This I Love Lucy Episode Was BANNED for 10 Years
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- I Love Lucy is an American multinational television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from October 15, 1951 to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The show, which was the first scripted television program to be shot on 35mm film in front of a studio audience, by cinematographer Karl Freund, won five Emmy Awards and received numerous nominations and honors. It was the first show ever to feature an ensemble cast. It is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms in history. In 2012, it was voted the 'Best TV Show of All Time' in a survey conducted by ABC News and People magazine.
Even though it was immensely popular, I Love Lucy still encountered controversy when one of its episodes had to be pulled from syndication. The episode was called "The Ricardos Visit Cuba". This episode was a fun and innocent trip for the Ricardo family, who traveled to Cuba to visit family. Due to political tensions at the time, networks and even some of the show's producers were concerned that the episode would be too controversial. As a result, it was taken off the air immediately following its first run. The rest of I Love Lucy continued without any issues, and ten years later, this controversial episode would return to televisions.
Make sure you watch the whole video, as we also take a look at one of the other controversial moments in I Love Lucy history - Lucy's pregnancy. Lucy was the first pregnant woman to be shown on television, a decision that would solidify the show's place in history while shaping the future of television. In this video, we'll look at how this decision came to be, and how it was handled by the cast, producers and audiences.
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Watch the FULL episode here by signing up for Paramount+: paramountplus.qflm.net/BXb761
I own them
Nope…the Cuba episode is not available on Paramount
Paramount plus wont even put all of the episodes on streaming.
To say it was "right wing" groups that didnt want to hear the word "pregnancy" is totally inaccurate. Shame on you for trying to make it political. And for spreading misinformation the TV sensors had NOTHING to do w politics!
@@ashleelarsen5002 good for you.
I loved the episode where Lucy tells Ricky she's pregnant. Nothing vulgar about it! It's beautiful!! I cry happy tears every time I watch that episode. The emotion shared by both is very real to me : ) )
We loved that episode too, Tammy!
That's my very favorite, always.
I still love Lucy and Desi! Even today, I’ll think of a scene and laugh, “Butter!? On bread!? I’ll never get used to your strange Cuban customs!” I’m laughing now. 😆 As a Cuban American I felt almost related to their family and even though I’ve never met Lucy and Desi, seniors or juniors, they will always feel like family to me. I miss them.
Lol i eat butter on bread
So funny, when Lucy was serving dinner in the living room and hiding all the furniture she bought without Ricky's knowledge in the kitchen (If I recall correctly?) fyi Lucie Arnaz has an Instagram you can follow
@@donnamarie3930 --You recalled correctly! Lucy did hid all her new furniture in the kitchen while she tried to find a way to break the news to Ricky since she'd used her old furniture as a down payment on the new. Then her romantic dinner in the living room was made hilarious because Ricky kept asking for things that she'd forgotten to put on the table, thus running through Fred's and Ethel's apartment and into their own kitchen to retrieve the one thing Ricky mentioned. It's SO funny! :D
The scene where Lucy tells Ricky that she's "expecting" is still such a touching scene!
What makes the seen all sweeter, was that it was the great payoff. Lucy tries to tell Ricky at lunch time, but it was dayus interruptus. The poor Lucy, she was beside herself. The ending was a romantic gesture.
Do you know the story of the final scene of the episode? Not a major thing. But a pretty cool bit of trivia. For anyone who doesn't know, the part where the man screamed "do the baby song" wasn't part of the script as if it was someone in the Tropicana audience. It was actually a member of the cue. Desi got so caught up in the emotion, he forgot to go into the song. The man screaming was a member of the crew. They wanted to reshoot it because of this, but the audience didn't want them to so it was kept in.
WHEN LUCY WENT TO THE,"TROPICANA" NITE CLUB & IT WAS WHEN LUCY NODDED HER HEAD, " YES " SHE WAS HAVING A BABY WAS & STILL TOTALLY OVERWHELMS ME ENDLESSLY THAT I HAVE, (THAT SALTY SUBSTANCE!!) APPEAR FROM MY EYES😪! (Thanks Jerry) TO ME, LUCI, ACTING OR NOT YOUR MOM ON THIS PARTICULAR SHOW WAS SO GENUINE, GENIUS & REAL I CAN'T MAKE MYSELF BELIEVE SHE WAS ACTING? I KNOW SHE WAS & WHEN YOUR DAD SANG," I'M HAVING A BABY MY BABY & ME" I LOSE IT 👍" THE ONE OF NUMEROUS THINGS IN REAL LIFE WHAT YOUR DAD SAID TO THE SUITS WHEN THEY WERE TOLD LUCY WAS PREGNANT! WE HAVE TO HIDE THE PREGNANCY & YOUR DAD (CLASSIC DESI) LAUGHING SAID, " YOU DUN'T THINK PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS KIND OF THING?" DESI IS WAS AS LOVED AS LUCY & A GENUINE GENIUS 👍 TRULY.
