I Love Lucy

Trivia: This was the first show to go to the hospital when a baby was born on a show.

Bowling255

Trivia: When Lucy was pregnant with Little Ricky, CBS would not allow the word "pregnant", so "expecting" was used instead.

Trivia: Did you know that the original names for the Ricardos would have been Lucy and Larry Lopez? In the lost pilot episode, the voiceover says "You are about to see the pilot episode of the show that was almost I Love Lopez."

Trivia: On January 19th 1953, when Lucy Ricardo gave birth to Little Ricky on I Love Lucy, which 68% of U.S. TV sets tuned in to watch, Lucille Ball also gave birth to Desi Arnaz Jr. (in a planned C-section) on the same night. Newborn Desi Jr. was featured on the very first national cover of TV Guide. As a strange coincidence, on January 19th, exactly 43 years later, Marlee Matlin gave birth to her daughter at the same time that the evening's episode of Picket Fences was being aired, and her character on the show, Laurie Bey, was giving birth to a son.

Super Grover

Trivia: I Love Lucy was the first TV show to shoot episodes on high-quality film, rather than cheaper video tape. The network was opposed to this more expensive shooting method, but Desi Arnaz struck a deal with them that his production company, Desilu, would pay the extra costs in exchange for ownership of the filmed episodes. In what is considered one of the most lucrative deals in television history, Arnaz and Lucille Ball made millions of dollars from rerun residuals.

raywest

I Love Lucy trivia picture

Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable - S2-E16

Trivia: When Lucy's reading the book about infant care, she's holding a baby doll wearing a bonnet in order to learn how to bathe and diaper a baby, and the doll she's using is not just any prop. It's actually one of the show's endorsed products named the "I Love Lucy Baby" doll, which were sold in stores.

Super Grover

The Marriage License - S1-E26

Trivia: When Mr. Willoughby puts on his bellboy hat he shouts, "Call for Philip__," and stops short, then adds that he's "heard that a thousand times but just can't remember the fella's last name." The sponsor of 'I Love Lucy' was Philip Morris Tobacco Company, whose popular ad campaign at the time was a bellboy who shouted, "Call for Philip Morris." (00:17:10)

Super Grover

Trivia: I Love Lucy was the first TV show to use the three-camera filming technique. It was developed by cameraman Karl Freund and Desi Arnaz, who was the show's producer as well as its co-star. Cameras were placed center stage, stage right, and stage left. The film footage was later edited together to show the action from different angles. This method is considered standard and is still in use today.

raywest

Lucy Hires a Maid - S2-E23

Trivia: Right after hiring the maid, when Lucy's sitting on the couch she's reading Companion magazine, and on the cover of this issue there's a small inset photo of Lucy, Desi, and Desi Jr. This magazine is seen again in "Lucy Wants New Furniture" when she has dinner set up in the living room, and is waiting for Ricky to walk in. (00:12:50)

Super Grover

Ricky Has Labor Pains - S2-E19

Trivia: When Ricky tells Lucy to sit down and rest before the "surprise" baby shower, Lucy opens a McCall's magazine and on the cover it reads "I Love Lucy" though the cover has been altered a bit. This issue of McCall's is from January 1953, and the cover actually reads "Why I Love Lucy, by Desi Arnaz", which includes the article that was written by Desi. (00:05:15)

Super Grover

Lucy Does a TV Commercial - S1-E30

Trivia: Before Lucy begins her first rehearsal for the Vitameatavegamin commercial, the director calls out, "Maury, will you stand by with the script, please," and Maury, the script coordinator, takes a seat in front of Lucy with his back to the camera. Maury is played by Maury Thompson, who was the real-life script coordinator for "I Love Lucy" during the first season, before becoming camera coordinator. (00:10:50)

Super Grover

Lucy Does a TV Commercial - S1-E30

Trivia: When Ricky's on the air as the host of "Your Saturday Night Varieties" he tells the audience that he will start things off with a little music, and before he begins to sing he looks offstage and says, "Mr. Hatch, if you please" to cue the start of Ricky's music. Wilbur Hatch is the name of the real-life music composer and orchestra conductor for "I Love Lucy." (00:22:05)

Super Grover

The Young Fans - S1-E20

Trivia: Not only the premise but much of the script comes from the 'George attends a teen-age dance' episode of 'My Favorite Husband'.

hifijohn

I Love Lucy mistake picture

Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio - S1-E32

Visible crew/equipment: At the start, after Fred and Ethel walk in, when Lucy and Ethel walk away from the kitchen shutters carrying things, the stage microphone and stand can be seen at the right side of the screen. (Later in the episode, when Lucy and Ricky appear in the quiz segment an identical microphone is on stage with them). (00:00:35)

Super Grover

More mistakes in I Love Lucy

Lucy Ricardo: I made a funny?

More quotes from I Love Lucy

Show generally

Question: I know this show is from the time period when a lot of couples had two beds in their room. Just out of curiosity, when did it become acceptable to show a couple's bedroom with a single bed on TV?

Answer: According to Snopes.com, there is no definitive answer, but the mid-1960s is the most verifiable date with "The Munsters" being cited as the first, although others claim "The Brady Bunch" showed the first couple seen in a double bed. An early TV show from the late 1940s titled, "Mary Kay and Johnny" is also thought to have shown the married couple's bedroom as having a double bed, although probably not with them in it. However, this was when TV was aired live, and there are no surviving episodes, only anecdotal accounts.

raywest

Something that is funny is that in the movie "A Christmas Story," they show the parents having two twin beds in their bedroom. In a real situation, they should have shown them having a double bed. Lucy and Ricky had twin beds pushed together in an early episode, which would have been pushing television boundaries in that time.

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