First time reacting to 'I Love Lucy' - Chocolate Factory Scene!

[@tbascoebuzz4782]

Lucille Ball is hands down the greatest classic comedienne. She’s a legend who will live on through time. I’m 72 and have watched ‘I Love Lucy’ from its birth. Many of today’s comics learn and take their cues from her, and the likes of Robin Williams, Jerry Lewis, Jonathan Winters, Red Skelton, etc.

[@jethro1963]

Carol Burnette was a big Lucy fan

[@annmcdonough5625]

And Lucy was a big fan of Carol's. I think she offered her a TV show that Carol turned down.

[@jethro1963]

@@annmcdonough5625 It has been falsely rumored that a Desilu loss during this time was Carol Burnett, who declined to star in a sitcom for the studio in favor of The Carol Burnett Show, a weekly variety show that lasted 11 seasons. In truth, Here's Agnes was offered to Burnett by CBS executives who attempted to dissuade her from having a variety show because they felt that men were better suited for them. Burnett and Ball, however, remained close friends, often guest-starring in each other's series.

[@RICHIERICH91528]

National comedy center is in her home town of Jamestown New York. Fitting tribute to an icon

[@katsiamapoisoning786]

​@annmcdonough5625 Every year Lucy would send Carol Burnett flowers for her birthday. After Lucy died, Carol Burnett received birthday flowers Lucy had ordered before her death. 😢

[@todddepue681]

Can never go wrong with I Love Lucy! "Vitameatavegemin" is another popular classic scene. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were def a Hollywood power couple with their own production studio that created lots of TV shows including the original Star Trek series. Also there's a story that the laugh tracks used for many sitcoms into the 70/80s were recorded from the laughter of I Love Lucy audiences.

[@TomLloyd-18]

VitaMeataVegamin . . . the all time best episode

[@asherdash12]

It's hard to pick a favorite episode but vitameatavegemin is my all time favorite lol.. And if course now I'm going to have to watch it tonight 😂

[@jethro1963]

Lucy was the Lu in Desilu. The company is best known for shows such as I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Mannix, The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Until 1962, Desilu was the second-largest independent television production company in the United States, behind MCA's Revue Studios, Yes, there were people's laughs still being heard when they were long since dead.

[@jenniferfoster1692]

That one is THE Lucy scene, so iconic. I love this chocolate one but the Vitameatavegamin one is even better!

[@rileytimm93]

The freezer episode is another great one

[@NotSoFast71]

Lucy wasn't an actress that they "let" improv in the scenes. It was her show. The first show owned and ran by a woman...in the early 50s. THAT'S why she was such a bad ass.

[@lecuyerdooley1084]

Without "I Love Lucy", the modern sitcom would not exist. She was a revolutionary who taped her show on film, making it possible for reruns to be aired later. And she was one hell of a funny lady.

[@Emilyhildegaard1]

She was one of a kind, and not afraid to do ANYTHING, including look ridiculous. She was GREAT.

[@candicelitrenta8890]

Lucy was the sole owner of Desilu Studio's and when it came time for Star Trek to be discussed by other studios no one wanted it so they took it to her and she greenlit it. She is the one responsible for it becoming a series at all. She was a true talent and entrepreneur

[@MiciousDawn]

I'm pretty sure Desilu was owned by Lucille Ball and her then-husband Desi Arnez (who plays Ricky), which is why it was called Desilu Productions

[@candicelitrenta8890]

@@MiciousDawn They purchased it together but Desi and Lucy were having marriage difficulties so they split up and she bought out Desi's half and became the sole owner of the company. I don't remember exactly how many shows she spearheaded but I do know that Star Trek and Mission Impossible were 2 of them. Desi was a womanizer and alcoholic so she could not handle that.

[@phaneserichthoneus8895]

Wow, I never knew that. I knew that _Star Trek_ always ended with the Desilu logo, but I didn't realize she personally ok'ed the show.

[@Jason-ib4fk]

"Stomping Grapes" scene in Italy too is another great classic scene! Y'all should do some of the best full shows. They're only about 20 mins without any commercials. 👍

[@kennethgoin628]

Oh my goodness... YES! The stomping grapes scene, for me, is the best ever! I laugh so hard every time I see that clip! Her mirror with Harpo Marx is another fun one, among many others!

[@breckrichardson390]

My favorite is the episode with William Holden in Hollywood. That episode actually hss two classic scenes.

[@77poolbob52]

This episode and the stomping grapes scene in Italy are my top two. But, there were SO MANY funny episodes that you can't go wrong with any one of them!😂😂

[@RobertEskew]

Here's a factoid: "The episode 'Lucy Goes to the Hospital' first aired on Monday, January 19, 1953. It garnered a record 71.7 rating, meaning 71.7% of all television households at the time were tuned in to view the program."

