View source for I Love Lucy

{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Short description|American television sitcom (1951–1957)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = I Love Lucy title.svg
| caption              = Logo from the syndicated edition
| genre                = [[Sitcom]]
| based_on             = ''[[My Favorite Husband]]''
| starring             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Lucille Ball]]
* [[Desi Arnaz]]
* [[Vivian Vance]]
* [[William Frawley]]
* [[Richard Keith (actor)|Richard Keith]]
}}
| theme_music_composer = {{Plainlist|
* [[Eliot Daniel]] (music)
* [[Harold Adamson]] (lyrics)
}}
| composer             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Eliot Daniel]]
* [[Wilbur Hatch]]
* [[Marco Rizo]]
}}
| country              = United States
| language             = {{Plainlist|
* English
* Spanish
}}
| num_seasons          = 6
| num_episodes         = 180{{efn|name="episodes"|This total includes the "lost" Christmas episode but not the original pilot.}}
| list_episodes        = List of I Love Lucy episodes
| executive_producer   = [[Desi Arnaz]] (#29–153)
| producer             = {{Plainlist| 
*[[Jess Oppenheimer]] (#1–153)
*[[Desi Arnaz]] (#154-179)
}}
| location             = Desilu Studios, Los Angeles
| camera               = [[Multiple-camera setup|Multi-camera]]
| runtime              = 23–26 minutes
| company              = [[Desilu Productions]]
| network              = [[CBS]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=de Moraes |first1=Lisa |title=CBS Dusts Off And Colorizes 'I Love Lucy' Episodes For May Sweep Tryout |url=https://deadline.com/2015/04/i-love-lucy-may-sweep-cbs-superman-hollywood-1201411125/ |website=Deadline |access-date=October 1, 2022 |date=April 16, 2015 |archive-date=April 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417050359/https://deadline.com/2015/04/i-love-lucy-may-sweep-cbs-superman-hollywood-1201411125/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1951|10|15}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1957|5|6}}
| related              = {{Plainlist|
* ''[[The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour]]''
}}
}}
'''''I Love Lucy''''' is an American [[sitcom]] that aired on [[CBS]] from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with 180 half-hour episodes across six seasons.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/i/ilovelucy_1299000197.shtml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041205052136/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/i/ilovelucy_1299000197.shtml | archive-date=December 5, 2004 | title=BBC – Comedy Guide – I Love Lucy }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Looking back at 'I Love Lucy' 64 years later|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/10-love-lucy-article-1.2397434|last=DOSTIS|first=MELANIE|website=nydailynews.com|date=October 15, 2015 |access-date=May 18, 2020|archive-date=May 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522161341/https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/10-love-lucy-article-1.2397434|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2011, episodes of the show have been [[broadcast syndication|syndicated]] in dozens of languages across the world and remain popular with an American audience of 40 million each year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2011/08/i-love-lucy-100-years-and-going-strong|title=I love Lucy – 100 Years and Going Strong|work=[[Videomaker Magazine|Videomaker]]|date=August 5, 2011|access-date=July 26, 2018|archive-date=July 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726203219/https://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2011/08/i-love-lucy-100-years-and-going-strong|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://durangoherald.com/articles/27261|title=Legacy of 'I Love Lucy' a force in comedy|work=[[The Durango Herald]]|last=Elber|first=Lynn|date=August 5, 2011|access-date=July 26, 2018|archive-date=July 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726201704/https://durangoherald.com/articles/27261|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tvguide.com/News/Love-Lucy-Live-1037282.aspx?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=imdb&profileid=01 |title=I Love Lucy Goes Live! – Today's News: Our Take |publisher=TVGuide.com |date=September 14, 2011 |access-date=November 22, 2012 |quote=[...]which owns the rights to the series still seen on TV by 40 million Americans each year. |archive-date=September 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915113246/http://www.tvguide.com/News/Love-Lucy-Live-1037282.aspx?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=imdb&profileid=01 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/viewers-found-much-to-love-in-lucy-christmas-show/?_r=0 |title=Viewers Found Much to Love in 'Lucy' Christmas Show |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 23, 2013 |access-date=December 23, 2013 |first=Allan |last=Kozinn |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113418/http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/viewers-found-much-to-love-in-lucy-christmas-show/?_r=0 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The show{{dash}}which was the first scripted television program to be filmed on [[35mm movie film|35 mm film]] in front of a studio audience, by cinematographer [[Karl Freund]]{{dash}}won five [[Emmy Awards]] and received many nominations and honors. It was the first show to feature an [[ensemble cast]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldetimecooking.com/TV/i_love_lucy.htm|title=I Love Lucy|publisher=oldtimecooking.com|date=2014|access-date=March 7, 2018|archive-date=April 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405181412/http://oldetimecooking.com/TV/i_love_lucy.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 (United States)|ABC News]] and [[People (magazine)|''People'' magazine]].<ref>{{cite news |title=''I Love Lucy'' Voted the Best TV Show of All Time |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Best_In_TV/love-lucy-voted-best-tv-show-time/story?id=17263942 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |publisher=[[Disney-ABC Television Group]] |date=September 18, 2012 |access-date=July 16, 2014 |archive-date=November 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118132431/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Best_In_TV/love-lucy-voted-best-tv-show-time/story?id=17263942 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2013, the [[Writers Guild of America]] ranked it #12 on their list of the 101 Best Written TV Series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wga.org/writers-room/101-best-lists/101-best-written-tv-series/list|title=101 Best Written TV Series|website=Writers Guild of America West|date=June 2, 2013}}</ref>

==Premise==
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 [[landlord]]s, [[Fred Mertz]] ([[William Frawley]]) and [[Ethel Mertz]] ([[Vivian Vance]]). During the second season, Lucy and Ricky have a son named [[Ricky Ricardo Jr.]], who usually 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.<ref name="birthofamemo"/>

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 [[Vaudeville|vaudevillians]]. The Mertzes' 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 perform anything other than off-key renditions of songs such as "[[The Glow-Worm|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{{dash}}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 [[Jamestown West, New York|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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Carini|first=Susan|date=2003|title=Love's Labors Almost Lost: Managing Crisis during the Reign of 'I Love Lucy'.|jstor=1225930|journal=Cinema Journal|volume=43|issue=1|pages=44–62|doi=10.1353/cj.2003.0022|s2cid=194068713 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Landay|first=Lori|date=1999|title=Millions 'Love Lucy': Commodification and the Lucy Phenomenon|jstor=4316654|journal=NWSA|volume=11|issue=2|pages=25–47}}</ref>

[[File:I love lucy 1956.JPG|thumb|upright|Lucy and Ricky climb in the Alps during their 1956 trip to Europe.]]

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 [[Show business|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''<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://ew.com/tv/lucy-ricky-gold-standard-television-couples/ | title=Why Lucy and Ricky are still the gold standard for television couples | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] }}</ref> and printed on official merchandise,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lucystore.com/i-love-lucy-you-got-a-lotta-splainin-to-do-t-shirt.html|title=I Love Lucy You Got A Lotta Splainin To Do T-Shirt}}</ref> despite the fact that Ricky never says this phrase in any episode.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.suggest.com/one-of-the-most-famous-lines-from-i-love-lucy-was-never-actually-said-on-the-show/2608011/ | title=One of the Most Famous Lines from 'I Love Lucy' Was Never Actually Said on the Show | date=December 16, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=February 21, 2017 |title=9 famous TV catchphrases that were never actually said on their shows |url=https://www.metv.com/lists/9-famous-tv-catchphrases-that-were-never-actually-said-on-their-shows |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210130617/https://www.metv.com/lists/9-famous-tv-catchphrases-that-were-never-actually-said-on-their-shows |archive-date=December 10, 2021 |access-date= |website=MeTV}}</ref>

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]].

==Cast==
[[File:I Love Lucy Cast.JPG|thumb|upright|Cast members from left, standing: William Frawley, Desi Arnaz, seated: Vivian Vance and Lucille Ball]]
[[File:Lucille Ball I love Lucy Little Ricky actors 1955.JPG|thumb|upright|Mike (left) and Joe Mayer played Little Ricky as a toddler.]]
* [[Lucille Ball]] as [[Lucy and Ricky Ricardo|Lucy McGillicuddy Ricardo]]
* [[Desi Arnaz]] as Ricky Ricardo
* [[Vivian Vance]] as [[Ethel Mertz]]
* [[William Frawley]] as [[Fred Mertz]]
* [[Richard Keith (Keith Thibodeaux)|Richard Keith]] as [[Ricky Ricardo Jr.]] (Little Ricky)
* Twins Mike Mayer and Joe Mayer played Little Ricky as a toddler
* [[Kathryn Card]] as Lucy's mother Mrs. McGillicuddy (also Minnie Finch in the earlier episode "Fan Magazine Interview")
* [[Mary Jane Croft]] as Betty Ramsey and various characters
* [[Frank Nelson (actor)|Frank Nelson]] as Freddie Fillmore and various characters
* [[Jerry Hausner]] as Ricky's agent Jerry (except in "The Handcuffs" in which the role was played by [[Paul Dubov]]. Hausner also played Joe in "[[Lucy Does a TV Commercial]]")
* [[Doris Singleton]] as Carolyn Appleby (she was originally named Lillian; but after her first appearance in "The Club Election", her name was changed to Carolyn)
* [[Shirley Mitchell]] as Marion Strong, a role originated by [[Margie Liszt]]
* [[Elizabeth Patterson (actress)|Elizabeth Patterson]] as Mrs. Trumbull (also Mrs. Willoughby in the earlier episode "The Marriage License")
* [[Tennessee Ernie Ford]] as Cousin Ernie in "Tennessee Ernie Visits", "Tennessee Ernie Hangs On" and "Tennessee Bound"
* [[Bob Jellison]] as Bobby the Bellboy in six of the episodes that take place in Hollywood (also Milkman in the earlier episode "The Gossip")
* [[Ross Elliott]] as Ricky's Publicity Man in "Don Juan and the Starlets", "Bull Fight Dance" and "Hollywood Anniversary" (also The Director in the earlier episode "Lucy Does a TV Commercial")
* William Hamel as Maitre D' at the Tropicana nightclub in "Lucy Is Enceinte", "[[Lucy Goes to the Hospital]]", "Lucy's Last Birthday" and "Lucy Is Matchmaker"

[[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, playing Ricky's boss, Mr. Littlefield, in two episodes of ''I Love Lucy'', and later a civil court judge in an episode of ''The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show''. 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.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672571/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1|title=Filmography: Barbara Pepper|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=July 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715004234/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672571/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 Ball's brother and her 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.

===Primary production team===
* Directors: [[Marc Daniels]] (33 episodes, 1951–53); [[William Asher]] (101 episodes, 1952–57); [[James V. Kern]] (39 episodes, 1955–57)
* Producers: [[Jess Oppenheimer]] (153 episodes, 1951–56); Desi Arnaz (exec. producer{{dash}}124 episodes, 1952–56; producer{{dash}}26 episodes, 1956–57)
* Writers: Jess Oppenheimer (head writer, seasons 1–5), [[Madelyn Pugh Davis]] and [[Bob Carroll Jr.]] (All seasons including ''Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour''), [[Bob Schiller]] and [[Bob Weiskopf]] (seasons 5–6 and ''Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour'')
* Original Music: [[Wilbur Hatch]] (33 episodes, 1951–54); Eliot Daniel (135 episodes, 1952–57); [[Marco Rizo]] (1951–1957)
* [[Cinematography]]: [[Karl Freund]] (149 episodes, 1951–56)
* [[Costume design]]: [[Elois Jenssen]] (57 episodes, 1953–55), [[Edward Stevenson (costume designer)|Edward Stevenson]] (66 episodes, 1955–60)
* Film Editors: [[Dann Cahn]], [[Bud Molin]]

==Background and development==
===Background===
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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/ask-her-anything-about-desi-sr-divorce-drugs-gay-rights-lucy-ball-hasnt-become-bashful-at-68-vol-13-no-6/|title=Ask Her Anything About Desi Sr., Divorce, Drugs, Gay Rights – Lucy Ball Hasn't Become Bashful at 68|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|last=Lester|first=Peter|date=February 11, 1980|access-date=October 18, 2018|archive-date=October 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019075759/https://people.com/archive/ask-her-anything-about-desi-sr-divorce-drugs-gay-rights-lucy-ball-hasnt-become-bashful-at-68-vol-13-no-6/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 Pictures|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 movie|B pictures]], collectively earning her the nickname "Queen of the B's".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radioclassics.com/happy-birthday-lucille-ball/|title=Happy Birthday, Lucille Ball!|work=[[Radio Classics]]|last=Shreve Jr.|first=Ivan G.|date=August 6, 2018|access-date=October 20, 2018|archive-date=October 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021024615/http://www.radioclassics.com/happy-birthday-lucille-ball/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 (musical)|Too Many Girls]]''. RKO, after purchasing film rights to the show, cast Ball as Arnaz's love interest in the picture.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/02/lucille-ball-making-comic/|title=Lucille Ball: The Making of a Comic|work=[[The Saturday Evening Post]]|last=Martin|first=Pete|date=February 12, 2018|access-date=October 20, 2018|quote=I met [Desi Arnaz] at the RKO studio in May 1940. We were filming Too Many Girls, the stage show in which Desi made his first big hit. He asked me for a date that very night, and pretty soon we were married.|archive-date=October 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020223941/https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/02/lucille-ball-making-comic/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.
[[File:Lucille Ball 1944crop.jpg|thumb|233x233px|Lucille Ball in 1944]]

