Nichols reflected on the momentous event during a 2010 interview with the Archive of American Television. Due to anxiety from the studio, the production team wanted to film an additional version where the characters didn’t kiss. Nichols explained how Shatner, adamant that the kiss be included, chose to ruin any alternate versions and render the kiss version the only usable take. “When the camera zoomed in,” Nichols shared, “Bill crossed his eyes, and the director didn’t notice it until the next day in dailies. Of course, the last scene was unusable, and they had to go with the kiss scene.” Unbeknownst to them at the time, this decision would etch their names into television history...
The controversy, however, was inevitable. Several stations in America’s southern states outright refused to air the episode. In England, it was banned for almost 25 years.