[@kriswoods7051]

Lucille Ball was smart and savvy! She started as a model/ chorus girl/ dancer in the movies in the 30's and made sure she was in the right place and the right time to get into the movies. She was a comedic actress and was even blonde for a while in early movies. She climbed her way up and when she met Desi Arnez, the Cuban band leader, they fell madly in love and she insisted that when she did the show, "I Love Lucy" he was to be a part of it. The powers that be were very concerned about a mixed relationship on TV, but she insisted that it would work and it did. She created DesiLu productions alongside Desi and it became a very successful venture. She was the one that greenlighted "Star Trek" to be produced, so she is to thank for that! After they divorced, they sold the production studio, but she remained on TV and in movies.

[@shallowgal462]

She got the Desilu studio in the 1960 divorce and remained its head until she sold it to Paramount in 1968.

[@TheRatsCast]

One thing you missed; this show was based on a radio show the studio wanted to bring to television. Lucy wanted to bring Desi in as her husband, but the studio wouldn't hear of it. They thought no one would believe she was married to him. So they put together an act which they performed live. If it became a huge hit and would become the pilot episode for the show. The rest was history. Desi was also the person behind the now standard 3 camera setup; which is still used today. He also came up with the idea of recording the episode on tape to preserve them for later use. Lucy and Desi changed the face of television forever

[@shallowgal462]

@@TheRatsCast Actually it was _filmed_ live before a studio audience with 3 cameras, not taped. Videotape quality of that time is why The Honeymooners classic 39 are so grainy and high-contrast in the existing kinescope copies.

[@shallowgal462]

"Filming actually took place at the See's Candies factory in Los Angeles, on May 30, 1952. Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance spent half a day learning the ropes, dipping chocolates and packing candy on the production line before filming began. The uniforms the two wore were actually borrowed from See's workers." (San Bernadino Sun article, 2008)

[@MarcusCiambelli]

The fact that a show from the 1950s is still discussed in 2023 is great! Lucy would be so happy about this. ❤️

[@denisepayne710]

I'm 72 years old, and not easily amused. I still laugh over these routines that come from deep in my childhood.

[@AP-gb3eh]

Before Cuba fell Americans were in love with Cuban music, it was a very popular place for Americans to visit. Lucy wasn’t the first but she took control of her show and she and Desi became powerful people in Hollywood. She was a young actress that had a comic flare. She was the first woman to be shown on television pregnant , because she made them. When they went to commercials the country’s water tables went down as all of America flushed at the same time 🤣🤣🤣

[@LaMonatrod]

For many years we were told she was the first and the I find out that she was actually not the first. A show called Mary Kay and Johnny was the first in 1948 on the DuMont Television Network. They were also the first couple to share a bed.

[@chnalvr]

Yes, the show with a "mixed" marriage for the two lead characters was highly unusual, in addition to her pregnancy and childbirth being written into the show. They broke quite a bit of social and comedy ground.

[@CG68810]

TV became popular around 1950-51. Her show started around that time and it was a massive hit. She was the first woman to become a TV star. She was also the first female to become head of and own her own studio. DesiLu, named after her and husband Desi. She is indeed the greatest female comic actress ever and one of the greatest ever period. She had two other shows in the 60s 70s and 80s after she and Desi split up.

[@mikegalvin9801]

It made her enormously rich since as the Producer she owned the episodes which were leased as reruns for decades.

[@cynthiamckinney4276]

I won’t say greatest but one of. I’ll put her in my top 5…

[@CarlyneDTQTonPod]

Gen Zers wassup i’m a 1980s Millennial who watched these episodes on reruns network tv and cable tv and I Love Lucy was already an Global Icon of like 4 decades 😅 please deep dive into her career

[@markcornish2519]

When they got home their husbands said they were so proud of them. And got them big boxes of chocolates!

[@John-tn7nm]

I have a good scene for you all to watch. A young Christopher Lloyd on a TV show named Taxi (1978-1983), taking a driver's test. The episode is called: Taxi Reverend Jim's driving test.

[@FallenHellscape]

Dudes, SHE called the shots. No one “let her” do anything. SHE chose. Her studio, Desilu, was her and her husband. DESI Arnaz and LUcille Ball. (Notice the capitalized names.) And SHE was the main star of the show.

[@danielh6015]

Sorry Desi was the genius behind the show and the studio. He created it and ran it all. However , she was the genius behind the comedy

[@albertjimeno807]

These people are absolute assholes.

[@nataliecastillo7376]

Lucille Ball was the first woman to ever appear on national television with a belly bump. There was a stigma about pregnant women performing on TV in those days.

[@jonathanboblitz62]

Lucy had successful comedy on the radio after doing dramatic film roles, and like many radio stars the network wanted to move her to tv. She wanted her real husband to play her husband but they said no because no one would believe them as a couple, so they went on the road doing a stage show that did well so then the network relented but wasn’t going to pay what they wanted for a budget so they made the show themselves and recorded it on film so it was the first tv show that could be rerun.

