I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons.[2] The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian Vance and William Frawley, and follows the life of Lucy Ricardo (Ball), a young, middle-class housewife living in New York City, who often concocts plans with her best friends and landlords, Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vance and Frawley), to appear alongside her bandleader husband, Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz), in his nightclub. Lucy is depicted trying numerous schemes to mingle with and be a part of show business. After the series ended in 1957, a modified version of the show continued for three more seasons, with 13 one-hour specials, which ran from 1957 to 1960. It was first known as The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show, and later, in reruns, as The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.
I Love Lucy became the most-watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons and it was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings.[3] As of 2011, episodes of the show have been syndicated in dozens of languages across the world and remain popular with an American audience of 40 million each year.[4][5][6] A colorized version of its Christmas episode attracted more than eight million viewers when CBS aired it in prime time in 2013, 62 years after the show premiered.[7]
The show – which was the first scripted television program to be filmed on 35 mm film in front of a studio audience, by cinematographer Karl Freund – won five Emmy Awards and received many nominations and honors. It was the first show to feature an ensemble cast.[8] As such, it is often regarded as one of the most influential television programs in history. In 2012, it was voted the 'Best TV Show of All Time' in a survey conducted by ABC News and People magazine.[9] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it #12 on their list of the 101 Best Written TV Series.[10]
Originally set in an apartment building 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 best friends and landlords, Fred Mertz (William Frawley) and Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance). During the second season, Lucy and Ricky have a son named Ricky Ricardo Jr., who often goes by "Little Ricky" and is portrayed by multiple actors throughout the seasons. His birth was timed to coincide with the real-life birth of Ball's son, Desi Arnaz Jr.[11]
Lucy is naïve and ambitious, with a hunger for stardom and a knack for getting both herself and her husband into trouble whenever she yearns to make it big in show business. The Ricardos' best friends, Fred and Ethel, are former vaudevillians. The Mertz's history in entertainment only strengthens Lucy's resolve to prove herself as a performer, though she often feels excluded, as her industry involvement is limited, relative to that of Ricky, Fred, and Ethel. Though charismatic, throughout the series, she is depicted as having few marketable performance skills, and she is often portrayed as being tone deaf, struggling to sing anything other than off-key renditions of songs such as "Glow Worm" on the saxophone, and many of her performances end in disaster. However, to say she is completely without talent would be untrue, as on occasion, she is shown to be a good dancer and a competent singer. She is also at least twice offered contracts by television or film companies—first in the season 1 episode "The Audition", when she replaces an injured clown in Ricky's act at the Tropicana nightclub, and later in the season 5 episode "Lucy and the Dummy", when she dances in Hollywood for a studio party using a rubber Ricky dummy as her dancing partner.
Little information was offered about Lucy's past. A few episodes mentioned that she was born in Jamestown, New York (Ball's real-life home town), later specified to be West Jamestown, that she graduated from Jamestown High School, that her maiden name was "McGillicuddy" (indicating a Scottish or Irish ethnicity, at least on her father's side, though she once mentioned her grandmother was Swedish), and that she met Ricky on a cruise with her friend from an agency she once worked for. Her family was absent, other than occasional appearances by her scatter-brained mother Mrs. McGillicuddy (Kathryn Card), who could never get Ricky's name right. Lucy was also secretive about her age and true hair color, and tended to be careless with money, in addition to being somewhat materialistic, insisting on buying new dresses and hats for every occasion and telling old friends that she and Ricky were wealthy. She was also depicted as a devoted housewife, adept cook, and attentive mother. As part of Lucy's role was to care for her husband, she stayed at home and took care of the household chores, while her husband Ricky went to work.[12] During the post war era, Lucy took jobs outside of the home, but in these jobs, the show portrayed her as being inept outside of her usual domestic duties.[13]
Lucy's husband, Ricky Ricardo, is an up-and-coming Cuban American singer and bandleader with an excitable personality. His patience is frequently tested by his wife's antics trying to get into showbiz, along with her exorbitant spending on clothes and furniture. When exasperated, he often reverts to speaking rapidly in Spanish. As with Lucy, not much is revealed about his past or family. Ricky's mother (played by actress Mary Emery) appears in two episodes; in another, Lucy mentions that he has five brothers. Ricky also mentions that he had been "practically raised" by his Uncle Alberto (who was seen during a family visit to Cuba), and that he had attended the University of Havana. A catchphrase strongly associated with Ricky is "Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do" (sometimes "Lucy, you got a lotta splainin to do"), whenever something Lucy had kept a secret from Ricky that turned into a complicated, problematic situation and was finally revealed to him. The line is still often mentioned in articles about I Love Lucy[14] and even printed on official merchandise,[15] despite the fact that Ricky never says this sentence exactly this way. [16] [17]
An extended flashback segment in the 1957 episode "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana" of The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show filled in numerous details of how Lucy and Ricky met and how Ricky came to the United States. The story, at least insofar as related to newspaper columnist Hedda Hopper, is that the couple met in Havana when Lucy and the Mertzes vacationed there in 1940. Despite his being a university graduate and proficient in English, Ricky is portrayed as a driver of a horse-drawn cab who waits for fares at a pier where tourists arrive by ship. Ricky is hired to serve as one of Lucy's tour guides, and the two fall in love. Having coincidentally also met popular singer, Rudy Vallée, on the cruise ship, Lucy arranges an audition for Ricky, who is hired to be in Vallée's orchestra, thus allowing him to emigrate to the United States on the very ship on which Lucy and the Mertzes were returning. Lucy later states that Ricky played for Vallée only one night before being traded to Xavier Cugat's orchestra.
