The episode where Lucy and Ricky welcomed little Ricky was aired on January 19, 1953.I Love Lucy not only proved to be a star vehicle for Lucille, but it also made a way to save their already shaky marriage.The act’s success finally convinced the CBS big bosses to sign the couple up.

To prove CBS wrong, the couple embarked on a vaudeville tour which included Arnaz’s own orchestra.CBS hesitated and didn’t think that audiences would buy a sitcom about an all-American woman married to a Cuban with an odd accent. She agreed, but on one condition: that her real-life husband Desi be included in the cast. In 1950, CBS asked Lucille to develop a television sitcom based on My Favorite Husband, the hit radio show which starred herself and Richard Denning. CBS didn’t think that Americans would want to see a TV show about an interracial couple.Upon entering show business, she dyed her hair blonde first, then finally red. Lucille Ball’s natural hair color was not red. Her natural hair color was actually brown.In 2002, TV Guide ranked the sitcom television’s 2nd greatest show of all time, and in 2007 it landed on TIME Magazine’s “100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME” list.The I Love Lucy show became the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings. The sitcom was a world of television firsts. In four of its six seasons, I Love Lucy was the most-watched show in the United States.

The new format and I Love Lucy won five Emmy Awards and received numerous nominations.

The studio literally knocked a hole in a concrete wall creating room for theater seating and inviting the once-banned fans to see the stars perform – for free!

The program created a new television experience with the first filmed and scripted program performed before a live audience.

Lucille ball in color