[@beatmet2355]

She was in a Marx Brothers film in 1938 called Room Service. She was only in a couple of scenes and she looked different because he hair was darker and it was styled differently, but you can still recognize her voice.

[@EagleFang74]

Lucy was the first female to run her own television studio. Lucy and Desi started Desilu productions. You can thank her for Star Trek. Desilu productions created that show in the 60’s.

[@Malcontent-]

@ The chocolate factory scene was inspired when Lucille Ball went to a candy store in real life and was given a tour. She saw workers on a conveyor line working on chocolate. She thought it would be funny if things were to go wrong in a spectacular way. She took the idea to the writers and the rest is comedy history.

[@timmccoy4875]

Ricky and Lucy move from the city to a farm. They have chickens and Lucy collected the eggs, Ricky comes home and the next scene is said to have the longest live audience laugh to this day.

[@morganm9040]

Lucy and Desi ran Desilu Studios which produced many many shows. Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek, My Three Sons. Check out the I Love Lucy episode when she gets the trophy stuck on her head, no words are spoken only Lucy doing anything for the audience reaction.

[@DRaymore44]

Lucy started as a dancing girl in the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway but was quickly fired. She also was a Goldwyn girl in the chorus for several early films she completed. Eventually, she got to Hollywood, California, and she was hired by MGM Studios to do comedy, dramas, etc. She did play a character for The Three Stooges. When the film started to be in color, the studio could not figure out the hair color she should have to stand out from the other blondes and brunettes. They tried different shades of blonde and brown, but nothing seemed to fit until they tried red hair dye. The red hair stayed for the rest of her career. When Lucy did one movie called "Too Many Girls," she met her future husband, Desi Arnaz, a Cuban bandleader. After she married Desi, MGM Studios had difficulty placing her in a particular genre of films because she could do it all. Eventually, they let her go of her contract, and soon, she started doing radio dramas. The most popular one was called "My Favorite Husband." This radio show was the precursor and inspiration for her most famous TV sitcom, "I Love Lucy." Some CBS TV producers were interested in making "I Love Lucy" into a sitcom, and they wanted the best writers and directors. However, they were not sure Lucy and Desi were the right actors since they were an interracial couple, and there was a lot of discrimination in the 1950s. To solve that problem, Lucy and Desi did a stage show to show off their talent for comedy. This stage show was very popular with audiences across the country. This show became part of their TV pilot for "I Love Lucy." After the producers and bigwigs saw that pilot, they decided to greenlight it for thirty-six episodes. Part of the pilot included Ricky Ricardo's band at a nightclub, and they hired a man to play a clown for one of the acts. After the pilot was filmed, Desi gave a copy to the clown to keep as a souvenir .Many years later, the CBS Studios could not find the pilot episode anywhere. Thankfully, the daughter of the actor who played the clown on the show notified CBS that she found the lost episode in a trunk for over forty years.The studio restored the lost film, and it's on the Season 1 DVD set. I have been a huge I Love Lucy fan, and I read a lot about it. The series is a classic, and the talent was so good along with great writers. The show ran for nine seasons until after Lucy and Desi divorced. Desi was drinking too much and having multiple affairs with many women. Lucy decided she had enough. For the rest of their lives, Lucy and Desi still loved each other until Desi died in 1986. Lucy died in 1989, and she was last remaining cast member of the famous quartet to pass on. The show is still popular as ever even after 72 years being aired on TV, and there is a museum in Jamestown, New York that is dedicated to that show. Jamestown is also Lucy's hometown and birthplace. May they all rest in peace.

[@TiffanyWest3030]

Lucille Ball did modeling, and old movies, then did a radio show called My favorite husband that turned into I LoVe Lucy. Her and Desi did live shows before they actually did the tv version just to get an audience’s reactions.

[@tapduff]

The brilliance of Lucille Ball!! She was not a standup comedian. She was an actress in movies, did a comedy radio show where she was a housewife that always got into trouble with her husband. They wanted to make it a TV show, but she would only do it if her real husband Desi Arnaz (a bandleader) could play the husband. They refused initially, because he was Cuban and the network didn't think it would go over well audiences. Finally it happened and the show is a TV classic. She was one of the first women in a TV series to do such physical comedy. Desi actually invented the 3 camera technique. They owned a production studio, Desilu and she became the first woman to be the head of a production studio after she bought out Desi when they sadly divorced. The fact that people are still watching today proves what a brilliant show it was. More Lucy please!! Great reaction!!

[@Dej24601]

For some classic episodes, a few are: when they travel to Hollywood and Lucy meets actor William Holden; another where she meets John Wayne; another where they travel to Italy and Lucy stomps grapes; another where they are in France and Lucy is arrested for passing counterfeit money; another where they buy a diner.

