I Love Lucy 

A daffy woman constantly strives to become a star along with her bandleader husband and gets herself in the strangest situations.

Stars:

Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance

Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 4 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Lucille Ball	...	Lucy Ricardo 181 episodes, 1951-1957
Desi Arnaz	...	Ricky Ricardo 181 episodes, 1951-1957
Vivian Vance	...	Ethel Mertz 180 episodes, 1951-1957
William Frawley	...	Fred Mertz 180 episodes, 1951-1957

Storyline

Cuban Bandleader Ricky Ricardo would be happy if his wife Lucy would just be a housewife. Instead she tries constantly to perform at the Tropicana where he works, and make life comically frantic in the apartment building they share with landlords Fred and Ethel Mertz. The first major show to be put on film rather than kinescope.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | husband wife relationship | f rated | hit tv show | bandleader | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lucy in Connecticut

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 6625 Romaine Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (179 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

All three sponsors of I Love Lucy (1951), were Philip Morris Cigarettes, Procter & Gamble's Cheer Detergent and Lilt Home Permanent.

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Goofs

The Ricardos are said to live in an apartment at 623 East 68th Street, which in real life would be located in the East River. This is not actually a 'goof' because it was done deliberately to avoid legal issues with an actual address.

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Quotes

Ricky Ricardo: Fred, how often is Ethel's checking account overdrawn?
Fred Mertz: Never.
Ricky Ricardo: Never? How do you manage that?
Ethel Mertz: It's easy. I never had enough money at one time to open a checking account.
Fred Mertz: She spends money like I'm printing it in the basement!

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Crazy Credits

In some of the episodes, the guest-star's name(s) are voiced over, by conductor, Wilbur Hatch, in the Opening Credits or Closing Credits.

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Alternate Versions

Many references to the sponsor, Philip Morris, were cut from the original negatives of episodes circa 1956. The DVD releases attempt to restore as many of these as possible using whatever source material exists.

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Connections

Spoofed in Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992)

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Soundtracks

Jingle Bells
Written by James Pierpont
Performed by Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley

User Reviews

I remember the show that was on before it

When I was a child of 9 I remember my parents watching the Horace Heidt musical show on Mondays at 9PM. When the show was cancelled the new I Love Lucy started in the fall of 1951. It was very funny and was the talk of everyone. Now over 50 years later I am still watching it in the repeats. Sadly, all the stars have passed on. The one thing that my wife and I notice now that we did not notice before was how cheap Fred and Ethel were. They were really "moochers". They could have donated something to the cost of trips, remodeling etc. One bizzare note is that Horace Heidt and Desi Arnaz both died on the same day.