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The First Interracial Kiss on (American) Television

^^^As discussed upthread, "interracial" doesn't necessarily means caucasian & african american. Kirk and Uhura were the first white/black (faked) kiss on Star Trek.
 
There's also Kirk and the Native American-like Miramanee.

They've kissed, married and conceived a child. No controversy, fear of backlash.

No, Miramanee was played by a white woman. That is clearly a giant difference. The ethnicity of the actors involved is more significant in this situation than the ethnicity of the characters. Otherwise we include one of the many random alien babes Kirk kissed, which would be silly.
 
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This is a very popular operation in China right now.
 
There's also Kirk and the Native American-like Miramanee.

They've kissed, married and conceived a child. No controversy, fear of backlash.

No, Miramanee was played by a white woman. That is clearly a giant difference. The ethnicity of the actors involved is more significant in this situation than the ethnicity of the characters. Otherwise we include one of the many random alien babes Kirk kissed, which would be silly.
Shatner and Nimoy are Jewish. So according to some folks anytime they kissed a non-Jew it's inter-racial. ;)
 
^ It's not a matter of just using the word "hell," it's the way it was used, i.e., it was the first time on a prime time American network television show, someone said, "Let's get the hell out of here." Not the standard "heck" or "blazes" or "the devil", but flat out, non-euphemized, "let's get the hell out of here."
But where's the proof of that? Who claimed it was so and how did they back it up?

Yeah, I'd like to know too.
 
Can anyone else cite an example of another show of the same time, or earlier, with the scripted equivalent of "Let's get the hell out of here" where the "hell" or "damn" of whatever expletive wasn't euphemized with "blazes" or "the devil" or something similar?
 
I spent a little time today searching for whether "Get the hell out of Dodge" was ever actually said on Gunsmoke, and if so when, but I came up with nothing so far, one way or the other. I'm not familiar enough with that show to be the best person doing that search.
 
Plato's stepchildren might not have the first interracial kiss, but I'm pretty sure it was the first time in TV and movie history, when midget was riding a Jew.
 
How? Nimoy's family was Russian in origin. I'm not sure what Shatner's ethnicity is. And don't say he's Jewish. That's not really an ethnicity. I have Indian friends who're Jewish.
There is an ethnic component to being Jewish. Its not like a bunch of Russians, Germans other Europeans (and Asians) converted to Judaism, though some did. They are the decendents of folks from the Israel/Palestine/the Middle East region who immigrated to Europe and other parts of Asia. And once there they did adopt the languages spoken in those regions but they also developed their own language in the form of Yiddish. And of course there was some intermarriage with the locals.

Interesting note on the origin of the name "Nimoy"
The surname "Nimoy" is a direct transliteration of the common slavic word, meaning "mute". When used as a surname, however, it does not actually mean mute. In the past, Slavs often applied it to foreigners, such as Germans or Hungarians, who did not speak the local language. The Slovenian term for a German, "Nemec", (nem = mute) was derived in the same way.
I can see why a Jewish family might gain the surname in a Slavic country. (...)

Surnames can come from various sources. Location, occupation, origin and appearance can be factors. That Shatner or Nimoy's family gained their surnames after migrating ito Eastern Europe doesn't suprise me. Did Jews even use surnames before arriving in Europe? I thought they use patronamics like "Judah ben Yusef"

Jews in Europe were isolated by culture and religon so maintaining their ethnic Jewishness along with their religious Jewishness was "easy" by choice and circumstances.


I thought Nimoy is Ukrainian (which is not actually Russia, it's only a part of former USSR. And western area used to be a part of Czechoslovakia) origin and his parents were Yiddish speaking jews. Yiddish is quite modified German- except some special words I dont have a big problem with understanding it.
Nemec (correctly Němec) is a Czech word. Němec is a very common name here, but not jewish.

And nothing is certain about ancestry- someone's father could be only a husband of his or her mother, and the biological father could be the biggest French hero (aka Unknown soldier), or a boy next door. That's why Jewish ancestry is inherited from the mother's side, if someone has only one parent Jewish. (if I remember it correctly from the school)
 
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Can anyone else cite an example of another show of the same time, or earlier, with the scripted equivalent of "Let's get the hell out of here" where the "hell" or "damn" of whatever expletive wasn't euphemized with "blazes" or "the devil" or something similar?

A 1955 NBC version of The great Gatsby features 'damn' (according to Opotowsky's 1961 book 'TV, the big picture'), Moreover, an issue of 'Taste and the censor' from 1959 say that Hell was cleared on more than ten occasions in a 'range of contexts' but doesn't make it clear what shows those were.

The problem with answering this question is many old shows simply don't exist any-more so it's hard to check the archives to clarify the answer to this question.
 
