176 Fun Facts About I Love Lucy

Which network aired I Love Lucy during its original 1951-1957 run?

The show ran on CBS for six seasons and 180 half-hour episodes, and it was the first series to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings.

What is Ricky Ricardo's job on the show?

Bandleader and singer was the role, written to give Desi Arnaz a reason to perform on camera.

Who played Ethel Mertz?

Vivian Vance won the part at 42 on the recommendation of director Marc Daniels, after Arnaz saw her in a 1951 La Jolla Playhouse production of The Voice of the Turtle.

Fred and Ethel Mertz are the Ricardos' best friends and also their what?

The Mertzes own the Manhattan apartment building the Ricardos live in, giving the writers an older couple for the Ricardos to play off.

What was Lucy Ricardo's maiden name?

Her mother, Mrs. McGillicuddy, was played by Kathryn Card and never managed to get Ricky's name right.

How many half-hour episodes of I Love Lucy were produced?

180 half-hour episodes were produced over six seasons, 1951 to 1957, all in black and white before a studio audience; the 1951 pilot went unaired until 1990.

Which cigarette company was the show's original sponsor?

Philip Morris, the tobacco company, sponsored the show from its 1951 debut; Lucy and Ricky were shown smoking its cigarettes on screen, and its plugs were cut from the syndicated prints.

In the I Love Lucy episode 'Job Switching', where do Lucy and Ethel take jobs after swapping roles with their husbands?

A chocolate factory, in 'Job Switching' (1952); the conveyor-belt scene with Lucy and Ethel stuffing candy into their mouths and hats became the show's most famous sequence.

Which candy company trained Ball and Vance for 'Job Switching'?

See's Candies trained them: Ball and Vance spent half a day at its La Cienega Boulevard plant in Los Angeles learning to dip chocolates before filming 'Job Switching'.

What is the name of the health tonic Lucy pitches in the famous commercial episode?

Vitameatavegamin is the tonic in 'Lucy Does a TV Commercial'; it is 23 percent alcohol, so Lucy grows tipsier with every retake, and the word became shorthand for the series.

What was actually in the bottle Lucy drank from during the tonic commercial scene?

Apple pectin filled the real bottle; the script gave Vitameatavegamin a 23 percent alcohol content, which is why Lucy's delivery slurs further with each take.

Which comedian created the sketch behind the drunken-commercial routine and let Ball use it?

The routine had been part of Skelton's vaudeville act since the 1930s; Ball had worked with him in the 1943 film DuBarry Was a Lady.

In I Love Lucy's 'Lucy's Italian Movie', what does Lucy do to research a film role, not realising its title is symbolic?

Lucy stomps grapes in a vineyard, picks a fight with her fellow stomper and misses the part because she is stained blue from the vat.

Which real superhero actor guest-starred as himself for Little Ricky's birthday party?

George Reeves, television's Superman, appeared as himself in 'Lucy and Superman' (1957); he was credited only as 'Superman' so young viewers would believe he was real.

In 'Lucy and Superman', what does Lucy wear to hide her red hair while posing as Superman?

A football helmet: Lucy hides her hair under one and dons a cape to pose as Superman, then gets stuck on the ledge in the rain until the real Superman climbs out to rescue her.

Which movie star gets a pie in the face because of Lucy at the Brown Derby in 'L.A. at Last'?

Lucy first annoys him by staring from behind a potted plant; Eve Arden also appears in the restaurant scene.

Whose footprint slab from Grauman's Chinese Theatre do Lucy and Ethel try to steal as a souvenir?

John Wayne's slab: in 'Lucy Visits Grauman's' (1955) they pry it up and break it, and in 'Lucy and John Wayne' he good-naturedly presses fresh prints to replace it.

Which Marx brother catches Lucy dressed up as him in the famous mirror routine?

Lucy is fooling near-sighted Carolyn Appleby with celebrity masks when the real Harpo turns up.

In 'The Freezer', how much beef do Lucy and Ethel accidentally order from Ethel's butcher uncle?

700 pounds: two sides of beef at 69 cents a pound came to $483, and the pair try to unload it on customers at a butcher shop.

Where do the Ricardos and Mertzes move in the sixth season?

Westport, Connecticut: in 'Lucy Wants to Move to the Country' (1957) the Ricardos buy a house there, and the Mertzes soon move into the guest house and raise chickens with them.

What was the fictional address of the Ricardos' Manhattan apartment building?

The couple started in apartment 4A before moving to the larger 3B, later renumbered 3D, on the Upper East Side.

What word did CBS forbid the show from using during Lucy's pregnancy storyline?

'Pregnant' was judged too vulgar for 1952 television; CBS cleared the storyline with a priest, a minister and a rabbi, and Arnaz got laughs pronouncing 'expecting' as 'spectin'.

