‘I Love Lucy’ Christmas Episode Introduced 1 Revolutionary TV First
In the world of classic television, I Love Lucy stands alone as groundbreaking for many reasons. It was the first series to use multiple, simultaneously filming cameras and a live studio audience. It was also one of the first TV shows to be shot on 35mm film rather than broadcast live. However, its Christmas episode was revolutionary and introduced a television first.
Before the ‘I Love Lucy’ Christmas show, this now-standard TV practice didn’t exist
The I Love Lucy Christmas show aired on December 24th, 1956, midway through the sitcom’s sixth and final season. The installment was not included alongside the 179 regular episodes in the syndication package for the CBS series.
Deadline reported that “The Christmas Episode” finds Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) and Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vivian Vance and William Frawley) decorating Lucy and Ricky’s Christmas tree. Together, the couples reminisce about how much their lives have changed since the birth of Lucy and Ricky’s son, little Ricky.
On Christmas morning, Lucy, Ricky, Ethel, and Fred all dress like Santa Claus to surprise Little Ricky. But they soon find a fifth Santa Claus, played by A. Cameron Grant, who quickly disappears and turns out to be the real thing
Flashbacks recall the night Lucy tells Ricky she is pregnant, the time she shows up unexpectedly as part of a barbershop quartet, and the day Ricky and the Mertzes rehearse taking Lucy to the maternity ward.
It was these flashbacks that set I Love Lucy apart from other sitcoms. This revolutionary TV first introduced a standard that would be applied to all series after that, reported Good Housekeeping. The flashback clips were taken from episodes 50, 52, and 56.
Because of the “flashback” nature of the episode, it was not filmed before a live studio audience, and a laugh track was used for audience response.
Why was the ‘I Love Lucy’ Christmas episode ‘lost’?
The I Love Lucy 1956 Christmas episode wasn’t included in the series’ long history of rebroadcasts, first on CBS Daytime and later in syndication. It was thought to be “lost” until CBS “found” it.
In 1989, CBS Christmas-related programming was being pulled together for a video release. After the original negative was found, CBS executives aired the prime-time special. Portions of the episode were colorized.
This episode wasn’t put with the 179 other episodes because CBS didn’t think anybody would want to watch a Christmas-themed episode at any time of the year besides the holiday season. It was also a way for I Love Lucy viewers to watch clips from the very popular pregnancy episodes again, which hadn’t been seen on TV since their first airing.
The ‘rerun’ aspect of ‘I Love Lucy’ was equally groundbreaking
According to the Lucy and Desi Museum, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz wanted to shoot the series on high-quality films. However, CBS network executives didn’t want to spend the extra money.
Therefore, Ball and Arnaz took it upon themselves to pay the extra cost under one condition. They would then own the films outright.
That one negotiation is now considered one of the most intelligent business decisions in the history of American entertainment. With that one move, Desilu Studios invented the idea of the rerun.
Subsequently, Ball and Arnaz’s estate made millions off the reruns of I Love Lucy. The series continues to be enjoyed by television fans worldwide, 73 years after its first episode aired.
