History Series / ILoveLucy

* NeverSayDie: Or "pregnant" for that matter.

** Early first season episodes have a different, less polished look and feel to them. Not only are the scrips sillier and more unsophisticated, the lighting is harsher and the performances less refined. It isn’t until towards the end of the first season that the show began to settle into its most recognisable form.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first episode with Mrs. Trumbull has her as an angry neighbor who antagonizes Lucy for her new baby and the group dislikes her, a FAR difference from her appearance every episode after that where she is a kind and close friend to the group who adores watching Little Ricky.
** The end of that episode shows her noticing that the Ricardos and Mertzes are distracted and not watching the baby when he's crying, and going in to comfort him. It's likely that she didn't know either couple well before this happened and her dislike of the baby crying was keeping her from getting enough sleep, which can make anyone crabby.
** Fred has a dog in another early episode as part of a joke. Said dog is never seen or mentioned again, and Fred is downright hostile when Little Ricky gets Fred (the dog) later in the series and has to be talked into allowing it.

-->-- '''Ricky Ricardo''', serenading Lucy in "Lucy's Lost Birthday"

-->-- '''ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics''' to the ''I Love Lucy'' Theme Song, as sung by Ricky to Lucy in "Lucy's Last Birthday"

* LaughTrack: Not in the show itself, as it was done in front of a live audience - but virtually every canned laugh since then is laughter from this show.
* LargeHam: Lucy, any time she ends up on stage.

* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics: Quoted above, though they did actually appear in the show. This version of the theme made a ThemeTuneCameo when Ricky sang it to Lucy during her surprise birthday party. One could also find it on home video releases of the series; Desi Arnaz also recorded [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g4-FqbWh9w a version]] that was released as a single by Creator/ColumbiaRecords. Depending on who you ask, the lyrics were either written when the theme was written, or quickly created specifically for this episode.

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Lucy Ricardo. Lucille Ball was no diva, but she was no slouch either, as seen when she starred in ''Mame''. Her ability to carry a tune seemed to run on RuleOfFunny.
* HoorayForHollywood: Ricky gets the starring role in ''Don Juan'', forcing the Ricardos to take an extended trip to Hollywood, with the Mertzes tagging along.

** A ''Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour'' episode has Lucy relating to columnist Hedda Hopper the story of how she and Ricky first met, with the expected Whole Episode Flashback ensuing.

Has a [[Characters/ILoveLucy character page]] and a [[Recap/ILoveLucy Recap page]] that NeedsWikiMagicLove.

The show is popularly credited with featuring the first "inter-racial" or "inter-ethnic" couple on American television. Mind you, it wasn't viewed that way at the time. Until [[TheSixties the late 60's]], Hispanics were not considered a separate racial group; they were just "foreigners", and a lot of humor between Lucy and Ricky was in their cultural dissonance or in Ricky's funny accent. By today's standards, however, Lucy and Ricky were the first inter-ethnic married couple on TV. [[note]]Hispanics were generally counted as part of the white population census, and unlike African- or Asian-Americans did not serve in segregated units in the armed forces. This is not to say Hispanics did not face discrimination; they did. But even white minorities such as the Irish, Poles and Jews also faced discrimination.[[/note]]

The show was filmed, which was a big deal in 1951. At the time, most TV shows were "archived", mainly as a receipt to show sponsors their ads had run, via [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinescope 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 [[TheFifties the early 50's]] have either been lost or are of very little interest for reuse (videotape didn't become available until 1956). ''I Love Lucy'', by contrast, was able to use not being broadcast live to its full advantage. Desi Arnaz invented the live studio ThreeCameras technique, which is still standard in sitcoms to this day. 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?" CBS 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 noted that since its original airing, the show has continuously been in syndication ''somewhere'' in the world. And because CBS in their shortsightedness signed all rebroadcast rights over to Desi, this has made Ball's and Arnaz's estates filthy stinking rich.

