"I Love Lucy" Turns 50.

• Author: GEHRING, WES
• Position: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, background info on influential, groundbreaking TV comedy

The show's impact is evidenced by the fact that, in 1953, "67% of American homes tuned in every Monday night--a figure which probably never again will be approached (for a season), given the multitude of channels now available."

IN THE AUTUMN OF 1951, a new television series premiered which would forever change the nature of American pop culture. Entitled "I Love Lucy" after its nominal star Lucille Ball, it would also feature real-life husband Desi Arnaz as her Cuban bandleader spouse, Picky Ricardo. For six years, their eternal battle of the sexes usually involved her attempts to break into show business, often at Manhattan's Tropicana Club, where Ricky led the house band. Lucy's best friend and partner in comedy chaos was apartment neighbor Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance), who doubled with husband Fred (William Frawley) as landlords of the building where both couples lived.

The fundamental premise of this pioneering sitcom--eccentric wife causes entertainingly irritated husband nonstop frustrations--hardly seems that groundbreaking, but Ball elevated this basic theme to a surprisingly high artistic level in three pivotal ways. First, she quickly established herself as the medium's premier physical comedian. This was no small task, given the inspired level of slapstick to be found on early 1950s television, including her longtime MGM friend Red Skelton, who later became her favorite prime-time rival.

Second, Lucy brought a moving poignancy to even her most harebrained schemes. As Ricky's bored housewife, she always hoped for something more in life. That was a universal hook which touched everyone in her huge audience. We did not all want to make our mark in show business, her persistent goal, but who has not longed for something more?

Third, Lucy would endure any comic indignity to achieve her weekly big chance. This perseverance is a basic clown component. Their comic resilience comforts a viewer struggling with his or her personal demons. So, whether it is Wile E. Coyote surviving yet another fall into a deep canyon or Lucy outlasting her grape-stomping misadventures, one honors these figures for their staying power. Ideally, their resilience encourages the viewers to practice their own brand of persistence as well.

At the end of 1996, TV Guide picked the "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time." Not surprisingly, Ball was number one. The three factors cited above were central to that success, but there were other significant ones. The most important was the impact of Arnaz, both on and behind the small screen. As an "I Love Lucy" costar, his Ricky Ricardo was the perfect counterpart to the series' zany title character. He represented tradition and the idea of a rational real world. Thus, their comic differences actually went beyond a battle of the sexes, though this was a major component.

Ricky symbolized how the world was supposed to run. Lucy was that absurdist factor of modern American humor--the irrational force which cannot be anticipated. The occasional reviewer who has criticized the Ricardo household as sexist and male-dominated has somehow missed Lucy's ongoing usurping of her television husband. Part of one's affection for Ricky is how his wife constantly frustrates him, especially when it results in one of the Cuban-born Arnaz's signature comic tirades in Spanish.

The ethnic slant of Ricky's character merits a two-part "I Love Lucy" footnote. First, CBS did not want Arnaz as part of the package. Ball's popular late-1940s radio program, "My Favorite Husband" (the prototype for "I Love Lucy"), had costarred another actor (Richard Denning). When CBS suggested moving the series to television, she insisted, for the sake of her marriage, that Arnaz play the husband. (His frequent absences to take his rumba band on the road had strained their relationship.) CBS felt, however, that American audiences would not accept a 34-year-old Latin leading man as 40-year-old Ball's small-screen husband, despite their real-life marriage. In order to convince the network, the...