1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: a show for those interested in the big and small 4 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: moments of history. I'm Gabe Bluesier, and in this episode 5 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,319 Speaker 1: we're talking about one of the most famous kisses in 6 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: the galaxy and how it reflected a changing perspective on 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: race in the late nineteen sixties. The day was November nineteen, 8 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: during a turbulent year for race relations in America. Actors 9 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: William Shatner and Nachelle Nichols shared a prominent kiss on 10 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: an episode of Star Trek. According to Gallup polls, when 11 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: the episode premiered, fewer than twenty percent of Americans approved 12 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: of marriage between white and black people. While still pretty low, 13 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: that was way up from the less than five percent 14 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: who approved just one decade earlier. Acceptance of mixed race 15 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,400 Speaker 1: relationships was on the rise in the US, and the 16 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: kiss on Star Trek was an early sign of that 17 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: changing point of view and of the victories of the 18 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,479 Speaker 1: ongoing civil rights movement. A campy sixties sci fi show 19 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: might seem like an odd vehicle for delivering a cultural message, 20 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: but the genre and the show were actually well suited 21 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: to the task, As William Shatner once explained, quote, setting 22 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: Star Trek three hundred years in the future allowed creator 23 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: Gene Roddenberry to focus on the social issues of the 24 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties without being direct or obvious. Despite its standing 25 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: as landmark moment in American television, the kiss between Shatner 26 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: and Nichols is about as far from romantic as you 27 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: can get. It takes place in a third season episode 28 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: of the original series titled Plato's step Children. The admittedly 29 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: strange plot follows the crew of the U. S s. 30 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: Enterprise as they encounter a group of human like aliens 31 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: called the Platonians, who patterned their culture after the teachings 32 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: of the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Socrates. Despite their 33 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: high minded culture, or perhaps because of it, the aliens 34 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: turned out to be arrogant and cruel in the episode. 35 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: Using their telekinetic powers, which is a whole story in itself, 36 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 1: the aliens control the Enterprise crew like puppets for their 37 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: own amusement. In one scene, they force an embrace between 38 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: the black communications officer played by Nichols and the white 39 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: captain played by Shatner. Both characters attempt to resist, but 40 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: in the end, Lieutenant Uhura and Captain Kirk are forced 41 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: to kiss as the playton Ians look on like the 42 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: total creeps they are. The episode was slated to premiere 43 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: just a little over a year after the Supreme Court 44 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: delivered its historic ruling on the case of Loving v. Virginia. 45 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: That decision struck down several state laws and declared interracial 46 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: marriage legal in the United States. In light of the 47 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: racial climate in the country, NBC executives were nervous when 48 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: they saw the script for Plato's step children. They were 49 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: worried that an interracial kiss might upset their TV station 50 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: affiliates and viewers in the Deep South. The scene was 51 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: shot as scripted, but to appease the networks, the showrunners 52 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: also filmed an alternate version with the kiss occurring off screen. However, 53 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: Michelle Nichols later wrote in her autobiography that she and 54 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: Shatner deliberately messed up their lines so that the original 55 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: take would have to be used. She wrote, quote, we 56 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: did a few takes, but Bill was deliberately trying to 57 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: flub it. At one point he even crossed his eyes 58 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: to make me laugh. In the end, all the concern 59 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: was for nothing. The episode aired with the kiss intact, 60 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: and the network herred few complaints. According to Nichols, the 61 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: episode did get more fanmail than the paramount studio had 62 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: ever received for a single episode of Star Trek, but 63 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: the majority of letters were positive. In the decades that followed, 64 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: intimacy between black and white characters became more and more 65 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: common on television. But it's worth noting that the kiss 66 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: between Kirk and Hera wasn't the first TV kiss between 67 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: actors of different races. In fact, it wasn't even the 68 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: first interracial kiss on Star Trek, and that's to say 69 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: nothing of earlier shows going as far back as the 70 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, such as I Love Lucy. It all depends 71 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: on what you consider a kiss and how you distinguish 72 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: one ethnicity from another. But the truth is it doesn't 73 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,799 Speaker 1: really matter which TV kiss came before or after another. 74 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,039 Speaker 1: In the end, each one was important to someone watching 75 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:29,040 Speaker 1: at home, someone who was seeing their own relationships reflected 76 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: on screen for the first time in their lives. That 77 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: may sound like a stretch given the unromantic context of 78 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: the kiss on Star Trek, but consider this. The kiss 79 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: between Ahura and Kirk didn't shock any of the characters 80 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: in the show. It's not played for laughs, and their 81 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: difference in race isn't written as an issue for anyone. 82 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: In fact, there's no comment or discussion of it at all. 83 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: For some viewers, that was a welcome change from real 84 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: life and a chance to imagine a similar future for themselves, 85 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: a better one where they could love as they please 86 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:11,600 Speaker 1: without other people's hang ups getting in the way. I'm 87 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: Gabe Louisier and hopefully you now know a little more 88 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed 89 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: the show, consider rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts. 90 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram 91 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: at t d i HC Show, and if you have 92 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: any thoughts or suggestions you'd like to share, you can 93 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,359 Speaker 1: beam them on over to This Day at i heart 94 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,679 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks to Chandler May's for producing the show, 95 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 96 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History Class. 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