[@lynettenasseri753]

I Love Lucy is a show that will never lose it's outstanding comedy. Lucille Ball was a natural comedienne.

[@bryanr9674]

Just an FYI. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnes owned Desilu studios, which later became paramount studios, with was the studio that produced Star Trek, and the star Trek universe. Start Trek next Gen, deep space nine, Voyager, etc.

[@flubblert]

"I Love Lucy" was technically the fifties, but reruns ran throughout the 70s 80s 90s and can still be found on cable TV. You must do the "Vitameatavegamin" commercial-scene next. Absolutely hilarious!! And yes, she is the first female that I can remember to get down and dirty with slapstick comedy. Paved the way. 👍👍

[@breckrichardson390]

There's a 24/7 "I Love Lucy" channel on Pluto TV.

[@flubblert]

@@breckrichardson390 cool!

[@mgarringerkcify]

Carole Lombard was a friend of Lucy's and was an amazing comedienne in the 1930s. She also ran her career. She married Clark Gable and was in a fatal plane accident promoting war bonds. Lucy was amazing and was taught by Buster Newton and Red Skelton. My favorite Lucy movie was Dubarry was a lady.

[@RLucas3000]

This was the first episode of the second season, and the writers worked on it the whole summer. It’s crazy funny from start to end. Lucy was a lesser movie star in the 30s, 40s who became a bigger star on radio in the later 40s and then one of the two biggest stars on TV in the 50s (along with Milton Berle). Italians were treated badly in the 1880s, 1890s (Columbus Day was created as a way to appease Italy, as they wanted to go to War with us after more than a dozen innocent Italians were lynched in New Orleans in the 1890s.)

[@evabyrum3327]

Her husband Desi Arnez is the first one who used several cameras to get different angles. They also started the famous studio called Desilu Studios which the orginal Star Trek was filmed and also The Andy Griffith Show, Mission impossible to name a few.

[@Shoegoddess260]

This episode is called Job Switching and I strongly advise you to watch the whole show. Ricky and Fred have their troubles taking care of the house just like Lucy and Ethel have troubles with their jobs. The best scene is the chocolate dipping scene and the woman with Lucy was an actual chocolate dipper. This episode is laughs from beginning to end.

[@robertcopeland2946]

Lucy is the reason we have Star Trek today!

[@pacio49]

Phyllis Diller is actually credited with being the first female American mainstream comedian. But Lucille Ball wasn't far behind. She also was the Oprah of her time and was the business genius behind a growing media empire, Desilu. She became a powerful player in the Hollywood TV scene of the 60s, and she was the one who took a chance and told her company to bankroll the project of one Mr. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek. Star Trek in turn influenced the young Whoopi Goldberg to seek her career as a Comedian and Movie Star, because Nichelle Nichols who played Uhura was the first mainstream representation of a black woman who was in a position of military authority working side by side with men. Revolutionary at the time. I Love Lucy was also the first TV show to show the scandal of husband and wife sleeping in beds that were touching on screen (until then, all marriages slept in separate beds in the same bedroom on screen). And in I Love Lucy she was one of the first depictions of on-screen pregnancy. It was revolutionary at its time. Also worth checking out for noteworthy 20th century female comedians is of course the divine Carol Burnett, and her co-star Vicki Lawrence who spun off the character "Mamma" from the Carol Burnett skits that had featured her.

[@rhiahlMT]

Some others were Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers. Phyllis Diller was wild.

[@evabyrum3327]

SO MANY episodes that are absolutely fantastic!!! Cousin Earnie is hilarious, Madam X, Gossip, Lucy's schedule, The Freezer, Vitameatavegmen Girl, Hollywood at Last and so many more GREAT shows!!! This rabbit hole is a MUST!!!!

[@nataliecastillo7376]

That scene was one of Lucy's most iconic of her entire career.

[@winter_s_44]

Absolute favorite show of all time!

[@LuvTadnDixie]

Lucille Ball as a person in real life was very serious . . . she would say that "I'm not funny, I don't think funny ... but if you give me something funny to act out, I can do it." and she certainly could. She was a great comedic actress. One of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes was when she thought she lost her wedding ring in a barbeque that her husband had just built. She thought it was somewhere in the wet cement and she and her friend Ethel took the barbeque apart, brick by brick in the middle of the night, searching for her wedding ring. Her husband had a bad temper and she didn't want to tell him she lost the ring because he was always yelling at her that she was careless with it. Her husband Ricky was played by Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball's real life husband. Desi Arnaz was also hilarious on the show.

[@tedmaloof234]

Funny you mentioned The Three Stooges- her first screen performance was in a three Stooges short. She was a blonde then. Her red hair came later-a mistake in dying her hair, became her signature. Edit : "Three Little Pigskins" 1934.

