Plato's Stepchildren (TOS episode)
Encyclopedia
"Plato's Stepchildren" is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
, first broadcast November 22, 1968. It is episode #65, production #67, written by Meyer Dolinsky
, and directed by David Alexander
. The episode is popularly cited as the first example of a scripted inter-racial kiss on television (between Kirk
and Uhura
).
Overview: The crew of the Enterprise encounters an ageless and sadistic race of humanoids with the power of telekinesis and who claim to have organized their society around Ancient Greek ideals.
5784.2, the starship
USS Enterprise, after receiving a distress call, arrives at a planet that is highly enriched with rare kironide mineral deposits. Captain James T. Kirk, along with his first officer Mr. Spock
and chief medical officer Dr. McCoy
, beam down to the planet to investigate.
Once there, they are greeted by a friendly dwarf
named Alexander (Michael Dunn), who wears clothing reminiscent of Earth
's Ancient Greece
. Alexander leads the landing party to meet the rest of his people who call themselves Platonians in honor of the Greek philosopher Plato
. The Platonians indicate that they had spent time on Earth during the golden age
of the Greek civilization and modeled their ways after it. All of the Platonians, except for Alexander, seem to possess telekinetic powers.
The Platonians explain the reason for "luring" them to their planet centers on their leader Parmen, who has contracted an infection in his leg. The resulting fever caused by his injury has made him delirious and his psychokinetic powers are running haywire. In one outburst, he causes objects such as urns and large chessmen to fly about the room. Parmen's fit also rattles the Enterprise up in orbit. Despite their telekinetic powers, the planet's natives suffer from impaired immune systems which cannot fight off even marginal infections or injuries.
After Dr. McCoy treats Parmen, he demands that McCoy remain on the planet permanently in case something similar happens to him or someone else in the future. Naturally, Captain Kirk deems this unacceptable, so he is punished with the Platonians' powers. They humiliate Kirk and Spock as Dr. McCoy watches, forcing them to do little songs and dances like foolish court jesters. Parmen forces Spock to laugh and, after objection from McCoy, cry. Later the Platonians then use their powers to force two other Enterprise officers to the planet for their entertainment: Lt. Uhura
and Nurse Chapel
.
Once on the planet, the officers quickly get their bodies usurped by Parmen who proceeds to make Kirk, Spock, Chapel and Uhura, forced to wear Greek garb, to perform for the gathered Platonians and a captive McCoy. Spock is prompted to sing about sex to the women as Alexander plays a harp, then Parmen pairs off Spock with Chapel and Kirk with Uhura. He makes the couples kiss, then when Parmen's wife gets bored he has the men threaten the women with weapons, Kirk with a whip and Spock with a hot poker. Alexander becomes angry after watching the humiliating tricks played upon the crew by his Platonian masters. He tries to attack Parmen with a knife, but Parmen stops him in his tracks with his power and forces Alexander to turn the knife onto himself.
Earlier however, Dr. McCoy had managed to isolate and identify the substance that provides the inhabitants with their special powers: the kironide mineral itself, which is abundant in the natural food and water supply of the planet. McCoy is able to prepare a serum and inject Captain Kirk and Spock with doses of it. Furthermore, since Alexander tells them that each person has a different and incompatible psionic frequency, they will not have to deal with a massed attack. As a result, Kirk uses his new found telekinetic powers in a contest of strength with Parmen, and the two fight for control of Alexander's knife.
Kirk's willpower wins out. The Platonian admits defeat and begs for mercy where he promises to mend his bullying ways. Kirk warns him that the events encountered here will be reported to Starfleet
and if Parmen goes back on his word, the powers can be recreated by anyone whenever they wish in order to defeat him.
Kirk promises to send appropriate medical technicians to the planet as long as the Platonians behave themselves. Alexander, who would not internalize the empowering substance because he did not wish to "become one of them", is released from his duty as serving the planet's denizens as a slave and jester, and requests to go with the Enterprise to start a new (and presumably happier) life elsewhere in the galaxy.