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/celebrity/i-love-lucy-for-100-years/|title=Lucille Ball Lovingly Remembered on Her 100th Birthday|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|last=Silverman|first=Stephen M.|date=August 6, 2011|access-date=October 20, 2018|archive-date=October 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020223922/https://people.com/celebrity/i-love-lucy-for-100-years/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was under contract with MGM, however, that Ball, who had previously been a blonde, [[dye]]d her hair red to complement the Technicolor features that MGM planned to use her in.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shales |first=Tom |date=December 6, 1998 |title='TECHNICOLOR': WONDERFUL HUE |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1998/12/07/technicolor-wonderful-hue/261fdc2a-d60f-4764-aa60-7208f5643e58/ |website=Washington Posts}}</ref> 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 (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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Marla Brooks|date=2005|title=The American family on television: a chronology of 121 shows, 1948–2004|publisher=McFarland & Co|page=25}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ballofire">{{cite book|last=Kanfer|first=Stefan|date=January 1, 2003|title=Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j66uvWzubRwC|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-1422350614|access-date=May 8, 2020|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805080515/https://books.google.com/books?id=j66uvWzubRwC|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Desi Arnaz 1950.JPG|thumb|309x309px|Desi Arnaz]]

Ball began working as a freelance artist in films and also began to explore other venues.<ref name="ballofire"/> 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sheridan|first1=James|last2=Monush|first2=Barry|date=June 1, 2011|title=Lucille Ball FAQ: Everything Left to Know About America's Favorite Redhead|publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books|isbn=978-1617740824|quote=In the fall of 1938, Ball joined the cast of "The Wonder Show", which was headlined by Jack Haley.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ourstate.com/kay-kyser/|title=A Forgotten Star|work=[[Our State]]|date=December 3, 2012|access-date=October 21, 2018|quote=In its day, Kay Kyser's band scored 35 top-10 hits, blazed across stages in Hollywood and New York, hobnobbed with the likes of Bette Davis and Lucille Ball [...]|archive-date=October 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021190830/https://www.ourstate.com/kay-kyser/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 [[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, [[Madelyn Pugh]], and [[Bob Carroll Jr.]] Premiering on July 23, 1948, and sponsored by [[General Foods]], ''Husband'' became a hit for CBS.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Televiewing Audience: The Art and Science of Watching TV|last1=Atkin|first1=David J.|last2=Abelman|first2=Robert|publisher=Hampton Press|page=95|isbn=9781433110542|quote=CBS asked actress Lucille Ball to star in a radio sitcom called My Favorite Husband. The program rose to popularity [...]|year=2011}}</ref> During the run of the radio program, Ball also appeared in two feature films with Bob Hope, ''[[Sorrowful Jones]]'' in 1949, and ''[[Fancy Pants (film)|Fancy Pants]]'' in 1950. Both films were box office and critical successes,<ref name="top">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety177-1950-01#page/n58/mode/1up|title=Top Grossers of 1949|magazine=Variety|date=January 4, 1950|page=59}}</ref><ref>'The Top Box Office Hits of 1950', ''Variety'', January 3, 1951</ref> 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]].<ref name=Desilu1>{{cite book|first1=Coyne|last1=Sanders|first2=Tom|last2=Gilbert|title=Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz|year=1994|pages=23–25|ref=Desilu|isbn=0-688-13514-5|publisher=Harper Collins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_n5s-2BGrkC&pg=PA23|access-date=May 31, 2017|archive-date=August 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812192007/https://books.google.com/books?id=W_n5s-2BGrkC&pg=PA23|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Huffpost">{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-silver/sotomayer-more-splainin-t_b_236347.html|title=Sotomayor: More 'Splainin' to Do|work=[[HuffPost]]|last=Silver|first=Allison|date=August 16, 2009|access-date=October 24, 2018|archive-date=October 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005125702/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-silver/sotomayer-more-splainin-t_b_236347.html|url-status=live}}</ref> CBS executives did not think audiences would buy into a marriage between an all-American girl and a Latin man.<ref name="Huffpost"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/entertainment/theater/2014/05/15/lucy-desi-arnaz-newburgh/9132425/|title=Lucy and Desi return to Newburgh|work=[[Poughkeepsie Journal]]|last=Finley|first=Michaela|date=May 15, 2014|access-date=October 24, 2018|archive-date=December 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213205220/https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/entertainment/theater/2014/05/15/lucy-desi-arnaz-newburgh/9132425/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]], [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], and [[DuMont Television Network|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 [[Milton H. Biow]]'s agency, The Biow Company, which convinced its client, cigarette giant [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]], to sponsor the show.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Andrews|first=Bart|title=The "I Love Lucy" Book|publisher=Doubleday|year=1985|isbn=0-385-19033-6|edition=1st|location=Garden City, N.Y.|pages=25|oclc=10697263}}</ref>

Every episode of ''I Love Lucy'' would be filmed in front of a studio audience consisting of 300 members, with Desi Arnaz acting as emcee before every episode filming.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lucydesi.com/i-love-lucy-history/fast-facts/|title=20 I Love Lucy Fast Facts|publisher=Lucy Desi Museum|accessdate=February 9, 2025}}</ref> One notable filming, which occurred when Ball was being investigated for potential Communist sympathies in 1953, involved Arnaz telling the audience "Now I want you to meet my favorite wife, my favorite redhead. In fact, that's the only thing red about her. And even that's not legitimate, Lucile Ball."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thewrap.com/lucille-ball-communism-true-story-being-the-ricardos/|title='Being the Ricardos' and Communism: The Truth Behind Lucille Ball's Red Scare|first=Rosemary|last=Rossi|publisher=The Wrap|date=December 21, 2021|accessdate=February 9, 2025}}</ref>

===Production===
{{More citations needed|section|date=September 2017}}
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]] conducted the orchestra.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kosovsky|first=Bob|date=August 11, 2011|title=Celebrating Lucille Ball with Music|url=https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/08/11/celebrating-lucille-ball-music|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=[[New York Public Library|The New York Public Library Blog]]|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707041446/https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/08/11/celebrating-lucille-ball-music|url-status=live}}</ref> 
[[File:Lucille Ball John Wayne 1955.JPG|right|thumb|upright|Lucille Ball with [[John Wayne]] on the set of the 1955 episode "Lucy and John Wayne"]]
After Philip Morris signed on to sponsor the show, two problems that would ultimately change the fate of ''I Love Lucy'' arose. Ball and Arnaz had originally decided that the series would air biweekly, like ''[[The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show]]''. Philip Morris, however, was insistent that the show air weekly, thus diminishing the possibility of Ball continuing her film career alongside a television show.{{Sfnp|Andrews|1985|p=25}} Another problem lay in the fact that Philip Morris wanted the series to originate from New York rather than Hollywood. At the time, most television shows were produced from New York and broadcast live for eastern and Midwest audiences. West Coast viewers were able to view live programs only through low-quality [[kinescope]]s, which derived their images by using a 35&nbsp;mm or [[16 mm film|16&nbsp;mm]] film camera to record the show from a television monitor.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Elrick|first=Ted|date=July 2003|title=I Love Lucy|url=https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/0307-July-2003/I-Love-Lucy.aspx|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=[[Directors Guild of America]]|language=en|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727183724/http://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/0307-July-2003/I-Love-Lucy.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the pilot film shown to Philip Morris had been a kinescope, the sponsor did not want the lucrative East Coast market, accustomed to quality broadcasts, to see a low-quality kinescope film.<ref name=":1" /> Owing to the impending birth of their first child, both Ball and Arnaz insisted on staying in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]] and producing the show on film, something a few Hollywood-based series had begun to do.<ref>{{Cite web|last=MediaVillage|date=October 15, 2019|title=HISTORY'S Moments in Media: Launching a Legend With "I Love Lucy"|url=https://www.mediavillage.com/article/historys-moments-in-media-launching-a-legend-with-i-love-lucy/|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=MediaVillage|language=en|archive-date=July 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706082330/https://www.mediavillage.com/article/historys-moments-in-media-launching-a-legend-with-i-love-lucy/|url-status=live}}</ref> Both CBS and Philip Morris initially balked at the idea, because of the higher cost that filming the show would incur, and acquiesced only after the couple offered to take a $1,000-a-week pay cut in order to cover the additional expense.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bianculli|first=David|title=The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to The Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|year=2016|isbn=978-0-385-54027-8|edition=First|location=New York|pages=267|oclc=957223334}}</ref> In exchange, Ball and Arnaz demanded, and were given, 80% ownership in the ''I Love Lucy'' films (the other 20% went to Oppenheimer, who then gave 5% to Pugh and 5% to Carroll).{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} Shooting the show on film, however, would require that Ball and Arnaz become responsible for producing the series themselves. Union agreements at the time stipulated that any production filmed in a studio use film studio employees. CBS staff were television and radio employees and thus fell under different union agreements. Thus, Arnaz reorganized the company he created to manage his orchestra bookings and used it as the corporation that would produce the ''I Love Lucy'' shows. The company was named [[Desilu]], from the combination of both of their first names, ''Desi'' and ''Lucille''.{{Original research inline|date=July 2020}}

Though some television series were already being filmed in Hollywood, most used the [[single-camera setup|single-camera]] format familiar from movies, with a laugh track added to comedies to simulate audience response. Ball wanted to work in front of a live audience to create the kind of comic energy she had displayed on radio.{{Sfnp|Andrews|1985|pp=31-32}} The idea of a film studio that could accommodate an audience was a new one for the time, as [[fire safety]] regulations made it difficult to allow an audience in a studio. Arnaz and Oppenheimer found the financially struggling [[General Service Studios]] located on Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood. Studio owner Jimmy Nasser was eager to accommodate the Desilu company and allowed them, with the financial backing of CBS, to renovate two of his studios so that they could accommodate an audience and be in compliance with local fire laws.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McGrath|first=Douglas|date=October 14, 2001|title=Television/Radio: The Good, the Bad, the Lucy: A Legacy of Laughs; The Man Behind the Throne: Making the Case for Desi|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/arts/television-radio-good-bad-lucy-legacy-laughs-man-behind-throne-making-case-for.html|access-date=July 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708022653/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/arts/television-radio-good-bad-lucy-legacy-laughs-man-behind-throne-making-case-for.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sanders|first=Steven Coyne|title=Desilu: the story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz|date=1993|publisher=Morrow|others=Gilbert, Thomas W.|isbn=0-688-11217-X|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=42|oclc=26635480}}</ref>
[[File:Karl-Freund-1932.jpg|upright|thumb|Cinematographer [[Karl Freund]] (1932)]]
Another component to filming the show came when it was decided to use three 35&nbsp;mm film cameras to simultaneously film the show. The idea had been pioneered by [[Jerry Fairbanks]], and it had been used on the live anthology series ''The Silver Theater'' and the game show ''[[Truth or Consequences]]''. Ralph Edwards's assistant Al Simon was hired by Desilu to help perfect the new technique for the series. The process lent itself to the ''Lucy'' production as it eliminated the problem of requiring an audience to view and react to a scene three or four times in order for all necessary shots to be filmed. Multiple cameras would also allow scenes to be performed in sequence, as a play would be, which was unusual at the time for filmed series. Retakes were rare and dialogue mistakes were often left in the episodes.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Ball and Arnaz enlisted the services of [[Karl Freund]], a [[cinematographer]] who had worked on such films as ''[[Metropolis (1927 film)|Metropolis]]'' (1927), ''[[Dracula (1931 English-language film)|Dracula]]'' (1931), ''[[The Good Earth (film)|The Good Earth]]'' (1937), and ''[[DuBarry Was a Lady (film)|DuBarry Was a Lady]]'' (1943) (which also starred Ball), as well as directed ''[[The Mummy (1932 film)|The Mummy]]'' (1932), to be the series cinematographer. Although at first Freund did not want anything to do with television, it was the personal plea of the couple that convinced him to take the job.<ref name=":1" />