The episode announcing Lucy's pregnancy borrowed its title from which language?

French: the episode was titled 'Lucy Is Enceinte', using the French word for pregnant; it first aired on December 8, 1952, though titles never appeared on screen.

What share of American TV sets was tuned to 'Lucy Goes to the Hospital' when it aired in January 1953?

That beat the 67.7 rating for President Eisenhower's inauguration coverage the following morning, roughly 44 million viewers.

What real-life event coincided with the broadcast of the episode in which Lucy gives birth?

Ball's planned caesarean was scheduled for the same day her character gave birth, and headlines proclaimed 'Lucy sticks to script: a boy it is!'

Which cinematographer developed the show's multi-camera film setup in front of a live audience?

Karl Freund, who shot Metropolis and Dracula and directed The Mummy, designed the three-camera setup and flat, even lighting that let the show be filmed before a studio audience.

How big was the studio audience at each I Love Lucy filming?

300: the bleachers on Stage 2 at General Service Studios held about 300 people, and Desi Arnaz warmed up the crowd as emcee before every filming.

What weekly pay cut did Ball and Arnaz take so the show could be shot on film in Hollywood?

$1,000 a week, cutting their joint salary from $5,000 to $4,000; in exchange Desilu kept ownership of the episodes, which later made the couple a fortune in reruns.

In 'Pioneer Women', how long is the loaf of bread that shoots out of Lucy's oven?

8 feet: after Lucy uses far too much yeast, an eight-foot loaf slides out of the oven and pins her against the kitchen counter in 'Pioneer Women' (1952).

The show's original openings featured what kind of imagery, later replaced for syndication?

The stick figures were drawn by future Flintstones cartoonist Gene Hazelton and referenced each episode's sponsor; the familiar 'heart on satin' opening came later.

Who composed the I Love Lucy theme song?

Eliot Daniel composed the theme in 1951; Harold Adamson later added lyrics so Arnaz could sing it to Lucy in the 1953 episode 'Lucy's Last Birthday'.

What was the title of the 1977 Top 40 dance-floor version of the theme?

'Disco Lucy (I Love Lucy Theme)' by the Wilton Place Street Band reached the Billboard Top 40 in 1977, twenty years after the show ended.

Which radio sitcom starring Ball was the direct forerunner of I Love Lucy?

My Favorite Husband ran on CBS radio from 1948 to 1951; CBS wanted to move it to television with her radio co-star, but Ball insisted her real husband play the part.

How did Ball and Arnaz convince CBS that audiences would accept them as a couple?

A touring vaudeville act: in summer 1950 the couple took a stage act written by Carroll and Pugh on the road with Arnaz's orchestra, and the warm audience response changed CBS's mind.

Which two actors from Ball's radio show were first approached to play the Mertzes but had to decline?

Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet, both tied to other series, had to pass; Gordon later became Ball's regular foil on The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life with Lucy.

How did William Frawley come to be considered for Fred Mertz?

The 64-year-old vaudevillian had nearly 100 film credits, and CBS worried his well-known drinking would interfere with a live show.

What clause did Frawley have written into his contract as a baseball fan?

The Yankees reached every World Series of the show's run except 1954 and 1959, so the clause got plenty of use.

How did Frawley reportedly describe the appearance of the actress who played Ethel?

'A sack of doorknobs' was Frawley's reported verdict on Vance; the two feuded for years even though Vance, born in 1909, was two years older than Ball, not the frumpy matron Ethel was written as.

Which sitcom did Frawley join in 1960, playing live-in grandfather 'Bub' O'Casey?

My Three Sons cast him as Bub O'Casey from 1960 to 1965; he never got comfortable with its out-of-sequence filming after years of shooting Lucy in order.

What words did Arnaz place in a full-page trade-paper ad when Frawley died in 1966?

'Buenas noches, amigo!' was the full text of Arnaz's trade-paper ad after Frawley died in March 1966; Arnaz, one of Frawley's few close friends, also served as a pallbearer.

In which Kansas town was the actress who played Ethel born?

Cherryvale, Kansas, on July 26, 1909; the family soon moved to Independence, Kansas, where Vance grew up and first acted in school productions.

Where is Ethel Mertz said to have been a singer and actress before marrying Fred?

Vance really did launch her career in Albuquerque, appearing in the first show at the Albuquerque Little Theatre in 1930.

What milestone did Vance reach at the 1954 Emmy Awards?

The award, for the 1953 season, was the first of its kind for a supporting actress.

Where did Ball and Arnaz elope in November 1940?

Greenwich, Connecticut: they married on November 30, 1940, at the Byram River Beagle Club before a justice of the peace, after a whirlwind courtship that began that spring.

Which musical brought Ball and Arnaz together in 1940?