The episode features a kiss between James T. Kirk
(William Shatner
) and Lt. Uhura
(Nichelle Nichols
). This is often cited as the first interracial kiss depicted on a scripted television series, but took place after Sammy Davis, Jr.
had briefly kissed Nancy Sinatra
on the variety program Movin' With Nancy
in December 1967; and an interracial kiss on Emergency Ward 10
, a British drama series, in 1964; a kiss between Asian American actress, Victoria Young and David McCallum in the 1966 The Man from U.N.C.L.E episode, "The Her Master's Voice Affair;" and a kiss between multi-racial actress Barbara Luna
and William Shatner in the 1967 Star Trek episode, Mirror, Mirror.
The episode portrays the kiss as involuntary, being forced by telekinesis, perhaps to avoid any hint of romance that would risk outrage among some sensitive viewers. As one TV critic put it, "The underlying message was, 'If I have to kiss you to save my ship and crew, by God, I'll do it.'" Also, William Shatner recalls in Star Trek Memories that NBC
insisted their lips never touch (the technique of turning their heads away from the camera was used to conceal this). However, Nichelle Nichols insists in her autobiography Beyond Uhura (written in 1994 after Shatner's book) that the kiss was real, even in takes where her head obscures their lips.
When NBC executives learned of the kiss they became concerned it would anger TV stations in the conservative Deep South
. Earlier in 1968, NBC had expressed similar concern over a musical sequence in a Petula Clark
special in which she touched Harry Belafonte
's arm, a moment cited as the first occasion of direct physical contact on American television between a man and woman of different races. At one point during negotiations, the idea was brought up of having Spock kiss Uhura instead, but William Shatner insisted that they stick with the original script. NBC finally ordered that two versions of the scene be shot—one where Kirk and Uhura kissed and one where they did not. Having successfully recorded the former version of the scene, Shatner and Nichelle Nichols deliberately flubbed every take of the latter version, thus forcing the episode to go out with the kiss intact.
As Nichelle Nichols writes:
There were, however, few contemporary records of any complaints commenting on the scene. Nichelle Nichols observes that "Plato's Stepchildren" which first aired in November 1968 "received a huge response. We received one of the largest batches of fan mail ever, all of it very positive, with many addressed to me from girls wondering how it felt to kiss Captain Kirk, and many to him from guys wondering the same thing about me. However, almost no one found the kiss offensive" except from a single mildly negative letter by a white Southerner. Nichols notes that "for me, the most memorable episode of our last season was 'Plato's Stepchildren.'"
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, first broadcast November 22, 1968. It is episode #65, production #67, written by Meyer Dolinsky
Meyer Dolinsky
Meyer Dolinsky , aka Mike Dolinsky , was an American screenwriter.-Writing filmography :...
, and directed by David Alexander
David Alexander
David Alexander may refer to:*David Lindo Alexander , British lawyer and Jewish community leader*David M. Alexander , American writer*David W...
. The episode is popularly cited as the first example of a scripted inter-racial kiss on television (between Kirk
James T. Kirk
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...
and Uhura
Uhura
Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and the 2009 film Star Trek...
).
Overview: The crew of the Enterprise encounters an ageless and sadistic race of humanoids with the power of telekinesis and who claim to have organized their society around Ancient Greek ideals.
Plot
On stardateStardate
A stardate is a date in the fictional system of time measurement developed for Star Trek, commonly heard at the beginning of a voiceover log entry such as "Captain's log, stardate 41153.7...
5784.2, the starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
USS Enterprise, after receiving a distress call, arrives at a planet that is highly enriched with rare kironide mineral deposits. Captain James T. Kirk, along with his first officer Mr. Spock
Spock
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
and chief medical officer Dr. McCoy
Leonard McCoy
Leonard "Bones" McCoy is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by DeForest Kelley in the original Star Trek series, McCoy also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in numerous books,...
, beam down to the planet to investigate.