It looked very real. As if he was hearing it for the first time.
@@georgie2315
Did you know that reading something WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS IS DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS MINIMAL PUNCTUATION AND NO PARAGRAPHS?
Just thought you'd like to know.
Little Ricky's birthd was a trip. 60 plus years later and the episode is still a stitch. No double entendre. No risque content. Simply pure sweetness. How often can that be said?
I don’t think neither of the episodes were controversial. They were both hysterical and yet loving. The best comedy series ever. I still watch the reruns.
Cuba would of worried people back then- ( I Loved the I Love Lucy show) But,You would have to have lived during that time- People in the 1950s were frightened of our country being bombed or taken over by Communists. That show would of been considered in poor taste. The McCarthy commision investigated her because of Ricky, but mainly because of the fact she voted Communist- She said she did this for her Grandfather her asked her to please vote Communist -- I read this somewhere or saw in a documentary and they let you see the video of her being interviewed by McCarthy and answering that question. I'm not putting her down but I can understand how people felt then, this was frightening and that Cuba show wouldn't have made people comfortable in the 1950's - 1970's on but the 1950's no way -
There’s some pretty bad/racist/controversial episodes.
@@GothBatty . Which ones for instance?
@@GothBatty No there isn't.
@@WandaCasamento59 Lucy never voted communist - she check off a box in the 30's that's it - did not go to meetings, did not vote, did not read the literature.
I read Desi Arnaz's book. The sponsors of TV shows were extremely powerful back then and they objected to the use of the word "pregnant." The TV execs did not go against the sponsors. In his book, Desi Arnaz said that a priest, minister, and rabbi were asked if it was OK to use the work "pregnant." None of them objected. It was a matter of "money talks."
Their biggest sponsors was Philip Morris, a huge tobacco company. Lucy and Desi did cigarette commercials on the air. All four lead actors smoked on the show.
I've seen the Cuban episode. It was both funny and very touching. I loved it!
There was first concern about Lucy, an American, married to Ricky, a Cuban back when the series was proposed to CBS. To prove that the viewing audience would accept the concept, Lucy and Desi took their act on the road. Everyone who saw them live loved them.
CBS wanted Richard Denning, who played Lucy's husband on radio, to do the same on TV. Mr. Denning went on to be the "Govenor" in the long running, original "Hawaii 5-0" with Jack Lord. Both Denning and Lord became multi-millionaires on their Hawaiian real estate investments. Lord's widow left close to $50 million to the "people of Hawaii" on her passing.
Actually it was CBS that proposed the idea of the radio show 'My Favorite Husband' into a tv series to Lucille Ball. Lucille wanted Desi to play her husband and the Network and proposed sponsors did not agree with her, its at this point that Lucy and Desi went on the road with the show's concept..
@@mamadouaziza2536 Heard this too. TV execs were skeptical & didn't want Desi to play Ricky. They argued that viewers would never believe Lucy & Ricky were a married couple. Today the two are probably in the top 5 of all-time favorite TV married couples. (Maybe #1? There's also Edith & Archie Bunker; June & Ward Cleaver, Peg & Al Bundy, lol ;)
Lucy, herself, had misgivings about the production & if she should even do the series.
One night during that time one, Lucy had a dream. Can ole Lombard came into the dream giving her confidence and guidance to go with it. After that dream Lucy cont'd the series production.
Lucy unknown to some, had a psychic ability why this show was a success. With the help of the dream as well as her own ability she went for it. And all this is the result.
Her mother also knew Lucy had star quality though I am sure she did not realize how much.
This The Queen of Comedy came to be.
Everyone knows all of that.
When Lucille gave birth the same night as the show where Lucy gives birth aired, it made the front page of the papers the next day. President Eisenhower had given a speech or done something the prior day. Lucille told a story during an interview that when Desi Jr. was a toddler, he met President Eisenhower and Eisenhower said "is this the young man that knocked me off the front pages?"
She didn't give birth. She had a C section. It was planned.
