20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Star Trek
5. But He Did Make TV's First Interracial Kiss Happen
Sure, he was an egotistical asshole, but Shatner isn't all bad. He's consistently surprised the world with his unconventional cover versions of pop classics, and that cameo in Dodgeball was relatively good natured. Plus, who's going to say anything bad about TJ Hooker to his face, huh? Plus when he wasn't busy looking after himself, the Kirk actor managed to put himself out there to make a difference for others. Most people probably know that the first interracial kiss to be broadcast on television was in an episode of Star Trek, but did you know Shatner forced it to happen? The scene in Plato's Stepchildren where Kirk and Uhura have a quick smooch was shot from several different angles, including some where you wouldn't actually see the lips locking. Shatner and Nichols deliberately mucked up those takes, meaning the network's only usable footage saw the pair clearly making out.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
