I Love Lucy

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I Love Lucy is a landmark American television sitcom that aired in the 1950s. It starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, a couple living in an apartment in New York City; and William Frawley and Vivian Vance as Fred and Ethel Mertz, their best friends, neighbors and landlords.

The series first aired as a half-hour show for six television seasons, from 1951 to 1957. After it ended, a modified version consisting of 13 one-hour specials was aired over the next three television seasons, from 1957 to 1960. The one-hour special series was titled The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show when it first aired; later, in reruns, it was titled The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. In general usage, however, the two shows are often referred to collectively as I Love Lucy.

Following the end of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (and her divorce from Arnaz), Lucille Ball starred in three additional sitcoms, portraying different characters named Lucy: The Lucy Show (1962-1968), Here's Lucy (1968-1974), and Life with Lucy (1986).

I Love Lucy is noteworthy for being the first scripted television program to be filmed in front of a live studio audience. It was the most-watched show in the United States for four of its six seasons and finished its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings. The show has been syndicated in dozens of languages worldwide and remains popular in the USA, attracting tens of millions of viewers each year.

I Love Lucy has been referred to several times on The Simpsons: in the Ullman shorts, in television episodes, and in comic stories.

References

Ullman Shorts

Picture Short Season Short number Short name Reference 2 14 "Space Patrol" When the Simpson siblings play "Space Patrol" and Bart is cast as Bartron and gets a vase stuck on his head, the ensuing mayhem is reminiscent of Lucy's getting a trophy stuck on her head in the episode "Lucy and the Loving Cup".

Episodes

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 125px 4 74 "I Love Lisa" The series is punned in the episode title. 11 236 "Little Big Mom" Exhausted from doing all of the housework (due to Marge being in hospital and Homer and Bart doing no work at all), Lisa dreams of meeting the ghost of Lucy McGillicuddy Ricardo Carmichael, who gives her an idea for getting even with Homer and Bart. Ghost Lucy's surnames are a pastiche of Lucille Ball's sitcom characters: On I Love Lucy and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, McGillicuddy was Lucy's character's maiden name and Ricardo was her married name. On The Lucy Show, Lucy's character's last name was Carmichael. Also, after telling Lisa her name, Ghost Lucy says, "And I think there's more", an offhand reference to Lucy Barker, Ball's character on Life with Lucy. Additionally, Homer and Bart watch I Love Lucy on TV; and the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon ("The Tears of a Clone") shown during the episode contains a sight gag on Lucy's and Ethel's classic candy wrapping scene from the I Love Lucy episode "Job Switching". 200px 18 380 "Jazzy and the Pussycats" Bart's learning to play the drums (and then practicing constantly) is reminiscent of the plotline of the I Love Lucy episode "Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums". 22 476 "Homer the Father" When Homer watches the classic TV programming on Tube Town, among other things he sees a clip from I Lost Lucy. The show's title is an obvious wordplay on I Love Lucy, but the plotlines and characters (Lucy and her boss) hinted at in the clip are references to The Lucy Show. 28 603 "Havana Wild Weekend" When the Simpson family go to Cuba seeking medical care for Grampa, Fred Mertz and Ricky Ricardo are seen on the boat that the Simpsons ride on. 612 "Kamp Krustier" When Homer is in his "smart" phase, he sorts U-232 and U-235 nuggets as they pass by him on a conveyor belt. When he can't keep up with the flow, he eats some of them. This is a sight gag on the candy wrapping scene from "Job Switching".

Comics

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Kang & Kodos #1 The Big Kang Theory! Kang and Kodos are revealed to be educating themselves in Earthing entertainment, and they're currently watching the first season of I Love Lucy. When Milhouse spoils the plotline of an episode ("Job Switching") that the aliens haven't seen yet, they chase him and zap him with a raygun.

External links

I Love Lucy at Wikipedia

Cultural references

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