How? Nimoy's family was Russian in origin. I'm not sure what Shatner's ethnicity is. And don't say he's Jewish. That's not really an ethnicity. I have Indian friends who're Jewish.
There is an ethnic component to being Jewish. Its not like a bunch of Russians, Germans other Europeans (and Asians) converted to Judaism, though some did. They are the decendents of folks from the Israel/Palestine/the Middle East region who immigrated to Europe and other parts of Asia. And once there they did adopt the languages spoken in those regions but they also developed their own language in the form of Yiddish. And of course there was some intermarriage with the locals.

Interesting note on the origin of the name "Nimoy"
The surname "Nimoy" is a direct transliteration of the common slavic word, meaning "mute". When used as a surname, however, it does not actually mean mute. In the past, Slavs often applied it to foreigners, such as Germans or Hungarians, who did not speak the local language. The Slovenian term for a German, "Nemec", (nem = mute) was derived in the same way.
I can see why a Jewish family might gain the surname in a Slavic country. (...)

Surnames can come from various sources. Location, occupation, origin and appearance can be factors. That Shatner or Nimoy's family gained their surnames after migrating ito Eastern Europe doesn't suprise me. Did Jews even use surnames before arriving in Europe? I thought they use patronamics like "Judah ben Yusef"

Jews in Europe were isolated by culture and religon so maintaining their ethnic Jewishness along with their religious Jewishness was "easy" by choice and circumstances.


I thought Nimoy is Ukrainian (which is not actually Russia, it's only a part of former USSR. And western area used to be a part of Czechoslovakia) origin and his parents were Yiddish speaking jews. Yiddish is quite modified German- except some special words I dont have a big problem with understanding it.
Nemec (correctly Němec) is a Czech word. Němec is a very common name here, but not jewish.
Yes his family was from the Ukraine. And they were Jewish.So "Nationally" they would be Ukrainian but from an ethnic/religious standpoint Jewish. Most of the the Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire for years prior to its fall. Since Czech is a Slavic language, I'm not suprised that "Nemec/Němec" is a common name there. As I quoted, the name didn't not apply only to Jews, but to any one who didnt speak the language.
 
Can anyone else cite an example of another show of the same time, or earlier, with the scripted equivalent of "Let's get the hell out of here" where the "hell" or "damn" of whatever expletive wasn't euphemized with "blazes" or "the devil" or something similar?

A 1955 NBC version of The great Gatsby features 'damn' (according to Opotowsky's 1961 book 'TV, the big picture'), Moreover, an issue of 'Taste and the censor' from 1959 say that Hell was cleared on more than ten occasions in a 'range of contexts' but doesn't make it clear what shows those were.

The problem with answering this question is many old shows simply don't exist any-more so it's hard to check the archives to clarify the answer to this question.

The question still remains about the context on those "hells" that were cleared by the censors. "It was a living hell," was perfectly fine back in the day. "It was hell on Earth," was fine, too. "I feel like hell," not so much, but maybe arguable. "Go to hell," forget it (hence, Kirk telling Kang to "Go to the Devil" even as late as 1968). "Let's get the hell out of here," just as verboten.

COTEOF had the dubious advantage of being produced at a point in the season (it was the next to last show of the first season) where the shows were being finished the week before they aired, sometimes a few days before they aired, so the network suits didn't see the finished product until it aired. Too late to make changes, sorry. :D
 
A productions of "Blithe Spirit" from 1955 supposedly made it to air with all "hells" and "damns" intact. Now, never having seen this play or any film version of it, I'm not aware of the word's context therein.

Sir Rhosis
 
I was on the crew of a production of "Blithe Spirit" in high school. Don't recall anything objectionable, but then it's been almost thirty years. I'll try to find a script.

It should be noted that plays enjoy a special status that normal tv series don't. Several years ago, CBS ran a production of "On Golden Pond" (stage version, not the Henry Fonda movie), and the word "bullshit" was kept in and ran unbleeped. This delighted David Letterman, because he thought that "now we can say 'bullshit'." And just to show the double standard at work, in the clip shown to setup the bit, the word wasn't bleeped, but when they cut to Dave to comment on it, it was bleeped.

Let's just say that linguistically, we're still a very confused nation.
 
Can anyone else cite an example of another show of the same time, or earlier, with the scripted equivalent of "Let's get the hell out of here" where the "hell" or "damn" of whatever expletive wasn't euphemized with "blazes" or "the devil" or something similar?

One example off the top of my head: In the 1960 episode of "Route 66" entitled "Legacy For Lucia", Jay C. Flippen's character says in reference to Arlene Sax-Martel's character "Just get her the hell out of my sight." I know that there are several other examples, this is just the one I remember off the top of my head.
 
COTEOF had the dubious advantage of being produced at a point in the season (it was the next to last show of the first season) where the shows were being finished the week before they aired, sometimes a few days before they aired, so the network suits didn't see the finished product until it aired. Too late to make changes, sorry. :D
They could still have bleeped it or simply killed the audio for a split-second had they wanted to--even during broadcast--as CBS did to the Smothers Brothers on more than one occasion.
 
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