“He was so much more than an entertainer,” says Javier Bardem, who plays Arnaz in Being the Ricardos . “He broke new ground in many ways. He had tremendous artistic and professional ambition and it made him unstoppable.” For starters, he and Ball insisted that I Love Lucy be f ilmed in their hometown of Los Angeles rather than New York, which was the medium’s undisputed production hub at that time. In addition, Arnaz requested that the performances be recorded live onto f ilm for broadcast nationally. CBS execs balked, pointing out that kinescopes (the prevalent technology, which involved f ilming through a lens focused on a video monitor) would be signif icantly cheaper, although lower quality. The couple agreed to pick up the additional expense themselves — provided they retained future rights to the show. That stipulation would turn out to be key to their pioneering role in reruns and syndication, two cornerstones of their future wealth. Arnaz also wanted to f ilm before a live studio audience, knowing that Ball delivered her funniest performances in that setting. In order to present the show without having to break for lighting and camera set-ups, he employed a three- camera system that is still in common use today. “He was ahead of his time,” says Bardem. “He had a motor inside of him that moved not only him forward but all of Desilu. He was always asking what’s next and how to do it better.” BECOMING A STUDIO The company was in the process of branching out into producing other shows when Arnaz and Ball learned that the bankrupt RKOStudios (which had previously unceremoniously released Ball from her contract) was for sale. So in 1957 , Desilu purchased the RKOmain facilities in Hollywood, the RKO-Pathé lot in Culver City and the backlot known as Forty Acres, giving the Ball-Arnaz TV empire a total of 33 soundstages — more than MGM or 20 th Century Fox.
DESI’S INNOVATIONS included filming in front of a live audience, shooting on 35mm film and negotiating for future rights.
DEEP UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. Lucy and Desi’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, says the couple “trusted each other to do the things each was excellent at.”
THE DESILU EFFECT How Lucy and Desi Built a Hollywood Empire and Reinvented Television
In 1950 , the couple produced a pilot with $ 5,000 of their own money and the result, to generations of viewers’ delight, was I Love Lucy . One of the most popular sitcoms in history, the show’s breakout success ensured them a place in the entertainment pantheon as the irresistibly wacky redhead and her charismatic musician husband. It was also their initial step toward becoming the first husband-and-wife entertainment moguls and owners of
Imagine a screenplay about a Cuban refugee and a former $ 15 -a-week bit player who together help transform television from an obscure novelty into a moneymaking machine that dominates world media for decades to come. It might be dismissed as an unlikely Hollywood story, but that’s exactly what happened after Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball revamped her radio series My Favorite Husband for the rapidly growing TV audience.
what would become the world’s largest independent television studio, Desilu Productions. AHEAD OF THEIR TIME It wasn’t just the pair’s undeniable chemistry and unrelenting drive that made them the king and queen of early television, however. Arnaz in particular introduced creative, technical and financial innovations that would change the industry forever.
LONG A STAR IN HIS OWN RIGHT and the president of their successful company, Arnaz often took a back seat to his more famous wife in public.
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