Too Many Girls: Arnaz had starred in the 1939 Broadway version and played one of the four bodyguards hired to watch Ball's character in RKO's 1940 film.

What surprising fact about Ball's 1936 voter registration became an issue in 1953?

She registered as a Communist in 1936 to please her socialist grandfather; when the House committee looked into it in 1953, Arnaz told the studio audience the only thing red about Lucy was her hair.

What does Lucy get stuck on her head before riding the subway in a 1957 episode?

A silver loving cup: in 'Lucy and the Loving Cup' (1957) she jams the trophy meant for jockey Johnny Longden onto her head and has to ride the subway wearing it.

In which Cuban city was Desi Arnaz born?

His father was Santiago's youngest mayor and served in the Cuban House of Representatives.

What dance craze is Arnaz credited with introducing to the United States?

He built his name playing conga drums at New York's La Conga club before Rodgers and Hart cast him on Broadway.

What was Ricky Ricardo's name in an early draft before it was changed?

Larry Lopez was the name in the early script; it was dropped because a real bandleader, Vincent Lopez, existed, and Ricky Ricardo replaced it.

What new name did Ricky give the Tropicana after he bought it?

Club Babalu, after Ricky's signature number; in 'Lucy and Bob Hope' (1956) Lucy chases Hope around Yankee Stadium trying to book him for the renamed club's opening.

What was Ball's role at Desilu Productions after buying out Arnaz in 1962?

Head of the studio: Ball became Desilu's president, the first woman to run a major television studio, and greenlit both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible there.

For how much did Ball sell Desilu to Gulf+Western in 1967?

$17 million: Ball sold Desilu to Gulf+Western in 1967, roughly ten years after she and Arnaz had bought their studio lots, and the company was renamed Paramount Television.

What phrase strongly associated with Ricky is never actually said in any episode?

'Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do' is never spoken verbatim; Ricky says 'splain' in various forms, but the exact line is a misquote that nonetheless appears on official merchandise.

Which recurring character was played by Frank Nelson as a quiz-show host?

Nelson appeared as ten different characters across the six seasons.

Which country singer played Lucy's visiting country cousin?

Tennessee Ernie Ford played Cousin Ernie, who overstays his welcome in 'Tennessee Ernie Visits' and 'Tennessee Ernie Hangs On' (1954) and hosts the Ricardos in Bent Fork in 'Tennessee Bound' (1955).

The boy who played Little Ricky from 1956 was billed under what stage name?

Five actors played Little Ricky in all, including two sets of twins.

I Love Lucy became the first TV series inducted into what?

The Television Hall of Fame: I Love Lucy was the first program, rather than person, inducted by the Television Academy, shortly after its long-lost 1951 pilot was found and broadcast in 1990.

Where did TV Guide rank I Love Lucy on its 2002 list of the 50 greatest shows?

No. 2, behind only Seinfeld and ahead of The Honeymooners, after what columnist Matt Roush called a passionate internal debate.

Which publication named I Love Lucy the greatest TV show of all time in 2023?

Variety put I Love Lucy at No. 1 on its 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list in December 2023; a 2012 ABC News and People survey had also voted it Best TV Show of All Time.

Who played Lucille Ball in the 2021 film Being the Ricardos?

Nicole Kidman earned an Oscar nomination and won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama for her Ball; the film premiered in December 2021.

Who directed the 2022 documentary Lucy and Desi?

Amy Poehler directed Lucy and Desi, built around the couple's private audio tapes; it earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program.

Which episode was the first one fully colorized, in 2007?

'Lucy Goes to Scotland', the season-five musical fantasy, was the first episode fully colorized, for a DVD release; producer Gregg Oppenheimer used color publicity stills and home movies from the set as references.

In 'Lucy Does the Tango', what does Lucy hide in her blouse before dancing with Ricky?

Eggs: Lucy stuffs dozens of eggs into her blouse to sneak them past Ricky, and the tango's final dip crushes them, drawing the longest studio laugh in the show's history.

What lifelong phobia did Ball trace to the day her father died?

A bird got trapped in the house that day, and she avoided anything with birds on it for the rest of her life.

What Broadway musical did Ball star in during 1960-61?

Wildcat, with the hit song 'Hey, Look Me Over', opened in December 1960; Ball's exhaustion and illness forced the show to close the following June.

Which short-lived 1986 ABC sitcom was Ball's final series?

Life with Lucy, co-produced by Aaron Spelling and co-starring Gale Gordon, premiered on ABC in September 1986 and was cancelled after eight episodes had aired.

In which New York town was Lucille Ball born?

Jamestown, New York, on August 6, 1911; the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum there includes replicas of the show's New York apartment set.

On what date did I Love Lucy premiere on CBS?

It ran for 180 half-hour episodes across six seasons, ending on May 6, 1957.

