I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS between October 15, 1951, and May 6, 1957, spanning six seasons and 180 half-hour episodes. The main cast included Lucille Ball, her real-life husband Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The story centers on Lucy Ricardo, a young middle-class housewife in New York City, who frequently hatches schemes to join her bandleader husband, Ricky Ricardo, onstage at his nightclub. After the series concluded in 1957, a modified version continued for three more seasons as 13 one-hour specials, initially called The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show and later known in reruns as The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.

Annual colorized specials

The show was the most-watched program in the United States during four of its six seasons and was the first series to finish its run as the number-one show in the Nielsen ratings for a season. By 2011, episodes had been syndicated in dozens of languages worldwide, still drawing an American audience of 40 million each year. A colorized version of its Christmas episode attracted over eight million viewers when CBS aired it in prime time in 2013, 62 years after the show premiered.

Production

I Love Lucy was the first scripted television program filmed on 35 mm film in front of a live studio audience, with cinematography by Karl Freund. It won five Emmy Awards and received numerous other nominations and honors. As a result, it is widely considered one of the most influential TV programs ever.

Premise

In 2012, it was voted the "Best TV Show of All Time" in a survey by ABC News and People magazine, and in 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it #12 on its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series. Originally set in a New York City apartment building, I Love Lucy focuses on Lucy Ricardo and her singer/bandleader husband, Ricky, along with their best friends and landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. In the second season, Lucy and Ricky have a son, Ricky Ricardo Jr., usually called "Little Ricky," played by several actors over the seasons. His birth was timed to match the real-life birth of Ball's son, Desi Arnaz Jr. Lucy is naive and ambitious, with a strong desire for stardom and a talent for getting herself and her husband into trouble whenever she tries to break into show business.