Star Trek in 1966: *has a bridge crew containing a black female, Russian man, and faaaabulous Japanese man, each of whom holds the rank of full Lieutenant on their own abundant merits*
In Nichelle Nichols’ autobiography she talks about how the network insisted the scene be filmed both with and without the kiss, and of course, being good loyal actors, they complied. But, on takes without the kiss, something always seemed to go wrong… Shatner flubbed a line, the boom was in the shot, the cameras weren’t quite set up correctly… eventually they ran out of time and were forced, “reluctantly”, to submit only the takes with the kiss. I recommend Beyond Uhura. Also Kate Mulgrew’s “autobiography” of Captain Janeway is a great read too. :)
Star Trek in 1966: *has a bridge crew containing a black female, Russian man, and faaaabulous Japanese man, each of whom holds the rank of full Lieutenant on their own abundant merits*
And a Russian navigator at the height of the Cold War.
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about Chekov! Editing my comment now. Thank you!
Not to mention, it featured the first interracial kiss on television.
In Nichelle Nichols’ autobiography she talks about how the network insisted the scene be filmed both with and without the kiss, and of course, being good loyal actors, they complied. But, on takes without the kiss, something always seemed to go wrong… Shatner flubbed a line, the boom was in the shot, the cameras weren’t quite set up correctly… eventually they ran out of time and were forced, “reluctantly”, to submit only the takes with the kiss. I recommend Beyond Uhura. Also Kate Mulgrew’s “autobiography” of Captain Janeway is a great read too. :)
And then, just as now, many said “I wouldn’t have a problem with it if they weren’t rubbing it in my face!”
*American television. IIRC British television had an interracial kiss over a decade earlier.
And a Russian and Japanese crew member at the height of the Cold War. Not just as background, but as one of the main crew.
Well, main-ish. They were still basically side characters to kirk, spock, and mccoy