[@LaMonatrod]

Lucy rarely improvised on I Love Lucy. She was a stickler for rehearsals and stuck to the script. The half hour show ran from 1951-1957. They then did 13 hour long episodes from 1957-1960. I Love Lucy was the first TV sitcom to be filmed in front of a live audience. Filming it was the best decision because now the show is preserved for future generations.

[@dlm8926]

Lucille Ball, was a master in comedy. She ran Desi Lu studio. Desi Lu was Desi Arnez, and her Lucy. Desi Lu, also was the studio where Star Trek was filmed. Lucille Ball also was in a few Three Stooges short subject films! Lucy and Desi were fantastic together. You can get every season of I Love Lucy in a giant box set.

[@mowerdan8133]

The physical comedy on this show was actually only a very small portion of each episode. The funniest moments were when the four of them would just have fights about the same problems friends & couples fight about today. The sarcastic jabs they shot each other with were spot on.

[@odalisgonzalez6875]

Desi was ahead of his time. A Hispanic man with his own production company in that time...I'm sure he dealt with crap but he was assertive

[@AF2C2TG]

Ive watched that show my whole life. Seen every episode many times over. My 22 year old granddaughter discovered the show and binged it. Favorite episode was her catching a fake nose on fire when she got to meet Bob Hope in Hollywood 😂.

[@mw7584]

That was William Holden she met in that episode.

[@AF2C2TG]

@@mw7584 oops, that's right!

[@samueltabo3390]

Lucy was a successful "B" Hollywood actress in the 30s and 40's, Desi Arnaz, jr was a successful Cuban band leader who came to Hollywood to do pictures 8:32

[@Jinjerella]

The Desilu studios, which they started, invented the 3 camera form of recording a sitcom. It is still used to this day.

[@MiciousDawn]

I Love Lucy was such a comforting show to watch when I was a kid in the 90s. It was on Nick at Night. I've always loved her so much and she still makes me laugh!

[@DR-mq1vn]

You should watch an entire episode of I Love Lucy. You'll love it!

[@breckrichardson390]

With a few exceptions, they show skip over episodes from the first seasons. Television was new and they were still trying to figure it all out during that first year, so a lot of it is pretty rough or over the top, but from the second season on, it's a classic.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

I don't think the guy on the left loves much

[@ShuffleUpandDeal32]

Lucy is a legend

[@3rdand105]

The studio was called "Desilu" because it was a combination of Desi and Lucy; they owned the show, and she did what she wanted. She was literally the first woman to do physical comedy on television. Prior to this, she had been a Hollywood actress for about 20 years, but it wasn't what she wanted to do. She is a legitimate legend who changed the face of television at its infancy. If not for her, shows like Laverne & Shirley would not have been half as successful, and television may not have integrated when it did. Nobody thought America would buy an interracial couple at that point in history, or that a woman could successfully run a studio, but Lucy didn't care, she just went ahead and did it. Fun fact: Lucy was the only character allowed to make fun of Ricky's accent, and that was because she said so.

[@markeast9221]

Find her doing the commercial about Viti Meta Vegeman !

[@Parker_World_Tv]

Lucille Ball was a true legend in her time. Shes definitely the Queen of comedy. Just like The Three Stooges were the Kings of comedy! Please do more of Lucy and please do some reactions to The Three Stooges!!! 😅😂🤣

[@CarlosRodriguez-pt3hq]

Wait a minute, Desi Arnaz was the executive producer/director..and also stared on the show..I love..Lucy..(without Desi) would never existed.. he also stared Desilu studios where shows like The Andy Griffin show/.Dick Van Dyle.show/The twilight Zone./Star trek/ Mac Hale's Navy/My three sons/The Patty Duke show..and many others where all taped at Desilu studios..,(Desi and Lucy) were equally responsible for the success of the show which ran for 7 seasons..(7 years) may they rest RIP.

[@evabyrum3327]

Originally they did NOT want her husband to play the role on the show as her husband because they were an interracial couple. Lucy wanted to work with her husband. So Lucy and Desi did some of the skits on the road on stage and did really well. So finally with some fear and hesitation they allowed it and it became the number one show around the world.

[@lewistasso8866]

Work it, Felipe!! You guys are great. Seeing a young generation appreciating the shows that I grew up with and having a blast gives me hope. 👍

[@PurpleIris034]

Adults and kids loved watching this show. Desi came from a wealthy political/medical family in Cuba. When Castro took over they lost everything and fled to the US. This show broke so many taboos the first show to use the word Pregnant, an interracial couple. It never fails to make you laugh.

[@makingthecoin3647]

Lucy was a Hollywood Starlet and appeared in movies in the late 1930s she played with several heavyweight actress back then like Ginger Rogers etc while Desi was in movies singing and one I believe was called Cuban Pete. In the early 50s a dominant Lucy went to a network and pitched a comedy of husband wife and 2 friends. I recalled nothing negative about him being Cuban they became a beloved duo and Desi not only proved to be funny he began producing the show and came up with innovative filming processes that are still talked about today. He was a heavy cheater that led to there divorce. She was a movie star who had the gift of comedy a genius heralded by no other than Charlie Chaplin. No standup. The TV success took off, the show was huge and has been on morning TV from the 50s thru the 1990s throughout the world and still today. In the 60s Lucy had other TV shows like Lucy Show, Here's Lucy etc.