Actually the speech was the inauguration speech in 1952. In the news - We Like Ike but We Love Lucy.
@@LJ-ht4zs Yes, I recall that 'we like Ike but we love Lucy!' Thank you for triggering my memory. I guess I'm getting old! LOL
@@retroguy9494 Yes, Ike was the first President that I really remember and liked (Truman - I was very young during his time b. 1945 - but even as a 6-7 year old I did not like him. - Still don't) but I remember reading about IKE and saw him on tv (1952-1960) and I did watch I Love Lucy from age 6.
The old tv shows seem so innocent now in this day and age. Nothing was ever seen as controversial to me. ... just sweet, funny and innocent!
I love how Lucy wouldn't tolerate anyone but her making fun of Ricky's accent, and axed an episode where the writers had Ricky getting in trouble for tax evasion (something Desi Arnez was particularly upset about, as he was an America immigrant who loved this country and devoutly believed in paying taxes, having lived through some and watched most of the communist uprising taking hold in his country of origin)
It’s grandma
I loved both episodes but when Lucy went into labor and the rest of the crew kept bumping into each other then ran out the door without Lucy, I couldn't stop laughing.
???
Both I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith were CBS shows. They aired in different decades and never competed in the ratings.
? That wasn't the ?
@@eloiseockert6561 Some of this information was factually incorrect. Easy enough to check.
@@eloiseockert6561 The narrator indicates that the two shows competed in the ratings simultaneously; that was impossible as they aired in different decades. That's the point -- it's a factually incorrect comparison (among some other errors in this and some other videos this page has made).
Yeah but they played the shows over and over and over (sorry) until the tapes are messed up. So they had to have completed in the ratings at some time.
@@michellecrosby3717
"They" whoever they was, can "Remadter." the footage.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez were such trailblazers.
My thoughts exactly.....I don’t get it!
Arnaz
The Long Long Trailer
I Love Lucy was off the air when The Andy Griffith show began!
I think he was talking about the reruns.
If you would have listened more closely you would have heard him say it was when the show was in syndication.
I would never consider pregnancy as controversial because it's a beautiful thing. It's also obviously part of life so what their problem was back then is beyond me.
@@melodysledgister2468 the reruns of I love Lucy didn't compete with the original episodes of the Andy Griffith show. The Andy Griffith show was prime time. Any reruns of I love Lucy was in the afternoon or morning.
How on earth can pregnancy be a vulgar topic? Those TV and movie regulations up to the 60s are insane.
Until the 1970s, sex was usually not spoken about to children. Most parents were intimidated to have "the talk" with their children or explain the answer to the question "what does 'pregnant' mean mommy or daddy?", so the "moral majority"' insisted that those kinds of things not be mentioned. It wasn't until the later 1960s and 70s that those walls were broken down. Notice how in the bathrooms there was no toilet (except in that one Leave it to Beaver where they hid a turtle in the toilet tank)? It wasn't until 1971 with All in the Family that one actually hears a toilet flush!
Things were much different then.
@@gabevee3 innocence meant something virginity and cooties too!
Because People had CLASS back then that's why. Today everything is out in the open and certain things really shouldn't be discussing on T.V. but they are. Why? Because America is now a degenerate, immoral, crime ridden dung hole that's why.
@@QuantumEffectResidue ok boomer
I love Lucy went off the air in 1957. From 57 - 58 they did the hour long Lucy desi comedy hour. Andy griffith didn’t go on the air till a few years after Lucy. Please get your facts straight!
ANDY GRIFFITH aired starting in 1960.
The Andy Griffith Show didn't start till 1960
Actually they did the hour shows ‘57-60. But yes, real facts, please
The last Lucy Desi Comedy Hour was made in March 1960. I checked Wikipedia for Andy Griffith Show and found that the Danny Thomas episode which led to Andy Griffith as spinoff had aired in February.
The first show aired in 1951, not the late fifties
The scene that gets me LMAO is when it’s time to go to the hospital to deliver the baby. That..is classic TV hilarity that never ages. 🤣👏🙌🏻💕
Im almost 60 yo. Ive always been a LUCY fan ! Ive never seen nor heard about this CUBAN episode. I cant wait to see it !
REALLY???? I've been watching it since I was a kid in the mid 1970's!!
When I was a small girl growing up the word "pregnant" itself was considered to be a vulgar word! My eldest married sister was said to be EXPECTING, and that the stork would bring the baby to the hospital when the time came for my sister and brother-in-law to go get it, LOL! I and my 2 sisters and 1 brother wound up having 5 nephews! That I Love Lucy show was so lovely, quaint and sweet!!!❤
This was, I think, the first mix race couple show. Breaking race barriers back then.
