The “I Love Lucy” Pilot

(recorded March 2, 1951 ~ broadcast April 30, 1990) In the early 1980s, the Museum of Broadcasting (now the Paley Center for Media) began actively searching for the long-lost “I Love Lucy” pilot. During the 1970s all traces of the pilot had disappeared; not even Desi Arnaz or Lucille Ball owned or knew where to find a copy. 

In December 1989, a film print was found in the possessions of the late Pepito Perez, who had appeared in the pilot as a clown. Pepito’s widow, Joanne Perez, had read about the search for the pilot in TV Guide and recalled that her husband had been given a copy. CBS aired the pilot as an hour-long special hosted by Lucie Arnaz on Monday (the same day of the week “I Love Lucy” traditionally aired), April 30, 1990. Over 30 million viewers tuned in.

The original pilot was kinescoped (not filmed) on March 2, 1951, in Hollywood. If the series were sold to a sponsor, it was planned that it would be produced live, just as nearly all CBS programs were at the time. However, Lucy and Desi didn’t want to commute to New York to appear live, and possible sponsor Philip Morris didn’t want their commercials kinescoped west of Chicago due to the poor quality image. (The coaxial cable which allowed live TV shows to be telecast coast-to-coast wasn’t finished at the time.) This prompted Desi to suggest film – which was fine with Philip Morris, as they had sponsored a filmed version of “Truth or Consequences” the year before. But unlike CBS’s filmed "Amos and Andy,” which used prerecorded audience reactions, the network wanted Lucy to appear in front of a live studio audience – just as she did for her radio show. Desi contacted Al Simon, who had produced “Truth or Consequences” and discussed the possibilities of using the same techniques for “I Love Lucy.”

In the pilot Lucy looks much different from the Lucy Ricardo we will come to know. Her hair is shoulder-length and free-flowing; she is also five months pregnant and looks it, despite loose-fitting clothing. The couple’s surname was originally Lopez, but it was changed to avoid confusion with another bandleader, Vincent Lopez. 

Their apartment on the seventh floor of a sleek high-rise in midtown (designed by Chris Choate) will be replaced by a humble brownstone on East 68th Street. 

Most noticeably, the characters of Fred and Ethel Mertz are not in the pilot. Instead, Ricky’s agent Jerry (played by Jerry Hausner) is a regular cast member. It will later be decided to add the best friends / neighbors / landlords to the regular cast and relegate Jerry the Agent to an occasional guest appearance. One scene in the pilot was based on Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” episode #80 "The Wills.”

This opening narration was done by Bob LeMond, who was also the announcer for Lucy’s radio show. When the pilot was re-discovered, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release. In doing so, the name Lopez was changed to the more familiar Ricardo.

It is immediately established that this is a show-biz couple that sleeps until 11:00am and that Ricky is a morning person, whereas Lucy is not! The first song sung by Ricky is (naturally) “Babalu.” His conga band then plays a Latin-infused version of “The Continental” for a scene change. At the nightclub, Ricky then performs “Granada” and a medley of “Cuban Cabby” and “Cielito Lindo.” These songs would all be sung during season one episodes. The first time Lucy makes fun of Ricky’s English is his pronunciation of the word “jinx.”

After the pilot was picked up for production and Lucie Arnaz was born in July 1951, pre-production and casting for the neighbors began. The first episode of the series is “Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Murder Her” (S1;E4) and it finally goes before the cameras (and a live audience, as planned) on September 8, 1951. After getting several episodes ‘in the can’ it is decided to make the second episode filmed (“The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub”) the premiere because it was deemed ‘funnier’ due to Lucy’s hillbilly antics. Some sources also speculate that they needed a few weeks to iron out some technical glitches with the first show. America gets its first glimpse of “I Love Lucy” on October 15, 1951, and the rest is television history! 

The pilot episode would remain unseen for 39 years, although much of the dialogue would be recycled in “The Audition" (S1;E6). This includes Lucy’s clown act as ‘The Professor.’ 

Unfortunately, Pepito was not available to recreate his pilot performance in “The Audition,” so he was replaced by Pat Moran, playing Buffo the Clown. Pepito, a good friend of Desi’s, would be invited back to perform in “Lucy’s Show-Biz Swan Song” (S2;E12) to fill time when that episode was running short.

The pilot ends with Lucy about to tell Ricky something surprising, which he thinks is that she is expecting a child. Instead she tells him that she baked his favorite pie! Ironically, in real life Lucille Ball was five months pregnant when she spoke the lines!