[@SWLinPHX]

"I Love Lucy" was the first sitcom to be shot in the modern "multi-camera" style instead of kinescope, which is why the series survived to become the most rerun sitcom (or TV show in general) around the world for so many decades.

[@maggieb4648]

It was THE first...they invented it! :)

[@sarahhenrich2240]

Watch her in the grape stomping for wine making. And also her hawking the vitamin liquid. She is a very funny lady.

[@gildersleevefan67]

Lucille Ball was a B movie actress and then had a somewhat successful radio show called "My Favorite Husband." When CBS wanted to move that to TV, she insisted her real life husband, Desi Arnaz, play her husband. The network wouldn't think the public would buy them as a couple, so she went on the road with Desi and did an act with him. You can see the highlights of it in the pilot or when it was done in an episode called "The Audition." The show premiered on October 15, 1951 right after the very popular "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts." By the end of the first season, it was strong enough to be #3 for the entire season. The TV sitcom format was the perfect place for her and the rest of the cast. They essentially showed the rest of the industry how a good TV sitcom is made. As you mentioned, it wasn't just slapstick, it was based in situation and real life things that people could identify with. She didn't "get the gig." She and Desi made their gig and created probably the best sitcom ever crafted. After being #3 the first year, , the only year it wasn't #1 was 1955-56 when it finished #2 behind "The $64,000 Question." The public loved the show so much that CBS showed primetime reruns for several years. It began airing daytime reruns until 1967 when the show went into syndication.

[@baconbap]

I loved her speech at the butcher shop when she was trying to sell meat to the ladies.

[@greendragonpublishing]

She started out as a model, a chorus girl, and then supporting roles in big movies and starring roles in B movie... then she did a show for a radio comedy, and the studio asked her to create it for television, but she was dating Desi Arnaz, and insisted on him being part of it. And yes, the studio was hesitant because he was Cuban. This show DOMINATED the airwaves, right up to the end. She ended up buying out Desi's share in their production company (Desilu) after their divorce, and she went on to produce The Untouchables, Dick Van Dyke Show, Star Trek (it wouldn't have happened without her!), and Mission Impossible. She has TWO stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, lots of Emmys, a Golden Globe, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She's truly an icon. I Love Lucy was the first show to be in reruns. She was the first woman to own a major studio. She was the first to film before a live studio audience, and to use three cameras. First woman to be inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Because she insisted on keeping the rights to I Love Lucy, and banked on reruns, she and Desi were the first tv star millionaires. First pregnant character on TV. First housewife on TV to resist domestic life and dependence on her husband. She struggles to be part of the world outside the home.

[@robincochran7369]

One correction: She and Desi were already married and had been since the early 40's.

[@nataliecastillo7376]

She was the first female comedian. Desi Arnez was a famous Cuban band leader and singer. After they married, they created DesiLu Productions.

[@Dahdah22]

Absolute classic! 😂

[@KenTrosper]

They changed the history of TV. They were the first to use the Three Camera technique and they were the first to create the Rerun. She got her big break on Radio where this show originated and was called "My Favorite Husband".

[@tommyjuarez2722]

Great you guys watched this. Lucille Ball did not do stand up prior to the show. She was doing a radio show called "My Favorite Husband," and CBS wanted to do the series on TV. Lucille agreed to do the show as long as her husband, Desi Arnaz could play her television husband so they could stay together. She was in CA to do movies and radio and Desi spent most of the year traveling with his Orchestra. Television was so new back then. She was considered the Queen of B movies and did some slapstick in her movies and performed her own stunts, which got her the comedic recognition that suggested her type of comedy for I Love Lucy. The only other female that came close to being a funny female TV actress was Eve Arden on "Our Miss Brooks." Eve Arden was also known as the Principal on GREASE. Lucille Ball never did improv on her show. She was a perfectionist. If she did, it was very rare and there were rare instances. The writers would come up with the antics and Lucy would rehearse them to the TEE with the props to make it look so natural. She gave credit to Buster Keaton as her mentor for this type of comedy. Another classic episode you should watch is "Lucy Does The Tango," where she is trying to hide these eggs in her blouse from Ricky. When she does the dance with Ricky and all these eggs, she rehearsed with fake eggs and did the live show with real eggs so her reactions would be natural. The scene was noted as the longest studio audience laugh in history where Lucy did extra reactions because of the audience's hysterical laughter. You guys are a JOY!! Keep up the great ideas!

[@maggieb4648]

Check out: Lucy dipping chocolate at the factory; Lucy bakes bread; Lucy and Vitameatavegamin; Lucy stomps grapes; and oh so many many more!

