Thesis__________________________________________________________________ Lucille Ball throughout her life was a tour de force. She was the first woman to build a TV empire. Lucy, as she is forever known, changed the landscape of American culture and television. She was known as a rule breaker and innovator, and it paid off for her throughout her life. She was a model, actress, radio actor, comedienne, studio head, award winner, author, and changed television as we know it. She is considered one of the most revered women in comedy. Early life__________________________________________________________________ She was born Lucille Desiree Ball in New York on August 6, 1911, in the town of Celoron, near Jamestown., Her mother, Desiree,…show more content… Department store Marshall Fields famously posted a sign stating “We love Lucy too so we’re closing on Monday nights.” It was said that crime went down during the show’s Monday night timeslot. Lucy was a master of physical comedy, and working alongside her husband made her accessible and relateable. Watching her antics and situations resonated with audiences. She managed to find the humor in everyday life. Desilu, the company that she and Desi had earlier formed, made I Love Lucy the first show to incorporate many of the methods that are still in today. She was the first to use a live audience. She said of the idea "I didn't want to work unless there was an audience to give me feedback. We decided to do it just like a play and show it as a film." She also used several cameras for different shots, and several sets positioned adjacent to each…show more content… In the early days of television, most production was done in New York, because Los Angeles was studio territory. Normally the actors would have to move to New York to film, but the couple insisted on staying in Hollywood. CBS protested, believing that live production in Los Angeles was impractical. Because of the time difference between east and west coast, the network would be forced to air blurry kinescopes in the East, where most television-viewing homes were located. Lucy and Desi decided to produce the show on film and dispose of kinescope altogether. Since using film would double production costs, Lucy and Desi agreed to cut their weekly joint salary from $5,000 to $4,000.This was on the condition that Desilu retained all rights to the show. The network agreed, and in that moment, Lucy and Desi invented the rerun. This resulted in the first syndication. They had in effect made what would become one of the most lucrative deals in television history.This was such a pivotal moment, because they were the first to make a television show that would last forever, which made re-airing possible and began her legacy onscreen. I Love Lucy made television production in Hollywood so accepted that by the early 60’s, virtually every major prime-time television show was being filmed on the West Coast. She essentially layed the groundwork for the multibillion-dollar television syndication industry known