It has erroneously been called the first television sitcom to deal with the subject of pregnancy and delivery. This is incorrect, as ''Mary Kay and Johnny'', the first television sitcom in the United States, had tackled the subject four years earlier. Nonetheless it was still a very sensitive topic at the time, and the MoralGuardians were horrified. ''Viewer'' reaction was actually quite positive, and the episode where Lucy gives birth broke the all-time viewer record up to that point. Because they couldn't actually say "pregnant" on air, they instead popularized the euphemism "expecting", while the episode title was a BilingualBonus ("Lucy Is Enceinte"). [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle And now you know.]]

* FiveFiveFive: This show simultaneously uses yet predates it – the modern American telephone system only came into being four years earlier, and took still longer for its effects to percolate down. All but the most-local calls were often still accomplished through a live operator. New York City in particular used a unique method of designating calling areas within the city, which this show lampoons.

*** In the earlier episode "Getting Ready" (one of episodes leading up to the California trip) Lucy uses [=Murray Hill5-9099=] as a fake number she gives to the car lot guy who sold Fred the old Cadillac.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Fred and Ethel have a number of these moments, for all their bickering and back-and-forth nagging. In fact, it reaches hilarious proportions in one episode, where Ricky is entertaining on a cruise ship; in earlier episodes with scenes set near large bodies of water, Fred mentions his seasickness (and once even got woozy on a ship that was tied off at the dock). However, Fred suddenly does a 180 degree turn and actually becomes a ''romantic''. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Ethel is actually concerned about Fred's unusual behavior at first]], but is eventually entranced at the idea of her and Fred having a second honeymoon, and they spend the rest of the episode enjoying various activities on the ship in a lovey-dovey manner.

* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: In "The Amateur Hour," Lucy is in need of money. She finds a babysitting job that pays five dollars an hour (a large sum in the 1950s). Suspicious, she asks why she is being paid so much, but is only told that she'll be taking care of a little boy. When he arrives, Lucy is confused and begins to doubt her sanity when it seems like the boy is able to be in two places at once. As it turns out, there are in fact ''two'' boys, twin brothers. They prove extremely difficult to deal with, constantly kicking her and at one point they even attempt to burn her at the stake while playing CowboysAndIndians.

* BANGFlagGun: In the episode "Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her," Lucy mistakes one of these for a real gun.

** "Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!" for Ricky. In one of the England shows, he translates it as 'Blimey!' to a confused Englishman. Hilariously, later on it turns out the phrase needs no translation for Italian.

* CompilationMovie: One was produced in 1953 by bridging together three episodes from the first season. Since technicians were not able to remove the studio audience's laughter, the movie also featured a unique opening where Desi introduces himself and the other leads to a live studio audience, and a closing scene where they bow during the viewers' thunderous applause. Unfortunately, fear of competition with another Lucy/Desi movie, ''The Long Long Trailer'', prevented a theatrical release. The film eventually went missing, until 2001. It became available on DVD six years later.
* CompressedVice: In "In Palm Springs," Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel read a story about how a wife couldn't stand her husband's knuckle cracking and attacked him.  Soon after the spouses start commenting on the irritating habits of each other (Ricky's finger drumming to Lucy's teaspoon mixing, Ethel's loud eating compared to Fred's keys jingling) leading to an argument about how these actions have been a problem for many years.  The episode also shows that the characters practically do their vices on reflex.  None of these habits were seen before and were never seen again after the episode ended.  Funny enough, there is a running gag concerning Ethel and her eating through-out the show, but it always refers to how much she eats, not how loud.
* ContinuityNod: In the episode in which Ricky and Lucy decide to buy the house in Connecticut, Fred mentions and produces the "99 year lease" the Ricardos signed at the end of the episode "Breaking the Lease". Later on in the same episode, Lucy and Ethel remind each other of past events happening in the apartment, such as Lucy wallpapering Ethel into the wall.

-->'''Fred''': It wasn't exactly a belly laugh ether way.
* DeusExMachina: In "Ricky's European Tour," Ricky's band is going to Europe with Fred as the band manager, but Ricky can't afford to take Lucy and Ethel.  So the girls decide to raffle off a TV to get money for the trip under the disguise that it is for a charity, The Ladies' Overseas Aid, in order to better persuade people to join the raffle.  A government official stops by later asking Lucy about this charity.  When she admits that they made it up, the official tells her that they committed fraud, are liable for jail time and that it is completely out of his hands once the drawing takes place.  They rush down to the store where Ethel is holding the raffle but arrive too late.  It is then that the store owner reveals not only that there IS a legitimate charity called The Ladies' Overseas Aid but he invited the group's leader over to personally accept the money as a surprise.  Lucy forces Ethel to hand over the money, the official leaves and the girls escape arrest.