[@Mermare]

Some fun facts. The censors wouldn't allow Lucy and Ricky to be shown in bed together. Lucy was the first woman to wear pants on TV. The guy who played Fred was a vaudeville actor. Vaudeville was dying at the time, but Lucy and Co did their best to cast the actors in one episode parts.

[@JonS0107]

Lucy appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s as a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures, being cast as a chorus girl or in similar roles, with lead roles in B-pictures and supporting roles in A-pictures. In 1937 she appeared with Ginger Tigers, and Katharine Hepburn in Stage Door. During this time, she met Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz, and they eloped in November 1940. In the 1950s, she and Desi created I Love Lucy for early television.

[@breckrichardson390]

She didn't do standup. She was a movie actress for nearly two decades before I Love Lucy, starting in the early '30s. You mention The Three Stooges. One of her early roles was in one of the early Three Stooges (Three Little Pigskins episode). By the end of the '30s, she had risen to top billing in movies and in the following years her movie roles ean the gamut of comedies, dramas, suspense, musicals. In the late '40s she began starring in a radio sitcom on CBS, which ultimately led to television and I Love Lucy. From that point, she spent more than two decades starring in CBS sitcoms, until 1974.

[@louannscheuffele3715]

Lucy was well known from her radio show My Favorite Husband. I Love Lucy was based on that show.

[@doctorj6030]

Lucille was a B-MOVIE Star in the 30s & 40s, she worked with Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, she worked at MGM , during their Golden Years. She met Desi Arnaz, when they co starred in a movie. She did not do stand up. She was a smart woman had great writers, ran Desilu Stidios that produced many popular TV shows and was partly responsible for Star Trek getting on the air. I Love Lucy is a classic & Lucy wanting to do more than being a housewife, she was ahead of her time.

[@dancepiglover]

She probably was the first woman on tv to act that way, seeing as how television was still pretty new at that time. She and her husband Desi (who played Ricky on the show) did live stage performances before they had the show in the 50’s. And Lucy also used to be in movies, as well as on radio shows before she was on tv.

[@Bill_H]

She was a Hollywood glamour girl, appearing in films with Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, and such

[@williamslater-o5b]

My mom worked in a. Candy factory for years. She said that's exactly how it was . Lucy's writers nailed it

[@RobertEskew]

"I Love Lucy" ran from 1951-1957. During its six-year run, "Lucy" was #1 (four times), #2 (once), and #3 (once) in the Nielsen ratings. "Lucy" went out on top, ending production in 1957 #1 in the ratings.

[@MarieFara]

I have watched this many many times and I still laughed until I cried even now.

[@62impalaconvert]

Lucille Ball had a long career in modelling, Broadway, radio, acting, film star, producing, TV and owning a movie production company. You only have to see one of her I Love Lucy episodes with Desi Arnez (her husband), William Frawley and Vivian Vance to see why millions tuned in to see her television show. She won 5 Emmys (13 nominations) and countless other awards. You can see her two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One of the best comedians (male or female) ever.

[@Jason-ib4fk]

Lucy & Desi also ran "Desilu" studios, whose logo is often seen at the end of shows done there to include even Star Trek, the Original Series in the 60s! 👍❤️

[@Cchan53]

She was in black and white movies...dramas even. Then married a Cuban and came up with this show. The powers that be did not want her husband(Desi) to be in it but Lucy stood her ground. Desi made some great innovative business moves concerning the filming of the show which helped make them a power couple. They formed Desilu Productions and took chances on shows like STAR Trek to name one. Lucy is a true clown a genius was already in her 50's I believe when this show went huge. She's buried in her hometown of Jamestown ,NY and they have museums their, a festival every year where hundreds of Lucy look a likes attend . She really left her mark on American TV entertainment industry!

[@darrinlindsey]

Lucy and Desi owned the studio they filmed in. Before the 50s, there was Vaudeville and stage acting.

[@dereckabackus5411]

She was the first woman to own a tv production company. Her and her husband Desi pioneered four cameras show.

[@tenjed4224]

Desi was discriminated on, quite a bit, which became a point of contention in Hollywood. In fact, Desi was 'considered' a communist sympathizer by the head of the congressional oversite committee (joseph mccarthy) charged with looking into communism in all walks of US life. This was the 50s and many actors were caught up in mccarthy's slime he spewed all over the country. Lucy, while divorced from Ricky at the time, stood up for him. They still cared for each other, very much. And their scenes were about that love that still lived on, even though she remarried. Also, they went from having 2 beds in their bedroom, to having just 1 later in the show. It was controversial at the time. They made it work.

[@albertjimeno807]

These KZbinrs don't care about discrimination. They're hateful towards gay people.

