I Love Lucy

Publicity photo of the I Love Lucy cast: William Frawley (Fred Mertz), Desi Arnaz (Ricky Ricardo), Vivian Vance (Ethel Mertz), Lucille Ball (Lucy Ricardo)

I Love Lucy is an American sitcom. It stars Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. It was written by television writer Bob Schiller. The black-and-white series first ran from 15 October 1951 to 6 May 1957 on CBS. Even after the series ended in 1957, it continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials. This show ran from 1957 to 1960. It was known first as The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and later in reruns as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.

The series is about two married couples living in New York City: Ricky and Lucy Ricardo, and oldsters Fred and Ethel Mertz. They all live in the same apartment building. Ricky is a nightclub band leader. Lucy is a housewife. Many episodes revolve around Lucy's attempts to get into Ricky's show. She often pulls Fred and Ethel into her schemes. In one episode, Lucy and Ethel are assembly line workers in a candy factory. They cannot keep up with packaging the candy so they eat it. In another episode, Lucy gets drunk on a health tonic while shooting a television commercial. Four or five episodes follow the couples on trips to Italy and to Hollywood. Ball and Arnaz were real-life husband and wife. They became the parents of a boy during the run of the series. This event was woven into the series. A child actor played their son "Little Ricky". Eventually they would all move to a rural area in Connecticut.

I Love Lucy was the most watched series in the United States in four of its six seasons. It was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings. I Love Lucy is still syndicated in dozens of languages around the world. The series was the first scripted television program to be shot on 35 mm film in front of a studio audience. The show won five Emmy Awards, and received numerous nominations. In 2002, it ranked second on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.^[1] In 2007, it was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME."^[2] I Love Lucy remains very popular today. It is still seen by 40 million Americans each year.^[3]

I Love Lucy Media

Lucy and Ricky climb in the Alps during their 1956 trip to Europe.
Mike (left) and Joe Mayer played Little Ricky as a toddler.
Lucille Ball with John Wayne on the set of the 1955 episode "Lucy and John Wayne"
Cinematographer Karl Freund (1932)
William Frawley in 1951
Photo of Vivian Vance used for publicity for the play Springtime for Henry.
Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, from the 1955 episode "Face to Face"
"Lucy and Superman" (1957)