It ran for only six years, ending with the 1956 season. For 3 years thereafter, they did five one-hour specials. The TV season lasted about nine months in those days. They did 27 to 35 episodes each year.
The cast was simple; Lucille Ball and her real life husband, band leader Desi Arnaz, and neighbors Fred and Ethel Mertz played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.
Most episodes took place in their apartment; all were in black and white. Of course things were different then but they dominated the Nielsen Ratings - leading all other shows for four of their six years. The show garnered viewership up to 45-70% of all existing TV sets in the country.
Interesting sidelight: CBS declined to show Lucy obviously pregnant during one season when she had her daughter, Lucie. The next year she was pregnant again and the show followed Lucy through her pregnancy and her son, Little Ricky, was added to the cast. The show's sponsor, Phillip Morris cigarettes, did not allow Lucy to be shown smoking while pregnant - of course, they all were smokers on the show. CBS didn't allow the writers to use the word pregnant at all - 'expecting' was allowable.
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