the last episode of the modified version of i love lucy was on april 1, 1960.
the last episode of the modified version of i love lucy was on april 1, 1960.
when was the last episode of the modified version of i love lucy?
april 1, 1960
after season six, the series was renamed "the lucille ball-desi arnaz show" for its original broadcast run and rather than airing as weekly half hour series, hour-long episodes were produced to run occasionally during the year. there were thirteen hour-long shows. the first five were broadcast as specials during the 1957-58 television season. the other eight episodes were broadcast as part of the "westinghouse desilu playhouse" from october 6, 1958, to april 1, 1960. the series was subsequently broadcast in syndication as "the lucy-desi comedy hour" and "we love lucy". this show had the same cast as "i love lucy", employed many of the other same actors, and featured many famous guest stars. of the original "i love lucy" cast, besides the principals, only lucy's mother appeared in any "comedy hour" episode. she appears in season 3, episode 2 'the ricardos go to japan' as little ricky's babysitter.
list of i love lucy episodes
"comedy hour" episodes focused on lucy's interaction with the celebrity guest stars. although still a key character, ricky isn't a major part of the episodes and has less interaction with lucy. nearly every episode features his not allowing her to do something, which allows lucy to interact with the guest stars to confound ricky. ricky's 'manic' personality has changed as well, and by the last episode (filmed in april 1960) he's more subtle, almost depressed, and appears tired. his contributions are generally low-key (with the exception of the 'berle' episode). fred and ethel are featured in fewer plot themes after the move to connecticut, although ethel does help lucy carry out her schemes. although noted in "i love lucy" as the main reason they were able to afford moving to connecticut, the joint ricardo-mertz egg business is only mentioned once. fred assumes his role as ricky's band manager. as noted arnaz had each episode written to 'stand alone' in order to expand themes and plots using celebrity guests. he also expected those guest stars to have significant screen time. arnaz, vance, and frawley all had their dialog and screen time reduced a great deal compared to "i love lucy". this reduction was not well received by vance, who considered leaving. frawley, however, was happy with the reduction which gave him more time to attend to his other interests. new friends from the "i love lucy" connecticut episodes, the ramseys (or the mortons), were not in the comedy hour cast and are only mentioned twice, each as babysitters for little ricky. besides the mertzes the only two characters from the "i love lucy" show to appear on the comedy hour were lucy's mother (who appeared briefly in the 'japan' episode) as little ricky's babysitter, and hedda hopper (who previously had appeared on 'the hedda hopper story' and interviewed the ricardos on 'lucy takes a cruise to havana'). little ricky is used more but is still a minor character. most feature him playing the drums, coming and going (examples include the celebrity next door and, in several, off to school or some other function); he has no friends, unlike the 6th season of "i love lucy", where a few are noted (little ricky gets stage fright, little ricky learns to play the drums, several of the connecticut episodes, etc.); and no plot theme centers on him. also the ricardos do not interact with any neighbors in westport (the celebrity next door is the exception, although bankhead appears in only that episode and features lucy's only work with the pta); and the town, a major plot theme in season 6 of "i love lucy", is hardly mentioned except in passing.
the lucy–desi comedy hour