[@bryanCJC2105]

Ricky, her real life husband, was Cuban . She forced the network to let him on or she wouldn't do it. America ended up loving him. The show was so popular at the time that many stores closed on the night it was on because nobody was out shopping on that night. She was a natural when it came to physical comedy but they had it all down pat. There was no ad-libbing. They rehearsed it until it was perfect and looked totally natural. Lucy was a perfectionist. "I Love Lucy" was recorded on 35mm film w three cameras, which is why it the quality is so good. Because Desilu was owned by Lucy and Desi, CBS didn't own the show, they did and they kept the films for each episode. This is why they were able to be rerun to this day on TV. Most shows of the 50s were simply recorded over the tape of the previous show to save money and few records exist of them. Their studio, Desilu, is who produced the series Star Trek when no one else would. Lucy liked the premise of the show as more serious and scientific rather than the standard alien monster shows that were popular back then.

[@culturalconfederacy]

The first female comedian was Jackie "Moms" Mabley. Joan Rivers was the first woman stand up comic on the Tonight Show.

[@lisahumphries3898]

My favorite Lucy episode is the grape stomping in Italy. Lucy’s husband, Desi Arnez said that he admired her because she never worried about how she looked on camera, meaning that she was willing to take a pie in the face and get messy and dirty for a laugh. She was awesome.

[@howardmoore1332]

Lucille Ball was a movie star in the 40s and a star on radio before she and her husband, Desi Arnaz, worked on "I Love Lucy."

[@dancermomgiantfan6853]

Luci started out as a model and serious actress. Luci and Ricky (Desi Arnez) were married in real life, not just in the show. The show was produced by both of them as 'DesiLu' productions.

[@lastrada52]

Lucille was a serious actress prior to her sight-gag-comedy career. Prior to her comedy career, she made noir-crime films. One fellow in your group said he wondered if they allowed her to improvise the scene...but Lucille owned the show. Lucille told everyone what to do. It was produced by Desilu Productions. (Desi -- her husband, Lu = Lucille). her company produced The Untouchables, Star Trek, Mannix, Mission: Impossible & many other dramas. She was a tough cookie. Vivian Vance, her friend for life, in that chocolate candy scene, was in many TV shows with Lucille. Vivian was the first woman to win a Prime Time Emmy Award for Best Performance & was nominated 3 more times. Vivian is also godmother to folk rock singer-songwriter John Sebastian (Lovin' Spoonful & played the raucous harmonica on The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" track). The next episodes to watch are the grape-crushing wine-making episode where in reality Lucille actually gets unscripted & rough with the beefy Italian woman in the vat. The episode with George Reeves as Superman (just as popular as the "I Love Lucy" show at the time) is exciting. especially when he flies in through the kitchen shutters to greet little Ricky (Lucille's son). An episode that may have been "Here's Lucy" or "The Lucy Show" where Lucy & Vivian try to fix a pipe in the shower stall and get locked in as it starts to fill up with water. Incredible episode. Lucille attracted many top names & major stars to her show that few shows today are capable of -- actors William Holden, John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Bob Hope & Orson Welles. Actress/comediennes Eve Arden & Ann Sothern (both during this time had their own successful comedy TV series). Lucille's competition. It was a pleasure watching all of you laugh at such an old routine.

[@ViralTuber]

This is a reworking of the famous Charlie Chaplin factory scene from "Modern Times" (1936), a clip that's here on KZbin. One cool point of trivia is that her company, and therefore I believe her personally, is who ultimately 'gave the green light' for the show "Star Trek" to go forward. Desilu was her production company, she was the head.

[@stephNCvibes]

Great choice! I hope you do more I Love Lucy, she has countless great scenes. She was a pioneer in comedy.

[@Dej24601]

I Love Lucy ran from 1951 to 1957 so they were among the very first tv series broadcast. In the show, her husband’s job was Bandleader at the “Tropicana” in New York City, a tropical-themed club for dancing, singing, comedic performances, and restaurant/drinks. DesiLu was the name of the production company the two stars created which went on to become a powerful force in Hollywood.

[@jephybean]

Yeah, she was definitely one of the first female lead comediennes if not thee first - but she was also one half of a power couple with her then-husband Dezi Arnaz; who also happened to be Cuban - so they were one of the first high-profile interracial couples of that time too. :-)

[@gi_nattak]

I watched every episode of I Love Lucy as a kid on Nick at Night (in the 90s). Lucille Ball was truly something special, and the show will always be hilarious.

[@tamaraz.5827]

Lucille Ball was a model and a B movie actress in the 40's. She met and married Desi 10 years before I love lucy. She and Desi went on the road together performing the concept of I love Lucy as an episode in theaters. Then The studios offered Lucy her own show with a white husband. She refused unless Desi was the husband. They made a great show for many years. My favorite show of all time to this day. They put the black and white show on film instead of kinescope which preserved it for all of us to see. They ended up owning Desilu Studios. And made many many iconic shows including Star Trek.