The extended flashback segment "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana" and the story of how Lucy and Ricky met is inconsistent with the season 4 episode "Don Juan and the Starlets". At one point in that episode, Lucy, after finding out that she was not invited to join Ricky at a movie premiere, bemoans that she made a mistake fifteen years before when her friend Marion Strong asked her if she would like to go on a blind date with a Cuban drummer, to which she said "yes."
Throughout the series, Lucy is usually found with her best friend, Ethel. A former singer and actress in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ethel tries to relive her glory days in vaudeville. Ricky is more inclined to include Ethel in performances at his nightclub because, unlike Lucy, she can sing and dance rather well.
The show mentions that Ethel's husband, Fred, served in World War I, and lived through the Great Depression. As such, in the series, Fred is depicted as being very stingy with money and as being an irascible, no-nonsense type. However, he also reveals that he can be a soft touch, especially when it comes to Little Ricky, to whom Fred is both godfather and honorary "uncle." Fred can also sing and dance, and he often performs duets with Ethel.
The Manhattan building they all lived in before their move to Westport, Connecticut during the sixth season, was addressed at a fictional 623 East 68th Street, at first in apartment 4A, then moving to the larger apartment 3B (subsequently re-designated 3D; the Mertzes’ apartment is then numbered 3B), on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. In actuality, however, the addresses go up only to the 500s before the street terminates at the East River.
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, owing 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 episode of The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show 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 all of her post–I Love Lucy series (The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life with Lucy). Benaderet was a guest star in one episode as elderly Miss Lewis, a neighbor of the Ricardos.
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 (1933), in which both appeared as Goldwyn Girls. She did, however, turn up in at least nine episodes of I Love Lucy in bit parts.[18]
Many of the characters in the series were named after Ball's family members or close friends. For example, Marion Strong was one of her best friends and a roommate for a time in New York, and she also set Ball and Arnaz up on their first date. Lillian Appleby was a teacher of Ball's when she was in an amateur production on the stage. Additionally, Pauline Lopus was a childhood friend, while Fred was the name of both her brother and grandfather. Ball and Arnaz had a business manager by the name of Mr. Andrew Hickox, and in the first episode of season 4, called "The Business Manager" Ricky hires a man named Mr. Hickox.
Lucille Ball came to Hollywood after a successful stint as a New York model. She was chosen by Samuel Goldwyn to be one of 16 Goldwyn Girls to co-star in the picture Roman Scandals (1933), with film star Eddie Cantor.[19] Enthusiastic and hard-working, Ball had been able to secure film work briefly at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio and Columbia Pictures and then eventually at RKO Radio Pictures. It was at RKO that Ball received steady film work, first as an extra and bit player and eventually working her way up to co-starring roles in feature films and starring roles in second rate B pictures, collectively earning her the nickname "Queen of the B's".[20] During her run at RKO, Ball gained the reputation for doing physical comedy and stunts that most other actresses avoided, keeping her steadily employed. In 1940, Ball met Desi Arnaz, a Cuban bandleader who had just come off a successful run in the 1939–40 Broadway show Too Many Girls. RKO, after purchasing film rights to the show, cast Ball as Arnaz's love interest in the picture.[21] The duo began a whirlwind courtship, leading to their elopement in Connecticut in November 1940. Despite their marriage, however, their careers kept them separated, with Ball's film work keeping her anchored in Hollywood, while Arnaz's nightclub engagements with his orchestra kept him on the road.