Freund was instrumental in developing a way to uniformly light the set so that each of the three cameras would pick up the same quality of image. Freund noted that a typical episode (20–22&nbsp;min.) was shot in about 60&nbsp;minutes, with one constant concern being the shades-of-gray contrast in the final print, as each stage of transmission and broadcast would exaggerate the contrast.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Television-Magazine/Television-1952-Jul.pdf|title=Filming 'Lucy'|author=[[Karl Freund|Freund, Karl]]|magazine=Television Magazine|volume=IX|number=7|page=22|date=July 1952|access-date=August 6, 2014}}</ref> Freund also pioneered ''flat lighting'', in which everything is brightly lit to eliminate shadows and the need for endless relighting.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Allen|first=Leigh|date=Jan 1952|title=Filming the I Love Lucy Show – The American Society of Cinematographers|url=https://ascmag.com/articles/filming-the-i-love-lucy-show|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=[[American Cinematographer]]|archive-date=September 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930151349/https://ascmag.com/articles/filming-the-i-love-lucy-show|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Oppenheimer|first=Jess|title=Laughs, Luck – and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time|date=1999|publisher=Syracuse University Press|others=Oppenheimer, Gregg.|isbn=0-585-27545-9|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=157–160|chapter=Three Cameras or Four?|oclc=45730998}}</ref>

Audience reactions were live, which created a more authentic laugh than the [[Laugh track|canned laughter]] used on most filmed sitcoms of the time. Regular audience members were sometimes heard from episode to episode, and Arnaz's distinctive laugh could be heard in the background during scenes in which he did not perform, as well as Ball's mother, DeDe, whose distinctive "uh oh" could be heard in many of the episodes. In later years, CBS would devise a laugh track from several ''I Love Lucy'' audiences and use them for canned laughter on shows done without a live audience.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

''I Love Lucy'''s pioneering use of [[Multicamera setup|three cameras]] led to it becoming the standard technique for the production of most sitcoms filmed in front of an audience.<ref name="isbn0-7864-1303-4">{{cite book|author=Adir, Karin|title=The Great Clowns of American Television|publisher=McFarland & Co|location=Jefferson, NC|year=2001|pages=4–10|isbn=0-7864-1303-4}}</ref> Single-camera setups remained the technique of choice for sitcoms that did not use audiences. This led to an unexpected benefit for Desilu during the series' second season when it was discovered that Ball was pregnant. Not being able to fulfill the show's 39-episode commitment, both Desi and Oppenheimer decided to rebroadcast popular episodes of the series' first season to help give Ball the necessary rest she needed after she gave birth, effectively allowing fewer episodes to be filmed that season. Unexpectedly, the rebroadcasts proved to be ratings winners, effectively giving birth to the [[rerun]], which would later lead to the profitable development of the rerun syndication market.<ref>{{Cite web|last=VanDerWerff|first=Emily Todd|date=April 9, 2012|title=Why does I Love Lucy endure after all these years?|url=https://www.avclub.com/why-does-i-love-lucy-endure-after-all-these-years-1798230734|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|language=en-us|archive-date=July 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706205603/https://tv.avclub.com/why-does-i-love-lucy-endure-after-all-these-years-1798230734|url-status=live}}</ref>

The show's original opening and commercial bumpers were animated caricatures of Ball and Arnaz. They were designed and animated by MGM character designer, and future "Flintstones" cartoonist, Gene Hazelton (1917–2005) and were produced under a contract that producer William Hanna had secured privately.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lenburg|first=Jeff|title=Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators |date=2006|publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books|isbn=1-55783-671-X|location=New York|pages=135|oclc=63187407}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kazaleh|first=Mike|date=November 9, 2013|title=Commercials Animated by "Those MGM Guys" {{!}}|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/commercials-animated-by-those-mgm-guys/|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=cartoonresearch.com|archive-date=July 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706082326/https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/commercials-animated-by-those-mgm-guys/|url-status=live}}</ref> The program sponsor, Philip Morris cigarettes, was incorporated into many of these sequences, so when ''I Love Lucy'' went into repeats, the sponsor material was replaced by the now-familiar heart logo. However, Hazelton's original animation survives and can be seen in the DVD boxed set as originally presented.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

[[Desilu Productions]], jointly owned by Ball and Arnaz, would gradually expand to produce and lease studio space for many other shows. For seasons 1 and 2 (1951–1953), Desilu rented space and filmed ''I Love Lucy'' at General Service Studios, which eventually became known as [[Hollywood Center Studios]]. In 1953, it leased the [[Red Studios Hollywood|Motion Picture Center]] at 846 Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood, renaming it ''Desilu Studios'', to shoot seasons 3–6 (1953–1957) of ''I Love Lucy''. After 1956, it became known as ''Desilu-Cahuenga Studios'' to avoid confusion with other acquired Desilu locations. In an effort to keep up with the studio's growth, and need for additional sound stages, Arnaz and Ball purchased RKO Radio Pictures from [[General Tire]] in 1957 for over $6 million, effectively owning the studio where they had started as contract players. Desilu acquired RKO's two studio complexes, located on Gower Street in Hollywood and in [[Culver City]] (now part of the [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] lot and [[Culver Studios]] respectively), along with the Culver City back lot nicknamed "[[RKO Forty Acres|Forty Acres]]". The sale was achieved by the duo selling their ownership of the once-thought-worthless ''I Love Lucy'' films back to CBS for over four million dollars.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

In 1962, two years after their marriage dissolved, Ball bought out Arnaz's shares of Desilu, becoming the studio's sole owner. She eventually sold off Desilu in 1967 to [[Gulf+Western]], owners of [[Paramount Pictures]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 9, 2008|title=Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197550|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=[[Entrepreneur (magazine)|Entrepreneur]]|language=en|archive-date=July 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716004104/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197550|url-status=live}}</ref> After the sale, Desilu-Cahuenga became a private production company and was known as [[Ren-Mar Studios]] until 2010, when it was acquired by the [[Red Digital Cinema Camera Company]] and renamed Red Studios Hollywood.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kaufman|first=Debra|date=January 17, 2010|title=RED buys Ren Mar Studios in Hollywood|url=https://www.studiodaily.com/2010/01/red-buys-ren-mar-studios-in-hollywood/|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=Studio Daily|language=en|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707020942/https://www.studiodaily.com/2010/01/red-buys-ren-mar-studios-in-hollywood/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===The Mertzes===
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2018}}
As with ''My Favorite Husband'', ''I Love Lucy'' writers decided that the Ricardos needed an older couple to play off. While performing in ''Husband'', veteran character actors [[Gale Gordon]] and [[Bea Benaderet]] had played Rudolph and Iris Atterbury, an older, more financially stable couple as Mr. Atterbury had been George Cooper's boss. Ball had initially wanted both actors to reprise their roles on television; however, both were unavailable at the time the show went into production as Benaderet was already playing Blanche Morton on ''[[The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show|The Burns and Allen Show]]'', and Gordon was under contract by CBS to play Mr. Conklin on both the radio and television versions of ''[[Our Miss Brooks]]''.
[[File:William Frawley 1951.JPG|left|thumb|upright|[[William Frawley]] in 1951]]
Casting the Mertzes, as they were now called (the surname taken from a doctor that ''I Love Lucy'' scriptwriter Madelyn Pugh knew as a child in Indianapolis), proved to be a challenge. Ball had initially wanted character actor [[James Gleason]], with whom she appeared in the [[Columbia Pictures]] film ''[[Miss Grant Takes Richmond]]'' (1949), to play Fred Mertz. However, Gleason wanted nearly $3,500 per episode to play the role, a price that was far too high to sustain.<ref name="BBC2020">{{Cite web |title=Lucy Loves Desi: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ls8v/episodes/guide |access-date=October 23, 2020 |website=BBC |archive-date=October 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029170650/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ls8v/episodes/guide |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sixty-four-year-old [[William Frawley]], a seasoned vaudevillian and movie character actor with nearly 100 film credits to his name, was a long shot to play Fred Mertz and only came into consideration after he telephoned Ball personally to ask if there was a role for him on her new show. Ball, who had only briefly known Frawley from her days at [[RKO]], suggested him to both Arnaz and CBS. The network objected to the idea of casting Frawley, fearing that his excessive drinking{{dash}}which was well known in Hollywood<ref name="BBC2020" />{{dash}}would interfere with a commitment to a live show. Arnaz nonetheless liked Frawley and lobbied hard for him to have the role, even to the point of having Lucy scribes re-tailor the role of Fred Mertz to be a less financially successful and more curmudgeonly (in contrast to Gordon's Mr. Atterbury) character to fit Frawley's persona. CBS relented only after Arnaz contractually bound Frawley to complete sobriety during the production of the show, and reportedly told the veteran actor that if he ever appeared on-set more than once in an intoxicated state he would be fired.<ref name="BBC2020" /> Not once during ''I Love Lucy'''s nine seasons did Frawley's drinking ever interfere with his performance, and over time Arnaz became one of Frawley's few close friends.
[[File:Vivian vance 1948.JPG|left|thumb|upright|[[Vivian Vance]] in 1948]]
The role of Ethel Mertz also took quite some time to cast. Since Lucy's ''Husband'' co-star Bea Benaderet was not available, [[Mary Wickes]], a longtime friend, was offered the role but declined because she did not want to strain her friendship with Ball. Actress [[Barbara Pepper]], who was a close friend of Ball, was also considered for the role. The two had a long history together, as Pepper had been one of the Goldwyn Girls who came to Hollywood with Lucy in 1933. Pepper was ruled out by Ball and Arnaz because she too had a drinking problem like Frawley.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Kupferberg|first1=Audrey|title=Meet the Mertzes: The Life Stories of I Love Lucy's Other Couple|last2=Edelman|first2=Rob|date=September 18, 1999|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-1-4668-5046-0|location=New York|pages=140|oclc=865112864}}</ref>

[[Vivian Vance]] became a consideration on the recommendation of ''I Love Lucy'' director Marc Daniels. Daniels had worked with Vance in New York on Broadway in the early 1940s. Vance had already been a successful stage star performing on Broadway for nearly 20 years in a variety of plays, and in addition, after relocating to Hollywood in the late 1940s, had two film roles to her credit. Nonetheless, by 1951, she was still a relatively unknown actress in Hollywood. Vance was performing in a revival of the play ''[[The Voice of the Turtle (play)|The Voice of the Turtle]]'' in [[La Jolla, California]]. Arnaz and [[Jess Oppenheimer]] went to see her in the play and hired her on the spot.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Oppenheimer|first=Jess|title=Laughs, Luck – and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time|date=April 1999|publisher=Syracuse University Press|others=Oppenheimer, Gregg.|isbn=0-585-27545-9|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=149|oclc=45730998}}</ref> Vance was reluctant to give up her film and stage work for a television show yet was convinced by Daniels that it would be a big break in her career. Ball, however, had many misgivings about hiring Vance, who was younger and far more attractive than the concept of Ethel as an older, somewhat homely woman (Vance was two years older than Ball). Ball was also a believer in the Hollywood adage at the time that there should be only one pretty woman on the set and Ball, being the star of the show, would be it. Arnaz, however, was impressed by Vance's work and hired her. The decision was then made to dress Vance in frumpier clothing to tone down her attractiveness. Eventually realizing that Vance was no threat and was professional, Ball began to warm to her. In 1954, Vance became the first actress to win an [[Emmy Award]] for ''Outstanding Supporting Actress''. Vance and Ball developed a close, lifelong friendship with Ball frequently listening to Vance's input during episode productions. In 1962, after the end of ''I Love Lucy,'' Ball would ask Vance to co-star in her new series ''[[The Lucy Show]]''.{{Original research inline|date=July 2020}}

Vance and Frawley disliked each other. However, they were always professional while performing on the show. Frawley derisively described Vance's appearance as "a sack of doorknobs."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Loving-Lucy-The-housewife-who-wanted-more-2861090.php|work=The San Francisco Chronicle|first=John|last=Carman|date=November 7, 2001|title=A poignant look at Lucy's last days|access-date=April 20, 2010|archive-date=May 31, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531162554/http://articles.sfgate.com/2001-11-07/entertainment/17629291_1_ball-and-arnaz-love-lucy-fred-mertz|url-status=live}}</ref> It was reported that Vance, who was 22 years younger than Frawley, was not really keen on the idea that her character Ethel was married to a man that was old enough to be her father. Vance also complained that Frawley's song-and-dance skills were not what they once were. Frawley and Vance had an adversarial relationship during the entire run of the show.<ref name="Sanders">Sanders, Coyne Steven; Gilbert, Tom (1993). ''Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz''. William Morrow & Company, {{ISBN|978-0-688-11217-2}}{{page needed|date=April 2020}}</ref>
[[File:I Love Lucy 1955.JPG|right|thumb|[[Desi Arnaz]], [[Lucille Ball]], [[Vivian Vance]], and [[William Frawley]], from the 1955 episode "Face to Face"]]

In 1957, ''I Love Lucy'' was re-tailored into an hour-long show originally titled ''The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show'' that was to be part of an anthology series called the ''[[Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse]]''. The hour-long ''Lucy–Desi'' show was to alternate monthly with other hour-long ''Playhouse'' shows. The new series put a much heavier emphasis on big-name guest stars and, although the Mertz characters continued into the new series, their roles became somewhat diminished. Although a lighter workload was welcomed by Frawley, Vance came to somewhat resent the change. Arnaz, in an effort to please Vance, for whom he had much respect, proposed doing a spin-off from ''I Love Lucy'' called ''The Mertzes''. Seeing a lucrative opportunity and the chance to star in his own show, Frawley was enthused. Vance, however, declined for a number of reasons, the biggest factor being that she felt she and Frawley could barely work together on the ensemble show they were doing at the time, so it would be much less likely the two could work together on their own series. Vance also felt that the Mertz characters would not be as successful without the Ricardos to play off, and despite being her biggest success, she was becoming interested in playing more glamorous roles rather than Ethel. During the thirteen-episode run of the ''Lucy–Desi'' hour-long shows, Vance was given a lot more latitude to look more attractive as Ethel, something she was denied during the run of the ''I Love Lucy'' episodes. Frawley's resentment of Vance intensified after she declined to do the spin-off show and the two rarely talked to each other outside of their characters' dialogue with one another.