I Love Lucy was the first scripted TV show filmed on what in front of a live audience?

Cinematographer Karl Freund had shot Metropolis and Dracula and directed The Mummy.

How many Emmy Awards did I Love Lucy win during its run?

Five: Best Situation Comedy in 1953 and 1954, Ball as Best Comedienne in 1953 and Best Actress in 1956, and Vance as Best Series Supporting Actress in 1954.

Which director helmed the most I Love Lucy episodes, 101 from 1952 to 1957?

Asher later produced and directed Bewitched, starring his wife Elizabeth Montgomery.

Doris Singleton played which friend of Lucy and Ethel who usually tried to one-up them?

Caroline Appleby, the competitive friend whose husband Charlie runs a TV station; Mary Jane Croft played Betty Ramsey, the Ricardos' Connecticut neighbour.

Which neighbour, played by Elizabeth Patterson, occasionally babysat Little Ricky?

Matilda Trumbull lived in the same building as the Ricardos.

Jerry Hausner played Jerry, who held what job for Ricky?

His agent: Jerry books Ricky's club and film work in several episodes, and Hausner also supplied the off-camera crying of baby Little Ricky.

In 'Lucy Is Envious', Lucy and Ethel pose as women from Mars atop which building?

The Empire State Building: in 'Lucy Is Envious' (1954) the pair take a publicity stunt dressed as Martians on its observation deck to earn $500 for a charity pledge Lucy cannot cover.

Which late-1940s sitcom actually featured TV's first on-screen pregnancy, before Lucy?

Mary Kay Stearns' pregnancy predated Ball's, contrary to popular belief.

'Lucy Goes to the Hospital' aired the day before which event?

Eisenhower's inauguration on January 20, 1953: some 44 million watched Lucy give birth the night before, against about 29 million for the inauguration coverage.

Which 1956 event finally broke the viewing record set by 'Lucy Goes to the Hospital'?

The Lucy episode had drawn 73.9% of homes with TV sets.

Which episode, left out of syndication for decades, did CBS air colorized in 2013?

The Christmas episode: the 1956 'I Love Lucy Christmas Show' had been dropped from the syndication package and feared lost until 1989; CBS's colorized airing on December 20, 2013 drew about 8.7 million viewers.

In season one's 'The Audition', Lucy replaces an injured what in Ricky's act?

A clown: when the clown in Ricky's act is injured before the show, Lucy takes his place with his bicycle-and-cello routine, and the television executives in the audience offer her a contract.

In 'Lucy and the Dummy', what does Lucy use as her dance partner at a studio party?

A rubber replica of Ricky: with Ricky away, Lucy builds a life-size dummy with his face and dances with it at the studio party; the dummy falls apart on stage, yet she is offered a contract.

In 'Ricky's Movie Offer', which studio wants Ricky to star in a film of Don Juan?

MGM: in 'Ricky's Movie Offer' (1954) a talent scout wants Ricky for the title role in Don Juan, launching the Hollywood story arc that takes the Ricardos and Mertzes west.

Why did Ball dye her previously blonde hair red at MGM?

For Technicolor features: MGM hairdresser Sydney Guilaroff created the 'Tango Red' shade for 1943's DuBarry Was a Lady, Ball's first Technicolor film, and it became her trademark.

Who co-starred with Ball as her husband in the radio series My Favorite Husband?

Richard Denning played husband George opposite Ball from 1948 to 1951; Lee Bowman played the pilot but was unavailable for the series.

In what year was Lucy Ricardo said to have been born?

1921: 'The Passports' (1955) establishes Lucy's birth date as August 6, 1921, ten years to the day after Ball's own.

Which actress reprised her Private Secretary role as Lucy's friend Susie McNamara?

Ann Sothern reprised Susie McNamara from Private Secretary in the first Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, 'Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana' (1957), in which Lucy recalls how she met Ricky.

Ethel's father Will Potter owned what kind of business in Albuquerque?

Its slogan was 'You can lick our cones, but you can't beat our sodas!'

Fred Mertz's old vaudeville partner was named what?

'Mertz and Kurtz' were known for tap dancing, soft shoe and smart quips.

In 'The Ballet', which word sets off the burlesque comic's 'Slowly I turned' routine?

Martha: in 'The Ballet' (1952) a burlesque comic teaches Lucy the 'Slowly I turned' bit triggered by the name Martha, and she ends up performing it, seltzer and pie included, in Ricky's show.

'Lucy Does a TV Commercial' first aired in which year?

It was the 30th episode of the series, airing on May 5, 1952.

Which clown appeared in the unaired 1951 pilot, whose widow later surfaced a lost copy?

Pepito Pérez, 'the Spanish clown', performed his act in the pilot kinescoped on March 2, 1951; the long-lost recording turned up in his widow's possession and aired in 1990.

