I Love Lucy
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. The show starred Lucille Ball, her then real-life husband Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. It followed the life of Lucy Ricardo (Ball), a young middle-class housewife in New York City, who either concocted plans with her best friends Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vance and Frawley) to appear alongside her bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz) in his nightclub, or tried numerous schemes to mingle with, or be a part of show business. After the series ended in 1957, a modified version continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials; it 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.
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| Written by | Jess Oppenheimer (Seasons 1–5)
Madelyn Davis Bob Carroll Jr. Bob Schiller (Seasons 5–6) Bob Weiskopf (Seasons 5–6) |
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screenplay by
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story by
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creative director
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judges
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voices of
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narrated by
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music by
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opening theme
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ending theme
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| Country of origin | United States
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| No. of seasons | 6
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| No. of episodes | 180 (list of episodes)
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PRODUCTION
| Executive producer | Desi Arnaz
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news editor
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animator
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editor
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| Running time | 23–26 minutes
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budget
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RELEASE
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| Picture format | Black and white film
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| Audio format | Monaural
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| First shown in |
first shown in
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| Original release | October 15, 1951 –
May 6, 1957 |
CHRONOLOGY
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preceded by
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related shows
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Lucy Ricardo: Ethel, apologize.
Ethel Mertz: I'm sorry your mother looks like a weasel.
- The "valentine" opening credits seen in syndication were *not* the original opening credits. When the series originally aired on CBS, the credits featured animated stick figures of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz along with the sponsor's product - Phillip Morris cigarettes, for instance. The "valentine" credits were added when CBS began rerunning the series in 1958.
- References to the series' original sponsor, Phillip Morris, can still be seen in some episodes today. Most notable is the scene in "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" in which Lucy dresses up as Johnny the Bellhop, the Phillip Morris icon.
- Bea Benaderet and Gale Gordon were Lucy and Desi's first choice to play the Mertzes.
- Gale Gordon was the first choice to play Fred Mertz, but he was unavailable. When they came across William Frawley, Desi Arnaz wanted him, but he was told that Frawley would be a poor choice because he was a womanizer, a gambler, and a drunk. Arnaz said, "He's perfect!"
- Desi Arnaz invented the rerun during the pregnancy episodes of this series by re-airing some episodes from the first season to give Lucy some rest.
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