“I Love Lucy” was a beloved television classic. But did you know it also pioneered the rerun, now a staple of television shows everywhere?
It all started when Lucille Ball became pregnant with her and Desi Arnaz’s first child, Desi Arnaz Jr. Suddenly the 39 episodes required for that season looked impossible to fulfill.
So Arnaz came up with a bright idea, according to IMDb. They would re-air episodes from the previous season instead of doing new shows, and that would buy Ball some time to recover from giving birth.
To their surprise, Arnaz’s gambit worked. The reruns got good ratings, and viewers stuck with the show. Fast forward to today: reruns remain a popular and lucrative fixture on television.
‘I Love Lucy’ Movie Directed by Aaron Sorkin Draws Controversy
The making of “I Love Lucy” is the subject of a new movie directed by Aaron Sorkin, “Being the Ricardos.” And the movie has provoked strong reactions from fans, especially after news broke that Nicole Kidman will probably play the role of Lucy.
Kidman is in talks to play Lucy and Javier Bardem is considering the role of Desi. But according to Fox News, some fans feel the actress Debra Messing is a better fit to play Lucy. For her part, Messing has reportedly said she’s “available” to take on the role.
Still, Lucie Arnaz, Ball and Arnaz’s daughter, has weighed in on the controversy and voiced her support for Kidman. She posted a video to Facebook recently laying out her feelings on the matter.
“There seems to be a lot of discussion about ‘Nicole Kidman, it should be Debra Messing, it should be Carole Cook,’ I don’t know,” she said. “Here’s the deal, what you should understand: We are not doing a remake of ‘I Love Lucy.’ No one has to impersonate Lucy Ricardo nor do the Vitameatavegamin routine or… any of the silly things.”
“Just trust us,” she concluded. “It’s gonna be a nice film. And P.S. – the voting is over.”
Aaron Sorkin Teases ‘Being the Ricardos’
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Sorkin hinted at a major secret – “there’s also a big thing that a lot of people don’t know about Lucille Ball” – and spoke about the plot of the movie.
“The film takes place during a production week of I Love Lucy,” he said. “A Monday table read to Friday audience taping, with a whole bunch of long flashbacks which are telling the story that got us here. And because there’s a table read, there’s rehearsals and then there’s tape night, we do see moments of them being Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. We see moments from an episode of ‘I Love Lucy.’ But mostly they are playing Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.”
“I Love Lucy” fans will surely be watching the movie closely and passing judgment on its faithfulness to the couple’s story, so Sorkin had better bring his A-game.
