Here's Lucy

Here's Lucy is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's third network sitcom, following I Love Lucy (1951–57) and The Lucy Show (1962–68). Background Though The Lucy Show was still popular during the 1967–68 season, finishing in the top five of the ratings (at #2), Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season, as there were enough episodes for syndicated reruns, and as Ball had sold Desilu Productions (which owned and produced The Lucy Show) to Gulf & Western. Ball, who had stated that she did not wish to continue to star in a show that she no longer owned, also made it known that she did not wish to continue to star in a show unless her two children agreed to co-star, and thus an entirely new show was written for this purpose. Doris Singleton, who played Carolyn Appleby on I Love Lucy, has said she was originally going to be a series regular on the show as Harry Carter's secretary, but the idea was dropped when Lucy brought her children on board with the show. Here's Lucy was produced by Ball's newly created production company, Lucille Ball Productions. Desilu's successor Paramount Television co-produced the first season, but sold its stake in the show to Ball afterwards. Unlike most sitcoms of the era, Here's Lucy was filmed before a live audience; standard practice at the time was to film an episode on a closed set and add a laugh track during post-production. However, a laugh track was still used to fill any gaps in audience reactions or missed punchlines. The live format was requested by Ball herself, as she believed that she performed better in the presence of an audience. Premise