Lucille Ball's father, Henry 'Had' Ball, worked as what?

A telephone lineman: Henry 'Had' Ball strung lines for Bell Telephone, moving the family to Montana and Michigan for work, and died of typhoid in 1915 when Lucille was three.

Under what stage name did Ball begin her Broadway career?

Diane Belmont, a name she took from the Belmont Park racetrack; she was hired and quickly fired from the choruses of both Earl Carroll and Florenz Ziegfeld.

Which 1937 film cast Ball alongside Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers?

Stage Door (1937), set in a boarding house for aspiring actresses, gave Ball a featured role alongside Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers at RKO.

In 'Paris at Last', why is Lucy arrested by the French police?

Passing counterfeit francs: in 'Paris at Last' (1956) Lucy changes money with a street dealer, unknowingly receives counterfeit bills, and lands in a police station where Ricky must translate through a chain of interpreters.

Ball posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from which president?

George H. W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously on July 6, 1989, three months after her death; she had also received a 1986 Kennedy Center Honor and the Television Academy's Governors Award.

What nickname did locals give the mocked 2009 statue of Ball in Celoron, New York?

'Scary Lucy' was the nickname for Dave Poulin's 2009 bronze, which went viral in 2015; Carolyn Palmer's replacement statue was unveiled on August 6, 2016, Ball's birthday.

Which 1974 musical was Lucille Ball's last theatrical film?

Mame (1974), with Bea Arthur as Vera Charles, was Ball's last theatrical film; it followed Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) with Henry Fonda.

Which bandleader hired the young Desi Arnaz for his touring orchestra?

Arnaz played the conga drum and sang.

Which event forced the Arnaz family to lose everything and flee Cuba for Miami?

In Miami one of Desi's high-school classmates was Al Capone's son Sonny.

Whose son was a high-school classmate of Desi Arnaz in Miami?

Albert 'Sonny' Capone was the Chicago mobster's only child.

Arnaz led the orchestra on whose NBC radio show in the 1946–47 season?

Bob Hope's: Arnaz and his orchestra were the house band on Hope's NBC Pepsodent Show for the 1946-47 season, after his wartime Army service.

In semi-retirement, Arnaz lived in Del Mar, California and pursued what hobby?

He owned a horse-breeding farm in Corona, California.

What was the birth name of the actress who played Ethel Mertz?

Vivian Roberta Jones was her birth name; she took the surname Vance as a stage name before heading to Broadway, where she understudied Ethel Merman in Anything Goes.

Vance left The Lucy Show at the end of which season?

Third: Vance played Vivian Bagley from the show's 1962 start through the 1964-65 season, then left to stay home in Connecticut, returning only for occasional guest spots.

Which coffee brand did Vivian Vance endorse in numerous commercials?

Maxwell House: Vance was the coffee brand's television spokeswoman in a long-running series of 1970s commercials, after her Lucy Show years.

With whom did William Frawley perform his 1914 vaudeville double act?

His wife, Edna Broedt: billed as 'Frawley and Louise', the couple toured the vaudeville circuits from 1914 until their divorce in 1927.

On I've Got a Secret in 1965, Frawley revealed he was the first to sing which song?

'My Melancholy Baby': Frawley claimed to have introduced the Ernie Burnett song in Denver in 1912, a secret he revealed on I've Got a Secret in 1965.

Frawley played a political adviser to Judge Harper in which 1947 Christmas classic?

Miracle on 34th Street: as Charlie Halloran, Frawley warns Judge Harper of the political fallout of ruling that there is no Santa Claus.

Where was William Frawley walking when he suffered his fatal heart attack in March 1966?

Hollywood Boulevard: Frawley collapsed on the sidewalk after leaving a movie on March 3, 1966, and was carried into the Knickerbocker Hotel; he had recently guest-starred on The Lucy Show as a horse trainer.

In 1957 Desilu bought the production facilities of which film studio for $6 million?

RKO Pictures: Desilu paid about $6.15 million in 1957 for RKO's Gower Street and Culver City lots, including the Forty Acres backlot, making it one of Hollywood's largest studio operators.

Which 1956 film with Ball, Arnaz and James Mason was a box-office failure?

Forever, Darling (1956), made by Arnaz's Zanra Productions for MGM, flopped despite James Mason as a guardian angel sent to save the couple's marriage.

Who directed Ball and Arnaz's 1954 MGM comedy The Long, Long Trailer?

Vincente Minnelli directed The Long, Long Trailer, released by MGM in February 1954; it became one of the year's top-grossing comedies on the strength of the couple's television fame.

How many hour-long specials made up The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour?

Thirteen: five aired as The Ford Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show in 1957-58 and the last eight as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse through April 1960.

