I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to April 1, 1960 on CBS (including The L.Desi Comedy Hour). Although the original series ended in 1957, the show continued on for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials, running from 1957 to 1960, known first as The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and later in reruns as The L. Desi Comedy Hour.
The show was the most-watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons, and was the first to end its run at the top of the ratings (to be matched only by The Andy Griffith Show and Seinfeld), although it did not have a formal series finale episode. The show is still syndicated in dozens of languages across the world.
The show won five Emmy Awards and received numerous nominations. In 2002, it was ranked second on TV Guide's top-50 greatest shows, behind Seinfeld and ahead of The Honeymooners[1]. In 2007, it was placed on Time magazine's unranked list of the 100 best TV shows.[2] The same year, the Washington Post named it the second best TV rerun, attesting to its longevity and sustained popularity.