The Fifties

by David Halberstam

show; it was not just Lucy who was screwy, it was the two of them—and their neighbors, too. At the end, though, there was Desi embracing her, understanding her. All was forgiven, and everything came out all right. By April 7, 1952, 10.6 million households were tuning in, the first time in history that a television show had reached so many people. By 1954, as many as 50 million people watched certain segments. The show was so popular that it lifted not just its advertisers but CBS and the entire industry; in 1953 CBS-TV showed a net profit for the first time, in no small part because of her, and a year later television became the largest advertising medium in the world. Reality and show business continued to intersect when Lucy got pregnant in real life in the spring of 1952. The producers and writers were delighted and immediately decided to incorporate the pregnancy into the story line. But CBS, the Milton Biow advertising agency, and Philip Morris were not so sure. These were more puritanical times. Previously, pregnant women had just not been seen in films or on television. A pregnant comedienne seemed in especially bad taste. The network and Philip Morris thought it might be all right for one or two shows to be based on Lucy’s pregnancy, but that was all. From then on, they would have to hide her behind tables and chairs. Nor should there be any talk of it. But Desi went to Alfred Lyons, the head of Philip Morris, and suggested that if he and Lucy could not control the...