"Star Trek" is arguably one of the most iconic and celebrated television series of all time. Approximately 50 years ago, the television series revolutionized American television by featuring the small screen's first-ever interracial kiss when William Shatner's character and Nichelle Nichols’ Lieutenant Uhura locked lips.
The seminal episode first aired on November 22, 1968, shortly after the Supreme Court’s groundbreaking Loving v. Virginia decision struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. The kiss occurred during a scene in which Kirk and Uhura are forced to passionately embrace under alien mind control. In a 2010 interview, Nichols revealed that NBC had filmed two version of the scenes. In one version Nichols and Shatner kissed, and in another, the pair simply held each other to avoid upsetting the network's affiliates in the Jim Crow South. She went on to claim that Shatner deliberately sabotaged the take excluding the kiss by crossing his eyes. The scene received an overwhelmingly positive response. “The mail poured in. We had more mail on that episode than any other episode in all of the time of ‘Star Trek,’ ” she said.
The red robe that Shatner’s character wore in the celebrated episode is set to be sold for as much $60,000 when it is auctioned at Propstore.com on December 1.