IPTAT: …and a doctor.
Special Credits - Part Two
I’m putting together a team… multiple teams, in fact.
The eight-team bracket will determine who is the most skilled (and potentially ruthless) squad of them all.
Team 8: Special Credits
Last billed and most revered: characters with “and” status in the opening credits
Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley, Star Trek)
Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins, Justified)
Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni, Veronica Mars)
The Tournament Bracket so far:
Round 1:
Sequel Soldiers defeated Sinister Supers
Immortals defeated Spin-Off Superstars
Scene Stealers defeated Fast Four
Arrowsmiths vs Special Credits
The Round 2 match-ups are:
1. Sequel Soldiers vs. Immortals
2. Scene Stealers vs. (the winner of Arrowsmiths vs Special Credits)
Team 8: Special Credits
Last billed and most revered: characters with “and” status in the opening credits
Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley, Star Trek)
Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins, Justified)
Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni, Veronica Mars)
“And status” is a coveted role in the opening credits of a television series and is sometimes earned over the course of a show’s run, denoting the importance of a cast member as well as the significance of the character. It’s a big deal.
2. Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley, Star Trek)
First appearance: First appearance: Star Trek (“The Man Trap” episode 1, season 1, 1966)
Popular entertainment of 1966:
Alfie - film starring Michael Caine
Batman - television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward
Fantastic Voyage - novel written by Isaac Asimov
Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is the cantankerous yet compassionate Chief Medical Officer aboard the starship USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek series (1966–1969). Known for his sharp wit, moral conviction, and fiery temper, McCoy serves as both the conscience and comic relief of the crew. His frequent clashes with the logical Mr. Spock and his steadfast friendship with Captain James T. Kirk form one of the most iconic dynamics in science fiction. McCoy’s medical expertise, deep empathy, and occasional stubbornness make him a humanist counterbalance to Spock’s logic and Kirk’s bravado.
Across the original series, the animated series, and six feature films, McCoy remains a constant presence—whether debating Vulcan philosophy or saving the crew with his medical ingenuity. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), he reluctantly rejoins Starfleet, grumbling as ever, and in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), he helps expose a conspiracy that could doom peace talks with the Klingons. Extended universe novels and comics explore McCoy’s backstory as a widowed Southern doctor who left Earth after a failed marriage and his later life mentoring younger physicians.
McCoy’s catchphrase, “I’m a doctor, not a [insert profession]!” became one of Star Trek’s most quoted lines and originated from Kelley’s dry delivery rather than the script’s intent as a one-off joke. DeForest Kelley had previously played numerous villains in Westerns—so much so that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry cast him as McCoy to “soften his image.” In Star Trek: The Next Generation, an elderly McCoy appears in the 1987 pilot episode “Encounter at Farpoint,” making him—at age 137—the oldest living Star Trek character ever shown on screen. Actor Karl Urban would go on to portray the character in the 2009 Star Trek film.
A medical professional from the future is always handy to have around, but this foursome has no idea of what type of competition they have in store so Bones may be left just as clueless as his teammates are.
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