* DisproportionateRetribution: "The Courtroom" had Fred completely overreacting to Ricky damaging the new TV he had just given as a gift. Yes, Ricky was being stupid trying to fix a TV despite obviously having no skill in doing so, even after Fred read the warning label, but it's not like the Mertzes lost anything in the accident. At most, Ricky would be obliged to get a new TV or having the present one professionally repaired, but instead Fred blows his temper, marches down to Ricky and Lucy's apartment and kicks in their own TV's screen.

* DoIReallySoundLikeThat: In "Lucy Meets Charles Boyer", the real Boyer is pretending to be a man who happens to look just like him as a trick on Lucy. She wants this supposed lookalike to [[LongStory play the real Charles Boyer in front of Ricky]]. She gives him lessons on how to act like he does, and does an impression of his voice. Boyer asks "Is that the way he sounds?" and when Lucy says yes, he responds "Then I'm surprised he got as far as he did."

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first episode with Mrs. Trumbull has her as an angry neighbor who antagonizes Lucy for her new baby and the group dislikes her, a FAR difference from her appearance every episode after that where she is a kind and close friend to the group who adores to watch Little Ricky.

* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics: Quoted above, though they did actually appear in the show. This version of the theme made a ThemeTuneCameo when Ricky sang it to Lucy during her surprise birthday party. One could also find it on home video releases of the series; Desi Arnaz also recorded [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g4-FqbWh9w a version]] that was released as a single by Creator/ColumbiaRecords. Depending on who you ask, the lyrics were ether written when the theme was written, or quickly created specifically for this episode.

* GainaxEnding: Yes, the show did feature one of these. In the final scene of the lost ChristmasEpisode described above, Lucy, Ricky, and Ethel all dress up as Santa Claus to put presents under the tree for Little Ricky, joining another person in a Santa Claus suit who's already there. They assume it's Fred...until they all go into the kitchen and Fred shows up at the back door. Lucy tugs on each person's beard, and discovers that the fifth person's whiskers are real. He then fades away in full view of the quartet. This means that magic exists in the ''I Love Lucy'' universe.

** One of the first episodes, "The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub," centers on this. The group can't decide how to spend Fred and Ethel's wedding anniversary: the men suggest a trip to the boxing ring for the prizefights, while the women would rather go dancing at the Tropicana. After both groups claims that they'll go to their preferred event with some new dates, Lucy calls up a friend of hers who knows every bachelor in town. When Ricky calls the same woman, she sides with the girls and fills them in on the plot. Lucy then hatches a Zany Scheme: she and Ethel disguise themselves as hillbillies and pretend to be the "bachelorettes" that Ricky wanted. But when Lucy gives herself away, Ricky and Fred see through the disguises and turn the tables, and the episode ends up with the quartet going to the prizefights after all.

** In "Lucy Tells the Truth," Ricky bets Lucy that she can't go twenty-four hours without telling a single lie. She agrees, and ends up at a bridge party with some female friends. After trying to [[MetaphoricallyTrue use vague wording]] to get around some statements, Lucy eventually decides to start being ''brutally'' honest with everyone (making comments about one woman's laugh and another's cheapness, for example). When she gets home, she does the same thing to Fred, Ethel, and Ricky, to the point where the first two ask the latter to call off the bet to spare their feelings.

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

* IsThisThingOn: Fred installs an intercom between his guest house and the Ricardo's main house. Lucy tests it with the "Testing 1,2,3" method.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Often used by Ricky trying to say words in English - like one time he explained that a Mind Reading act at the club was achived through "e-lec-tron-NEEKS".
* ItsQuietTooQuiet: In "Lucy Gets Chummy With the Neighbors", Ethel and Fred visit Lucy and Ricky, but nobody's home. Both remark that it's too quiet, and Ethel adds that she doesn't like it so quiet. Suddenly, Ricky storms into the house and shouts in Spanish, having just gotten in a fight with Ralph Ramsey.

