I Love Lucy is a landmark American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15th, 1951, to May 6th, 1957, on CBS. After the series ended in 1957, however, a modified version continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials, running from 1957 to 1960, known first as The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and later in reruns as The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.

The show was the first scripted television program to be shot on 35 mm film in front of a studio audience, and won five Emmy Awards and received numerous nominations.  Another award that the show won was the coveted George Foster Peabody Award for “recognition of distinguished achievement in television.

Originally set in an apartment building in New York City, I Love Lucy centers on Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) and her singer/bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz), along with their best friends and landlords Fred Mertz (William Frawley) and Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance).  During the second season, Lucy and Ricky have a son named Ricky Ricardo, Jr. (“Little Ricky”), whose birth was timed to coincide with Ball’s real-life delivery of her son Desi Arnaz Jr.

Lucy is naïve and ambitious, with an undeserved zeal for stardom and a knack for getting herself and her husband into trouble whenever Lucy yearns to make it in show business.  The Ricardos’ best friends, Fred and Ethel, are former vaudevillians and this only strengthens Lucy’s resolve to prove herself as a performer.  Unfortunately, she has few marketable performance skills.  She does not seem to be able to carry a tune or play anything other than off-key renditions of songs such as “Glow Worm” or “Sweet Sue” on the saxophone, and many of her performances devolve into disaster.  However, to say she is completely without talent would be untrue, as on occasion, she is shown to be a good dancer and a competent singer.  She is also at least twice offered contracts by television or film companies—first in “The Audition” when she replaces an injured clown in Ricky’s act, and later in Hollywood when she dances for a studio benefit using a rubber Ricky dummy as her dancing partner.