Leonard Nimoy’s cameo in the Simpsons’ X-Files spoof episode, The Springfield Files, remains one of the series’ all time greats. Seated behind a desk, he sonorously intones: “Hello, I’m Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false.”
After a metatextual break, at which the story appears to end with 10 minutes left to run, Nimoy makes his excuses and drives off, leaving the cue-card kid to fill in. However, Nimoy then reappears among the crowd waiting for the alien’s appearance (alongside the “Alien Dude: Need Two Tickets to Pearl Jam” poster-holder), leading to the immortal line to Bart: “Wherever there is a mystery and the unexplained, cosmic forces shall draw me near.” Then, after joining in the chorus of Good Morning Star Shine, he wanders off with the crowd, leaving the cue-card kid to fill in once again – “Keep watching the skis – uh, skies.”
Nimoy had earlier Simpsons form, of course, in the Marge vs the Monorail episode, where he happily sent up Spock-esque humourlessness. The guest of honour at the opening, Nimoy fails to be recognised by Mayor Quimby (“Weren’t you one of the Little Rascals”) and then drones on about Star Trek (“Actually, the doors on Star Trek were not mechanical, we had a stagehand on either side”).
After the monorail’s disastrous maiden voyage, Nimoy calmly claims responsibility for saving everyone (“My work is done here”) before vanishing, teleporter style, after being challenged by Barney: “You didn’t do anything!”
“Didn’t I?”
Small but perfectly formed, his Simpsons bits showed he could take a joke.