** Ethel, Fred and Ricky in "Lucy and the Dummy" for making Lucy give up her lifetime goal of an acting contract, for her own good of course.

* LockedInAFreezer: The famous episode where Lucy buys a walk-in freezer, and locks herself in while moving all the meat she bought into the furnace.

** In, "Lucy Goes to Scotland," Lucy has a near-entire episode [[ImagineSpot dream sequence]], in which being the last of the [=McGillicuddy=] Clan, she's to be fed to a cantankerous two-headed dragon (Fred and Ethel) that awakens every thirty years, and eats only [=McGillicuddy's=]. At one point in the dream, she meets Scott [=McTavish=] [=McDougal=] [=McCardo=] (Ricky), who falls in love with her, and vows to prevent the dragon from eating her, even if it means sacrificing his own life... but when the dragon is brought to the village for its meal, Scotty chickens out at the last minute, and Lucy is thrown to the dragon. Lucy then wakes up, and proceeds to hit Ricky with her pillow in a fit of rage, despite Ricky not knowing why she's upset with him.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's never said outright in "Lucy and Superman" if it's George Reeves in costume and in character, or if it's actually Superman. Ricky mentioned meeting him in Hollywood and speaking with his secretary, and that he needs to catch a plane, suggesting the former. But Lucy seems to think he can really fly, he casually shoves aside a piano Ricky could barely budge, and doesn't hesitate to go out and risk a three-story drop to help Lucy, even casually leaping through the rain over a gap across the ledges with a smile. Either way, even the adults only ever refer to him as Superman (though of course, they wouldn't want to spoil it for the kids in the audience).

* MonoChromeCasting: Desi Arnaz, and the actors playing his friends and relatives from Cuba were seen not as non-whites, as they are today, but more as an exotic, FunnyForeigner troupe.
* MultiPartEpisode: "The Dancing Star"/"Lucy Meets Harpo Marx", "Cousin Ernie Visits"/"Cousin Ernie Hangs On" and "Lucy Visits Grauman's"/"Lucy Meets John Wayne"[[note]]CBS combined these two into one hour-long ''I Love Lucy Superstar Special'' in May 2016[[/note]]. Also the hour long episode with Talula Bankhead fits this format - the first half hour deals with Lucy meeting and trying to make a good impression on the star, the second half dealing with Lucy trying to get her to preform for the PTA.

* MusicalEpisode: Plenty, considering Ricky is a band leader.

* PlayingGertrude: Ethel is supposed to be much older than Lucy, closer in age to her husband Fred, but Vivian Vance was actually a full ''22'' years younger than her onscreen husband (and only two years older 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. Rumor has it that ''no one'' got along well with William Frawley, who played Fred Mertz. He was just generally difficult to work with. Vance especially hated him, and the feeling was mutual. The pair reportedly refused to speak to each other outside of tapings or rehearsals, and Hollywood legend has it that Vance, learning of Frawley's 1966 death while dining at a restaurant, promptly [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing ordered champagne for everyone in the place]].
* PostKissCatatonia: One that affected both parties in "Lucy is Jealous of the Girl Singer," when Ricky is plants one on Lucy to convince her that he's not fooling around with a new dancer at the club.

* PrettyInMink: Lucy's second life goal aside from getting in the show has always been to have a mink coat. In one episode, Lucy thinks a mink coat Ricky rented for a play is for her for their anniversary ([[ForgottenAnniversary which he forgot]]), and he spends the episode trying to trick her into losing it, until he fesses up. [[spoiler:It turned out she tricked him. It wasn't their anniversary at all.]]
* ProductPlacement: The characters frequently made gags about Philip Morris cigarettes, who sponsored the first four seasons. Several of these gags were [[ProductDisplacement removed in syndication]], but reinstated on home video.

** One gag that reruns retain in some form: When Lucy hosts her own TV show in an emptied TV set, she dresses as Johnny Roventini, the Philip Morris Bellhop. The syndicated version of the episode retains scenes of Lucy wearing the costume and holding cigarettes, but cuts parts where she actually refers to the brand by name. Surprisingly, CBS kept those parts when they aired the colorized version of the episode in December 2015.