===Pregnancy and Little Ricky===
Just before filming the show, Ball and Arnaz learned that she was once again pregnant (after multiple miscarriages earlier in their marriage) with their first child, [[Lucie Arnaz]]. They filmed the original pilot while Lucy was "showing" but did not include any references to the pregnancy in the episode. This was because [[CBS]] thought that talk of pregnancy might be in bad taste and because an ad agency told Arnaz not to show a pregnant woman.<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=McClay|title= The complete picture history of the most popular TV show ever "I Love Lucy"|url=https://archive.org/details/ilovelucycomplet0000mccl_d9j7|url-access=registration|publisher= Barnes & Noble, Inc.|year=2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/ilovelucycomplet0000mccl_d9j7/page/68 68]|isbn=9780760727560 }}</ref>

Later, during the second season, Ball was pregnant again with second child [[Desi Arnaz Jr.]], and this time the pregnancy was incorporated into the series' storyline. (Contrary to popular belief, Ball's pregnancy was not television's first on-screen pregnancy, a distinction belonging to [[Mary Kay Stearns]] on the late 1940s sitcom ''[[Mary Kay and Johnny]]''.)
[[File:Lucy as superman 1957.JPG|left|thumb|upright|"[[Lucy and Superman]]" (1957)]]
CBS would not allow ''I Love Lucy'' to use the word ''pregnant'', so ''expecting'' was used instead.<ref name="turningpoints">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-02-09-turning-points_x.htm |title=10 turning points for television |access-date=January 13, 2008 |newspaper=USA Today |first1=Robert |last1=Bianco |date=February 9, 2004 |archive-date=June 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619053625/http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-02-09-turning-points_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition, sponsor Philip Morris made the request that Ball not be seen smoking during the pregnancy episodes.<ref>{{cite magazine |title= Lucille Ball: Who Doesn't Love Lucy? (Radio-TV) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tsALAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Lucille+should+not+be+viewed+smoking+cigarettes%22 |volume= 41 |number= 3 |page= 56 |magazine= Newsweek |date= January 19, 1953 |access-date= June 11, 2017 |archive-date= November 15, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191115103217/https://books.google.com/books?id=tsALAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Lucille+should+not+be+viewed+smoking+cigarettes%22 |url-status= live }}</ref> The episode "Lucy Is Enceinte" first aired on December 8, 1952 ({{lang|fr|enceinte}} being French for ''expecting'' or ''pregnant''). One week later, on December 15, 1952, the episode titled "Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable" was aired (although the show never displayed episode titles on the air). The episode in which Lucy Ricardo gives birth, "[[Lucy Goes to the Hospital]]", first aired on January 19, 1953, which was the day before the inauguration of [[Dwight Eisenhower]] as President of the United States. To increase the publicity of this episode, the original air date was chosen to coincide with Ball's real-life delivery of Desi Jr. by [[Caesarean section]].<ref name="birthofamemo">{{cite magazine |title=Birth of a Memo |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817789,00.html?promoid=googlep |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618061610/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817789,00.html?promoid=googlep |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 18, 2008 |magazine=Time magazine |date=January 26, 1953 |access-date=January 16, 2008}}</ref> "Lucy Goes to the Hospital" was watched by more people than any other television program up to that time, with 71.7% of all American television sets tuned in, topping the 67.7 rating for the inauguration coverage the following morning.

Unlike some programs that [[Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome|advance the age of a newborn over a short period]], ''I Love Lucy'' at first allowed the Ricardos' son Little Ricky to grow up in real time. America saw Little Ricky as an infant in the 1952–53 season and a toddler from 1953 to 1956. However, for the 1956–57 season, Little Ricky suddenly aged by two years, becoming a young school-age boy from 1956 to 1960. Five actors played the role, two sets of twins and later Keith Thibodeaux, whose stage name when playing [[Ricky Ricardo Jr.]] was [[Richard Keith (actor)|Richard Keith]]. (In "[[Lucy and Superman]]", Little Ricky is mentioned as being five years old but it had been less than four years since the airing of "Lucy Goes to the Hospital".)

[[Jess Oppenheimer]] stated in his memoir, ''Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time'', that the initial plan was to match the sex of the Ricardo's baby with Ball's real baby, inserting one of two alternative endings into the broadcast print at the last minute. When logistical difficulties convinced Oppenheimer to abandon this plan, he advised Desi Arnaz that as head writer, he would have Lucy Ricardo give birth to a boy. Desi Arnaz agreed, telling Oppenheimer that Ball had already given him one girl, and might give him another{{dash}}this might be his only chance to get a son. When the baby boy was born, Desi Arnaz immediately called Oppenheimer and told him, "Lucy followed your script. Ain't she something?", to which Oppenheimer replied "Terrific! That makes me the greatest writer in the world!".<ref>{{cite book |title=Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time |first1=Jess |last1=Oppenheimer |first2=Gregg |last2=Oppenheimer |pages=210–211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fW-rGDmGxIC&q=%22The+problem+of+the+sex+of+the+expected+baby%22&pg=PA210 |isbn=0-8156-0406-8 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |date=1999 |access-date=June 13, 2017 |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204090509/https://books.google.com/books?id=7fW-rGDmGxIC&q=%22The+problem+of+the+sex+of+the+expected+baby%22&pg=PA210 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Opening===
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2018}}
[[File:I Love Lucy original.png|left|thumb|Shot of the opening animation used in season one's first 20 episodes, one of at least 13 opening animations<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lucyfan.com/ontheball2.html|title=On the Ball: Views and Reviews|website=www.lucyfan.com|access-date=December 16, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080616/http://www.lucyfan.com/ontheball2.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>''I Love Lucy: The Complete Series'' (disc four). 2015.</ref>]]

The opening familiar to most viewers, featuring the credits superimposed over a "heart on satin" image, was created specifically for the 1959–67 CBS daytime network rebroadcasts and subsequent syndication. As originally broadcast, the episodes opened with animated matchstick figures of Arnaz and Ball making reference to whoever the particular episode's sponsor was. These sequences were created by the animation team of [[William Hanna]] and [[Joseph Barbera]], who declined screen credit because they were technically under exclusive contract to [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] at the time.

The original sponsor was cigarette maker [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]], so the program opened with a cartoon of Lucy and Ricky climbing down a pack of Philip Morris cigarettes. In the early episodes, Lucy and Ricky, as well as Ethel and Fred on occasion, were shown smoking Philip Morris cigarettes. Lucy even went so far as to parody [[Johnny Roventini]]'s image as the Philip Morris "bellhop" in the May 5, 1952, episode, "Lucy Does a TV Commercial". Since the original sponsor references were no longer appropriate when the shows went into syndication, a new opening was needed, which resulted in the classic "heart on satin" opening. According to a 2003 interview conducted by the Television Academy Foundation with optical effects specialist Howard Anderson Jr., Anderson's studio handled the post-production of the "heart on satin" title cards used in syndicated rebroadcasts of I Love Lucy. The original design of the heart motif and its typography was created by Verdun Philip Cook, a typographer and animator who collaborated with Desilu Productions during the show's original run.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-22 |title=Howard Anderson, Jr. |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/howard-anderson-jr |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=Television Academy Interviews |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A' Design Award and Competition - Interview with Philip-Michael Weiner |url=https://competition.adesignaward.com/designer-interview.php?profile=222824 |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=competition.adesignaward.com}}</ref> Other sponsors, whose products appeared during the original openings, were [[Procter & Gamble]] for [[Cheer (brand)|Cheer]] and Lilt Home Permanent (1954–57), [[General Foods]] for [[Sanka]] (1955–57), and [[Ford Motor Company]] (1956–57). The later ''[[The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour|Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show]]'' was sponsored by [[Ford Motor Company]] (1957–58) and [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse Electric]] Corporation (1958–60), as part of the ''[[Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse]]''.

The original openings, with the sponsor names edited out, were revived on [[TV Land]] showings, with a TV Land logo superimposed to obscure the original sponsor's logo. However, this has led some people to believe that the restored introduction was created specifically for TV Land as an example of [[kitsch]].

The animated openings, along with the middle commercial introductory animations, are included, fully restored, in the DVDs. However, the openings are listed as special features within the disks with the "heart on satin" image opening the actual episodes.

The complete original broadcast versions of Seasons 1 and 2, as seen in 1951–1953 with intros, closings, and all commercials, are included on their respective Ultimate Season Blu-ray editions.

===Theme song===
The ''I Love Lucy'' theme song was written by two-time [[Academy Award|Oscar]]-nominee [[Eliot Daniel]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-10-mn-62585-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | title=Eliot Daniel; Composer of 'I Love Lucy' Theme Song | date=December 10, 1997 | access-date=February 19, 2020 | archive-date=January 7, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107014645/http://articles.latimes.com/1997/dec/10/news/mn-62585 | url-status=live }}</ref> Lyrics were later written by five-time [[Academy Award|Oscar]]-nominee [[Harold Adamson]], for [[Desi Arnaz]] to sing in the 1953 episode "Lucy's Last Birthday":<ref>{{YouTube|7fn7PKzf5tk|"I Love Lucy" theme song with less-well known Lyrics}}</ref>
<blockquote>
''I love Lucy and she loves me.''<br />
''We're as happy as two can be.''<br />
''Sometimes we quarrel but then''<br />
''How we love making up again.''<br />
<br />
''Lucy kisses like no one can.''<br />
''She's my missus and I'm her man,''<br />
''And life is heaven you see,''<br />
'' 'Cause I love Lucy, Yes I love Lucy, and Lucy loves me!''
</blockquote>

"I Love Lucy", sung by Desi Arnaz with [[Paul Weston]] and the [[Norman Luboff Choir]], was released as the B-side of "There's a Brand New Baby (At Our House)" by [[Columbia Records]] (catalog number 39937) in 1953.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45worlds.com/78rpm/record/39937|title=There's A Brand New Baby (At Our House)/I Love Lucy 78 RPM|access-date=April 18, 2014|archive-date=October 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001172139/https://www.45worlds.com/78rpm/record/39937|url-status=live}}</ref> The song was covered by [[Michael Franks (musician)|Michael Franks]] on the album ''[[Dragonfly Summer]]'' (1993). In 1977, the [[Wilton Place Street Band]] had a [[Top 40]] hit with a disco version of the theme, "Disco Lucy".<ref name="BillboardBook">{{citation|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|title=The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits|edition=7|year=2000}}</ref>

==Episodes==
{{Main|List of I Love Lucy episodes}}
{{:List of I Love Lucy episodes}}

===Broadcast history===
''I Love Lucy'' aired Mondays from 9:00 to 9:30 PM ET on CBS for its entire first run. Each year during its summer hiatus its timeslot was occupied by various summer replacement series. Beginning in April 1955 CBS added reruns from the show's early years to its early evening weekend schedule. This would be the first of several occasions when ''I Love Lucy'' reruns would become part of CBS's evening, prime time, and (later on) daytime schedules.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Tim |last1=Brooks |first2=Earle |last2=Marsh |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows – 1946–Present |edition=7th |page=479 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSGdkYBscRwC&q=%22Sun+6%3A00-630%22&pg=PA479 |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=1999 |isbn=9780345429230 |access-date=July 22, 2017 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126074240/https://books.google.com/books?id=kSGdkYBscRwC&q=%22Sun+6%3A00-630%22&pg=PA479 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In fall 1967, CBS began offering the series in off-network syndication. {{as of|August 2017}}, the reruns air on the [[Hallmark Channel]] and [[MeTV]] networks and scores of television stations in the U.S. and around the world. It is currently on [[Paramount+]].