Mixed race?
Hispanics aren't a "racial" group, they're an ethnic group.
Cubans aren't white, so yeah it was a mixed marriage. Lucy had to fight for Desi to even be on the show, because he was Cuban and their relationship was considered a mixed marriage
@@darreylhenderson702 Well, I don't know from white or black or anything else. It shouldn't have mattered to anyone else either, but those were the times they lived in.
@Sammy Lane Yes, I remember reading that some of the network executives didn't want Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball to appear as a married couple because they didn't think Americans would accept/watch a show with an "all-American" girl like Lucy married to someone like Desi. They originally wanted the late actor, Richard Denning of the series, "Mr. and Mrs. North" to be Lucy's husband, but Lucille Ball was having NONE of it! Denning was tall and blond, which probably meant to these executives that he was more "all-American", therefore, more acceptable to the American public. They were WRONG, weren't they!!!🤦♀️👀🤔
The actor that played the older 'Little Ricky' was incredibly talented for his age, and so adorable to watch. Every drum and singing performance he did I found to be so impressive. Very enjoyable to watch
think he learned to play the drums when he was age 3; he later taught Desi Arnaz jr.
Why would pregnancy ever be controversial? 100% of us are here because of the pregnancy of a woman. Ooooh! Let’s keep that a secret.
Marchant2 that’s just how television was in those days. A lot of things were not aired publicly for modesty, such as pregnancy. They were kept more domestic & issues for the home. Bedroom scenes were not aired, including a husband & wife sleeping in the same room for the same reasons. Modesty was a lot more common then than now days.
It’s because pregnancy is the buy product of sex. In the 1950s sex was a subject that was avoided on screen.
Shows could not do or say anything that suggested male and female characters were having sex. Lucy and Ricky slept in separate beds which is not how actual married couples sleep.
1977TA right....intimate things were kept more intimate back then compared to today.
It was a taboo subject back then...
Imagine......just look at the smut that they show now.....and thanks to the liberals, everything is ok now !
Omg...that scene where they're all scrambling around, neglecting Lucy when she needs to go to the hospital to have the baby...🤭🤭🤭STILL hilarious.💜
Excellent, you still remember the episode! Which one is your favorite though? 😁
And many other sitcoms copied the idea as well to be his day...
I just want to let the fans know that I love Lucy comes on the Hallmark channel from 5am to 7am It comes on during the summer! I do notice that You Tube is airing the show! I am 76 and I believe i can recite every line! I love Lucy! The show is a classic!
Also I don't know exactly where they sell them but I know you can get DVDs with some episodes. Sometimes they have color
You can watch it on hulu, too.
I watched "I Love Lucy" from episode 2,( missed the first one, but everyone was already raving about it) in 1951!
But, since the "Cuban episode" was shot in 1956 or so, three years before the Castro Revolution, I find it hard to
believe that Americans would have objected to it, since many of them were still vacationing there, then! I think
that this biographer got his time facts mixed up!
Thanks for watching!
When talking about a banned episode, why not use a thumbnail from that episode?
The thumbnail was from Lucy and the designer dress.
Frrrrr
Gotta say, fashion designer, Don Loper might have been the first time a relatively "out" (for 1955) gay man was seen on television?
Will we ever have wholesome shows like this again? I’m tired of fast forwarding through sex scenes
I totally agree!
We do the same thing...just fast forward.
Why??? Why are people so hung up about sex?
Ridiculous….. people have been having sex since the beginning of time. Europe has been showing sex content in movies forever….. Americans are so hung up on sex.
@Misha Sandro - not everyone wants to watch sex 24/7.
Lucy making cigars is classic. Even though she is watching a master she can't help but doing it wrong. This is one of my favorite episodes.
I didn't think I saw the episode, until you mentioned the cigars. I remember Lucy trying to roll cigars, and getting it so comically wrong!
@0:55 Umm, The Andy Griffith Show aired in the 60's, not 50's - so, I Love Lucy NEVER competed with it.
WTF and SMH indeed.
I think he meant historically, they both were number one for long periods. I think Beverly Hillbillies was too
Hard to say I loved everyone of their shoes and continue to watch it over and over again to this day.❤️☺️
Me to, I love every single one, no matter what.
I Love Lucy 💘was the best sitcom of all times
What's your favorite memory of the show, La Greta?