Who wrote and directed the 2021 film Being the Ricardos?

Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed Being the Ricardos for Amazon in 2021, his third feature as director after Molly's Game and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

Who played Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos?

Javier Bardem earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his Arnaz, with Nicole Kidman as Ball.

Being the Ricardos received how many Academy Award nominations?

Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons.

Which future novelist worked with Madelyn Pugh on their high-school newspaper?

Kurt Vonnegut: both worked on the Daily Echo, the student newspaper at Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, before Pugh graduated from Indiana University's journalism school in 1942.

In 'Lucy Gets a Paris Gown', what are the husbands' fake designer gowns made from?

Burlap potato sacks: in 'Lucy Gets a Paris Gown' (1956) the husbands pass off sack dresses and feed-bag hats as Jacques Marcel originals, and the designer then copies the look.

Here's Lucy ran on CBS during which years?

1968–1974: Here's Lucy ran six seasons on CBS, co-starring Ball's real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. as Kim and Craig Carter.

On which night of the week did I Love Lucy air on CBS for its entire original run?

Monday: the show held CBS's 9:00 to 9:30 PM Eastern slot on Monday nights for all six seasons, with summer replacement series filling in during each hiatus.

Which publisher put out the I Love Lucy comic book from 1954 to 1962?

Dell Comics ran I Love Lucy Comics for 35 issues from 1954 to 1962; King Features also syndicated a newspaper strip from 1952 to 1955.

Which NBC sitcom paid tribute to I Love Lucy with a spring 2020 episode titled 'We Love Lucy'?

Will & Grace's tribute had Lucie Arnaz cameo as the factory foreperson, the role Elvia Allman originated in 'Job Switching'.

Which nickname did Lucille Ball earn for her starring roles in second-rate pictures at RKO?

'Queen of the B's' was the tag for her run of RKO second features in the late 1930s; she had arrived in Hollywood as a Goldwyn Girl in Roman Scandals (1933).

Which new British commercial network aired I Love Lucy from 1955?

ITV, launched on September 22, 1955 as Britain's first commercial television network, carried I Love Lucy among its earliest American imports.

To give Lucille Ball time off after childbirth, I Love Lucy accidentally invented which standard television practice?

The rerun was born when first-season episodes were rebroadcast to cover Ball's absence and unexpectedly proved ratings winners, paving the way for the syndication market.

I Love Lucy was the first series to end at the top of the ratings; which 1990s sitcom later did the same?

Seinfeld signed off in 1998 as America's top-rated show, a feat only I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show had managed before it.

Which science-fiction series came from Desilu, the studio Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz built around I Love Lucy?

Star Trek began as a Desilu production in the 1960s, as did Mission: Impossible, before the studio was sold and renamed Paramount Television.

Which television show did Desi Arnaz guest-host in 1976 to promote his autobiography, spoofing I Love Lucy on air?

Saturday Night Live had Arnaz as host in February 1976, plugging a memoir he had plainly titled A Book and reciting 'Jabberwocky' in his Cuban accent.

In the first hour-long Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour special, Lucy Ricardo recalls meeting Ricky on a cruise to which city?

Havana is where the flashback has Lucy first meet Ricky; the opener ran 75 minutes, so Desi Arnaz needed permission to cut into the next show's slot.

Which instrument does Little Ricky play non-stop in a season-six I Love Lucy episode, testing the Mertzes' patience?

The drums were no act: the boy cast as Little Ricky had toured with the Horace Heidt Orchestra at the age of three and jammed with Desi Arnaz at his audition.

Which instrument from her school-band days does Lucy Ricardo dust off to audition for Ricky's tour on I Love Lucy?

The saxophone turns up in an old trunk, and the only tune she can manage on it is 'The Glow-Worm', which leaves Ricky's band more amused than impressed.

What takes the Ricardos and Mertzes across the Atlantic in the fifth season of I Love Lucy?

Ricky's band is booked for a European tour with Fred as band manager, but Lucy and Ethel must pay their own way, so they run a raffle for a phony charity and nearly get arrested.

Which silent-film comedian mentored Lucille Ball in prop comedy years before I Love Lucy made her a television star?

Buster Keaton befriended Ball when both worked at the same studio in the 1940s and, with director Edward Sedgwick, schooled her in practical comedy and prop work.

What offer did William Frawley's on-screen wife reject after I Love Lucy, refusing to work one-on-one with him?

A Mertzes spin-off, built around Fred and Ethel, was Desi Arnaz's idea, and Frawley was keen, but his co-star declined: the two already had an acrimonious relationship.

Which honor did Lucille Ball receive in December 1986, five days after her I Love Lucy co-star Desi Arnaz died?

The Kennedy Center Honors ceremony came on December 7, 1986; Arnaz had been due to introduce her, and Robert Stack instead read out a tribute Arnaz had written.