In addition, CBS has run numerous specials, including a [[#Annual colorized specials|succession of annual specials]] which feature episodes which have been newly colorized.

On February 14, 2023, [[Pluto TV]] launched a 24-hour ''I Love Lucy'' channel in the United States.<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=PlutoTv |number=1625555823005995028 |title=Lucy, you're home! 💖 That's right, I Love Lucy now has its own channel on Pluto TV! Watch classic episodes of this groundbreaking sitcom, streaming 24/7}}</ref>

The show also reruns on [[Catchy Comedy]].

===Nielsen ratings===
The episode "[[Lucy Goes to the Hospital]]", which first aired on Monday, January 19, 1953, garnered a then-record rating of 71.7, meaning that 71.7% of all households with television sets were tuned to the program, the equivalent of some 44 million viewers.<ref name="Lists">{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Karol |title=The Lucy Book of Lists: Celebrating Lucille Ball's Centennial and the 60th Anniversary of "I Love Lucy" |section=Ratings Record |publisher=iUniverse |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzLYd4iRp5gC&q=%22Ratings+Record%22+%22Elvis+Presley%27s+first+appearance%22+%22I+Love+Lucy+episode%22&pg=PT147 |isbn=978-1-4502-7414-2 |access-date=June 13, 2017 |archive-date=November 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119195627/https://books.google.com/books?id=KzLYd4iRp5gC&q=%22Ratings+Record%22+%22Elvis+Presley%27s+first+appearance%22+%22I+Love+Lucy+episode%22&pg=PT147 |url-status=live }}</ref> That record is surpassed only by [[Elvis Presley]]'s first of three appearances on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'', which aired on September 9, 1956 (82.6% share, 60.710 million viewers and a 57.1 rating ).<ref name="Lists"/> The overall rating of 67.3 for the entire 1952 season of ''I Love Lucy'' continues to be the highest average rating for any single season of a TV show.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Tim |last1=Brooks |first2=Earle |last2=Marsh |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows – 1946–Present |edition= 9th |section= Appendix 3: Top Rated Programs by Season |pages=1679–1698 |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 }}</ref>

==Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations==
;1952
* Best Comedy Show{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: ''[[The Red Skelton Hour]]'')
;1953
* Best Situation Comedy{{dash}}Won
* Best Comedienne: Lucille Ball{{dash}}Won
;1954
* Best Female Star of a Regular Series: [[Lucille Ball]]{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Eve Arden]] for ''[[Our Miss Brooks]]'')
* Best Series Supporting Actor: [[William Frawley]]{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Art Carney]] for ''[[The Jackie Gleason Show]]'')
* Best Series Supporting Actress: [[Vivian Vance]]{{dash}}Won
* Best Situation Comedy{{dash}}Won
;1955
* Best Actress Starring in a Regular Series: Lucille Ball{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Loretta Young]] for ''[[The Loretta Young Show]]'')
* Best Situation Comedy Series{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: ''[[The Danny Thomas Show]]'')
* Best Supporting Actor in a Regular Series: William Frawley{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: Art Carney for ''[[The Jackie Gleason Show]]'')
* Best Supporting Actress in a Regular Series: Vivian Vance{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Audrey Meadows]] for ''The Jackie Gleason Show'')
* Best Written Comedy Material: [[Jess Oppenheimer]], [[Bob Carroll Jr.]] and [[Madelyn Davis]]{{dash}}Nominated (Winners: [[James B. Allardice]], [[Jack Douglas (writer)|Jack Douglas]], [[Hal Kanter]] and [[Harry Winkler (writer)|Harry Winkler]] for ''[[The George Gobel Show]]'')
;1956
* Best Actor in a Supporting Role: William Frawley{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: Art Carney for ''[[The Honeymooners]]'')
* Best Actress{{dash}}Continuing Performance: Lucille Ball{{dash}}Won
* Best Comedy Writing: Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Davis, Bob Carroll Jr., [[Bob Schiller]] and [[Bob Weiskopf]] for "L.A. at Last"{{dash}}Nominated (Winners: [[Nat Hiken]], [[Barry E. Blitzer]], [[Arnold M. Auerbach]], Harvey Orkin, Vin Bogert, Arnie Rosen, [[Coleman Jacoby]], [[Tony Webster (screenwriter)|Tony Webster]] and [[Terry Ryan (writer)|Terry Ryan]] for ''[[The Phil Silvers Show]]'': "You'll Never Get Rich")
;1957
* Best Continuing Performance by a Comedienne in a Series: Lucille Ball{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Nanette Fabray]] for ''[[Caesar's Hour]]'')
* Best Supporting Performance by an Actor: William Frawley{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Carl Reiner]] for ''Caesar's Hour'')
* Best Supporting Performance by an Actress: Vivian Vance{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Pat Carroll (actress)|Pat Carroll]] for ''Caesar's Hour'')
;1958
* Best Continuing Performance (Female) in a Series by a Comedienne, Singer, Hostess, Dancer, M.C., Announcer, Narrator, Panelist, or any Person who Essentially Plays Herself: Lucille Ball{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Dinah Shore]] for ''[[The Dinah Shore Show]]'')
* Best Continuing Supporting Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic or Comedy Series: William Frawley{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: Carl Reiner for ''Caesar's Hour'')
* Best Continuing Supporting Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic or Comedy Series: Vivian Vance{{dash}}Nominated (Winner: [[Ann B. Davis]] for ''[[The Bob Cummings Show]]'')

==In other media==
===Radio===
There was some thought about creating an ''I Love Lucy'' radio show to run in conjunction with the television series as was being done at the time with the CBS hit show ''Our Miss Brooks''. On February 27, 1952, a sample ''I Love Lucy'' radio show was produced, but it never aired. This was a pilot episode, created by editing the soundtrack of the television episode "Breaking the Lease", with added Arnaz narration (in character as Ricky Ricardo). It included commercials for [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]], which sponsored the television series. While it never aired on radio at the time in the 1950s (Philip Morris eventually sponsored a radio edition of ''[[My Little Margie]]'' instead), copies of this radio pilot episode have been circulating among [[Golden Age of Radio|old-time radio]] collectors for years, and this radio pilot episode has aired in more recent decades on numerous local radio stations that air some old-time radio programming.<ref>{{Internet Archive|id=ILoveLucy|description=I Love Lucy: Breaking the Lease OTR}}</ref>

===Merchandise===
Ball and Arnaz authorized various types of ''I Love Lucy'' merchandise. Beginning in November 1952, ''I Love Lucy'' dolls, manufactured by the [[American Character Doll Company]],<ref>[http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/11/15/84368085.html?pageNumber=24 "Advertising & Merchandising News"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110125429/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/11/15/84368085.html?pageNumber=24 |date=January 10, 2020 }} ''New York Times'' (November 15, 1952), p. 24.</ref> were sold. Adult-size ''I Love Lucy'' pajamas and a bedroom set were also produced; all of these items appeared on the show.
<gallery class="center" heights="180px">
File:I love lucy doll 1952.jpg|''I Love Lucy'' doll
File:I love lucy bedroom set 1953.JPG|''I Love Lucy'' bedroom set
File:I love lucy pajamas 1953.jpg|''I Love Lucy'' pajamas
</gallery>

===Comic book and comic strip===
[[Dell Comics]] published 35 issues of an ''I Love Lucy'' comic book between 1954 and 1962 including two try-out [[Four Color]] issues (#535 and #559). [[King Features Syndicate|King Features]] syndicated a comic strip (written by [[Lawrence Nadel]] and drawn by [[Bob Oksner]], jointly credited as "Bob Lawrence") from 1952 to 1955.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com/2006/02/i-love-lucy-comics.html|title=BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARY: I Love Lucy Comics|author=Steven Thompson|date=February 8, 2006|access-date=April 20, 2015|archive-date=May 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525120204/http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com/2006/02/i-love-lucy-comics.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_18.html#012954|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604014054/http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_18.html|title=Bob Oksner, R.I.P.|archive-date=June 4, 2011}}</ref> Oksner recounted, "Whenever [Desi Arnaz] was in New York, he would invite me to lunch at [[21 Club|21]]. He was interested in improving the strip by making him handsomer. He would say, 'You make Lucy so beautiful. What can you do with ''me''?'" [emphasis in original]<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Mark |last=Voger |date=March 2023 |title=Send in the Clowns: Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis in the DC Universe |url=https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_152&products_id=1678&zenid=2hgu5onnn6uguc8o85oh8pf7q6 |magazine=RetroFan |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]] |location=United States |issue=25 |page=37}}</ref> [[Eternity Comics]] in the early 1990s issued comic books that reprinted the strip and Dell comic book series.

==After ''I Love Lucy''==
{{Main|The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2018}}

===Hour-long format===
[[File:Lucy Goes To Havana Lucy Desi Comedy Hour 1957.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.25|The first one-hour episode, "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana", is an extended flashback of how Lucy met Ricky. L–R: [[Ann Sothern]], [[Rudy Vallee]], [[Lucille Ball]], [[Desi Arnaz]], [[Cesar Romero]], [[Vivian Vance]] and [[William Frawley]] (1957) ]]
After the conclusion of the sixth season of ''I Love Lucy'', Ball and Arnaz decided to cut down on the number of episodes that were filmed. Renamed ''[[The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour|The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show]]'', also known as ''[[The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour]]'', the program was extended to an hour and included guest stars in each episode. Thirteen episodes aired from 1957 to 1960. The main cast, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley and Little Ricky/Richard Keith (birth name Keith Thibodeaux), were all in the show. ''The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour'' is available on DVD, released as ''I Love Lucy: The Final Seasons 7, 8, & 9''. On March 2, 1960, Arnaz's birthday.

===Vivian Vance and William Frawley===
As previously mentioned, Vance and Frawley were offered a chance to take their characters to their own spin-off series. Frawley was willing, but Vance refused to ever work with Frawley again since the two did not get along. Frawley appeared once more with Lucille Ball{{dash}}in an episode of ''[[The Lucy Show]]'' in 1965, which did not include Vance (who by then had ceased to be a regular on that show). This was his last screen appearance with Ball. Frawley died in Hollywood on March 3, 1966, of a heart attack at age 79.

===Lucille Ball's subsequent network shows===
In 1962, Ball began a six-year run with ''The Lucy Show'', followed immediately in 1968 by six more years on a third sitcom, ''[[Here's Lucy]]'', ending her regular appearances on CBS in 1974. Both ''The Lucy Show'' and ''Here's Lucy'' included Vance as recurring characters named Viv (Vivian Bagley Bunson on ''The Lucy Show'' and Vivian Jones on ''Here's Lucy''), so named because she was tired of being recognized on the street and addressed as "Ethel". Vance was a regular during the first three seasons of ''The Lucy Show'' and continued to make guest appearances through the years on ''The Lucy Show'' and on ''Here's Lucy''. In 1977, Vance and Ball were reunited one last time in the CBS special ''Lucy Calls the President'',<ref>{{IMDb title|id=0272711|title=Lucy Calls the President}}</ref> which co-starred [[Gale Gordon]], whom Ball had known for very many years and who had appeared as a regular on her television shows since 1963, becoming even more prominent once Vance left ''The Lucy Show'' in 1965.

In 1986, Ball tried another sitcom, ''[[Life with Lucy]]''. The series debuted on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] to solid ratings, landing in Nielsen's Top 25 for the week. Its ratings quickly declined, however, and resulted in a cancellation after eight episodes.

===Legacy, critical acclaim and other honors===
In 1989, the never-seen pilot episode of ''I Love Lucy'' was discovered and revealed in a CBS television special, hosted by Lucie Arnaz, becoming the highest-rated program of the season.

