I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to April 1, 1960 on CBS (including The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour ). Although the original series ended in 1957, the show continued on for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials, running from 1957 to 1960, known first as The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and later in reruns as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour .
I Love Lucy was the most-watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons, and was the first to end its run at the top of the ratings (to be matched only by The Andy Griffith Show and Seinfeld ), although it did not have a formal series finale episode. I Love Lucy is still syndicated in dozens of languages across the world.
The show won five Emmy Awards and received numerous nominations. In 2002, it was ranked second on TV Guide's top-50 greatest shows, behind Seinfeld and ahead of The Honeymooners . In 2007, it was placed on Time magazine's unranked list of the 100 best TV shows. The same year, the Washington Post named it the second best TV rerun, attesting to its longevity and sustained popularity.
Premise
Set mostly in New York City, I Love Lucy centers on Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball), and her singer/bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz), along with their friends and landlords Fred Mertz (William Frawley) and Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance). During the second season, Lucy and Ricky have a son named Little Ricky (whose birth was devised to coincide with Lucille Ball's real life pregnancy). "Little Ricky" literally grows up on the show and during the final season is played by 6 year old actor Keith Thibodeaux.
Lucy is somewhat naïve and ambitious, with an overactive imagination and a knack for getting herself into trouble. Primarily she is obsessed with joining her husband in show business, despite his refusal to cooperate. Fred and Ethel are former vaudevillians and this only strengthens her resolve to prove herself as a performer. Unfortunately, she cannot carry a tune or play anything other than an off-key rendition of "Glow Worm" (or "Sweet Sue") on the saxophone and has little other discernible ability (although to say she is completely without any sort of talent would be untrue as she has on occasion proven to be a good dancer and a competent singer in some cases). The show provided Ball ample opportunity to display her considerable skill at clowning and physical comedy, with Lucy's determination to get into the act in any way possible, resulting in numerous wacky situations. Character development was not a major focus of early sitcoms, so not much was ever learned about her life prior to the show. A few episodes mentioned that she was born in Jamestown, New York, (later corrected to West Jamestown), that she graduated from Jamestown High School, and that she met Ricky on a blind date. Besides occasional appearances by her mother (Kathryn Card), who annoyed Ricky to no end by constantly mispronouncing his name as "Mickey" and mistaking him for fellow bandleader Xavier Cugat, hardly any mention was ever made of any other family members. She also exhibited many stereotypical female traits that was the standard for women on television at the time, including being secretive about her age, being careless with money, and, when she wasn't trying to get into Rickys shows, being a devoted housewife (Ricky describes her in one episode as a "great housekeeper") and attentive mother to little Ricky.
Lucy's husband, Ricky Ricardo, is an up-and-coming Cuban American singer and bandleader with an excitable personality. His patience is frequently tested, sometimes to the breaking point, by his wife's antics. When exasperated, he often reverts to speaking rapidly in Spanish and even literally spanked Lucy for her mischief on one occason. As with Lucy, not much was ever learned about his past or family. Ricky's mother (played by actress Mary Emery) appeared in two episodes and in another Lucy mentioned that he had five brothers. He also mentioned that he'd been "practically raised" by his uncle Alberto (who was seen during a family visit to Cuba) and that he had attended Havana University.
Lucy's best friend, confidante and accomplice in her crazy schemes is Ethel Mertz. A former model from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ethel tries to relive her glory days in vaudeville. She usually gets more chances to perform at Ricky's nightclub, because, unlike Lucy, she can actually sing and dance. Ethel, although she is Lucy's ally, often tries to reason with her, providing common sense advice.
Ethel's husband Fred served in World War I and lived through the Great Depression. He is very stingy with money and a very no-nonsense type of guy. However, he also shows that he can be a soft touch, especially when it comes to Little Ricky, the Ricardos' son. Fred performed in vaudeville, so like his wife Ethel, he can also sing and dance and they often performed duets.
Lucy and Ricky often play tricks on each other; for example, when Lucy tricked Ricky into thinking she was a compulsive thief; or when Ricky tricked Lucy into thinking she was not legally married to him, based on a mistake in their license. Although they may disagree at times, and despite their age differences, the four main characters are very close and loving.