Both of my grandparents watched this show while my parents were growing up: actually my parents were really little kids when this show was on the air
I particularly enjoyed the episode where Lucy and Ricky were stuck in their apartment closet while the Mertz' and some of the other tenants waited in their apartment to throw a surprise anniversary party for them.
That's a really good one
Lucy was the first Murphy Brown... Trailblazer in so many ways... Stay safe ✌
The Long Long Trailer
of the 8 years of childhood I watched LUCY for more than 12 of it. She was on all channels all the time for a while there.
Wow - those 2 episodes happens to be my FAVORITE of any show , with the Cosby show celebrating the grandparents anniversary at 3rd.
I like the pregnancy one! It was funny when Ricky,Fred and Ethel freaked out.
I have never seen the Cuba episode, and thought you were going to run it!! Also, Lucy's pregnancy on the show led the way for the Flintstones to have Wilma's pregnancy on their show and the birth of Pebbles. There was even a contest to name the "baby".
You SHOULD watch it! Its SO funny! I won't tell you what happens, but its hysterical. And the ending is really cool too!
Fun fact: When Wilma was pregnant on The Flintstones, her voice actress Jean Vander Pyl was pregnant in real life! Jean was also the voice of Pebbles.
@@shortybeck1948 Wow I didn't know either of those things! Thanks for pointing them out!
I always thought it was late 50s because I remember watching programme then. I was still at primary school . I was born in 53. Enjoyed programme it was a good laugh. We didn't get a TV till I was 7.
Keith's babaloo was adorable!
carol Lund he was on a couple of Andy Griffith episodes. He was Opie’s friend.
the episode where Lucy gave birth was a breath of fresh air
They handled the entire pregnancy with excellent taste!
I love how they treated her pregnancy!! I’ve been a huge fan of I Love Lucy since I was old enough to watch it. Have all on DVD & have watched all numerous times. And I know random facts that do correlate with this video. Kudos to the maker of this video!!
FYI Ricky was a big ladies man...part of the reason they divorced. He couldn’t keep his eyes on his own wife. And too, she had a fiery attitude at times! Lots of personality clashes happened behind scenes with her & Ricky, her & Vivian, her & William. Though Lucy & Vivian did work through their differences greatly enough to perform together in The Lucy Show.
It was Oct.15 1951 to May 6 1957 not the late 1950's, do your research.
And from the beginning of the video, you'd already doubt the reliability of this information. 😂
Stop crying
You are correct, but that " do your research" phrase is so overused and annoying.
THANK😊 YOU SIR,..
I AM GLAD SOMEONE ELSE NOTICED THIS CHANNELS LACK OF FACTUAL CORRECTNESS...
Early 1950s never competed with TAGS.
I love Lucy was the second TV show to show a pregnant woman on TV. There was an old show called Mary Kay and Johnny that had the first pregnant woman. For most of it's run it aired live on the DuMont Television Network in the 1940s. The two stars were married off screen and when she became pregnant it was written into the show. They tried to hide it but they couldn't so it became part of the show.
They were also the first couple to be shown sleeping in the same bed.
Perhaps these things happening in Mary Kay and Johnny were unpopular, and set the rules for future shows.
Also there has been misinformation about Lucy and RIcky not sleeping in the same bed. But they did in season one. THE HANDCUFFS episode is the most famous example where they try to go to bed. And when you think about it, they had to have slept in the same bed. After all they were married, and she got pregnant after that, didn't she?
I read that about 26-29 states in USA didn’t allow interracial marriages. Therefore tv channels didn’t want to have Desi as the husbands show.
Lucy and Desi started to tour with their own show with spicy a success that the tv bosses realized they were making a mistake not having Desi in the show….
Whatever we want to call it now what happened with them ….history is history and we can’t reverse what those days or others people did, believe or had to tolerate…we can just improve the present based in past mistakes. Kudos to Lucy and Desi for fight the system with intelligence!
Many knocked down the barriers in society beginning through the 50’s. Elvis with Music & self expression, Lucy & Desi with a mixed heritage sitcom.
HOW could I Love Lucy compete with The Andy Griffith show when ...Lucy went off the air about 4 years before Andy's show premiered?
Compete for the most poplar show based on Nielson ratings in TV history.
You are absolutly right. Go figure hpe 'they' come up with these scores ! These brilliant stars have all passed on now so 'wherever' they are they could't care less .
So right!
Like the one when Lucy finds out she is pregnant and written it IN the peogrsm...
