lifetime, I fear. If there’s nothing else to glean from Mr Kelley, you can be sure that he played the hell out of an old soul who—despite his cantankerous forms of discourse—you could always count on to do the right thing.

@StarTrek The passing of the baton. No matter how many times I watch this scene, the last part never fails to make me cry. *sniff* McCoy's slow, aged steps, & Data keeping his pace. The last time we would see "Bones" on any ship called Enterprise. End of an era. Rest well DeForest.

@StarTrek I wish they had Data mention to Scotty that he had spoken with Bones in the episode “Relics” to tie things up. Or even with Spock in “Unification.”

@StarTrek The biggest missed opportunity in this was having Bones and Crusher not solve a medical crisis together. It’s what made Relics such a joy, seeing chief engineers Scotty and Geordi free the Enterprise.

@StarTrek The best part of TNG showed up in that episode, Q...

@StarTrek "I don't see no pointer ears on you boy, but you sound like a Vulcan." ❤️‍🔥

@StarTrek I rewatched the pilot last night. I forgot how Picard was kind of a jerk LOL. Let me keep watching the first season again just to see how they rounded him off. But yeah that's a great scene.

@StarTrek This scene still makes my eyes water...especially since most of the actors from TOS are no longer with us.

@StarTrek This was the last time we see McCoy on TV because of his age.

@StarTrek No, sir, I'm an android. Contraction in the very first episode! (And plenty of subsequent ones, too.)

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@StarTrek Bones gave the Enterprise D and crew the best advice and sendoff anyone could, it was an amazing scene and a great handing off of the baton.

@StarTrek When they went to the D bridge In Picard, I wished Data would have echoed that quote, I believed she had always brought us home! @TerryMatalas

@StarTrek The music sounds like a Quaker Oatmeal commercial

@StarTrek I read somewhere, probably false, that DeForest Kelly (what a backwards name if ever I've seen one) was originally supposed to be in more episodes of TNG, but they only got to film this one scene...💔 I wish Star Trek had done more of that, old and new guard, stuff. Such a waste!

@StarTrek the fact that bones is in the STTMP pants is a nice detail

@StarTrek McCoy wasn't that much of a cracker. Came off as forced to me...

@StarTrek lol I just watched the McCoy scene

@StarTrek I always thought that Deforrest Kelley was by far the best actor in TOS (maybe he had the best character to play). It's interesting that he chose to have more of an obvious Southern accent in this appearance; it was always much more subtle on TOS.

@StarTrek This scene right here made me continue watching the original episode and the rest of the series. That first episode was so bad I almost turned it off, but then this scene happened and i decided to give it a chance. Still the best ST series after the original series.

@StarTrek You must be a Betazoid. Otherwise, there’s no way you could explain how you know what I’m thinking.

@StarTrek I absolutely LOVED that scene, I didn't need to watch it to remember it but, of course, I did I'm nearly as old as McCoy now :D

@StarTrek I remember watching the pilot when it aired. My best friend was sleeping over that night and we were watching while sorting through my collection of M.U.S.C.L.E Men toys.

@StarTrek So medicine was advanced enough to allow one to live to age 137, but plastic surgery didn't catch up?

@StarTrek Except some director decided to blow up the ship in a movie!

@StarTrek Yeah this scene jumped to mind the other day when I read all the anniversary posts. As a teen this was a great handoff from one era to the next

@StarTrek THAT'S THE GUY FROM THE MOVIES!

@StarTrek I find it hard to believe that bones is still alive after close to 100 years.. he was already pretty old during the last movie. 😆

@StarTrek I loved when McCoy said to Data about ‘Enterprise, treat her like a lady and she’ll always bring you home”.