The Manhattan building they all lived in before their move to Westport, Connecticut was addressed at a fictional 623 East 68th Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which in reality would be located in the East River.
Cast
- Lucille Ball as Lucille Esmeralda "Lucy" McGillicuddy-Ricardo
- Desi Arnaz as Enrique Alberto "Ricky" Ricardo y de Acha III
- Vivian Vance as Ethel Roberta Mertz
- William Frawley as Frederick Hobart "Fred" Mertz
- Keith Thibodeaux as Richard Robert Ricardo ("Lil' Ricky")
- Kathryn Card as Mrs. McGillicuddy -- Lucy's Mom
- Frank Nelson as Ralph Ramsey
- Mary Jane Croft as Betty Ramsey
- Jerry Hausner as himself
- Bob Jellison as Bobby "Robert"
- Doris Singleton as Carolyn Appleby
- Shirley Mitchell as Marion Strong
- Elizabeth Patterson as Mrs. Matilda Trumbull
- Joseph D. and Michael Mayer as Ricky Ricardo, Jr.
- Richard and Ronald Lee Simmons as Ricky Ricardo, Jr.
- Charles Lane as various characters
- Barbara Pepper as various characters
- Bob Smith as various characters
Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet, supporting cast members on My Favorite Husband , were originally approached for the roles of Fred and Ethel, but neither could accept due to previous commitments. Gordon did appear as a guest star in three episodes, playing Ricky's boss, Mr. Littlefield, in two episodes, and later in an hour-long episode as a civil court judge. Gordon was a veteran from the classic radio days in which he perfected the role of the exasperated character, as in Fibber McGee and Molly and Our Miss Brooks . He would go on to co-star with Ball in most of her post– I Love Lucy series. Benaderet was a guest star in one episode as the Ricardos' neighbor, the elderly Miss Lewis.
Barbara Pepper (later featured as Doris Ziffel in the series Green Acres ) was also considered to play Ethel, but Pepper had been drinking very heavily after the death of her husband, Craig W. Reynolds. Her friendship with Ball dated back to the film Roman Scandals , in which both appeared as Goldwyn Girls. She turned up regularly in bit parts.
Lucille Ball liked naming supporting characters after real-life people. For instance, Carolyn Appleby had been one of her teachers, and Marion Strong was a friend in Jamestown, New York.
Primary production team
- Directors: Marc Daniels (33 episodes, 1951–53); William Asher (101 episodes, 1952–57); James V. Kern (39 episodes, 1955–57)
- Producers: Jess Oppenheimer (150 episodes); Desi Arnaz (150 episodes)
- Writers: Madelyn Pugh Davis, Bob Carroll, Jr. (All Seasons including Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour), Jess Oppenheimer (Seasons 1–5), Bob Schiller, Bob Weiskopf (Seasons 5–6 and Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour)
- Original Music: Wilbur Hatch (33 episodes, 1951–54); Eliot Daniel (135 episodes, 1952–57)
- Cinematography: Karl Freund (149 episodes, 1951–56)
- Costume design: Elois Jenssen (57 episodes, 1953–55)
- Editors: Dann Cahn, Bud Molin
Radio
I Love Lucy was somewhat similar to My Favorite Husband , a 1948–51 CBS comedy radio series in which Lucille Ball (as zany housewife Liz Cooper) starred with Richard Denning. Based on the novel Mr. and Mrs. Cugat by Isabel Scott Rorick, My Favorite Husband was broadcast from July 23, 1948 to March 31, 1951, sponsored by General Foods. In 1950, CBS asked Lucy to take My Favorite Husband to television, but Lucy insisted that the man playing the role of husband be Arnaz, who had been away from Lucy for months at a time as a touring bandleader. When CBS refused because he was foreign-born, Lucy decided to create a television series of her own to bring her husband back home, and I Love Lucy was brought to television. Some of the My Favorite Husband scripts were rewritten as TV scripts for I Love Lucy by the same writers, Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr..
On February 27, 1952, a sample I Love Lucy
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