I Love Lucy

thumb|300px|"I Love Piggy" ()
I Love Lucy is an Emmy-winning classic situation comedy, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, with Vivian Vance and William Frawley as neighbors Fred and Ethyl Mertz. It ran from 1951 to 1957 on CBS and then directly spun-off into The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960, with an increased emphasis on celebrity guests). The first series to end production at the top of the ratings (much like Seinfeld), it is still aired in syndication around the world. 
TV Guide has ranked the show second of the fifty greatest shows (behind only The Honeymooners), and Time magazine lists it as one of the 100 best television shows of all time. The character Lucy Ricardo was ranked at number 3 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters, behind Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners and Archie Bunker from All in the Family.
==References==
*I Love Piggy is one of the television series referenced in the 1983 Hallmark calendar The Muppets Look at TV.
* Baby Piggy imagines herself in a parody of the series in the Muppet Babies episode "This Little Piggy Went to Hollywood."
* In the Muppet Babies episode "Gonzee's Playhouse Channel", during his musical number, Baby Fozzie briefly impersonates Ricky Ricardo, popping in a door with some bongos exclaiming "Lucy! I'm Home!"
* Digit exclaims "Lucy, I'm home!" after plugging himself into Muppet Central's Master Feed in episode 101 of The Jim Henson Hour.
* In Sesame Street Stays Up Late, Oscar is shown to have cousins named Fred and Ethyl.
* Bobo the Bear plays the part of Quasimodo in a Hunchback of Notre Dame sketch in episode 211 of Muppets Tonight. Like Quasimodo in the book, Bobo has named the bells in the tower of Notre Dame; one of them is called "Little Ricky" after Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's son from the series.
* In one of the Movie Mania shorts, Kermit, The Swedish Chef, and Fozzie Bear, among others, film a screen test for the part of Ricky Ricardo in the classic sitcom. The screen test references the famous episode with guest star William Holden.
* In episode six of From the Balcony, Pepe the King Prawn interviews various people along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While dealing with a fan dressed as Darth Maul, he requests the dark lord imitate Ricky Ricardo. He begins to dance with his lightsaber as Pepe sings "Babaloo," then turns to the camera and moans, "Oh, Ricky!"
* A commercial for Yucky World in Sesame Street Episode 3997 follows an airing of the "I Loathe Lucy" show.
* The music cue heard at the end of the street scene for Episode 4138 of Sesame Street parodies the I Love Lucy theme.
* In the Farscape comic book issue "Leave It to Crichton," John Crichton leaves his child in the care of Pilot. Crichton refers to him as "Mrs. Trumbull," referencing the upstairs neighbor of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo who babysat Little Ricky on I Love Lucy.
* In The Muppets Mayhem episode "Can You Picture That," Lips mumbles, "Lucy, I'm home," as he enters Hannah's house.
==Connections==
*Milton Berle played himself in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episode "Milton Berle Hides at the Ricardos" (1959)
*Bob Hope played himself in "Lucy and Bob Hope" (1956) 
*Olan Soule played Dr. Gettleman in "Nursery School" (1955)
*John Stephenson played the commercial and end title announcer for several seasons 
*Orson Welles played himself in "Lucy Meets Orson Welles" (1956)
==External links==
* IMDb
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Category:TV References