April 3, 1953
Lucille Ball is the TV Guide Cover Queen with a record 39 covers to her credit! Here’s a look at that very first issue and the magazine’s various appearances on “I Love Lucy.”
The national TV Guide’s first issue was released on April 3, 1953, accumulating a total circulation of 1,560,000 copies that were sold in the ten U.S. cities where it was distributed.
Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lucille Ball were on the cover.
The initial cost of each issue was 15¢ per copy (equivalent to $1.43 in 2019). The price of each issue has gradually risen over the years, selling for $4.99 per copy as of 2020.
The inside article “Lucy’s $50,000,000 Baby”.
The back cover also included a mini version of the issue.
The all-new national TV Guide was promoted in the local editions the week prior to its debut, including mentions of Lucy and her baby.
It was also promoted in newspaper ads nationwide.
The cover was part of Lucille Ball’s scrapbook (page 15) featuring coverage of the birth Desi Arnaz, Jr. From the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Collection, Music Division, of the Library of Congress. Donated by Lucie Arnaz / Desilu, too, LLC.
On April 17, 1953, just two weeks after the first edition was published, Lucy and Little Ricky were on the cover of TV Guide in a drawing by Jack Weaver. Lucy was depicted as the top of a TV totem pole featuring Cid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Milton Berle, and Arthur Godfrey – all TV pioneers. Lucy is holding a pack of Philip Morris cigarettes and Little Ricky’s rattle has a TV antenna on it!
The back cover of the April 17, 1953 edition featured the premiere issue with Lucy and Little Desi on top of a television set.
Mother and son were back on the cover 20 years later on March 31, 1973.
TV GUIDE & I LOVE LUCY: On the Air!
But before that, Lucille Ball was on the cover of a local edition of TV Guide (January 25, 1952), which was casually left on the coffee table during “Breaking the Lease” (1952).
TV Guide turns up again in “Ricky
and Fred are TV Fans” (1953) which features Queen Elizabeth on the cover of its May
29, 1953, issue. It is worth noting that the birth of Little Ricky had better ratings than Her Majesty’s coronation!
“Ricky
Loses His Temper” (1954) features yet another TV Guide, this one with “I’ve Got A Secret” on the cover on January 12, 1954. Two years later Lucille Ball made the first of her four appearances on “I’ve Got a Secret.”
This same issue turns up again in “Lucy’s
Club Dance” (1954) where it joins the March 12, 1954 edition (featuring Maria Riva,
daughter of actress Marlene Dietrich) and the February 26, 1954 issue (featuring Liberace) as set dressing for a corner news stand!
Liberace’s cover features his famous candelabra, which would be pivotal to the plot of his 1970 appearance on “Here’s Lucy.” Inside, it contained a review of “I Love Lucy” as Program of the Week.
Lucille Ball appeared in a thoughtful pose on the cover of TV Guide on October 9, 1954.
While this issue was never seen on “I Love Lucy,” it did turn up frequently on “The Andy Griffith Show”, a series filmed on the Desilu backlot.
Perhaps the most conspicuous TV Guide appearance is in “Milton
Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos” (1959) in which ‘Mr. Television’s’ January 10, 1959, cover by Al Hirschfeld is blown up to poster size to decorate Berle’s office!
In 1991, a commemorative edition of TV Guide dubbed Lucille Ball a TV Legend.
On October 13, 2001, TV Guide paid tribute to “I Love Lucy” with eight collectible covers and a cover story “The 50 Funniest Moments of I Love Lucy”!
Of the eight covers, two were portraits of Lucille Ball from the 1950s, and 5 were from episodes….
“Job Switching” (1952)…
“Redecorating the Mertzes’ Apartment” (1953)…
“L.A. at Last!” (1955)…
“Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (1955)…
“Lucy’s Italian Movie” (1956)…
In 2005 this cover was recreated by Reba McEntire as Lucy Ricardo marking the last of the small-sized editions of TV Guide.
“Lucy and Superman” (1957).
Interestingly, the covers do not include “Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (1952), which includes the memorable Vitameatavegamin sequence.
In addition, there was an individually numbered, limited edition, wrap-around cover collector’s issue, not sold in stores (note the inverted color logo), featuring “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown” (1956).
The November 10, 2001 Canadian TV Guide chimed in with this cover featuring “Lucy Tells The Truth” (1953).
TV Guide teamed up with the Paley Center for Media in New York City to salute Lucille Ball in her centennial year (2011) with a multi-dimensional exhibit titled “Loving Lucy.”
On April 8, 2013 TV Guide’s 60th anniversary reprised a Lucy cover from January 12, 1957 which marked TV’s first ten years.
Needless to say, there are many other Lucille Ball appearances on / in TV Guide, these are just a select few.
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
Leave a comment