I Love Lucy is and always will be the best show on television.
So many shows copied "I Love Lucy". ,Mad About You" copied more than one plot. (Paul and Ira) Even "The Flontstones" the cartoon is really "I Love Lucy" (Fred and Barney)
Th trip to Cuba I would think would be more controversial.
Why?
@@Bloombaby99 because there was alot of talk of Castro and Cuba in the news at that time. Google it about the history of Cuba.
@@Bloombaby99 during the 50's and early sixties.
I loved them All n still doOo ..I love Lucy ♥️♥️♥️♥️
Neither episode was controversial. It was just those times. They could have said, Lucy is expecting!
I think Ricky was the only one to use that phrase, although he said “xpeting” lol
I LOVED THAT SHOW, LUCY SUNBURNED! TO NOT SHOW IT FOR 10 YRS? DESI & LUCY ARE SO TRULY LOVED TO TO THIS DAY 💟 ETHYL & FRED WERE PERFECT 👍 I WONDER WHAT LUCY & DESI WOULD THINK TODAY IN 2020 ABOUT HOW EXTREMELY LOVED THEY STILL ARE SO REVERED RESPECTED & BELOVED JUST TO MENTION A FEW THINGS 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Back in the day that I Love Lucy was on TV l watched it every single day l never missed an episode and l liked every minute of it l never wanted it to end but l have it on DVD so l am still watching it
great!
The banned episode is my favorite I Love Lucy episode. I didn't start watching the show until the 1980's and I've always wondered about this sensitive subject. I am also a history buff.
The idea of pregnancy being a controversial or vulgar subject is so funny to me because those folks who complained would prob also be the first to tell you the whole purpose of a woman’s existence is get pregnant.😂🙄
When I was in the 7th grade , I said out loud that my very young aunt was pregnant. The gasps in that room, it was audible ,shock! I thought I was in trouble.
I had an aunt who, until she died 10 years ago at the age of 82 would STILL not say the word "pregnant." She usually said something like "is going to have a baby."
As a millennial who grew up watching the show, I never knew there was an episode where they went to Cuba. I guess that's how well it was hidden over the years.
I love EVERY EPISODE!!!❤️❤️❤️
my mother said once that when she was growing up in the 50s and the episodes showing Lucy pregnant were airing her mother thought it was "discussing" to show ,a pregnant woman on TV. LOL
And here I was thinking its because she replied "grassy-ass" when asked a question by Ricky's dad in Spanish.
She said that in more episodes than this one. I thought perhaps it was because she said "si macho grasa" instead of muchas gracias and Desi tells her she just called him a big fat pig! It was his Uncle by they way, not his father. Uncle Alberto.
Cuba was a big flashpoint when this episode was made. And we had the House UnAmerican Committee, sicing the FBI on lots of innocent folks who supported Cuban efforts toward Independence from the US and the puppet dictator at the time. In 1967 I went to Romania, still behind the iron curtain. I was one of the first people to go in when the ban was lifted.
When I went to Timosaura I was sent to a woman by someone in Deva. She was wonderful. Her whole circle friends took off work to show me around. We watched I Love Lucy together and she made a big bowl of unsalted popcorn. My memory is that we talked freely about lots of things. But I spoke only a smattering of German and they spoke no English. I love Lucy was subtitled for them and of course it was in English, so we could enjoy it together. It was a bonding experience and opened a door for us to talk about America vs Romania and I don't know if we could have done that w/o Lucy. I was a child when Lucy had Little Ricky and I thought it was hilarious. Years later, Gloria on All in the Family followed suit and that was funny as well.
Now I am watching the original Roseanne and Roseanne is pregnant. Jackie was also pregnant on the show a bit earlier. It offers lots of fun stuff and I'm glad it is not hush-hush anymore.
The "flashpoint" over Cuba did not really start until 1959 with the rise of Castro. This was after I LOVE LUCY had ceased production as a half hour series and was in daytime network reruns.
@@RayPointerChannel My bad. But we still had the House Unamercan Activities Committee running around searching for communists in Hollywood. So maybe I wasn't totally wrong. But thanks for the correction.
Re: Lucy's pregnancy, as usual, the American people were far more mature than the HollyWeirdos.