** In the episode in which Lucy insists on a second wedding ceremony due to a typo on the Ricardo's wedding license, the hotel owner who is the small town's Justice of the Peace, the Sherriff, and Gas station Attendant is apparently also the Bellhop. As he puts on the bellman's cap he shouts "Call for Phillip...darn, I always forget the rest of that."

** In one Hollywood episode Lucy asks Fred to buy Q-Tips for her, mainly so he can misunderstand and bring back Pool Room Cue Tips instead.
** In the episode in which Ricky tells Little Ricky "Little Red Riding Hood" in Spanish, the close ups of little Ricky show the Lucy and Desi stick figures used in the original opening sequence embroidered on his pillowcase. These pillow cases were actually available for sale at the time.

* RageBreakingPoint: In 'Ricky Loses His Temper,' Lucy tries to invoke this from Ricky.  Both have made a bet to see who can avoid their vice longer (Ricky getting angry to Lucy buying hats).  Lucy folds immediately unbeknownst to Ricky, so she spends the time before her hat is delivered to drive Ricky crazy so he would lose the bet.

* RestaurantOwningEpisode: In one episode, Ricky decides to go in the restuarant business with his wife and the Murtzes after getting tired of show business. Unfortunately it ends in failure since the two couples couldn't work together.

** The length of the Mertz's marriage varied drastically over the course of the series. In season 1, they celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary, then just a year later they're celebrating their 25th anniversary. A few years after that, Ethel claims they've only been married 23 years.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: This show is both one of the earliest and best known examples of the trope. A good rule of thumb: If Lucy enters a scene wearing pants, you are about to see some fantastic physical hijinx.

** Famously, however it's often forgotten that the twin beds were ''pushed together'' throughout the entire first season. It wasn't until after Little Ricky was born that the nightstand was put between them.

* SmokingIsCool: The show was produced and aired during an era where smoking was not only cool, but accepted in contemporary society, and in some contexts, expected. All four series leads were smokers and lit up during various episodes, especially those aired in the first three or four seasons. This began to be toned down by 1956, when Little Ricky became more a part of the stories (and Phillip Morris no longer the show's main sponsor).
* SocialSemicircle: A staple on ''Series/ILoveLucy'', which pioneered the three camera method and filming in front of a live studio audience. A typical dinner in the Ricardo's apartment would see Lucy and Ricky seated at opposite ends of the table, with the Mertzes seating side-by-side facing the audience. In the Connecticut episodes, they would all tend to crowd along one side of the circular dinette table. Oh well, the Mertzes were close friends after all!

* SyndicationTitle: When the show was retooled into the ''Series/LucyDesiComedyHour'', reruns were shown on CBS under the titles ''Lucy in Hollywood'', ''Lucy in Europe'', and ''Lucy in Connecticut''. In the 70s the ''Comedy Hour'' episodes were syndicated as one hour specials under the title ''We Love Lucy''. When Creator/NickAtNite aired them, they restored the ''Comedy Hour'' title (minus the Ford/Westinghouse sponsor tags, of course). A March 2012 marathon on the Hallmark Channel had them back to ''We Love Lucy''.

* TableclothYank: Lucy does this is one episode (much to the delight of the audience).

* TitleDrop: In the very last ''Comedy Hour'' "Lucy Meets the Mustache", Ernie Kovacs manages to slip the phrase "Take a Good Look" into the dialouge. ''Take A Good Look'' was a comedy/game show Kovacs hosted at the time.

* {{Tuckerization}}: In-universe, Little Ricky names all of his pets after people he likes (many of his different pets are named after his classmates from school), and as such, named a puppy he brought home Fred. Later, in the final episode, where the puppy Fred goes missing, HilarityEnsues with Little Ricky, Lucy, and Ethel calling for him, while Fred himself either answers when he thinks they're calling for him but are actually calling for the dog, and ''doesn't'' answer when he think they're calling the dog but are calling him.

