Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. ~ Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball’s Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – Photo by Socialbilitty
Lucille Ball was an American actress and comedian that was most famous for her show “I Love Lucy” with her husband Cuban-American Desi Arnaz Sr. The show was ran on the CBS television network from 1951-1957, with about 180 episodes, and was shot on black-and-white film. It still is one of the most successful TV sitcoms ever, still in television syndication to this very day.
The show was produced by the sitcom legend’s very own Desilu Productions and cast Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo and her on the show/ real life husband Ricky Ricardo, a rumba band leader and bongo playing nightclub owner/performer. The show was loosely based on their life and marriage.
They also had famous co-stars Vivian Vance 
The show featured unique inventions, such as Desi Arnaz invented the three camera structure for filming a television show, making close-ups and angles easier to shoot at the same time. Their interracial marriage and children Desi Arnaz, Jr., and Lucie Arnaz was a bold move to portray images of diversity.
The show featured a live audience, as opposed to being shot with a laugh track, they also rented their own studio equipment back to the studio for profit, this practice later became standard within the television industry. At Desilu they were responsible for creating the rerun, as well as Lucille Ball later became the very first woman television producer. It is duly noted that according to the US Census Bureau 2010, the term Hispanic or Latino is not a race of people, per se, Definition of Hispanic or Latino Origin Used in the 2010 Census “Hispanic or Latino” refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.
But if you’ve been raised in Los Angeles, California, grew up in one of the 6 boroughs of New York, Florida or Puerto Rico, you know it’s true that Hispanic or Latino is indeed a race of people, and they too are subjected to racial discrimination just like African-Americans, Asian-Americans or any other ethnic group of so called minorities. A mere census or survey cannot change this fact.
During the racism segment Part 12 – Chinese People, of Eddie Murphy’s classic Delirious stand-up comedy show, he did a Ricky Ricardo impersonation that left a lasting impression, even though some thought his language was unnecessarily vulgar.
Although the I Love Lucy show was mostly about Lucy attempting to showcase her own zany talents at Ricky’s nightclub, Lucy still was as housewife raising the children and somehow throughout those zany and outrageous antics, still she maintained some type of morals and values. This is mostly why everyone loves Lucy.
One of the most famous episodes of the I Love Lucy show, is when they all made a trip to the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. When Fred, Ethel and Lucy visit the theatre’s Forecourt of the Stars and view slabs of concrete with hand and footprints embedded, Lucy notices John Wayne’s slab of concrete is loose, and proceeds to procure the concrete in a scheme to get a Hollywood souvenir, despite Ricky’s objection. The slab of concrete was actually a prop, and the real concrete slab with John Wayne’s footprints are still in place to this very day.
Through the years, when the first show had ended, there were several spin offs and even motion pictures, Here’s Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Life With Lucy. Lucy and Desi also stared films, a romantic comedies, The Long, Long Trailer and Forever, Darling and more.
But like most Hollywood marriages, their loving relationship had it’s ups and downs, so much so that Lucy and Desi’s marriage sadly ended in divorce. Consequently Desilu Productions went through some changes too, it disbanded after many successful TV show runs, some still in syndication to this very day.
Shortly after their divorce, Lucille Ball created a buyout from Desi Arnaz and then successfully became the CEO of the company, and during her tenure, she was responsible for several hit television shows, such as The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible, AND one particular show called Star Trek, which was responsible for making William Shatner and the late Leonard Nimoy famous. The show used the phrase before every show:
Space: The final frontier
These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise
Its 5 year mission
To explore strange new worlds
To seek out new life and new civilizations
To boldly go where no man has gone before.
Star Trek still in production to this very day, with Star Trek Discovery and has many successful motion pictures, as well as being a major icon within pop culture.
Lucille Ball is the reason we have ‘Star Trek’ — here’s what happened –
In 1967, Lucy sold her shares of Desilu to Gulf+Western, former owner of Paramount Pictures for $17 million. After which Desilu Productions became the original Paramount Television, which is presently under the Executive leadership of Nicole Clemens named President of Paramount TV. Today Paramount Television has an extensive list of TV shows in their catalog, and produces many Television programs coming soon to the small screen. No doubt that Paramount Television will be a force to recon with for many years to come with the spirit and love of Lucille Ball at her beck and call.