For the record: “Little Ricky was played by a number of actors, including James John Ganzer, twins Richard and Ronald Lee Simmons, twins Michael and Joseph Mayer and, most notably, Keith Thibodeaux, billed as Little Ricky.” (Wikipedia) Desi Arnaz Jr wasn’t born yet as I understand. He had a big sister. And whenever you read about him, first you hear about addiction, but he was also very creative
Since everyone was aware that Desi was from Cuba why was there a problem. As far as the pregnancy goes it was about time that it was addressed.
Remember the time period your talking about. The Cuban Missile Crisis, quite easily could have turned into WWIII. I'm sure the head honchos at CBS at the time were concerned that airing the episode would.make the show, and the possibly whole network look like Communist sympathizers They likely didn't want to take that chance. Also I'm not sure where this falls in the scheme of things, but a some point, during 'The Red Scare' Lucell Ball was personally ordered to appear, by the UnAmerican Activites Committee. She was questioned for having registered to vote, with the Communist Party, in her youth. When you really examine the external factors, it's a wonder that 'I Love Lucy' made it to air at all, much less rise to the level of #1 hit.
I Love Lucy aired from 1951 to 1957. So technically it didn't air in the late 1950s. As others have pointed out Lucy didn't compete with the Andy Griffith show because the shows were in two different decades. How this mistake could be made is just sloppy research.
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes.
"I Love Lucy" aired in the *early* and *mid* 1950's on CBS, long before Castro or the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was never in competition with "The Andy Griffith Show," which premiered in 1960, also on CBS.
He finally gets to the point of the video at about 1:21 - more or less.
And then about three weeks later another I Love Lucy episode aired that took perhaps 25 years to re air. That was the Christmas episode that was considered "lost" but simply had been kept out of syndication even to this day. The episode was rather thinly scripted and reverted to flashbacks to previous episodes to keep continuity.
Ahhhhhhhhh But I taped it on VHS off the television when they decided to show it back in the 1980's! Supposedly it was the first time they showed it since it aired. I think it was 1986 or 87. And they colorized it too!
It's unbelievable how culturally significant popular tv shows were back in the day. 40 million viewers when the entire US population was around 160 million. 1/4 of the ENTIRE country watched the same show. That's basically the equivalent of the viewership of the Superbowl. There will never be another show that has that level of significance due to cable and streaming services. Kind of sad
Thanks for watching, Stefan!
Ok... You talked about everything else, except the scene thst got the show banned in the first place. The picture of Lucy being totally sunburned is not what was talked about here. That's a bit misleading. Why show the picture, then not talk about it? Can you help us out with that? Thanks☺.
Im 56 and still watching. Ive seen every episode
I read somewhere Lucy was in fact not the first pregnant woman on tv. I can't remember the name of the actress or show but I guess because I Love Lucy was so much more famous it's remembered as the first.
I’m not a fan but our local channel ran re-runs all summer long when we were on summer break. I don’t remember this episode, but it might have aired. I really don’t see any controversy in either show, but given the times I can see why some might have problems seeing the Cuba episode. Anything dealing with Lucy’s pregnancy would have been stupid. They handled things well for the time. Its not like they showed what lead up to the pregnancy, especially when they were shown to sleep in two twin beds. That was just stupid!
Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz (Lucy & Ricky Ricardo with Fred & Ethyl Mertz) dominated television for 9 out of 10 years in the entire decade of the ‘50’s.
And in my opinion still do. Now TV shows even bring up homosexuality in their themes. Will & Grace for one example...
My Grandpa worked for the railroad in Idaho. He worked on one of the passenger cars in the ‘50’s.
Lucy and her maid rode his passenger car one day. Grandpa recognized her but stayed professional and was a gentleman while helping them to their seats and giving them what they needed for the ride.
Lucy’s maid, after she was settled in, got up to go ask for something and Grandpa was there to attend her.
After getting what she needed, she stood and talked to Grandpa for a while. He gave her some history on the railroad and told her some funny stories of things that he had seen while working his job throughout the years.
Lucy saw my Grandpa and her maid giggling and talking. Lucy got up from her seat and walked over and gave my Grandpa a good scolding. Her maid tried to explain that they were just talking but Lucy saw it as my Grandpa trying to flirt with her maid.
Lucy told him that if she ever sees him talking to her again, she would make sure his job was taken away.
Grandpa hated Lucy from that day forward and never liked her again until the day she died.
WOW what a fascinating story! And I can't say as I really blamed your grandfather. Sadly, even to this day, this is what happens when people jump to conclusions. I take it your grandfather was a porter? Like the old Pullman Porters? That was actually a good job!