Once there, they are greeted by a friendly dwarf
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
named Alexander (Michael Dunn), who wears clothing reminiscent of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. Alexander leads the landing party to meet the rest of his people who call themselves Platonians in honor of the Greek philosopher Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
. The Platonians indicate that they had spent time on Earth during the golden age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
of the Greek civilization and modeled their ways after it. All of the Platonians, except for Alexander, seem to possess telekinetic powers.
The Platonians explain the reason for "luring" them to their planet centers on their leader Parmen, who has contracted an infection in his leg. The resulting fever caused by his injury has made him delirious and his psychokinetic powers are running haywire. In one outburst, he causes objects such as urns and large chessmen to fly about the room. Parmen's fit also rattles the Enterprise up in orbit. Despite their telekinetic powers, the planet's natives suffer from impaired immune systems which cannot fight off even marginal infections or injuries.
After Dr. McCoy treats Parmen, he demands that McCoy remain on the planet permanently in case something similar happens to him or someone else in the future. Naturally, Captain Kirk deems this unacceptable, so he is punished with the Platonians' powers. They humiliate Kirk and Spock as Dr. McCoy watches, forcing them to do little songs and dances like foolish court jesters. Parmen forces Spock to laugh and, after objection from McCoy, cry. Later the Platonians then use their powers to force two other Enterprise officers to the planet for their entertainment: Lt. Uhura
Uhura
Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and the 2009 film Star Trek...
and Nurse Chapel
Christine Chapel
Christine Chapel is a fictional character in the original Star Trek series, and in some of the films based on it. She was played by the late Majel Barrett....
.
Once on the planet, the officers quickly get their bodies usurped by Parmen who proceeds to make Kirk, Spock, Chapel and Uhura, forced to wear Greek garb, to perform for the gathered Platonians and a captive McCoy. Spock is prompted to sing about sex to the women as Alexander plays a harp, then Parmen pairs off Spock with Chapel and Kirk with Uhura. He makes the couples kiss, then when Parmen's wife gets bored he has the men threaten the women with weapons, Kirk with a whip and Spock with a hot poker. Alexander becomes angry after watching the humiliating tricks played upon the crew by his Platonian masters. He tries to attack Parmen with a knife, but Parmen stops him in his tracks with his power and forces Alexander to turn the knife onto himself.
Earlier however, Dr. McCoy had managed to isolate and identify the substance that provides the inhabitants with their special powers: the kironide mineral itself, which is abundant in the natural food and water supply of the planet. McCoy is able to prepare a serum and inject Captain Kirk and Spock with doses of it. Furthermore, since Alexander tells them that each person has a different and incompatible psionic frequency, they will not have to deal with a massed attack. As a result, Kirk uses his new found telekinetic powers in a contest of strength with Parmen, and the two fight for control of Alexander's knife.
Kirk's willpower wins out. The Platonian admits defeat and begs for mercy where he promises to mend his bullying ways. Kirk warns him that the events encountered here will be reported to Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
and if Parmen goes back on his word, the powers can be recreated by anyone whenever they wish in order to defeat him.
Kirk promises to send appropriate medical technicians to the planet as long as the Platonians behave themselves. Alexander, who would not internalize the empowering substance because he did not wish to "become one of them", is released from his duty as serving the planet's denizens as a slave and jester, and requests to go with the Enterprise to start a new (and presumably happier) life elsewhere in the galaxy.
40th Anniversary remastering
This episode was re-mastered in 2006 and was first aired June 16, 2007 as part of the remastered 40th Anniversary original series. It was preceded a week earlier by the remastered version of "Spock's Brain" and was followed a week later by a re-air of "Miri" which was followed a week later by the remastered version of "The Omega Glory". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:- The Platonian world was given more realistic Earth-like detail.
- Animation of the Enterprise as it struggles against Parmen's psychokinetic pull has been redone.
- In a short close-up the display on McCoy's Tricorder is given a more realistic graphic.
Production and reception
James T. Kirk
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...
(William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
) and Lt. Uhura
Uhura
Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and the 2009 film Star Trek...
(Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting...