What wrong name does Lucy's scatterbrained mother keep calling her son-in-law Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy?

Mickey is her usual mangling of his name; Kathryn Card played the role a year after first appearing on the show as a slovenly woman named Minnie Finch.

Which three advisers approved the scenes about Lucy's pregnancy on I Love Lucy, by Desi Arnaz's account?

A rabbi, priest and minister signed off on those sequences, Arnaz said; the birth episode was such an event that Newsweek ran a cover story before it had aired.

Which future screen legend was a fellow student at the New York drama school where teenage Lucille Ball was written off?

Bette Davis studied at the John Murray Anderson School at the same time; Ball's instructors felt she would never succeed, and she later said it only taught her how to be frightened.

What public office did Desi Arnaz's father hold in the family's Cuban home city before the Arnazes fled to Miami?

Mayor, and the youngest the city had known: Arnaz's father went on to win a seat in the Cuban House of Representatives.

Which neighbor, played by Mary Jane Croft, befriends Lucy after the Ricardos swap Manhattan for the country?

Betty Ramsey turns out to be a childhood friend of Ethel's; Croft had already played a one-off part on the show before landing the recurring role.

Which producer and head writer did Lucille Ball insist on bringing from her radio sitcom to head up I Love Lucy?

Jess Oppenheimer was also an inventor with 18 patents, among them the in-the-lens teleprompter, first used on television by Ball and Arnaz in a 1953 commercial.

What did Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz demand in exchange for a pay cut to shoot I Love Lucy in Hollywood?

Ownership of the films seemed worthless then; the couple later sold the episodes back to the network for over four million dollars.

Whose distinctive 'uh oh' can be heard from the studio audience in many episodes of I Love Lucy?

Lucille Ball's mother, DeDe, sat in the audience at filmings, and Desi Arnaz's own laugh can be heard too during scenes he was not in.

Which comedian is the title guest of 'Lucy Meets the Moustache', the last hour-long outing of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo?

Ernie Kovacs guest-starred with his wife, Edie Adams, in the last of the hour-long specials, which reached the air in April 1960.

Which fruit does Lucy Ricardo pick from Richard Widmark's backyard on a bus tour of movie stars' homes?

A grapefruit from the actor's tree left her trapped in his backyard, on the very day Ricky had barred her from his lunch with Widmark at Romanoff's.

In the I Love Lucy episode 'The Freezer', where is Lucy trying to hide the surplus meat when she gets locked in?

The furnace was off for repairs, so it looked like a safe hiding place; then Fred fired it up to thaw the half-frozen Lucy and cooked the lot.

Which appliance do Lucy and Ethel request in I Love Lucy's 'Pioneer Women', sparking a bet about modern conveniences?

A dishwasher each was the request, but their husbands called them spoiled and bet they could not live without modern conveniences, which is how Lucy came to bake her own bread.

Which old-fashioned chore gets the better of Ethel while Lucy bakes bread in the I Love Lucy episode 'Pioneer Women'?

Churning butter proves too much for her alone, so she calls on Lucy for help; both were hoping to get into the elite Society Matrons' League.

Which Hollywood star does Lucy impersonate in 'Be a Pal', hoping to remind Ricky Ricardo of his Cuban childhood?

Carmen Miranda was the finale of a plan lifted from a marriage-advice book, which also had Lucy fill the apartment with a donkey and other reminders of Cuba.

What do Lucy and Ethel sell on television in I Love Lucy's 'The Million Dollar Idea', pricing it far too low?

Salad dressing made to an aunt's recipe sold so well at a loss that the pair went back on air to make it look awful, which only brought in more orders.

What does Lucy Ricardo keep pulling on the journey home from Hollywood in I Love Lucy's 'The Great Train Robbery'?

The emergency brake gets pulled so often that she earns a reputation for it, all while she is tangled up with a jewel thief on board.

How does Lucy Ricardo finally get aboard the ocean liner she misses in the I Love Lucy episode 'Bon Voyage'?

By helicopter, hired to drop her on the deck of the SS Constitution after she slipped ashore for one more goodbye kiss and the liner sailed without her.

How does Ricky Ricardo know every answer to a radio quiz heard at home in 'Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio'?

A delayed broadcast: Ricky had been in the studio when the questions were asked, which he admits only to Fred, so an impressed Lucy signs the pair up as contestants.

At which London theatre must Lucy Ricardo perform in Ricky's show in order to be presented to the Queen?

The Palladium show was her one route to a royal introduction after a first day in the city spent hunting for Elizabeth II, when Ethel caught a glimpse and Lucy missed out.

What ailment makes modelling a tweed outfit agony for Lucy Ricardo in the Hollywood episode 'The Fashion Show'?