In 2012, Emily VanDerWerff of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' wrote retrospectively:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/why-does-ii-love-lucy-iendure-after-all-these-year-72062 |title=Why does ''I Love Lucy'' endure after all these years? |last=VanDerWerff |first=Emily |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=April 9, 2012 |access-date=August 2, 2019 |archive-date=August 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821082035/http://www.avclub.com/article/why-does-ii-love-lucy-iendure-after-all-these-year-72062 |url-status=live }}</ref><blockquote>''I Love Lucy'' […] is one of the two foundational texts of American TV comedy, along with ''[[The Honeymooners]]''. The series is legitimately the most influential in TV history, pioneering so many innovations and normalizing so many others that it would be easy to write an appreciation of simply, say, the show's accidental invention of the TV rerun.</blockquote>

''I Love Lucy'' continues to be held in high esteem by television critics and remains perennially popular. It was one of the first American programs seen on [[British television]]{{dash}}which became more open to commerce with the September 1955 launch of [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], a commercial network that aired the series. In 1982, the launch of a second terrestrial TV station devoted to advertising-funded broadcasting ([[Channel 4]]) saw the show introduced to a new generation of fans in the UK, with the ''Channel 4'' network repeating the program several times between 1983 and 1994. {{As of|January 2015}}, meanwhile, it remains the longest-running program to air continuously in the Los Angeles area, almost 60 years after production ended. However, the series is currently aired on [[KTTV]] on weekends and now [[KCOP-TV|KCOP]] on weekdays because both stations are a [[duopoly]]. KTTV was the original CBS-affiliated station in Los Angeles until 1951, just before ''I Love Lucy'' premiered on KNXT Channel 2 (now [[KCBS-TV]]) when CBS bought that station the same year. In the US, reruns have aired nationally on [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]] (1980s–1990s), [[Nick at Nite]] (1994–2001), and [[TV Land]] (2001–2008) in addition to local channels. TV Land ended its run of the series by giving viewers the opportunity to vote on the show's top 25 greatest episodes on December 31, 2008, through the network's website. Unlike some shows, to which a cable channel is given exclusive rights to maximize ratings, ''I Love Lucy'' has been consistently broadcast on multiple channels simultaneously. [[Hallmark Channel]] is now the home for ''I Love Lucy'' in the United States, with the show having moved to the network on January 2, 2009, while the national version of [[Weigel Broadcasting]]'s [[MeTV]] [[digital subchannel]] network has carried the program since its debut on December 15, 2010, depending on the market (in markets where another station holds the rights, ''The Lucy Show'' is substituted). The show is seen on [[Fox Classics]] in Australia.

In addition to Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations, ''I Love Lucy'' has many honors including the following:

* The [[Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum]] in [[Jamestown, New York]] is a museum memorializing Lucy and ''I Love Lucy'', including replicas of the NYC apartment set (located in the Desilu Playhouse facility in the Rapaport Center).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol38/vol38n37/articles/RapaportDesilu.html |title=UB faculty member loves Lucy |first=Kevin |last=Fryling |work=UB Reporter |publisher=buffalo.edu |date=May 27, 2007 |access-date=February 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908040648/http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol38/vol38n37/articles/RapaportDesilu.html |archive-date=September 8, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* In 1990, ''I Love Lucy'' became the first television show to be inducted into the [[Television Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/hall-of-fame/honorees|title=Honorees|website=Television Academy|access-date=January 3, 2021|archive-date=October 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013163201/http://www.emmys.com/awards/hall-of-fame-honorees|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 1997, the episodes "[[Lucy Does a TV Commercial]]" and "Lucy's Italian Movie" were respectively ranked No. 2 and No. 18 on ''TV Guide'''s list of the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.<ref>{{cite magazine|year=1997 |title=Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time |magazine=[[TV Guide]] |issue=June 28 – July 4 }}</ref>
* In 1999, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' ranked the birth of Little Ricky as the fifth greatest moment in television history.<ref name="ewtop100">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,274575,00.html |title=The Top 100 Moments in Television |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=February 19, 1999 |access-date=November 27, 2007 |first=Kelly |last=Connolly |archive-date=October 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016051357/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,274575,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* In 2002, ''[[TV Guide]]'' ranked ''I Love Lucy'' No. 2 on its list of the 50 greatest shows, behind ''[[Seinfeld]]'' and ahead of ''[[The Honeymooners]]''<ref>{{cite news |title=''TV Guide'' Names Top 50 Shows |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tv-guide-names-top-50-shows/ |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=April 26, 2002 |access-date=October 6, 2007 |archive-date=September 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904061715/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/26/entertainment/main507388.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> (According to ''TV Guide'' columnist Matt Roush, there was a "passionate" internal debate about whether ''I Love Lucy'' should have been first instead of ''Seinfeld''. He stated that this was the main source of controversy in putting together the list.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Columnists/Ask-Matt/default.aspx?posting={25137E4C-7131-4DA3-B40C-300A87ACC9E1} |title=Ask Matt |magazine=TV Guide |date=April 22, 2005 |access-date=January 20, 2008}}</ref>)
* In 2007, ''Time'' magazine placed the show on its unranked list of the 100 best television shows.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341_1659192_1652529,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028100904/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341_1659192_1652529,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 28, 2007 |title=The 100 Best TV Shows of All-''TIME'' |first=James |last=Poniewozik |author-link=James Poniewozik |magazine=Time |publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=March 4, 2010 | date=September 6, 2007}}</ref>
* In 2012, ''I Love Lucy'' was ranked the Best TV Comedy and the Best TV Show in ''Best in TV: The Greatest TV Shows of Our Time''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Best_In_TV/love-lucy-voted-best-tv-show-time/story?id=17263942#1|title='I Love Lucy' Voted the Best TV Show of All Time|author=John Green|author2=Alice Gomstyn|date=September 18, 2012|work=ABC News|access-date=April 20, 2015|archive-date=November 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118132431/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Best_In_TV/love-lucy-voted-best-tv-show-time/story?id=17263942#1|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2013, ''TV Guide'' ranked ''I Love Lucy'' as the third greatest show of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Fretts |first1=Bruce |last2=Roush |first2=Matt |title=The Greatest Shows on Earth |magazine=TV Guide Magazine |volume=61 |issue=3194–3195 |pages=16–19 }}</ref>
* In 2015, a survey of 2,800 actors, producers, directors, and other industry people conducted by ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' named ''I Love Lucy'' as their #8 favorite show.<ref name="thr20150916">{{Cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/best-tv-shows-ever-top-819499/item/friends-hollywoods-100-favorite-tv-821361 |title=Hollywood's 100 Favorite TV Shows |date=September 16, 2015 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=July 17, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=July 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717030112/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/best-tv-shows-ever-top-819499/item/friends-hollywoods-100-favorite-tv-821361 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In 2023, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' chose ''I Love Lucy'' as the greatest TV show of all time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/lists/greatest-tv-shows-of-all-time/|title=The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time|publisher=Variety|date=December 20, 2023}}</ref>

===Documentaries and dramatizations===
On April 28, 1990, CBS aired a television movie titled ''I Love Lucy: The Very First Show'' hosted by [[Lucie Arnaz]], daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, with commentary that showed the original unaired pilot episode of ''I Love Lucy'' that was produced by Ball and Desi Arnaz themselves and found after 40 years. The movie was nominated for a [[Primetime Emmy Awards|Primetime Emmy Award]] as an "Outstanding Informational Special".<ref>{{cite web |title=I Love Lucy: The Very First Show |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448547/ |website=imdb.com |publisher=IMDb.com, Inc., an Amazon company |access-date=June 5, 2021 |archive-date=September 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927082203/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448547/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Hemming |first1=Roy |title=I Love Lucy: The Very First Show |url=https://ew.com/article/1994/06/10/i-love-lucy-very-first-show/ |access-date=June 5, 2021 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |publisher=Meredith Corporation |date=June 10, 1994 |archive-date=June 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605200244/https://ew.com/article/1994/06/10/i-love-lucy-very-first-show/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On February 10, 1991, CBS aired a television movie titled ''[[Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter]]'', about the lives of Ball and Desi Arnaz. The movie recreated a number of scenes from classic ''I Love Lucy'' episodes, including "Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her" and "Lucy Does a TV Commercial". [[Frances Fisher]] starred as Ball and [[Maurice Benard]] as Desi Arnaz.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102353/reference | title=Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter (TV Movie 1991) | website=[[IMDb]] | access-date=December 18, 2019 | archive-date=October 1, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001172139/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102353/reference | url-status=live }}</ref>

On May 4, 2003, CBS aired a television movie titled ''[[Lucy (2003 film)|Lucy]]'', portraying the life of Ball and recreating a number of scenes from classic ''I Love Lucy'' episodes, including "[[Lucy Does a TV Commercial]]", "Lucy Is Enceinte", and "Job Switching". Near the end of the movie, a selection of ''[[TV Guide]]'' covers is seen in a hallway, showing ''I Love Lucy'' franchises on their covers. Also included is close-up of a ''[[New York Post]]'' article about the birth of Little Ricky. [[Rachel York]] starred as Ball and [[Danny Pino]] as Desi Arnaz.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361856/reference | title=Lucy (TV Movie 2003) | website=[[IMDb]] | access-date=December 18, 2019 | archive-date=July 18, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718220200/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361856/reference | url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2011, the stage play ''I Love Lucy Live on Stage'' premiered to sold-out houses at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles. Staged and directed by Rick Sparks, the show featured the performance of two ''I Love Lucy'' episodes{{dash}}"The Benefit" and "Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined", presented to the theater audience as though they were attending a filming at the Desilu Playhouse in the 1950s. In 2012, the show began a national tour which lasted until 2015.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.ilovelucylive.com/ | title=I Love Lucy Live &#124; Live on Stage | access-date=December 18, 2019 | archive-date=December 18, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218203721/http://www.ilovelucylive.com/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2018, ''I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom'', a behind-the-scenes comedy about ''I Love Lucy'' by Gregg Oppenheimer (son of series creator [[Jess Oppenheimer]]), had its world premiere in a Los Angeles production by [[L.A. Theatre Works]]. Recorded before a live audience at the James Bridges Theater, UCLA, the production, directed by Michael Hackett, aired on public radio and was released on audio CD and as a downloadable file in September of that year.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Love-Lucy-Funny-Happened-Sitcom/dp/B07HHKRGKC Amazon.com product page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001172138/https://www.amazon.com/Love-Lucy-Funny-Happened-Sitcom/dp/B07HHKRGKC |date=October 1, 2022 }} for "I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom" recording.</ref> The performance starred [[Sarah Drew]] as Ball, [[Oscar Nuñez]] as Desi Arnaz, and [[Seamus Dever]] as Oppenheimer.<ref>[https://latw.org/title/i-love-lucy-funny-thing L.A. Theatre Works catalog page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805190307/https://latw.org/title/i-love-lucy-funny-thing |date=August 5, 2020 }} for "I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom" recording.</ref> A serialized version, titled ''LUCY LOVES DESI: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom'', was produced in August 2020 by Jarvis & Ayres Productions and aired in the UK on [[BBC Radio 4]], starring [[Anne Heche]] as Ball, [[Wilmer Valderamma]] as Desi Arnaz, [[Jared Harris]] as Oppenheimer, [[Stacy Keach]] as William Frawley, and [[Alfred Molina]] as CBS Executive [[Harry Ackerman]].<ref name="BBC2020" /> In January 2023, [[L.A. Theatre Works]] mounted a 22-city U.S. national tour of the play as ''LUCY LOVES DESI: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom.''<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/national-tours/article/LA-Theatre-Works-17th-Annual-National-Tour-Brings-Hilarious-LUCY-LOVES-DESI-To-Performing-Arts-Venues-Across-US-20221215 | title=LA Theatre Works 17th Annual National Tour Brings Hilarious LUCY LOVES DESI to Performing Arts Venues Across US | access-date=March 12, 2023 | url-status=live | archive-date=March 12, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312210354/https://www.broadwayworld.com/national-tours/article/LA-Theatre-Works-17th-Annual-National-Tour-Brings-Hilarious-LUCY-LOVES-DESI-To-Performing-Arts-Venues-Across-US-20221215 }}</ref> In November 2023, Next Stage Press published the play's script, making performance licenses available to schools, community theater groups, and local theater companies.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nextstagepress.com/lucy-loves-desi/ | title=Lucy Loves Desi }}</ref>

In the spring of 2020, NBC's sitcom ''[[Will & Grace]]'' paid tribute to ''I Love Lucy'' with a special episode titled "We Love Lucy".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/will-grace-will-do-special-i-love-lucy-episode-t168330|title='Will & Grace' will do a special 'I Love Lucy' episode – here are the details|website=TODAY.com|date=November 25, 2019 |language=en|access-date=January 4, 2020|archive-date=November 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127233129/https://www.today.com/popculture/will-grace-will-do-special-i-love-lucy-episode-t168330|url-status=live}}</ref> During the episode Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, along with Ethel and Fred Mertz, appear in dream sequences based on scenes from the 1951 CBS series. Lucie Arnaz made a cameo in the episode in the role originated in the "Job Switching" episode by actress [[Elvia Allman]] as the Factory Foreperson.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://doyouremember.com/108291/will-grace-i-love-lucy|title='Will & Grace' Will Air An 'I Love Lucy'-Themed Special Episode|date=November 26, 2019|website=DoYouRemember?|language=en-US|access-date=January 4, 2020|archive-date=November 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128155504/https://doyouremember.com/108291/will-grace-i-love-lucy|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2021, ''[[Being the Ricardos]]'', a film written and directed by [[Aaron Sorkin]], about the relationship between ''I Love Lucy'' stars Ball and Desi Arnaz, was released. [[Nicole Kidman]] and [[Javier Bardem]] star as Ball and Desi Arnaz, while [[J. K. Simmons]], [[Nina Arianda]], [[Tony Hale]], [[Alia Shawkat]], [[Jake Lacy]], and [[Clark Gregg]] are featured in supporting roles. It received a limited theatrical release by Amazon Studios in the United States on December 10, 2021, prior to streaming worldwide on Prime Video on December 21, 2021.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/movies/being-the-ricardos-teaser-trailer-aaron-sorkin-interview/|title=Aaron Sorkin shows a new side of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos teaser|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|first=Maureen|last=Lee Linker|date=October 19, 2021|access-date=October 19, 2021|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019131102/https://ew.com/movies/being-the-ricardos-teaser-trailer-aaron-sorkin-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022, Amazon Prime Video released the documentary ''[[Lucy and Desi]]''. Directed by [[Amy Poehler]], it was nominated for a [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2022/outstanding-directing-for-nonfiction-programming |title=Nominees/Winners &#124; Television Academy |publisher=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]] |access-date=July 12, 2022 |archive-date=July 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712160649/https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2022/outstanding-directing-for-nonfiction-programming |url-status=live }}</ref>

==In color==
[[File:Lucy in scotland 1956.JPG|thumb|right|"Lucy Goes to Scotland" (1956), the first episode to be [[Film colorization|digitally colorized]] ]]
Several classic episodes of ''I Love Lucy'' have been [[colorized]]. Star and producer Desi Arnaz had expressed interest in airing the show in color as early as 1955, but the cost of such a presentation was prohibitive at the time.

