Chuck Lorre may insist upon his vanity cards ending all of the episodes of The Big Bang Theory, but even he is willing to give up the prime spot to honor a man who was clearly one of the inspirations for the series and its characters: Leonard Nimoy.

In the show’s first new episode since the Star Trek legend’s death on Feb. 27, a black and white photo of Nimoy flashed at the end, with the caption, “The impact you had on our show and our lives is everlasting.”

It’s also fitting that the tribute wrapped an episode in which the BBT character who most identified with Nimoy’s Mr. Spock — Jim Parsons’s Sheldon Cooper — applied for the chance to boldly go on a space adventure of his own.

More From KZCD-FM