Star Trek
"Plato's Stepchildren"
The popular sci-fi show Star Trek was futuristic in more ways than just the obvious space travel and technology. Over 50 years ago in 1968, Star Trek was making bold moves that had not been seen before on American television. Aside from a chaste and simple cheek-kiss in the show Movin' in with Nancy, Americans had not yet seen a kiss on TV between a white person and a black person. The Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren" featured the first actual kiss between an interracial couple. This was very taboo in 1968 when it aired, and the network watched very closely during filming out of concern of the reaction of the audience.
The plot of the episode is that aliens capture the main characters and use powers of telekinesis to force the crew to sing, dance, and kiss for their enjoyment. The two characters in the history-making scene are Captain Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Lieutenant Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols). Though the kiss is not one of love or passion, it still had a strong impact on audiences and was the first stepping stone into the future (pun intended) of interracial romance in television shows.
Below is the scene itself. By today's standards, this scene is more awkward to watch than it is scandalous. But, the time it was filmed, the higher-ups were so afraid of the backlash they might receive that the kiss was almost cut from the script. Shatner and Nichols went through with it regardless, and now we can have all sorts of relationships shown on television.
It is funny to think of the people from 1968 who would have found this scandalous traveling forward in time to see television from today. They might just feint from shock if they were to see the future has interracial and gay relationships widely accepted on TV. It is thanks to writers, directors, and actors that pushed the boundaries of what was deemed acceptable that we can have the shows we have today.
The plot of the episode is that aliens capture the main characters and use powers of telekinesis to force the crew to sing, dance, and kiss for their enjoyment. The two characters in the history-making scene are Captain Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Lieutenant Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols). Though the kiss is not one of love or passion, it still had a strong impact on audiences and was the first stepping stone into the future (pun intended) of interracial romance in television shows.
Below is the scene itself. By today's standards, this scene is more awkward to watch than it is scandalous. But, the time it was filmed, the higher-ups were so afraid of the backlash they might receive that the kiss was almost cut from the script. Shatner and Nichols went through with it regardless, and now we can have all sorts of relationships shown on television.
TV's First Interracial Kiss
It is funny to think of the people from 1968 who would have found this scandalous traveling forward in time to see television from today. They might just feint from shock if they were to see the future has interracial and gay relationships widely accepted on TV. It is thanks to writers, directors, and actors that pushed the boundaries of what was deemed acceptable that we can have the shows we have today.
Delmont, Matthew. "50 Years Ago". Smithsonian.com, Sept 5, 2018,
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