The first episode to be colorized was the [[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep164|Christmas special]], which had been feared to be lost for many years, as it was not included in the regular syndication package with the rest of the series. A copy was discovered in 1989 in the CBS vaults<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/12/18/lucy-lost-and-found/48e05657-de71-4b5c-9b9a-a09ff7fdd07c/ |first=Tom |last=Shales |title=Lucy, Lost and Found |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 18, 1989 |access-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-date=August 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813224133/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/12/18/lucy-lost-and-found/48e05657-de71-4b5c-9b9a-a09ff7fdd07c/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and was aired by CBS during December of that year in its original black-and-white format. In 1990, this episode was again aired in the days prior to Christmas, but this time the [[frame story|framing sequence]] was in color, while the clips from earlier episodes remained in black and white. The special performed surprisingly well in the ratings during both years and aired on CBS each December until 1994.

In 2007, as the "Complete Series" DVD set was being prepared for release, DVD producer Gregg Oppenheimer decided to have the episode "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep144|Lucy Goes to Scotland]]" digitally colorized (referencing color publicity stills and color "home movies" taken on the set during production), making it the first ''I Love Lucy'' episode to be fully colorized. Four years later, [[Time Life]] released the "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep150|Lucy's Italian Movie]]" episode for the first time in full color as part of the "Essential 'I Love Lucy'" collection.

The colorized "Lucy Goes to Scotland" episode has never aired on television, but that episode, along with the Christmas special and "Lucy's Italian Movie", were packaged together on the 2013 "I Love Lucy Colorized Christmas" DVD.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-Christmas-Special/18804|title=CBS DVD Announces a Release of 'The I Love Lucy Christmas Special|date=August 5, 2013|access-date=December 8, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319131845/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-Christmas-Special/18804|archive-date=March 19, 2015}}</ref> In 2014, [[Target Corporation|Target]] stores sold an exclusive version of the DVD that also included "Job Switching".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/336921-cbs-press-release-the-i-love-lucy-christmas-special-colorized-for-kids-of-all-ages/|title=CBS Press Release: The I Love Lucy Christmas Special: Colorized For Kids Of All Ages|date=December 1, 2014|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-date=January 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115204332/http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/336921-cbs-press-release-the-i-love-lucy-christmas-special-colorized-for-kids-of-all-ages/|url-status=live}}</ref>

As of 2025, a total of 18 episodes are known to have been colorized, 17 of which have been released on some form of home media.

===Annual colorized specials===
On December 20, 2013, CBS revived an annual holiday tradition when it re-aired the Christmas special for the first time in nearly two decades. The Christmas special's framing sequence was colorized anew. The network paired this special with the color version of "Lucy's Italian Movie" episode.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2013/10/cbs-sets-record-straight-on-its-i-love-lucy-christmas-special-618063/|title=CBS Sets Record Straight on its 'I Love Lucy' Christmas Special|date=October 22, 2013|access-date=December 8, 2014|archive-date=December 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225232538/http://deadline.com/2013/10/cbs-sets-record-straight-on-its-i-love-lucy-christmas-special-618063/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/fans-not-quite-love-colorized-love-lucy-christmas-172809256.html|title=Fans Not Quite in Love with Colorized 'I Love Lucy' Christmas Special|date=October 23, 2013|access-date=December 8, 2014|archive-date=December 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214130959/https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/fans-not-quite-love-colorized-love-lucy-christmas-172809256.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This special attracted 8.7 million people.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://variety.com/2013/tv/news/america-still-loves-lucy-as-8-7-million-watch-colorized-cbs-special-1200981719/ | work=Variety | first=Rick | last=Kissell | title=America Still Loves 'Lucy' As 8.7 Million Watch Colorized CBS Special | date=December 21, 2013 | access-date=December 7, 2017 | archive-date=December 24, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224042326/https://variety.com/2013/tv/news/america-still-loves-lucy-as-8-7-million-watch-colorized-cbs-special-1200981719/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Nearly a year later, on December 7, 2014, the Christmas special was again aired on CBS, but this time paired with the popular episode "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep36|Job Switching]]", which was newly colorized for that broadcast.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/11/11/the-i-love-lucy-christmas-special-featuring-two-classic-episodes-to-air-sunday-december-7-on-cbs/326474/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114165755/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/11/11/the-i-love-lucy-christmas-special-featuring-two-classic-episodes-to-air-sunday-december-7-on-cbs/326474/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2014|title=The 'I Love Lucy' Christmas Special Featuring Two Classic Episodes to Air Sunday, December 7 on CBS |date=November 11, 2014 |access-date=December 8, 2014}}</ref> That episode appeared on the "I Love Lucy: The Ultimate Season 2" [[Blu-ray]] edition released on August 4, 2015. CBS aired the Christmas special again on December 23, 2015, with the flashback scenes being colorized for the first time, and with a colorized "[[Lucy Does a TV Commercial]]" replacing "Job Switching".<ref>{{cite news |title=Wednesday's TV highlights: 'I Love Lucy Christmas Special' and more |last=Cooper |first=Matt |date=December 22, 2015 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-wednesday-s-tv-highlights-i-love-lucy-christmas-special-and-more-20151222-story.html |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-date=December 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206005833/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-wednesday-s-tv-highlights-i-love-lucy-christmas-special-and-more-20151222-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ratings: I Love Lucy Easily Draws Biggest Audience on Quiet Wednesday|url=http://tvline.com/2015/12/24/i-love-lucy-ratings-colorized/|website=TVLine|date=December 24, 2015|access-date=December 25, 2015|archive-date=December 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225112502/http://tvline.com/2015/12/24/i-love-lucy-ratings-colorized/|url-status=live}}</ref> CBS next aired the Christmas special on December 2, 2016, this time paired with the newly colorized "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep116|Lucy Gets in Pictures]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=Friday's TV Highlights: A new 'I Love Lucy Christmas Special' on CBS |last=Cooper |first=Matt |date=December 1, 2016 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-1202-tvhighlights-20161202-story.html |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-date=June 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615163030/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-1202-tvhighlights-20161202-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On December 22, 2017, the Christmas episode was followed by a newly colorized episode, "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep117|The Fashion Show]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=What's on TV Friday: 'I Love Lucy' and 'Split' |last=Chow |first=Andrew |date=December 22, 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/arts/television/whats-on-tv-friday-i-love-lucy-and-split.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222230814/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/arts/television/whats-on-tv-friday-i-love-lucy-and-split.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On December 14, 2018, the Christmas episode was paired with a newly colorized episode, "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep25|Pioneer Women]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=TV tonight: The 'I Love Lucy Christmas Special' |last=Barney |first=Chuck |date=December 14, 2018 |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/14/tv-tonight-fri-16/ |newspaper=The Mercury News |access-date=December 14, 2018 |archive-date=December 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215065738/https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/14/tv-tonight-fri-16/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On May 17, 2015, CBS began a new springtime tradition when it aired two newly colorized episodes in an "I Love Lucy Superstar Special" consisting of "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep114|L.A. at Last]]" and "[[Lucy and Superman]]",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/network-press-releases/new-i-love-lucy-superstar-special-with-2-colorized-classic-episodes-to-air-sunday-may-17-on-cbs/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709091639/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/network-press-releases/new-i-love-lucy-superstar-special-with-2-colorized-classic-episodes-to-air-sunday-may-17-on-cbs/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2017|title=New 'I Love Lucy Superstar Special' With 2 Colorized Classic Episodes to Air Sunday, May 17 on CBS|first=Steve|last=Baron|date=April 16, 2015}}</ref> which attracted 6.4 million viewers.<ref name="tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com">{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-final-ratings-the-simpsons-billboard-music-awards-adjusted-up/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223201922/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-final-ratings-the-simpsons-billboard-music-awards-adjusted-up/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 23, 2016|title=Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Simpsons' & 'Billboard Music Awards' Adjusted Up|first=Steve|last=Baron|date=May 19, 2015}}</ref> A DVD of this special was released on October 4, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-Superstar-Special-1/22509|title=I Love Lucy DVD news: Announcement for Superstar Special #1 – TVShowsOnDVD.com|website=www.tvshowsondvd.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110111039/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-Superstar-Special-1/22509|archive-date=November 10, 2016}}</ref> A second "Superstar Special" containing the newly colorized two-part episode "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep128|Lucy Visits Grauman's]]" and "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep129|Lucy and John Wayne]]" aired on May 20, 2016<ref>{{cite news |title=Friday's TV Highlights: 'New I Love Lucy Superstar Special |last=Cooper |first=Matt |date=May 19, 2016 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-0520-tvhighlights-20160518-snap-story.html |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610110009/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-0520-tvhighlights-20160518-snap-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and was released on DVD on January 17, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-Superstar-Special-2/22777|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103131957/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-Superstar-Special-2/22777|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 3, 2016|title=I Love Lucy DVD news: Announcement for Superstar Special #2 – TVShowsOnDVD.com|website=www.tvshowsondvd.com}}</ref> A third "Superstar Special" aired on May 19, 2017, featuring two more newly colorized Hollywood-based episodes: "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep124|The Dancing Star]]" featuring [[Van Johnson]], and "[[List of I Love Lucy episodes#ep125|Harpo Marx]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=Friday's TV highlights: 'The New I Love Lucy Superstar Special' on CBS |last=Cooper |first=Matt |date=May 18, 2017 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-0519-tvhighlights-20170519-story.html |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108163553/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-0519-tvhighlights-20170519-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A two-episode "Funny Money Special" was introduced on April 19, 2019, featuring the episodes "The Million-Dollar Idea" and "Bonus Bucks", both from early 1954.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 11, 2019|title=Banish Those Tax-Day Blues with the "I Love Lucy Funny Money Special", A New One-Hour Special Featuring Two Episodes of the Classic Series, To Be Broadcast Friday, April 19 on CBS|url=https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/i-love-lucy-funny-money-special/releases/view?id=52221|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405223919/https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/i-love-lucy-funny-money-special/releases/view?id=52221|archive-date=April 5, 2019|access-date=September 14, 2021|website=CBS Press Express}}</ref> On December 20, 2019, CBS aired its annual ''I Love Lucy'' Christmas episode along with a new colorized episode, "Paris At Last". ''The I Love Lucy Christmas Special'' scored a 4.9 million in the ratings, becoming the night's most-watched show on television.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tvline.com/2019/12/21/i-love-lucy-ratings-colorized-christmas/ |title=Ratings: I Love Lucy Leads Quiet Friday in Audience, SmackDown Tops Demo |last=Webb Mitovich |first=Matt |date=December 21, 2019 |website=TVLine |access-date=December 28, 2019 |archive-date=December 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228015834/https://tvline.com/2019/12/21/i-love-lucy-ratings-colorized-christmas/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  

===Colorized feature film===
On August 6, 2019, Ball's would-be 108th birthday, a one-night-only event took place in movie theaters around the United States, ''I Love Lucy: A Colorized Celebration'', a feature film consisting of five colorized episodes, three of which contain never-before-seen content. The episodes included are: "The Million Dollar Idea" (1954), "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" (1952), "Pioneer Women" (1952), "Job Switching" (1952) and "L.A. at Last!" (1955). A short documentary on the colorization process of the episodes was also included.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/tv/2019/06/05/i-love-lucy-theaters-lucille-ball-birthday|title=I Love Lucy Headed to Movie Theaters to Celebrate Lucille Ball's Birthday|last=Lenker|first=Maureen Lee|date=June 5, 2019|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=June 20, 2019|archive-date=June 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608232708/https://ew.com/tv/2019/06/05/i-love-lucy-theaters-lucille-ball-birthday/|url-status=live}}</ref> The film proved to be very successful, grossing $777,645 from 660 theaters across the country, coming in at #6 at the domestic box office and beating Disney's ''[[Aladdin (2019 film)|Aladdin]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-i-love-lucy-tribute-screenings-score-huge-business-1230045|title=Box Office: 'I Love Lucy' Tribute Posts Huge Grosses on Lucille Ball's Birthday|last=McClintock|first=Pamela|date=August 7, 2019|website=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=August 12, 2019|archive-date=August 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810010146/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-i-love-lucy-tribute-screenings-score-huge-business-1230045|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Home media==
Beginning in the summer of 2001, Columbia House Television began releasing ''I Love Lucy'' on DVD in chronological order. They began that summer with the pilot and the first three episodes on a single DVD. Every six weeks, another volume of four episodes would be released on DVD in chronological order. During the summer of 2002, each DVD would contain between five and seven episodes on a single DVD. They continued to release the series very slowly and would not even begin to release any season 2 episodes until the middle of 2002. By the spring of 2003, the third season on DVD began to be released with about six episodes released every six weeks to mail-order subscribers. All these DVDs have the same features as the DVDs eventually released in the season box sets.

