The date and program of the first interracial kiss on television are a much debated topic. For a time, it was understood to have occurred during an episode of the British soap operaEmergency – Ward 10 in 1964. However, in November 2015, a Granada Play of the Week, You in Your Small Corner, was uncovered which was broadcast in June 1962; that quickly led to the rediscovery of another play featuring the same young Jamaican actor, Hot Summer Night, televised in Britain on 1 February 1959. The first interracial kiss on U.S. television was broadcast in a 1960 episode of Adventures in Paradise, "Makaha Surfing", also known as "The Big Surf", between star Gardner McKay and Filipina Pilar Seurat. Competing claims have also been made in favour of I Love Lucy.
Claims
UK television
''You in Your Small Corner'' (1962) and ''Hot Summer Night'' (1959)
In June 1962, a live performance of the playYou in Your Small Corner by Barry Reckord was broadcast on British television as part of the Granada Television series Play of the Week. The central theme of the play is a relationship between a young black intellectual and a white working-class girl. During the play, a kiss takes place between actors Lloyd Reckord and Elizabeth MacLennan, and what has been described as an "explicit post-coital scene". You In Your Small Corner was rediscovered during preparations for a November 2015 British Film Institute panel discussion on "Race and Romance on TV" and was used in publicity for the event. As a result, panel moderator Samira Ahmed was able, on the night, to announce the rediscovery of an even earlier TV kiss by Reckord, with Andrée Melly, in the ITV Armchair Theatre adaptation of Ted Willis's play Hot Summer Night, broadcast on 1 February 1959,, and later adapted as the 1961 feature filmFlame in the Streets.
''Emergency Ward 10''
One of the earliest interracial kisses on television occurred in a July 1964 episode of British soap operaEmergency Ward 10, during which characters Louise Mahler and Giles Farmer kissed. The scene in which Mahler and Farmer kissed was originally scripted to occur in Mahler's bedroom, but was rewritten so as to occur outdoors, due to concerns it would otherwise be too risqué. According to an issue of the Daily Express published after the episode aired, "not a viewer rang-up to complain". In a 2015 interview, conducted prior to the discovery of the You in Your Small Corner footage, Hooley noted that the historic importance of what had been known as the "first interracial kiss on television" had been inflated in popular memory:
US television
''I Love Lucy''
The 1950s American television programme I Love Lucy broadcast multiple instances of real-life husband and wifeDesi Arnaz, a Hispanic male, and Lucille Ball, a woman of North European ancestry, kissing. However, despite Arnaz and Ball being frequently described as an "interracial couple", "Hispanic" is generally understood to be a catchall indicating persons of a Latin American, Spanish, or Filipinocultural background, as opposed to a race. Arnaz was usually considered to be a white male of Cuban ancestry.
''Adventures in Paradise''
An episode of Adventures in Paradise titled "The Big Surf," broadcast in 1960, featured two scripted kisses: One between actress Pilar Seurat and actor Robert Sampson, and another with Seurat and Gardner McKay.
''I Spy''
An episode of I Spy titled "The Tiger" broadcast on January 5, 1966, featured a scripted interracial kiss between Eurasian actress France Nuyen and Robert Culp.
''Movin' with Nancy''
A December 1967 TV special, Movin' with Nancy, featured a kiss between Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. Although this was technically the first time a Caucasian kissed an African American on television in the United States, it differed from "Star Trek" in that Sinatra only kissed Davis on the cheek instead of lip-to-lip.
''Star Trek''
A 1968 episode of , "Plato's Stepchildren", which first aired on November 22, 1968, is often referred to as the first interracial kiss on American television. This claim is disputed by some who contend that in the scene in question, full lip contact between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols did not occur, as the actors turned their heads away from the camera at the last moment to present the illusion of a kiss, meaning that this scene was not a true kiss. The latter point has been disputed, with Shatner claiming that he and Nichols' lips never fully touched and Nichols asserting that the kiss was real. Though Shatner and Nichols's kiss is widely regarded as the first interracial kiss of the series, Season 1, episode 23 "Space Seed" introduces the reoccurring villain "Khan" who seduces Lt. Marla McGivers for his nefarious plot. Part of the seduction being an intimate kiss. It is often ignored that "Mirror, Mirror |Mirror, Mirror", which originally aired on October 6, 1967, featured a scripted interracial kiss between Eurasian actress Barbara Luna and the aforementioned William Shatner a year prior. An even earlier interracial kiss, between two women, took place in the episode "What are Little Girls Made Of?", aired on October 20, 1966. The Enterprise receives an urgent message from Dr. Roger Korby. The famed scientist, missing for five years, is the fiancé of crew member Nurse Christine Chapel. While Mr. Spock ponders the situation in the foreground, Nurse Chapel heads for the lift to join the away team. Lieutenant Uhura congratulates her with a hug and a kiss, apparently on the cheek.
