“Oh Luuuuucy!”
Beginning in the 1950s, that cry from “I Love Lucy’s” Ricky Ricardo signaled something hilarious was happening on TV. Fans of the early classic black-and-white sitcom followed the antics of stars Lucille Ball (as Lucy Ricardo) and Desi Arnaz (as Ricky) as they got into one scrape after the other, setting the standard for television sitcoms for decades to come.
And thanks to reruns, fans have never really had to stop laughing at “Lucy.” In August, they’ll get a chance to check out five colorized classic episodes that feature a chocolate-making disaster, a truly wretched “health” drink, and a visit with a Hollywood legend as part of a special big-screen Fathom event.Lucie Arnaz was just 6 weeks old when the show went on the air. “Mom thought it would last a couple of weeks and we’d have some fun home movies,” she told TODAY. “But it took off — and they never looked back.”
Arnaz grew up watching from the sidelines, then watching the reruns, and as the show prepares to hit the movie screens, she gave us some behind-the-scenes scoop on each of the episodes coming to a theater near you.
Here’s what we learned:
“Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (originally aired: May 5, 1952)
Better known as the “Vitameatavegemin” episode! Always eager for the spotlight, Lucy steps in as a spokesperson for the health drink by that name, and discovers it not only tastes terrible … it’s made of 23 percent alcohol!
“I asked my mother what was in that bottle, and it was apple pectin,” recalled Arnaz. “If you ever tasted it, you’d know why she made that face. And she didn’t want to taste it until they did the scene! Talk about method acting. But she did it in one shot, no pickup (shots) and it’s brilliant.”
“The Million-Dollar Idea” (originally aired: January 11, 1954)
After creating a delicious salad dressing, Lucy and her BFF Ethel try selling “Aunt Martha’s Old-Fashioned Salad Dressing,” but trip up on the math of it all.
“This was the first TV show ever shown to the armed services,” according to Arnaz. “It’s also one of episodes where Ethel’s middle name changed. Once she was ‘Vivian Roberta Jones,’ then she became ‘Louise’ and then ‘Mae.’ The writers would decide to put their aunt’s name in an episode one week, and they’d just change it. They didn’t even have reruns back then!”
Of course, reruns ultimately gave “Lucy” its legendary status; the show aired for decades after it ended in 1957. “My father had no idea what would happen when he sold the show back to CBS,” said Arnaz. “They gave us $4.5 million, and that was like a billion bucks in those days. They were able to buy a studio.”
Turns out “I Love Lucy” was a $4.5 million idea!
