History Series / ILoveLucy

** Lampshaded on an episode of ''MadAboutYou'' in which Paul tries to find out what the secret is that his wife Jamie doesn't want to tell him.
-->'''Paul''': Did you buy a new hat?
-->'''Jamie''': (sarcasticly) Yes Paul, that's it. I bought a new hat! What is this, ''I Love Lucy''?!?

* {{Corpsing}}: An occupational hazard of working with Lucille Ball, with Arnaz probably being the most frequent victim. Just look at him in the Vitameatavegamin scene!

* {{Corpsing}}: An occupational hazard of working with Lucille Ball, with Arnaz probably being the most frequent victim. Just look at him in the Vitameatavegamin sscene!

* PlayingGertrude: Ethel is supposed to be older than Lucy, closer in age to her husband Fred, but Vivian Vance was actually a year ''younger'' than Lucille Ball. Vance was annoyed that she was paired with such an older man, which caused some RealLife animosity between the actors behind the scenes.

** Vance actually ''was'' two years older than Lucille Ball, who wasn't always totally honest about her age. However, Vance was still a full ''22'' years younger than her onscreen husband.

* TheCelebrityLie

* BritishRoyalGuards: The European vacation story arc during the show's fifth season began in London where Lucy visited Buckingham Palace and missed out on seeing the Queen when she became preoccupied with desperately attempting to get a guard to crack a smile. The scene ends with the Changing of the Guard. [[spoiler: If one looks really closely, one can see the guard's lips curling up slightly.]]
* BobHope: Guest starred AsHimself on the 6th season premire episode, just before the Connecticut move. In an age when the Networks NEVER acknowlaged the existance of the others by name, Hope was allowed to end the episode saying "I may never go back to NBC!"

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Ethel (choleric), Fred (melancholic), Lucy (phlegmatic), and Ricky (sanguine).

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Lucy's Mother. Although the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree.

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Ethel (choleric), Lucy (melancholic), Fred (phlegmatic), and Ricky (sanguine).

* FiveFiveFive: Subverted in the episode "The Million Dollar Idea", in which the phone number given to order "Aunt Martha's Old Fashioned Salad Dressing" is Circle7-2099
** 99% of a ContinuityNod to the episode in which Lucy gives birth, in which Ricky calls Circle1-2099 for Fred to bring his make-up case.
** And when they are in Italy they place an oversees call to Murray Hill5-9099

* LeaveItIn: The 1952 episode ''Cuban Pals'' features Ricky attempting to translate Lucy's questions for his Cuban friends. Desi Arnaz mistakenly translates one question in English, resulting in him almost doubling over in laughter onscreen for almost a minute.

** Desi Arnaz demanded that the second act of the episode "Lucy Tells The Truth" be rewritten. The plot involves Ricky, Fred and Ethel betting Lucy that she could not tell the truth for 24 hours. The original second act involved an {{InfernalRevenueService IRS}} agent coming to the apartment to audit Ricky, and Lucy being forced to tell him about Ricky cheating on his taxes. Desi balked at the idea of Ricky cheating on his taxes, and a new second act was written.

* DogFoodDiet: Lucy is forced to eat a dog bisquit while trying to hide the fact that she didn't get rid of Fred (the dog).
-->'''Lucy''': They have it all over doughnuts for dunking!

* LotteryTicket: "Bonus Bucks"
** One of the episodes leading up to the Europe Tour features Lucy and Ethel staging a rigged raffle to pay for their European expenses.

--'''ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics''', ''I Love Lucy'' Theme Song

--'''ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics''

** "Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!" for Ricky. In one of the England shows he translates it as 'Blimy!' to a confused Englishman.

The show was filmed, which was a big deal. At the time, most shows were archived by "kinescope," which is simply a movie camera taking footage of a TV ''displaying'' the show's live broadcast. Obviously, this produces really crummy-looking video; that's why most shows from the 1950s have either been lost or are of very little interest in reuse (videotape didn't become available until late in the decade). In contrast, ''I Love Lucy'' invented the live-studio ThreeCameras technique. This show also invented the {{Rerun}}: when Lucille Ball became pregnant and needed a reduction in her workload, Desi came up with the idea of showing a previously-aired-but-much-loved episode instead of something new--which was only possible because Desilu had taken the trouble to film the original broadcast in the first place. "Reruns?" the network scoffed. "ItWillNeverCatchOn." Well, the laugh's on them: ''I Love Lucy'' has been on the air literally non-stop since it was first produced; television historians have determined that since its original airing, the show has ''always'' been in syndication ''somewhere'' in the world. (Not coincidentally, this has made Ball's and Arnaz's estates filthy stinking rich.)

--'''ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics''

The show was filmed, which was a big deal. At the time, most shows were archived by "kinescope," which is simply a movie camera taking footage of a TV ''displaying'' the show's live broadcast. Obviously, this produces really crummy-looking video; that's why most shows from the 1950s have either been lost or are of very little interest in reuse (videotape didn't become available until late in the decade). In contrast, ''I Love Lucy'' required two-camera pairs, one to broadcast the live TV and one to take down the results on film. Even better, the show invented the live-studio ThreeCameras technique, which resulted in ''six'' cameras running simultaneously and was wildly expensive. This show also invented the {{Rerun}}: when Lucille Ball became pregnant and needed a reduction in her workload, Desi came up with the idea of showing a previously-aired-but-much-loved episode instead of something new--which was only possible because Desilu had taken the trouble to film the original broadcast in the first place. "Reruns?" the network scoffed. "ItWillNeverCatchOn." Well, the laugh's on them: ''I Love Lucy'' has been on the air literally non-stop since it was first produced; television historians have determined that since its original airing, the show has ''always'' been in syndication ''somewhere'' in the world. (Not coincidentally, this has made Ball's and Arnaz's estates filthy stinking rich.)

* [[CantHoldHisLiquor Can't Hold Her Liquor]]: Lucy. The infamous Vitameatavegamin Girl bit where Lucy gets drunk from the alcohol in the medicine after repeated takes. In her defense, it was 23% alcohol by volume; not proof, ''percent''.

* HollywoodCalifornia: Ricky gets the starring role in ''Don Juan'', forcing the Ricardos to move to Hollywood, with the Mertzes tagging along.

* LoudOfWar: Lucy and Ricky tried to get out pf their lease by having a loud Cuban jam session late at night. Fred and Ethel turned the tables by selling tickets to the "concert."