* UnknownRival: Xavier Cugat is often mentioned as a rival to Ricky, since they are both Cuban bandleaders. However, Cugat never made an appearance on the show. Also ironic in that in RealLife, Cugat helped give Desi Arnaz his start in show business as a guitar player in his orchestra.

** For the Mertzes' wedding anniversary in "The Courtroom", the Ricardos buy their friends a new television set. In an attempt to fix a problem with the picture, Ricky begins fiddling with the settings and wires in the back, and by accident causes it to explode. In response, Fred becomes unreasonably angry, runs upstairs and spitefully destroys the Ricardos' own television. Then he has the nerve to take ''them'' to court! All this over a new television that the Mertzes themselves didn't pay for and was just given to them as a gift!

* ZanyScheme: Pretty much every episode. Stereotypically it involves Lucy trying sneak in Ricky's nightclub, but there are plenty of different schemes, and the nightclub one was more done in spoofs than the actual show. Usually Lucy created a ZanyScheme based on some real-life trial like playing matchmaker, getting a refrigerator, or [[GetRichQuickScheme earning some quick cash]] for a new dress. As stated before, [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity Always Ensued]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar
** In "Ricky and Fred are TV Fans," Fred and Ricky are glued to the TV set for a boxing set. When Fred runs down to the corner store in between rounds, Ethel says, "You know, he's got himself trained so he can do anything in less than a minute." After a hearty laugh from the audience, Lucy glumly tells Ethel that she knows exactly what she means.
** One episode has Lucy and Ethel posing as survey-takers to confront a woman they think is having an affair with Ricky. The woman asks if their name is "Kinsey", which was the name of a famous sexologist. Considering the show couldn't have Lucy use the word "pregnant", it's odd they were allowed to reference Alfred Kinsey's name.

* VisualPun: A subtle one, via GettingCrapPastTheRadar. In "The Benefit" Lucy and Ethel argue over who should play the part head of the horse costume, and the other playing the backside. When Ethel agrees to play the latter, she holds it up and says, "How do I get myself into these messes?"[[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke She's holding an Horse's Ass.]][[/note]]

The show was filmed, which was a big deal in 1951. At the time, most TV shows were archived via [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinescope 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 [[TheFifties the early 50's]] have either been lost or are of very little interest for reuse (videotape didn't become available until 1956). ''I Love Lucy'', by contrast, was able to use not being broadcast live to its full advantage. Desi Arnaz invented the live studio ThreeCameras technique, which is still standard in sitcoms to this day. 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?" CBS 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 noted that since its original airing, the show has continuously been in syndication ''somewhere'' in the world. And because CBS in their shortsightedness signed all rebroadcast rights over to Desi, this has made Ball's and Arnaz's estates filthy stinking rich.

* FunWithForeignLanguages

* TheMagicPokerEquation

* ProjectileToast: A RunningGag.

%% * RoadTripPlot: An early version of story arc.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: In the episode "Cousin Ernie Hangs On", Lucy complains to Ethel that "We've found there's only one thing Cousin Ernie does well, but there's not much of a market for a Professional Eater!" In the last few years eating contests have become more and more popular, and there are now indeed some people who only participate in these events, living off the prizes and corporate sponsorships for their existance. Cousin Ernie would be a natural.
** Lucy's editing of Ricky's pilot in "Home Movies" looks like something that would be right at home on ''Series/LaughIn''.

* AccidentalMisnaming: Lucy's mother constantly calls Ricky "Mickey" (and, on at least one occasion, "[[UnknownRival Xavier]]").

* AccidentalMisnaming: Lucy's mother constantly calls Ricky "Mickey" (and, on at least one occasion, "[[UnknownRival Xavier]]").

* RoadShow: An early version of story arc.

* GoneHorriblyRight: In "Lucy Tells the Truth," Ricky bets Lucy that she can't go twenty-four hours without telling a single lie. She agrees, and ends up at a bridge party with some female friends. After trying to [[MetaphoricallyTrue use vague wording]] to get around some statements, Lucy eventually decides to start being ''brutally'' honest with everyone (making comments about one woman's laugh and another's cheapness, for example). When she gets home, she does the same thing to Fred, Ethel, and Ricky, to the point where the first two ask the latter to call off the bet to spare their feelings.