). This is often cited as the first interracial kiss depicted on a scripted television series, but took place after Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
had briefly kissed Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
on the variety program Movin' With Nancy
Movin' With Nancy
Movin' With Nancy was a television special featuring Nancy Sinatra in a series of musical vignettes featuring herself and other artists. Produced by Nancy's production company, Boots Enterprises, Inc., and sponsored by Royal Crown Cola, the show was originally broadcast on the NBC television...
in December 1967; and an interracial kiss on Emergency Ward 10
Emergency Ward 10
Emergency – Ward 10 is a British television series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like The Grove Family, a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, Emergency – Ward 10 is considered to be one of British television's first major soap operas.-Overview:The series was made by the ITV...
, a British drama series, in 1964; a kiss between Asian American actress, Victoria Young and David McCallum in the 1966 The Man from U.N.C.L.E episode, "The Her Master's Voice Affair;" and a kiss between multi-racial actress Barbara Luna
Barbara Luna
BarBara Ann Luna is an American actress with an extensive list of roles in film, television, and shows. Notable roles included Five Weeks in a Balloon and Lt. Marlena Moreau in the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror"...
and William Shatner in the 1967 Star Trek episode, Mirror, Mirror.
The episode portrays the kiss as involuntary, being forced by telekinesis, perhaps to avoid any hint of romance that would risk outrage among some sensitive viewers. As one TV critic put it, "The underlying message was, 'If I have to kiss you to save my ship and crew, by God, I'll do it.'" Also, William Shatner recalls in Star Trek Memories that NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
insisted their lips never touch (the technique of turning their heads away from the camera was used to conceal this). However, Nichelle Nichols insists in her autobiography Beyond Uhura (written in 1994 after Shatner's book) that the kiss was real, even in takes where her head obscures their lips.
When NBC executives learned of the kiss they became concerned it would anger TV stations in the conservative Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
. Earlier in 1968, NBC had expressed similar concern over a musical sequence in a Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
special in which she touched Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
's arm, a moment cited as the first occasion of direct physical contact on American television between a man and woman of different races. At one point during negotiations, the idea was brought up of having Spock kiss Uhura instead, but William Shatner insisted that they stick with the original script. NBC finally ordered that two versions of the scene be shot—one where Kirk and Uhura kissed and one where they did not. Having successfully recorded the former version of the scene, Shatner and Nichelle Nichols deliberately flubbed every take of the latter version, thus forcing the episode to go out with the kiss intact.
As Nichelle Nichols writes:
- 'Knowing that Gene was determined to air the real kiss, Bill shook me and hissed menacingly in his best ham-fisted Kirkian staccato delivery, "I! WON'T! KISS! YOU! I! WON'T! KISS! YOU!"
- It was absolutely awful, and we were hysterical and ecstatic. The director was beside himself, and still determined to get the kissless shot. So we did it again, and it seemed to be fine. "Cut! Print! That's a wrap!"
- The next day they screened the dailies, and although I rarely attended them, I couldn't miss this one. Everyone watched as Kirk and Uhura kissed and kissed and kissed. And I'd like to set the record straight: Although Kirk and Uhura fought it, they did kiss in every single scene. When the non-kissing scene came on, everyone in the room cracked up. The last shot, which looked okay on the set, actually had Bill wildly crossing his eyes. It was so corny and just plain bad it was unusable. The only alternative was to cut out the scene altogether, but that was impossible to do without ruining the entire episode. Finally, the guys in charge relented: "To hell with it. Let's go with the kiss." I guess they figured we were going to be cancelled in a few months anyway. And so the kiss stayed.'
There were, however, few contemporary records of any complaints commenting on the scene. Nichelle Nichols observes that "Plato's Stepchildren" which first aired in November 1968 "received a huge response. We received one of the largest batches of fan mail ever, all of it very positive, with many addressed to me from girls wondering how it felt to kiss Captain Kirk, and many to him from guys wondering the same thing about me. However, almost no one found the kiss offensive" except from a single mildly negative letter by a white Southerner. Nichols notes that "for me, the most memorable episode of our last season was 'Plato's Stepchildren.'"