Welcome to Muppet Wiki!
"I Love Piggy"
Kermit auditions for the role of Ricky.
Lucy, I'm home!
I Love Lucy is an Emmy-winning classic situation comedy, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley that ran from 1951 to 1957 on CBS and then directly spun-off into The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960, with an increased emphasis on celebrity guests). The first series to end production at the top of the ratings (much like Seinfeld), it is still aired in syndication around the world. TV Guide has ranked the show second of the fifty greatest shows (behind only The Honeymooners), and TIME Magazine lists it as one of the 100 best television shows of all time. The character of Lucy Ricardo was also ranked at number 3 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters, behind Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners and Archie Bunker from All in the Family.
References
- I Love Piggy is one of the television series referenced in the 1983 Hallmark calendar The Muppets Look at TV.
- Baby Piggy imagines herself in a parody of the series in the Muppet Babies episode "This Little Piggy Went to Hollywood."
- In the Muppet Babies episode "Gonzee's Playhouse Channel", during his musical number, Baby Fozzie briefly impersonates Ricky Ricardo, popping in a door with some bongos exclaiming "Lucy! I'm Home!"
- Digit exclaims "Lucy, I'm home!" after plugging himself into Muppet Central's Master Feed in episode 101 of The Jim Henson Hour.
- Bobo the Bear plays the part of Quasimodo in a Hunchback of Notre Dame sketch in episode 211 of Muppets Tonight. As does the character in the book, Bobo/Quasimodo has named the bells in the tower of Notre Dame; one of them is "Little Ricky" named for Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's son from the series.
- In one of the Movie Mania shorts, Kermit, The Swedish Chef, and Fozzie Bear, among others, film a screen test for the part of Ricky Ricardo in the classic sitcom. The screen test references the famous episode with guest star William Holden.
- The music cue heard at the end of the street scene for Episode 4138 of Sesame Street parodies the I Love Lucy theme.
Connections
- Milton Berle played himself in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episode "Milton Berle Hides at the Ricardos" (1959)
- Bob Hope played himself in "Lucy and Bob Hope" (1956)
- Olan Soule played Dr. Gettleman in "Nursery School" (1955)
- John Stephenson played the commercial and end title announcer for several seasons
- Orson Welles played himself in "Lucy Meets Orson Welles" (1956)