What the most controversal scene on TOS?
- Thread starter steve1961
- Start date
A pretty safe bet, there.
By far the most controversial moment was the Kirk/Uhura kiss in "Plato's Stepchildren."
Bi-racial unions were pretty controversial in the 60's. 
Bi-racial unions were pretty controversial in the 60's.
Exactly. If you air that episode today,Society would understand. But back in the 60s its shocking to most people.
Bi-racial unions were pretty controversial in the 60's.
Interestingly, no one had a problem with Kirk kissing Elaan, portrayed by France Nuyen....an Asian-American woman.
Hence, by-passing that aforementioned kiss and focusing on the Kirk/Uhura kiss, claiming it was television's first interracial kiss....
Bullshi...
Was it controversial, though? Bold and daring, certainly perhaps, but I remember hearing that they didn't recieve any hate mail. Maybe my memory is stupid again I don't know.
So is this the first interracial kiss on US TV or is it just the first black/white kiss and what precedents are there? Inquiring minds...
That's a very good point. I know they did a white/Asian marriage story on I Love Lucy, but maybe they didn't kiss there.Hence, by-passing that aforementioned kiss and focusing on the Kirk/Uhura kiss, claiming it was television's first interracial kiss....
Bullshi...
So is this the first interracial kiss on US TV or is it just the first black/white kiss and what precedents are there? Inquiring minds...
Are you refering to Lucy and Ricky or some other couple?Was it controversial, though? Bold and daring, certainly perhaps, but I remember hearing that they didn't recieve any hate mail. Maybe my memory is stupid again I don't know.
That's a very good point. I know they did a white/Asian marriage story on I Love Lucy, but maybe they didn't kiss there.Hence, by-passing that aforementioned kiss and focusing on the Kirk/Uhura kiss, claiming it was television's first interracial kiss....
Bullshi...
So is this the first interracial kiss on US TV or is it just the first black/white kiss and what precedents are there? Inquiring minds...
First Black/white kiss.
Actually, irl, Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. kissed in greeting and friendship in '67 on a variety program, "Movin' With Nancy," or something like that. So this would be the first between "fictional characters" on American TV.
Sir Rhosis
Sir Rhosis
I know there was some negative letter about Uhura, but I forget whether or not it was due to the kiss.
I vaguely recall it in one of the behind-the-scenes books....
It turned out that the guy who sent the negative received a photo of Nichelle Nichols, and a thank-you letter...or something to that effect...
Sidenote: I forget the years that I, Spy was on television; but you did have Bill Cosby's Alexander Scott in relationships with black women, being close to white women (although, not having relationships with them; and by saying 'being close,' I'm referring to a scene in an episode where Scott and Kelly Robinson--Robert Culp's character--take off the coats of the other's girlfriends--Scott's is black, and Robinson's is white)...
Too, in one episode that takes place in Japan, it was established that Scott had a relationship with a Japanese agent...(she killed at the beginning of the episode, of course
)...Interestingly as well, I don't recall Scott ever kissing his girlfriends...whether they were black or Asian....(From what I understand, it was a rarity--at that time--for black individuals to have a relationship on the small screen)...
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That's an interesting point. Been rewatching TOS, I'll keep that in mind. Uhura's material in episodes like "The Man Trap" is interesting enough; flirting aggressively with Spock and then being approached by the monster in the guise of a black man (and her subsequent song in "Charlie X" about Spock is similarly forward).
Even forbid Spock was under the influence of pon farr, spores, or anything else that would have rendered him responsive.
I do know "The Alternative Factor" had an interracial romance cut from the script, and the only way "Plato's Stepchildren" was able to get an interracial kiss in by suggesting both were unwilling participants, oddly enough.
The narrative excuses they'll concoct, eh?
Speaking of "I-Spy", Robert Culp kissed France Nuyen a few years before Shatner did.
I know there was some negative letter about Uhura, but I forget whether or not it was due to the kiss.
I vaguely recall it in one of the behind-the-scenes books....
It turned out that the guy who sent the negative received a photo of Nichelle Nichols, and a thank-you letter...or something to that effect...
Sidenote: I forget the years that I, Spy was on television; but you did have Bill Cosby's Alexander Scott in relationships with black women, being close to white women (although, not having relationships with them; and by saying 'being close,' I'm referring to a scene in an episode where Scott and Kelly Robinson--Robert Culp's character--take off the coats of the other's girlfriends--Scott's is black, and Robinson's is white)...
Too, in one episode that takes place in Japan, it was established that Scott had a relationship with a Japanese agent...(she killed at the beginning of the episode, of course
Interestingly as well, I don't recall Scott ever kissing his girlfriends...whether they were black or Asian....(From what I understand, it was a rarity--at that time--for black individuals to have a relationship on the small screen)...
There are things that were controversial then that aren't today, but some things accepted then would raise eyebrows today. For instance, when kirk punches shana in the face and knocks her out, that might be a surprising moment if aired for the first time today, unless it happened on lifetime, in which case shana would marry kirk just so she could set fire to him while he was sleeping in bed. Or if Kirk was played by Charlie Sheen.
We would also ask controversial questions about things like the two men with white and black on opposing sides of their faces. That makes them both interracial, but HOW? (I think it's annoying when they try to beat you over the head with a message like that. I think they really went too far in thjat episode. And besides, those tights give us a tad more information about the characters than we really need to know)
We would also ask controversial questions about things like the two men with white and black on opposing sides of their faces. That makes them both interracial, but HOW? (I think it's annoying when they try to beat you over the head with a message like that. I think they really went too far in thjat episode. And besides, those tights give us a tad more information about the characters than we really need to know)
BTW, I think they look silly with white and black faces, but BROWN hair. They should have made their hair neutral gray, like the outfits. That might have been striking.
Despite years of rumors regarding the script, FWIW, the first draft of "The Alternative Factor" does not directly indicate Charlene's race, though at one point it does describe her as saying her her face is a "white cameo" beneath her dark hair, or something like that. It would seem that the trouble arose only after a Black actress was cast. I review both drafts of the script (see sig link below).
Sir Rhosis
Sir Rhosis
According to Memory Alpha, none of the mail they got was negative. I have read (somewhere) that there was outrage in the south.
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