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Lucy's pregnancy was a landmark development in TV history
A woman with child was a radical departure from what came before.
There has long been a fragile relationship between art and commerce. Artists often rely on bankrollers to make their work viable, but the two sides don't always have the same goals. Compromises need to be made. And while striking a balance is important in any alliance, it doesn't always serve art. True vision is a thing best left unmarred by economy. When the realities of business threaten to tarnish that purity, hostilities arise, as both halves feel entitled to the product.
Things get even more heated when art mirrors reality in some way, as it did on I Love Lucy. The show's stars, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, were a couple on the screen and in real life. So, when their lives changed, and they got ready to welcome a new member into their family, the show would be forced to change with them.
However, when Lucy's pregnancy was announced, problems arose immediately. The Lucy team planned to have Lucy Ricardo (Ball's onscreen persona) be pregnant as well, and planned to make the pregnancy a sitcom story.
However, CBS and its major corporate sponsor, Philip Morris, were adamant that pregnancy was not an appropriate TV topic. Standards and practices had thus far forbade pregnancy onscreen, and Philip Morris threatened to pull critical advertising money unless the problem was addressed.
The creative team behind I Love Lucy was devastated. The entire premise of the show felt upended. With no other choice, Desi Arnaz went over everyone's head to the top of the money chain. According to The Houston Chronicle, Arnaz sent a strongly-worded letter to Alfred Lyons, chairman of Philip Morris.
"You are the man who is paying the money for this show, and I guess I will have to do whatever you decide."
Nonetheless, Arnaz remained steadfast in his support for the show's creative vision, especially in the face of network interference. He and Ball were, after all, part of a team that shepherded the show to its hit status. The Philip Morris people were only involved because that's how television was made.
"We have given you the No. 1 show in the country," Arnaz continued, "and up till now, the creative decisions have been in our hands. Your people are now telling us we cannot do this, so the only thing I want from you, if you agree with them, is that you must inform them that we will not accept them telling us what not to do unless, in the future, they will also tell us what to do. At that point, and if this is your decision, we will cease to be responsible to you for the show being No. 1 on television, and you will have to look to your people, to the network and to the Biow Agency for that responsiblity."
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