Early TV continues to impress modern viewers

It’s time to celebrate and rewatch I Love Lucy for National “I Love Lucy” Day. From its premiere on October 15, 1951, I Love Lucy became a beloved, iconic, and historic television comedy amongst Americans, originally based on a radio show during radio’s heyday, My Favorite Husband, which was, itself, based on a series of books. October 15 is now the day to celebrate the humor shared over the last 70 years.

The black and white TV show starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and their neighbors, Vivian Vance, William Frawley as Ethel and Fred Mertz. Many actors that were popular in the ‘50s appeared as guest stars on the series, which ran from 1951 – 1957.

After the original series ended, there were several spin-offs (The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy, and Life with Lucy, but I Love Lucy was a gateway of television firsts.

It was the first show to be recorded before a live studio audience of 300, which led to a lot of “one-takes.” It was the first show to be filmed with 35mm film which meant it was high quality for that era in time. It was also the first show to use a three camera format.

One of the most popular episodes of I Love Lucy was when she gave birth to her son, Little Ricky. That episode had 44 million viewers at a time when television was still in its relative infancy.

Lucille Ball said in an interview, ‘We don’t ad-lib… We read the lines that the writers gave us for ‘I Love Lucy’ (Fox News Entertainment) Lucille was hesitant to leave the movie industry to join the show, but she had a dream that her friend, Carole Lombard who passed, convinced her to take the role (She Wore Stars).

During the show, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were married in real life, too, and ran the recording studio, Desilu Studios. They divorced in the ‘60s, which led to issues with their joint ownership of the studio. As a result, Lucille Ball became the first woman to be the first to single handedly run a major television studio. She had proven to be successful as the studio earned millions of dollars.

How can you celebrate National “I Love Lucy” Day? There are several ways to watch individual episodes online or on TV. Invite friends to watch a specific episode and have a conversation about the plot and the jokes. Binge-watch an entire year’s worth of shows or check out the collection of videos about the iconic show on Youtube and other sources on the Internet.