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 in diverse Simpsons media, including the Ullman shorts, television episodes, books and comic stories.
References[edit]
Ullman Shorts[edit]
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Short Season
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Short number
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Short name
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Reference
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2
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14
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"Space Patrol"
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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".
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3
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35
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"The Krusty the Clown Show"
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Krustylu Studios, the facility where Krusty the Clown's television show is recorded, has appeared and been mentioned on numerous occasions in diverse Simpsons media, but it is first seen in this Ullman short. Krustylu Studios was named as an homage to Desilu Productions, the studio which produced I Love Lucy along with many other television shows during the 1950s and 1960s. The lettering in Krustylu's signage is also in the same style as Desilu's.
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Episodes[edit]
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Season
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Episode number
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Episode name
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Reference
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4
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74
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"I Love Lisa"
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The series is punned in the episode title.
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6
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126
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"The Springfield Connection"
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During Marge's brief tenure as a Springfield Police officer, she arrests Homer for parking across three handicapped spaces and refusing to move his car. Afterwards, she tries to apologize, but Homer refuses to accept the apology and announces he's drawing a line down the center of the house, a. la. I Love Lucy. In the episode "Men Are Messy", Lucy gets fed up with Ricky's sloppy habits, draws a line down the middle of the apartment, and announces that from now on she's only cleaning her half.
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11
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236
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"Little Big Mom"
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Exhausted from doing all of the housework (due to Marge being in hospital and Homer and Bart doing no work at all), Lisa meets 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 some more", an offhand reference to Ball's other two sitcom characters: Lucy Carter from Here's Lucy and Lucy Barker from 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".
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237
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"Faith Off"
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Homer gets a bucket stuck on his head and, in spite of his having eyeholes drilled in the bucket, mayhem swiftly ensues, similar to Lucy in "Lucy and the Loving Cup".
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14
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308
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"Three Gays of the Condo"
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On Homer's first morning in Grady's and Julio's apartment, Grady prepares breakfast for the three of them and Julio sharply criticizes it: "Where'd you buy this? From the guy on the exit ramp? Disgusting." Homer quickly comes to Grady's defense, shutting Julio down by saying, "Calm down, Picky Ricardo", a wordplay on Ricky Ricardo.
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18
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380
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"Jazzy and the Pussycats"
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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".
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22
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476
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"Homer the Father"
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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.
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26
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559
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"Blazed and Confused"
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When the Simpsons attend Blazing Guy and Homer pitches a tent for the family, a fellow attendee happens by and suggests that because it gets windy in the desert, tent stakes should be driven at least three feet into the ground. Homer quickly pooh-poohs the advice by saying, "Listen here, Desert Arnaz. Homer Simpson knows how to pitch a tent.", punning Desi Arnaz. (Immediately after this, a gust of wind blows Homer's tent away.)
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28
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603
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"Havana Wild Weekend"
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When the Simpson family go to Cuba seeking medical care for Grampa, Fred Mertz and Ricky Ricardo are seen on The Che Gue-Ferrythe ferry that the Simpsons ride on. Later panning shot between floors of the Havana hotel is Ricky and Fred now with their wives Lucy and Ethel recreating the conveyor belt and grape crushing scenes.
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612
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"Kamp Krustier"
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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".
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33
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715
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"Mothers and Other Strangers"
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I Love Lassie is a parody of I Love Lucy and Lassie.)
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36
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769
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"Bart's Birthday"
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According to host Conan O'Brien, one of the shows an artificial intelligence device used to write this entire episode was I Love Lucy.
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Comic issue
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Story name
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Reference
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Simpsons Comics #90
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Do the Copyright Thing
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In Comedy Heaven, Lucy is told she can't be in a show due to it being overbooked. In response she does her iconic cry.
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Kang & Kodos #1
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The Big Kang Theory!
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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.
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Krusty the Clown #1
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The Laugh Man on Earth!
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In Krusty's reminiscing about the early days of Krustylu Studios, it is revealed that he insisted on playing all the parts in all the programs by himself, even turning away his red-headed significant other Lucy when she asked to be in the show. This is a reference to the longtime running gag on I Love Lucy where Lucy would repeatedly beg to be allowed to perform with Ricky's nightclub band, only for him to rebuff her every time. It is implied that after this exchange, Lucy left Krusty for Desi Arnaz.
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Book
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Reference
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C. Montgomery Burns' Handbook of World Domination
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One of the health supplements that Mr. Burns takes as a longevity aid is Vitameatavegamin, the product that Lucy attempted to promote in the episode "Lucy Does a TV Commercial".
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I Love Monty is one of the programs in production for the first season of the CMB Network, owned by Mr. Burns. In addition to being an obvious parody of I Love Lucy (from the title and illustration), the program's description reads "A wacky, lovable billionaire tries to break into show biz week after week." The description refers to the running gag on I Love Lucy where Lucy pleaded over and over again with Ricky to let her perform with his band, only for him to always turn her down.
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