Despite steadily working in pictures, Ball's movie career never advanced to the level of a headlining feature-film actress. Nevertheless, she remained popular with film audiences. Ball came to the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after receiving critical acclaim for her starring role in the 1942 Damon Runyon film The Big Street, which bought out her contract.[22] It was under contract with MGM, however, that Ball, who had previously been a blonde, dyed her hair red to complement the Technicolor features that MGM planned to use her in.[23] MGM cast Ball in a variety of films, but it was her work with fellow comedian Red Skelton in the 1943 film DuBarry Was a Lady that brought Ball's physical comedy to the forefront, earning her the reputation as "that crazy redhead,” which Ricky would later call her on the show.[24] Nonetheless, Ball's striking beauty was in sharp contrast to the physical antics she performed in her films. Throughout her career, MGM tried to utilize her in multiple different film genres that did little to highlight her skills. Given their difficulties in casting her, MGM chose not to renew her contract when it expired in 1946.[25]
Ball began working as a freelance artist in films and also began to explore other venues.[25] Before and during World War II, Ball made several notable and successful guest appearances on several radio programs, including both Jack Haley's radio show and bandleader Kay Kyser's radio program.[26][27] These appearances brought Ball to the attention of CBS, which, in 1948, enlisted her to star in one of two new half-hour situation comedies in development, Our Miss Brooks and My Favorite Husband. Choosing the latter, Ball portrayed Liz Cugat (later anglicized to Cooper), the frustrated and scheming housewife of a Minneapolis banker, played originally by actor Lee Bowman in the series pilot, and later by actor Richard Denning. Based on the novel, Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, by Isabel Scott Rorick, My Favorite Husband was produced by Jess Oppenheimer and written by Oppenheimer, plus scribes Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr. Premiering on July 23, 1948, and sponsored by General Foods, Husband became a hit for CBS.[28] During the run of the radio program, Ball also appeared in two feature films with Bob Hope, Sorrowful Jones in 1949, and Fancy Pants in 1950. Both films were box office and critical successes,[29][30] further cementing Ball's reputation as a top notch, first-rate comedian. They also highlighted her growing popularity with audiences, enticing CBS to further use her skills.
In 1950, CBS asked Ball to take My Favorite Husband to television with co-star Richard Denning.[31] Ball saw a television show as a great opportunity to work with Arnaz, however, and she insisted that he play her husband, much to the dismay of CBS, which was reluctant to cast Arnaz in that role, as he was Cuban.[32] CBS executives did not think audiences would buy into a marriage between an all-American girl and a Latin man.[32] To prove CBS wrong, the couple developed a vaudeville act, written by Carroll and Pugh, that they performed at Newburgh NY's historic Ritz Theater with Arnaz's orchestra.[33] The act was a hit and convinced CBS executive Harry Ackerman that a Ball-Arnaz pairing would be a worthwhile venture. At the same time, rival networks NBC, ABC, and DuMont were showing interest in a Ball-Arnaz series, which Ackerman used to convince CBS to sign the duo.
A pilot was ordered and kinescoped in Hollywood in March 1951, which coincided with Ball's first pregnancy, and the ending of Husband, which aired its last radio show on March 31, 1951. Ball and Arnaz used the same radio team of Oppenheimer, Pugh, and Carroll to create the television series that was named I Love Lucy. The couple's agent, Don Sharpe, brought the pilot to several advertising agencies with little luck but finally succeeded with the Milton H. Biow agency. Biow's agency presented the pilot to its clients and was able to convince cigarette giant Philip Morris to sponsor the show.[34]
During the spring and summer of 1951, I Love Lucy moved into production. Oppenheimer, Pugh, and Carroll began fine-tuning the premise of the show and writing the series' first scripts. The trio chose to adapt many storylines for television using the backlog of episodes of My Favorite Husband. In addition, the series' ensemble cast and crew were assembled. Arnaz retained his orchestra, which was used in the series musical numbers and to score the show's background and transitional music. Arnaz's childhood friend Marco Rizo arranged the music and played the piano for the show, while Wilbur Hatch was used to conduct the orchestra.[35]
