130 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?

Ricky is a Cuban American singer and bandleader, and the character was written to give Desi Arnaz a reason to perform on camera.

Who played Ethel Mertz?

Vance won the part at 42 on the recommendation of director Marc Daniels, and in 1954 became the first actress to win the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress.

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?

The 180 black-and-white episodes originally ran on Monday nights, and 18 of them have since been colorized.

Which cigarette company was the show's original sponsor?

The sponsor insisted the show air weekly, which ended Ball's hopes of keeping her film career going alongside television.

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

Ball and Vance spent half a day at a See's Candies store in Los Angeles learning to dip chocolates before the episode was filmed.

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

They spent half a day at the La Cienega Boulevard store in Los Angeles learning to work the production line before filming 'Job Switching'.

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

The word has become shorthand for the whole series, and a statue of Ball in her hometown of Celoron, New York, depicts the scene.

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

The tonic's fictional alcohol content was raised from 11% to 23% for the show; the real bottle held apple pectin.

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 'Lucy's Italian Movie', what does Lucy do to research an Italian film role?

She ends up brawling with her fellow stomper and misses out on the part because she is stained blue from the vat.

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

The script refers to him only as 'Superman' throughout, with hints meant to clue in adults that he is really an actor.

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

She gets stuck on the ledge in the rain with her cape snagged on a drainpipe 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?

The two-part 'Lucy Visits Grauman's' and 'Lucy and John Wayne' story was colorized and rebroadcast by CBS in 2016.

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?

The two sides of beef cost $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?

Ricky buys an old Colonial house there as an anniversary surprise after Lucy tires of city life.

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?

The network approved the storyline after consulting religious figures but insisted on 'expecting'; Arnaz got laughs by mispronouncing it as 'spectin'.'

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

'Lucy Is Enceinte' first aired on December 8, 1952, though episode 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?

Freund had shot Metropolis and Dracula and directed The Mummy before he made I Love Lucy the first scripted series filmed on 35 mm before a studio audience.

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

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?

In exchange, Desilu kept ownership of the episodes, which later made the couple a fortune in reruns.

For how much did CBS buy back the rights to I Love Lucy episodes in 1957?

The money financed Ball and Arnaz's down payment on the old RKO studios, which became Desilu Studios.

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?

Harold Adamson later added lyrics so Arnaz could sing it in the 1953 episode 'Lucy's Last Birthday'.

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

The Wilton Place Street Band scored the hit twenty years after the show ended.

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

CBS wanted to bring the radio show to television with Richard Denning, but Ball insisted her real husband play the part.

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

The act, written by Carroll and Pugh, played the Ritz Theater in Newburgh, New York, with Arnaz's orchestra.

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

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?

The two feuded off screen for years even though Vance was actually two years older than Ball, not the frumpy matron Ethel was written to be.

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

He never got comfortable with 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?

Arnaz, one of Frawley's few close friends, was a pallbearer along with Fred MacMurray.

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

She later moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to act, and her family donated her Emmy to the Albuquerque Little Theatre after her death.

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?

They wed at the Byram River Beagle Club after meeting on the set of Too Many Girls earlier that year.

Which musical brought Ball and Arnaz together in 1940?

Arnaz had starred in the Broadway version and played one of Ball's character's four bodyguards in the RKO film.

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

She said she did it to please her socialist grandfather; Arnaz told the studio audience the only thing red about Lucy was her hair.

On what notable date did Ball's 1960 divorce become final?

March 2, 1960 was Arnaz's 43rd birthday and the day after they filmed the final Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.

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?

The name was dropped because a real bandleader named Vincent Lopez existed.

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

In 'Lucy and Bob Hope', Lucy spots Hope at Yankee Stadium and tries to book him for the newly renamed club.

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

She was the first woman to run a major TV studio, and greenlit both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible there.

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

The company was renamed Paramount Television; a decade earlier Desilu had bought the RKO lots for about $6 million.

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

It appears on official merchandise anyway, one of TV's most famous misquotes.

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?

The visiting-cousin plot line was one of the show's most popular guest arcs.

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.

Which surname did writer Madelyn Pugh borrow from a doctor she knew as a child for Fred and Ethel?

The Indianapolis doctor's name became one of the most famous surnames in sitcom history.

In 1990, I Love Lucy became the first TV series inducted into what?

A year earlier the never-seen pilot was discovered and aired as the highest-rated program of the season.

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

It sat behind 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?

In 2012 an 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?

Kidman earned an Oscar nomination and won the Golden Globe for the role; Javier Bardem played Arnaz.

Who directed the 2022 documentary Lucy and Desi?

It earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program.

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

DVD producer Gregg Oppenheimer used color publicity stills and home movies from the set as references.

The show was the first to end its run in what position?

It was the most-watched show in America in four of its six seasons.

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 produce and star in during 1960-61?

The run ended early when she could not recover from a virus after weeks of returned ticket sales.

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

Co-produced by Aaron Spelling and co-starring Gale Gordon, it was cancelled less than two months into its run.

In which New York town was Lucille Ball born?

The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum there includes replicas of the 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?

Ball won as Best Comedienne in 1953 and Best Actress in 1956; Vance won for 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?

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?

Ross Elliott played Ross, Ricky's publicity man, in season four.

Which word did CBS make the show use instead of 'pregnant'?

The pregnancy episode's title used the French word 'enceinte' instead.

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?

Some 44 million viewers watched; the inauguration drew 29 million the next day.

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 colorized instalment drew more than eight million viewers when CBS aired it in 2013?

It had long been feared lost because it was left out of the syndication package.

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

She is offered a television contract as a result.

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

It was the second time she was offered a show-business contract.

Which 1943 film with Red Skelton earned Ball the nickname 'that crazy redhead'?

Ricky would later call her by that name on the show.

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

The red hair became her trademark.

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

Lee Bowman played the pilot but was unavailable for the series.

In what year was Lucy Ricardo said to have been born, ten years after Ball herself?

The date is established in the season 5 episode 'The Passports'.

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

It was in the Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour episode 'Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana'.

What is Ricky Ricardo's trademark song?

Desi Arnaz had made the song famous with his real-life orchestra.

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.

What alcohol content did the fictional Vitameatavegamin tonic have?

It was originally scripted as 11% but was raised for the 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?

The pilot was kinescoped on March 2, 1951, and was long considered lost.

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

Henry 'Had' Ball worked for Bell Telephone; he died when Lucille was three.

Under what stage name did Ball begin her Broadway career?

She was hired and quickly fired by both Earl Carroll and Florenz Ziegfeld.

Which 1937 film cast Ball with Katharine Hepburn and her distant cousin Ginger Rogers?

Rogers was a distant maternal cousin of Ball.

Ball became the first woman to run a major TV studio in which year?

Desilu went on to produce Star Trek and Mission: Impossible under her.

Whom did Ball marry in 1961, the year after divorcing Arnaz?

Morton was a comedian; the couple stayed married until her death.

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

She also received a 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?

A replacement statue was unveiled on August 6, 2016, her birthday.

Which musical, running 1974, was among Ball's last films?

She also made Yours, Mine and Ours in 1968.

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?

It was The Pepsodent Show.

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?

She was born in Cherryvale, Kansas, in 1909.

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

She had starred alongside Ball from the show's 1962 start until 1965.

Which coffee brand did Vivian Vance endorse in numerous commercials?

Her agent landed the deal after her Lucy Show years.

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

The act continued until their divorce in 1927.

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

He introduced it in 1912 during his vaudeville career.

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

He warns the judge of the political fallout of ruling there is no Santa Claus.

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

He had just guest-starred on The Lucy Show as a horse trainer.

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

It gave the company 33 sound stages, more than MGM had at the time.

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

Mason plays a guardian angel helping to save the couple's marriage.

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

June Allyson had been considered for the female lead before Ball.

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

They aired occasionally from 1957 to 1960; the last eight were part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.

Who wrote and directed the 2021 film Being the Ricardos?

It earned Oscar nominations for Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem and J.K. Simmons.

Who played Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos?

He was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.

Being the Ricardos received how many Academy Award nominations?

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

On which streaming service was the documentary Lucy and Desi released in March 2022?

It was Amy Poehler's documentary directing debut.

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

Pugh graduated from Indiana University's School of Journalism in 1942.

Which actor joined The Lucy Show in its second season and stayed through Here's Lucy?

He had been the first choice for Fred Mertz but was unavailable.

Here's Lucy ran on CBS during which years?

It co-starred Ball's real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.

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

It held the 9:00 to 9:30 PM ET slot, with summer replacement series filling in during each hiatus.

Which publisher issued 35 issues of an I Love Lucy comic book between 1954 and 1962?

King Features also syndicated a comic strip from 1952 to 1955; Arnaz reportedly lobbied the artist to draw him handsomer.

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

Lucie Arnaz made a 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?

She had arrived in Hollywood as one of 16 Goldwyn Girls in Roman Scandals (1933) and built a reputation for stunts other actresses avoided.

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

Channel 4 later reintroduced the show to a new generation of British fans with repeats between 1983 and 1994.