By the fall of 2003, season-four episodes began to be offered by mail. By the spring of 2004, season-five DVDs with about six episodes each began to be released gradually. Columbia House ended the distribution of these mail-order DVDs in the Winter of 2005. They began releasing complete season sets in the summer of 2004 every few months. They stated that Columbia House subscribers would get these episodes through mail before any box sets with the same episodes were released. Columbia House finally ended gradual subscriptions in 2005, several months before season 5 became available in retail. Columbia House then began to make season box sets available instead of these single volumes.

[[CBS Home Entertainment|CBS DVD]] (distributed by [[Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount]]) has released all six seasons of ''I Love Lucy'' on DVD in [[DVD region code#1|Region 1]], as well as all 13 episodes of ''The Lucy and Desi Comedy Hour'' (as ''I Love Lucy: The Final Seasons{{dash}}7, 8, & 9''). Bonus features include rare on-set color footage and the "Desilu/Westinghouse" promotional film, as well as deleted scenes, original openings and interstitials (before they were altered or replaced for syndication), and on-air flubs. These DVDs had features and content identical to that of the mail-order single sets available until 2005.
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.btlnews.com/crafts/post-production/i-love-lucy-goes-hd/|title=I Love Lucy Goes HD|work=Below the Line|date=January 2004 |access-date=April 20, 2015|archive-date=April 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422011045/http://www.btlnews.com/crafts/post-production/i-love-lucy-goes-hd/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In December 2013, the first high-definition release of ''I Love Lucy'' was announced, with the [[Blu-ray]] edition of the first season scheduled for May 5, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=12897|title=I Love Lucy: Ultimate Season 1 Blu-ray|work=Blu-ray.com|access-date=April 20, 2015|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924011534/http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=12897|url-status=live}}</ref> The Second Season Ultimate Blu-ray was released on August 4, 2015. 

On September 25, 2024, it was announced that a Blu-ray box set of the complete series would be released on November 5, 2024.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=35244 |title=I Love Lucy: The Complete Series Blu-ray |access-date=September 26, 2024 |via=www.blu-ray.com}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Release
!Ep #
!DVD release date
!Blu-ray release date
|-
| The Complete 1st Season
| 35
| September 23, 2003<br />(re-released June 7, 2005)<br />(re-released October 9, 2012)
| May 6, 2014
|-
| The Complete 2nd Season
| 31
| August 31, 2004<br />(re-released October 9, 2012)
| August 4, 2015<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-Season-2/21194|title=I Love Lucy DVD news: Date Change for I Love Lucy – The Ultimate Season 2 – TVShowsOnDVD.com|website=tvshowsondvd.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614001206/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-Season-2/21194|archive-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>
|-
| The Complete 3rd Season
| 31
| February 1, 2005<br />(re-released October 9, 2012)
|
|-
| The Complete 4th Season<ref>{{ISBN|978-1415711552}} {{OCLC|84674312|59170060}}</ref>
| 30
| May 3, 2005<br />(re-released October 9, 2012)
|
|-
| The Complete 5th Season
| 26
| August 16, 2005<br />(re-released November 6, 2012)
|
|-
| The Complete 6th Season
| 27
| May 2, 2006<br />(re-released November 6, 2012)
|
|-
| The Final Seasons 7, 8 & 9
| 13
| March 13, 2007<br />(re-released November 6, 2012)
|
|-
| The Complete Series<ref>{{ISBN|978-1415729564}} {{OCLC|226035428}}</ref>
| 193
| October 23, 2007<br />(re-released November 3, 2015)
|November 5, 2024
|}

===Other releases===
* ''I Love Lucy's Zany Road Trip: California Here We Come!'', a compilation of 27 episodes, released by CBS/FOX Video on VHS in 1992<ref>{{ISBN|0793934249}} {{ISBN|978-0793934249}} {{ISBN|0793934257}} {{ISBN|978-0793934256}} {{OCLC|222813918}}</ref>
* "''I Love Lucy''{{dash}}Season 1" (9 separate discs labeled "Volumes", the first volume released July 2, 2002, final volume released September 23, 2003)
* "''I Love Lucy''{{dash}}Season 1" (9 Volumes in a box set, released September 23, 2003)
* "''I Love Lucy''{{dash}}50th Anniversary Special" (1 disc, released October 1, 2002)
* "''I Love Lucy'': The Movie and Other Great Rarities" (1 disc, released April 27, 2010)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-The-Movie-And-Other-Great-Rarities/13290 |title=I Love Lucy – Pricing and Early Cover Art for The Movie and Other Great Rarities |author=David Lambert |date=February 2, 2010 |work=tvshowsondvd.com |access-date=February 7, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206213537/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Love-Lucy-The-Movie-And-Other-Great-Rarities/13290 |archive-date=February 6, 2010 }}</ref> (Also included as a bonus disc in the complete series set.)
* "The Best of ''I Love Lucy''" (2 discs: 14 episodes, released in June 2011 in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the series and Lucille Ball's 100th birthday; sold exclusively through Target.)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/51022/best-of-i-love-lucy-target-exclusive-the/ |title=The Best of ''I Love Lucy'' (Target Exclusive): DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video |publisher=Dvdtalk.com |access-date=November 22, 2012 |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018030006/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/51022/best-of-i-love-lucy-target-exclusive-the/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The DVD releases feature the syndicated heart opening and offer the original broadcast openings as bonus features, except the season 6 DVD allows viewers to choose whether to watch the episodes with the original opening or the syndicated opening. The TV Land openings are not on these DVDs.

Initially, the first season was offered in volumes, with four episodes per disc. After the success of releasing seasons 2, 3, and 4 in slim packs, the first season was re-released as a seven-disc set, requiring new discs to be mastered and printed to include more episodes per disc so there would be fewer discs in the set. For the complete series box set, the first season would be redone again, this time to six DVDs, retaining all bonus features. The individual volume discs for the first season are still in print but are rare for lack of shelf space and because the slim packs are more popular. In 2012, all-season sets were reissued in slipcovered clear standard-sized Amaray DVD cases, with season 1 being the six-disc version as opposed to the seven-disc version.

Episodes feature English closed captioning but only Spanish subtitles.

In Australia and the UK, the first three seasons were finally released in Region 2 & Region 4 on August 3, 2010, by CBS, distributed by Paramount. Season 1 includes the pilot and all 35 Season 1 episodes in a seven-disc set. Season 2 includes all 31 Season 2 episodes in a five-disc set. Season 3 includes all 31 Season 3 episodes in a five-disc set. Season 2 and 3 are in a slimline pack. All three seasons have been restored and digitally remastered. All episodes appear in order of their original air dates, although it is stated that some episodes may be edited from their original network versions. It is unknown if the remaining seasons will be released individually. A complete-series box set titled ''I Love Lucy: Complete Collection'' was scheduled for release on April 6, 2016, and in the UK on May 30, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=I Love Lucy: Complete Collection (DVD)|publisher=EzyDVD|url=http://www.ezydvd.com.au/DVD/i-love-lucy-complete-collection/dp/6172887|access-date=March 13, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313124016/http://www.ezydvd.com.au/DVD/i-love-lucy-complete-collection/dp/6172887|archive-date=March 13, 2016}}</ref> This collection contains 34 DVDs with all six seasons of ''I Love Lucy'' and all 13 episodes of ''The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour''.

In September 2018, [[Time Life]] released a DVD, ''Lucy: The Ultimate Collection'', which collected 76 episodes of ''I Love Lucy'', ''[[The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour]]'', ''[[The Lucy Show]]'', ''[[Here's Lucy]]'', and the short-lived ABC TV series ''[[Life with Lucy]]'' (which had at the time never before been released to home media), plus a wide variety of bonus features.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tvobscurities.com/2018/09/new-lucille-ball-dvd-collection-includes-life-with-lucy-episodes/|title=New Lucille Ball DVD Collection Includes Life with Lucy Episodes|author=Robert Jay|publisher=TwoObscurities.com|date=September 23, 2018|access-date=March 23, 2018|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323064542/https://www.tvobscurities.com/2018/09/new-lucille-ball-dvd-collection-includes-life-with-lucy-episodes/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timelife.com/products/lucy-the-ultimate-collection/|title=Lucy: The Ultimate 12 DVD Lucille Ball TV Series Collection|access-date=March 23, 2019|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323064539/https://timelife.com/products/lucy-the-ultimate-collection/|url-status=live}}</ref>

A DVD collection, ''I Love Lucy: Colorized Collection'', was released on August 13, 2019. It contains every colorized episode of ''I Love Lucy'' aired as of its release date.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/I-Love-Lucy-Colorized-Collection/dp/B07SNNQ31Y |title=I Love Lucy: Colorized Collection. |website=Amazon |access-date=July 8, 2019 |archive-date=August 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803022326/https://www.amazon.com/I-Love-Lucy-Colorized-Collection/dp/B07SNNQ31Y |url-status=live }}</ref>  On November 5, 2024, a colorized version of "Lucy and the Loving Cup" was first released on the ''I Love Lucy: The Complete Series'' Blu-ray Collection.  This means that "Paris at Last", which aired as part of the December 2019 edition of the Christmas Special after the colorized DVD collection had been released, is the only colorized episode currently not available on home media.

==See also==
{{Portal|Television|United States|Comedy|1950s}}
* [[Statue of Lucille Ball (Celoron, New York)|Statue of Lucille Ball]]
* [[Ricky ("Weird Al" Yankovic song)|Ricky (song)]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* [[Joe Garner (author)|Garner, Joe]] (2002). ''Stay Tuned: Television's Unforgettable Moments'' (Andrews McMeel Publishing) {{ISBN|0-7407-2693-5}}
* Andrews, Bart (1976). ''The 'I Love Lucy' Book'' (Doubleday & Company, Inc.)
* Sanders, Coyne Steven; Gilbert, Tom (1993). ''Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz'' (William Morrow & Company, Inc.)
* McClay, Michael (1995). ''I Love Lucy: The Complete Picture History of the Most Popular TV Show Ever'' (Kensington Publishing Corp.)
* [[Jess Oppenheimer|Oppenheimer, Jess]]; with Oppenheimer, Gregg (1996). ''Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time'' (Syracuse Univ. Press) {{ISBN|978-0-8156-0584-3}}
* [[Gustavo Pérez Firmat|Pérez Firmat, Gustavo]]. "I Love Ricky", in ''Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way''. Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1994. Rpt. 1996, 1999. Revised and expanded edition, 2012.
* [[Gustavo Pérez Firmat|Pérez Firmat, Gustavo]].  "Cuba in Apt. 3-B", in ''The Havana Habit''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010.
* Karol, Michael; (2008). ''Lucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia'' (iUniverse) {{ISBN|978-0-5952-9761-0}}
* Edelman; Rob; Kupferberg, Audrey (1999). ''Meet the Mertzes'' (Renaissance Books)
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons}}
* {{IMDb title|0043208|I Love Lucy}}
* {{TV Guide show}}
* {{The Interviews title|i-love-lucy|I Love Lucy}}

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[[Category:I Love Lucy| ]]
[[Category:1950s American multi-camera sitcoms]]
[[Category:1951 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:1957 American television series endings]]
[[Category:American comedy radio programs]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Black-and-white American television shows]]
[[Category:CBS sitcoms]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American sitcoms]]
[[Category:Nielsen ratings winners]]
[[Category:Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series winners]]
[[Category:Television series about marriage]]
[[Category:Television series about show business]]
[[Category:Television series based on radio series]]
[[Category:Television series by CBS Studios]]
[[Category:Television series by Desilu]]
[[Category:Television shows adapted into comics]]
[[Category:Television shows filmed in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Europe]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Manhattan]]