Community Chat

[betteb]

I thought there might be some other Lucy fans here that would enjoy this

At 9:00 EST, on October 15, 1951, CBS aired a little show called I Love Lucy for the first time. It's been 63 years, and even to this day, 40 million American viewers still watch the show every year.

What Were Some of the Major TV Innovations Pioneered by I Love Lucy?

While we will remember the show for its groundbreaking comedy, the fact of the matter is, the stuff they did on the other side of the camera broke a lot of ground too.

The show was one of the first to be shot on 35mm film, and the first ever to do so while being performed in front of a live studio audience. This produced several payoffs: 1) Because it was such a costly decision, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball took a $1,000-a-week pay cut just to get the show shot on film. In return for their paycut, the couple received 80% of the rights to the films of each episode. Needless to say, that was a smart tradeoff to make (see that part up above about still getting 40 million viewers a year). 2) Not wanting to have to shoot scenes over and over from different angles and risk losing the mojo of live audience reactions, they became the first sitcom ever to use three cameras (a methodology now quite popular with comedies). 3) Oh yeah, they also invented the rerun. Apparently carrying around a child in your stomach, and then passing that child through your body can be exhausting, and Ball needed some time off during the experience. Luckily for the show, they had all these films lying around of the show, so they just re-aired those. Turned out that the audience loved them and so was born the rerun, forever changing the face of television.

How Did They Deal With Lucy Being Pregnant Both in Real Life, and on the Show?Speaking of getting pregnant, that provided its own set of challenges. In case you haven't heard, the 50s were a more conservative time, and the show's sponsor, Philip Morris, wanted the pregnancy episodes of the show to be screened by a priest, a minister and a rabbi to make sure they didn't offend anyone (we really hope that trio would go to bars after screenings).

In fact, on the show, characters weren't even allowed to call Lucy pregnant. Instead, she was "expecting." Then, when she finally gave birth, Ball and Arnaz (who heretofore had slept in separate twin beds that were right next to each other) had to push their beds apart, just to make sure nobody got any crazy thoughts that in order to have that kid the couple might have, well, ya know, done whatever it is two adults do when their beds are right next to each other. For all the concern on the producers' end, viewers turned out to be shockingly okay with such a radical notion as a couple in wedlock having a child. The episode where Lucy had Little Ricky scored 44 million viewers.

Who Appeared on the First Cover of TV Guide Magazine?The first ever TV Guide was graced by none other than Lucille Ball (whose image was largely overwhelmed by that of her child). She went on to achieve the most covers ever in TV Guide history, showing up a whopping 39 times. No matter what the era, hers was always a face that would sell. Why? Well because if you ever uttered the phrase "I Love Lucy," you weren't alone.

[Say Nay]

I'm a big fan. Thanks for sharing these fun facts!

[croemer]

Ah...I have heard these before. If you want to read a good book:

The Other Side of Ethel Mertz: The Life Story of Vivian Vance

really informative...she had a tough life and a hard time being able to get the good parts. I actually found her very pretty. Lucy btw made sure Vivian dressed to look frumpy she did not want the competition.

[betteb]

On 10/15/2014 croemer said:

Ah...I have heard these before. If you want to read a good book:

The Other Side of Ethel Mertz: The Life Story of Vivian Vance

really informative...she had a tough life and a hard time being able to get the good parts. I actually found her very pretty. Lucy btw made sure Vivian dressed to look frumpy she did not want the competition.

HI croemer I did not know that about Lucy, I will have to look for that book.

[betteb]

On 10/15/2014 MomTo2Dogs said:

I'm a big fan. Thanks for sharing these fun facts!

Your welcome. This is one of the first TV shows (other than cartoons) that I remember wanting to watch.

[croemer]

On 10/15/2014 betteb said:

On 10/15/2014 croemer said:

Ah...I have heard these before. If you want to read a good book:

The Other Side of Ethel Mertz: The Life Story of Vivian Vance

really informative...she had a tough life and a hard time being able to get the good parts. I actually found her very pretty. Lucy btw made sure Vivian dressed to look frumpy she did not want the competition.<br />

HI croemer I did not know that about Lucy, I will have to look for that book.

Hello my friend. Its a very good book and rather sad.

[scotttie]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. If I remember correctly when Lucy had the baby it knocked Eisenhower's inauguration off the front page (Lucy's real baby that is, Desi, Jr).

I read Desi Sr.'s book many years ago. I think it was called "A Book" . Very good reading.

[croemer]

I will have to check that out scottie

I read this book as wellesilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

Lucy and Desi loved each other until their deaths. They had one last phone call(Lucy called him) on his death bed. So poignant...and sad.

[scotttie]

On 10/15/2014 croemer said:

I will have to check that out scottie

I read this book as wellesilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

Lucy and Desi loved each other until their deaths. They had one last phone call(Lucy called him) on his death bed. So poignant...and sad.

Oh yeah, I remember seeing a video of them when they were both old and still alive.

They were in a swimming pool with their grandchildren. It was so bittersweet.

Lucy was telling Desi he should teach them Spanish.

[LyndaGee]

Once in awhile, on PBS, they show: "Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie." There's one part towards the end where there's a film clip of Lucy and Desi playing in their pool with their grandson, Simon. You could tell Lucy and Desi still had feelings for each other. So sweet.