10 Things I Learned (That I Didn’t Know Before) from Blogging about “I
Love Lucy” 

1. That
   the word “lucky” was banned from scripts while Philip Morris was
   a sponsor to avoid giving viewers a subliminal suggestion to buy
   their competitor, Lucky Strike. This was most best typified when the
   “Lucky Bucks” newspaper contest had to be re-named “Bonus Bucks”
   (S3;E21)!
2. That
   Little Ricky was played by 8 performers, including “the Beaver”!
   James John Ganzer (newborn); Richard and Ronald Lee Simmons
   (infant); Joseph and Michael Mayer (toddler); Keith Thibodeaux aka
   Richard Keith (child); Jerry Mathers, and an un-credited actor
   (dream Little Rickys)!  
3. That
   so many future TV and film stars appeared on the show: Barbara Eden
   as Diana Jordan;  Hayden Roarke as Tom O’Brien; Strother Martin as a
   Florida cafe waiter; Aaron Spelling as Zeke, Nancy Kulp as a London
   hotel maid; Madge Blake as Mrs. Mulford and Martha; Gloria Blondell
   as Grace Foster; Bart Braverman as Giuseppe; Natalie Shaffer as
   Phoebe Emerson; Georgia Holt (aka Cher’s mom) as a Paris fashion
   model; and many others!
4. That
   Fred the dog’s off-screen bark was supplied by June Foray (Natasha
   Fatale in “Boris and Natasha”) and that Pepito the Clown and
   Jerry Hausner provided Little Ricky’s off-screen cry!
5. That
   recognizable voice artists such as Eleanor Audley (Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty), Verna Felton (Fairy Godmother in
   Cinderella), and George O’Hanlon (George Jetson in “The
   Jetsons”) were all featured cast members!  
6. That
   Hollywood’s “Queen of the Extras” Bess Flowers, who appeared in
   more than 700 films and TV shows, was featured in many episodes,
   although only credited in her last!  
7. That
   despite rumors, Lucie Arnaz was not featured in the final half hour
   episode, but her brother Desi Jr. was!  Eva Jean Mayer (mother of the
   twins who played Little Ricky) had a cameo in season six, and Philip
   Ober (Vivian Vance’s real-life husband) made several appearances on
   the show!    
8. That
   much of “Second Honeymoon” (S5;E14) set aboard the S.S.
   Constitution, was copied directly from the 1953 film Gentlemen
   Prefer Blondes where Marilyn Monroe also has a young boy for a
   dinner companion and also gets stuck in a porthole!
9. That
   Xavier Valdez, Ricky’s ‘replacement’ at the Tropicana in “Ricky
   Asks for a Raise” (S1;E35) was named as a tribute to Desi Arnaz’s
   colleagues Xavier Cugat and Miguelito Valdes, a Cuban musician who
   billed himself as “Mr. Babalu!”  
10. That
    Lucy and Desi used their brand new Beverly Hills home for the
    exterior shots of Richard Widmark’s house in “The Tour”
    (S4;E30)!