The 'I Love Lucy' Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
The 'I Love Lucy' Quiz
Image: © Bettmann/Corbis

About This Quiz

Do you remember Lucy's maiden name or the club where Ricky sang "Babalú?" If you call yourself an "I Love Lucy" fan, and you can't ace this quiz, you might have some 'splaining to do! For the record, her maiden name is McGillicuddy and he performed at the Tropicana Club. 

"I Love Lucy" premiered during the dawn of the television era. When it first hit the small screen on October 15, 1951, only about one out of every 10 U.S. homes had a TV. By the time the show and its successor, "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour," went off the air in 1960, 90 percent of American homes had at least one TV.

During its decade-long run, the series revolutionized television technology and production. Desi Arnaz developed a three-camera filming technique that had never been used before but continues to be the standard to this day. Lucy and Desi also formed Desilu Productions in 1950 which produced "I Love Lucy". When Lucy bought Desi out in 1962, she became the very first woman ever to head a major production company. 

Finally, there's the extraordinary fact that a TV show featuring a beautiful young American woman in a "mixed marriage" ever made it onto TV at all. In the late '40s, Lucille Ball and Richard Denning played Liz and George Cooper on a radio series called "My Favorite Husband." When the networks wanted to move the show to television, Lucy wanted real-life husband Desi to co-star, but the network was adamant that viewers would never accept this cross-cultural pairing. Luckily, Ball got her way, and the show went on to become comedy gold, and to live on in syndication for decades.

Think you know everything there is to know about this classic sitcom? Take our quiz and prove it!



What does Ricky do when he becomes frustrated with Lucy?
He slams doors repeatedly.
He speaks in Spanish.
He begins drinking heavily.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

His fluent Spanish became a staple of the show's dialogue.

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Characters' names were often taken from what?
Lucy's family and friends
Lucy's favorite books
Lucy's favorite films
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was a way of making the show even more personal.

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What company was the first to become a major sponsor for the show?
Ford Motor Co.
Philip Morris
Frontier Airlines
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's Philip Morris, this was before the surgeon general's warning was mandatory on cigarette packages. It's why so many episodes feature heavy smoking.

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Most of the episodes take place in which setting?
their apartment
Ricky's music club
a small house in the suburbs
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Almost all of the shooting takes place in their apartment.

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What was Lucy's requirement before signing a deal to create a TV sitcom?
She wanted a guaranteed minimum salary of $450,000 per season.
She wanted Desi Arnaz to play her husband.
She wanted to write several scripts.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Desi, of course, was also her husband in real life.

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What did William Frawley do every time Vivian Vance sang a song?
He walked away from her.
He covered his ears.
He sang along.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He reportedly couldn't stand her voice so he always covered his ears.

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Why were network executives concerned about casting Arnaz as Lucy's husband?
his Cuban accent
his shady gambling habits
his womanizing behavior
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

They feared his ethnicity would drive off viewers; they were wrong.

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For how many years did "I Love Lucy" stop airing once the final episode ended?
zero
12
18
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

That's right, the show has been on TV continuously since the 1950s.

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In total, how many episodes of the show aired on TV?
181
132
119
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

One hundred eighty-one shows ran from 1951 to 1957.

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While filming scenes in which Lucy is pregnant, the studio barred the usage of which word?
pregnant
placenta
afterbirth
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Instead, it insisted on using more neutral terminology, such as "expecting."

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About how many Americans watched the episode in which Lucy gave birth to Little Ricky?
13 million
28 million
44 million
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was 44 million people, more than 25 percent of the U.S. population in 1953. That was the vast majority of Americans who owned television sets.

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Which network aired the show?
ABC
CBS
NBC
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Desilu production was a major hit for the CBS network.

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What was one major reason that Lucy wanted Desi cast as her husband?
She hated the music his band made.
She thought they would make more money working together.
She wanted him closer to home.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Desi's touring schedule meant that he was often away from Lucy.

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After he retired, Desi moved to Los Angeles to do what?
raise thoroughbred horses
start a new band
create a line of musical instruments
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He sold his share of the production company to Lucy and went into the horse business.

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During the course of the show, we find out that Lucy met Ricky where?
on a plane
on a boat cruise
in a coffee shop
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In real life, the two met on a film set when Lucy was 28 years old.

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Why did Vivian Vance reportedly have a problem with her on-screen husband, played by William Frawley?
He could never remember his lines.
He was much older.
He was a heroin user.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

She resented being tied to a man who was two and a half decades older than her.

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How many different directors worked on the weekly series?
one
two
three
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The relatively stable production team is one reason for the show's consistency. The prolific William Asher is one of them.

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How many cameras were used for shooting each episode?
three
two
one
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Add in the fact that it was filmed in front of a live studio audience, and the show was groundbreaking in its production.

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What was the most important ingredient in fictitious product Vitameatavegamin, which Lucy touts during a commercial?
iron
alcohol
vitamin B-12
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Lucy drunkenly slurs her words during one of the shows most famous bits.

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For how many seasons did "I Love Lucy" air?
eight
six
four
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The show ran for six season and each episode lasted a little more than 20 minutes.

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In what year was an original 16-millimeter version of the pilot episode found?
2000
1990
1980
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was discovered in 1990, reconstructed and then released in 2002.

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How many miscarriages did Lucy have before finally giving birth to Lucie?
two
three
five
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Before giving birth to Lucie in 1951, she suffered three miscarriages over the course of ten years. Desi and Lucy were over the moon about finally having a child together.

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How old was Lucy when the show premiered?
35
40
44
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

She was 40 and Desi was five years younger than her.

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How did Lucy and Desi convince the network to green light the show?
They got married.
They went on tour together.
They promised to work for free.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Their live show was critically acclaimed, essentially forcing the network to give their show a shot.

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For how many of its six seasons was the show rated No. 1 on TV?
six
five
four
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was No. 3 in its first season and it never finished a season rated lower than third.

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What kind of cigarettes did Lucy prefer in real life?
Marlboro
Philip Morris
Chesterfield
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

She preferred Chesterfield but as a compromise, she placed her brand of choice in the Philip Morris box when it was on camera.

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How many episodes were there in the first season?
18
23
35
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Eventually the fast pace of filming burned out much of the production team.

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For how much did Desilu Productions sell the rights to the show?
$19 million
$8 million
$4 million
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the late 1950s, $4 million was serious cash, even for stars like Lucy and Desi.

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How many episodes of the black-and-white show have been colorized?
six
25
every episode
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Desi Arnaz reportedly wanted the show to be in color, but in the 1950s the expense of color was still too high.

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In real life, what was the name of Lucy's daughter?
Martha
Clara
Lucie
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Her full name is Lucie Desiree Arnaz.

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