The Marriage That Fooled Hollywood

June 6, 1952

On June 6, 1952, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz appeared on the cover of TV Guide. This was 14 months before Ball and newborn Desi Jr. appeared on the first National Edition of TV Guide.

The cover story is “Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz:

“The Marriage that Fooled Hollywood”

which refers to Lucy and Desi’s overcoming the odds of a culturally-blended couple achieving success in Hollywood, a place notorious for short-lived relationships. The five ‘reasons’ explored:

1. Two Careers in One Family – Desi in music; Lucy in acting.
2. Conflicting Career Trajectories – Lucille’s star was on the ascendant; Desi was “no Cugat” and his success had leveled off.
3. Desi’s Constant Touring – Keeping him away from home (and Lucille) for weeks and months at a time.
4. Age Difference – Lucy was six years older than Desi.  Lucy was then 29.
5. Difference in Backgrounds – Lucy from rural New York; Desi from war-torn Cuba.

At 12:45pm daily, viewers could enjoy “Kovacs Unlimited” starring Ernie Kovacs and his wife Edie Addams. The couple would guest star as themselves in the final “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in April 1960, the last time America saw the Ricardos.

At 1:30 viewers could watch “The Garry Moore Show” a daytime variety show that transferred to primetime in 1958. Lucille Ball appeared on that version in 1960.

The back cover of the New York City edition features an ad for WNBT, the flagship NBC station. The station was founded in 1928 by RCA as W2XBS. In April 1939 it began the first regularly scheduled (but still experimental) television broadcasts in the United States. When FCC-sanctioned commercial television began in July 1941, W2XBS became WNBT, the only station in the country ready for sponsors. In 1954, it became known as WRCA.  In 1960 it became known as WNBC, which it still is today. This ad highlights their evening news, a 15 minute telecast featuring Ben Grauer (headlines), Bill Stern (sports), and Tex Antoine and his cartoon sidekick Uncle Wethbee (weather).

At the time, TV Guide was a regional publication, so cover colors and inside layouts varied by region.

The New England edition chose green as their single color.  While some regions (like New York) could afford full mulit-colored covers, others only used single color printing. The color covers were generally hand-tinted black and white photography.

TV News, a Bloomington, Indiana publication (not part of the TV Guide regional magazines group), coincidentally – or not – also chose to put Lucille Ball on the cover on June 6, 1952.

This was the third time Lucille Ball and/or “I Love Lucy” was on the cover of Regional TV Guide before it went National. A fourth featured Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Fred and Ethel.

The other article promoted is “IS GODFREY OFF-COLOR?” It refers to Arthur Godfrey, then host of “Talent Scouts,” which was initially “I Love Lucy’s” lead-in on CBS. The term “off-color” was a common expression for something found to be “indecent or in poor taste.” Although when he was on the air Godfrey exuded a warm and convivial presence, off the air he was known to have a volatile temper and openly state his prejudices. This eventually led to him being ostracized by the media and much of the public later in life. Lucille Ball, however, sympathized with Godfrey and had an episode of “The Lucy Show” written for him in 1965.

At the very top of some editions is the tag “How To Score The Fight”.

The fight being referenced is a boxing match between ‘Jersey Joe’ Walcott and Ezzard Charles – with Walcott retaining the world Heavyweight title by a fifteen-round unanimous decision. The televised bout took place in Philadelphia on June 5, 1952. Although the cover date of this issue is a day after the fight, magazines were commonly on available a few days – or, in the case, of monthlies, a month or two – in advance of their official publication date.

Boxing was tremendously popular on television during the 1950s, and “I Love Lucy” has several episodes about it – including the very first aired episode “The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1) in October 1951.

On the very same day this issue ‘officially’ hit the newsstands on June 6, 1952, Lucy and Desi were filming “The Saxophone” (ILL S2;E2), although it was not aired until September, as the second episode of season two. The plot parallels real life: Lucy wants to go on the road with Ricky to prevent him from meeting admiring (female) fans. [See #3 above!]

When the issue hit the stands, America had just watched “Ricky Thinks He Is Going Bald” (ILL S1;E34 on June 2, 1952), and were anxiously looking forward to viewing the final episode of season one, “Ricky Asks for a Raise” (ILL S1;E35 on June 9, 1952), which was included in the Monday listings of this TV Guide.