I love both episodes because they address family issues with humor! God I miss this show and Lucy and Desi and I wasn't even born until Nov. 1966 with my twin, Penny.
My favorite show. Still love it.
They were so backwards then and still are in many ways! Lucy was so pretty!
I still remember them in their pajamas in separate beds!!😂😂😂 What a huge difference in what we see today. The TV shows back then was so much better. It only proves that you DON'T have to take off your clothes or say vulgar things for ratings.
By today's standards this show would be politically incorrect and banned , which it actually is. Unfortunately the new generations will not know to appreciate good quality humor
If either could be more controversial then maybe it's the episode of the visit to Cuba some might think that Lucy saying in conclusion to Ricky "Well the way you speak it it is to me." as to Ricky telling Lucy "English is a Foreign Language to me." after he made fun of her Spanish and tell telling him that he wasn't very nice in doing so and then he asked "Why can't I make fun of your Spanish ?You've been making fun of my English for 15 Years?"But the one of which my Mom told me of The Japanese cook got fully banned because it was more racist for the Ricardos and The Mertzes mistaking The Japanese Cook's saying "Kitchen" again and again to ask where it was? In doing so mistaking him for asking for drinks and he gets too drunk to do his work for when the Japanese speaker himself comes along.
When she gets stuck in the freezer..😂😂😂😂
"Hello Uncle Oscar? This is little Ethel!"
When she tries to sell the meat at the meat store “tell you what I’m gonna do...I got chuck,rump,steak..”
@@briyonce7317 Actually what Lucy says is "I've got sirloin, tenderloin, T-bone, rump, pot roast, chuck roast, Oxtail stump!" Both a funny and cute little rhyming jingle! LOL!
He gets to the point at 1:20. You're welcome
Best show ever made!!
Those are my 2 favorite episodes! Her telling him she was pregnant and Lucy goes to the hospital. It’s hard to find several episodes. I have all the episodes downloaded from amazon. Many good ones are missing.
To say that a pregnancy had never been shown on television before is a bit misleading because television was BRAND NEW. Modern people tend to think that television has always been around but if you were born in the early 1940's chances are, you didn't get a television until you were in middle or high school. Shows today are reluctant to add a baby - changing the dynamics of a hit show is always a big risk.
One other error the narrator makes: He says the show ran “...in the late 50’s. The show, I Love Lucy, ran from October 1951 to May 1957. It’s follow-on companion, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show) ran in occasional one-hour programs from Fall 1957 thru April 1960. There really was no competition with the Andy Griffith Show. In fact Andy Griffith was filmed by Desilu Productions.
It didn't really air in the "late 1950's"... it went off the air in 1957. With a 6-year run, it was actually more an early-to-mid 1950's show.
I like the fact that the narrator shows his picture so i know who's speaking 👍
Not quite. The tensions between the USA and Cuba had their origins in Russia's (then the USSR) influences and Castro's rise to power. When the Russians started putting missiles in Cuba, aimed at the USA, just about 90 miles away from Florida, tensions escalated. My father and his other WW II veteran pals started packing up their uniforms in case they were recalled. No one knew for certain if a hot war--a nuclear holocaust--was in the offing, but many had built bomb shelters and had stockpiles of food and water. It was a frightening time.
Yes,Sir. Good analysis.
It’s uncanny how much Deborah messing look like lucile ball...they even have the same mannerisms!
I saw these when they were first aired.
I think he means all time ratings record rather than head to head ratings record with The Andy Griffith Show. Like how Avengers Endgame beat Avatar and Titanic in box office sales even though they were not in theatres at the same time.
I Love Lucy aired in the 50s not the late 50s. It aired from Oct 51 to May 57.
The show ran from 1951 to 1957 hardly what I would consider the “late 1950s” and Andy Griffith show ran from 1960 to 68. Not in competition with I love Lucy. And several scenes from the Lucy show (1962-68) were used
Wow! I learned something new. I watched I Love Lucy growing up. Thank you facts first. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the support!
“I love Lucy” ran from 1951-1957. During those years Cuba was a popular vacation spot for Americans. The communists did not take over
Until 1959. The relationship between the two countries began to deteriorate after that time. The Cuban missile crisis occurred in 1962.
I feel The Trip to Cuba was much more controversial. The pregnancy episode was in my opinion a natural. The 2 were married not just on the show but real life. Where did the producers feel, think people came into this world from?
Despite the time era, it was ridiculous.
What happened then, Lucy"s delivery of Desi Jr the same day the pregnancy was a first!
Made the show even more popular!