Bones - A term used affectionately by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) when addressing his starship's senior surgeon, Doctor Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) on the sci-fi series STAR TREK/NBC/1966-69. The nickname was short for "sawbones," a traditional title for a doctor who up to the 19th century was noted for "sawing" off limbs. Comedy writer Robert Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) from the sitcom THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW/CBS/1961-66 was also nicknamed "Bones" during his hitch in the US Army. Bones was also what Mary Richard's (Mary Tyler Moore) parents called their daughter on the sitcom THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW/CBS/1970-77. See also - "Stringbean"