A sunburn, and a bad one, met the scratchiest fabric going after Lucy set her heart on a Don Loper gown and landed a spot in a show for Hollywood wives.

What part does Ricky arrange for Lucy in a Hollywood film in the I Love Lucy episode 'Lucy Gets Into Pictures'?

A murdered showgirl sounded simple, but the role and its costume defeat her: the big scene is cut, and she reaches the screen only as a body under a sheet.

Lucy Ricardo hopes to perform Shakespeare with Orson Welles at Ricky's club, but what is he really there to do?

A magic act is all Welles has in mind, with Lucy wangling the job of his assistant; she turns up ready for the Bard anyway.

Which Broadway show, part-owned by Desilu, do the Ricardos and Mertzes hold tickets for in 'Lucy's Night in Town'?

The Most Happy Fella was a plug as much as a plot: Desilu owned a large share of the musical, and the comedy starts when Lucy's tickets turn out to be for the matinee.

In I Love Lucy, what overruns the Ricardos' country house on the day a House & Garden photographer is due?

Baby chicks arrive in a flock after the Ricardos turn poultry farmers to make ends meet, hiring Fred and Ethel as help and installing them in the guest house.

Where does Lucy Ricardo end up working after a Venetian gondolier turns up in New York in 'Visitor from Italy'?

A pizza parlor is where a series of mishaps lands her; guest Jay Novello was making his last appearance on the show, each one as a different character.

Which perilous stage routine does Lucy land in after a day of total honesty in I Love Lucy's 'Lucy Tells the Truth'?

A knife-throwing act with Professor Falcony is where an audition leaves her, after she bet $100 that she could last 24 hours without telling a fib.

Lucy Ricardo poses as the 'Maharincess' of which invented land in a first-season stunt to get Ricky into the papers?

Franistan's swooning royal fooled the press until Ricky caught on and paid her back, bursting in as an assassin called The Tiger.

What kind of business do Lucy and Ethel secretly buy in I Love Lucy's 'The Girls Go Into Business', then sell on?

A dress shop bought from Mrs. Hansen earned them $500 when they sold it; the buyer then resold the site to skyscraper builders for $50,000.

Which radio program does Ethel talk a cash-strapped Lucy into attending in the I Love Lucy episode 'The Quiz Show'?

Females Are Fabulous dangles a cash first prize, which is all a broke Lucy needs to hear; she ends up on stage as a contestant instead of in the audience.

To win the top prize in 'The Quiz Show', Lucy Ricardo must pass a stranger off to Ricky as whom?

Her long-lost first husband was the story she had to sell, with the host promising to send a man round that evening while Ricky knew nothing of the game.

Whom does Lucy Ricardo mistake for the radio show's planted stranger when he knocks at her door in 'The Quiz Show'?

A tramp named Harold happily plays along with her story until Ethel recognizes him: he had already called at her own door that day.

Frank Nelson, the emcee in I Love Lucy's 'The Quiz Show', found fame as the put-upon foil of which comedian?

Jack Benny kept running into Nelson's rude sales clerks on radio and then on television; with Lucy, Nelson went on to make eleven appearances.

Philip Ober, the stranger in I Love Lucy's 'The Quiz Show', later played a UN ambassador in which Hitchcock film?

North by Northwest reached cinemas in 1959, the year his marriage to the actress who played Ethel ended; Ober later quit acting for the US diplomatic service.

Who directed 'The Quiz Show' and the rest of I Love Lucy's first season before leaving for a better-paid job?

Marc Daniels also recommended the actress who became Ethel, then left for higher pay elsewhere, a move he later admitted might have been a stupid one.

What does Ricky Ricardo cut off at the start of I Love Lucy's 'The Quiz Show', sending Lucy after prize money?

Her allowance and her charge accounts both go when Ricky, sure that he earns a good living, cannot work out where the money is going.

What becomes of the prize money Lucy Ricardo finally wins in the I Love Lucy episode 'The Quiz Show'?

It pays off her debts and nothing more: the winnings were just enough to cover what she owed, so all that scheming left her back where she began.

What happens to Lucy Ricardo in her first stunt as a contestant in the I Love Lucy episode 'The Quiz Show'?

Sprayed with water, and that was only the warm-up stunt; William Frawley missed the fun, as Fred does not appear in the episode.

Which fish do both couples secretly buy to win a bet in the Miami-set I Love Lucy episode 'Deep-Sea Fishing'?

A tuna apiece, bought to pass off as the day's catch, leaves the husbands and the wives each trying to hide an enormous fish from the other side.

Which leading man do Lucy and Ethel meet on a weekend away from their husbands in I Love Lucy's 'In Palm Springs'?

Rock Hudson is their consolation after a quarrel over annoying habits sends the wives off to the desert with Little Ricky in tow.