Jordan Ellis
Lucy Goes to the Hospital is the 51st episode of the classic American sitcom *I Love Lucy*. The episode, which first aired in 1953, features the birth of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's first child, coinciding with the real-life birth of actor Lucille Ball's second child. The episode received immense publicity and was watched by a record-breaking number of viewers, with 71.7% of American television sets tuned in. This iconic episode has left a lasting legacy, with its impact still recognised decades later.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Episode name | Lucy Goes to the Hospital |
| Episode number | 51st overall, 16th of season 2 |
| Air date | January 19, 1953 |
| Air time | 9 pm |
| Director | William Asher |
| Writers | Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Davis, Jess Oppenheimer |
| Episode synopsis | Lucy Ricardo gives birth to a baby boy after a chaotic sequence of events. |
| Real-life parallel | The actress who played Lucy, Lucille Ball, gave birth to Desi Arnaz Jr. by cesarean section 12 hours after the episode aired. |
| Ratings | 71.7% of all American television sets tuned in, amounting to 44 million viewers. |
| Episode rating | 8.7/10 |
| Duration | 30 minutes |
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What You'll Learn
'Lucy Goes to the Hospital' episode
The "Lucy Goes to the Hospital" episode of the 1950s American television show "I Love Lucy" aired on January 19, 1953, and depicted the title character, Lucy Ricardo, giving birth to a baby boy. The episode was highly anticipated as it coincided with the real-life pregnancy and childbirth of Lucille Ball, who played Lucy, and her delivery of Desi Arnaz Jr. by Caesarean section just 12 hours before the original broadcast.
In the episode, Lucy and her husband, Ricky, along with their friends Ethel and Fred, carefully rehearse the trip to the hospital. However, when the time comes, chaos ensues, and the carefully laid plans fall apart. Ethel struggles to get through to the hospital due to a busy signal, and Ricky and Fred fight over the suitcase, resulting in Ricky accidentally packing the telephone inside.
Once they arrive at the hospital, Lucy goes into labour, and Ricky is confined to the fathers' waiting room. Ricky is anxious to get back to the club to perform his new voodoo act, and he calls Fred to bring his voodoo makeup kit. As he performs, Ricky is called away to take a phone call—the baby has arrived! He rushes to the hospital but scares the nurses with his spooky costume. Finally, he sees his newborn son through the nursery window.
The episode was groundbreaking for its time, as it fictitiously narrated a real-time pregnancy on American television, pairing the fictional pregnancy of Lucy with the real-life pregnancy of Ball. It garnered a record rating of 71.7, with 71.7% of all American television sets tuned in, equivalent to approximately 44 million viewers.
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Real-life pregnancy of Lucille Ball
The real-life pregnancy of Lucille Ball was written into the script of the TV show 'I Love Lucy'. This was considered scandalous at the time, as even acknowledging that someone was pregnant on TV was frowned upon. Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, wanted to introduce the pregnancy storyline into the show, but the sponsor, Philip Morris, did not want that to happen. They eventually agreed to acknowledge it for a few episodes.
The episode "Lucy Is Enceinte" first aired on December 8, 1952, with the official title borrowing the French word for pregnant. However, episode titles never appeared on screen. The episode in which Lucy Ricardo gives birth, "Lucy Goes to the Hospital", first aired on January 19, 1953, the day before the inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower as President of the United States. The original air date was chosen to coincide with Ball's real-life delivery of Desi Jr. by Caesarean section.
The episode received a record rating of 71.7, meaning that 71.7% of all households with television sets were tuned in, equivalent to about 44 million viewers. This record was only surpassed by Elvis Presley's first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.
Ball suffered several miscarriages before giving birth to her daughter, Lucie Désirée Arnaz, in 1951. A year and a half later, she gave birth to Desi Arnaz Jr. Ball considered motherhood to be the best part of her life, saying that "They keep you young. They keep you worried longer."
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Record-breaking ratings
The "I Love Lucy" episode “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” first aired on January 19, 1953, and garnered a record-breaking rating of 71.7, meaning that 71.7% of all households with television sets were tuned in, equivalent to about 44 million viewers. This was the highest rating for any TV show at the time and remains one of the highest in history. The episode's high viewership can be attributed to the unique pairing of the fictional pregnancy of Lucy Ricardo with the real-life pregnancy of actress Lucille Ball, who gave birth just 12 hours after the episode was filmed. The anticipation surrounding the birth of Lucy's baby, as well as the secrecy surrounding the sex of the baby, created a buzz that drew in a massive audience.
The episode's rating of 71.7 was so unprecedented that it remained a record until September 9, 1956, when Elvis Presley made his first of three appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Presley's appearance drew an even larger audience, with an 82.6% share and an estimated 60.71 million viewers. Despite this, the overall rating of 67.3 for the entire 1952 season of "I Love Lucy" remains the highest average rating for any single season of a TV show.
The success of "I Love Lucy" extended beyond just the "Lucy Goes to the Hospital" episode. When the show debuted on October 15, 1951, it quickly became a hit, with about 11 million families tuning in weekly, despite there being only 15 million TV sets in the country at the time. The show was America's number one show within six months of its premiere and remained television's most-watched show for four of its six seasons. The show's popularity was due in large part to its star, Lucille Ball, who won five Emmys for her work on the show, including two for her portrayal of Lucy Ricardo.
The impact of "I Love Lucy" extended beyond its record-breaking ratings. The show was groundbreaking in its portrayal of a female lead character, especially one who often did not listen to her husband, a Cuban man, at a time when interracial relationships were rarely depicted on television. The show's influence on the situation comedy format is also significant, with its weekly situational plots and rebellious nature solidifying its place as a timeless classic.
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Real-time ageing of Little Ricky
The 1950s American television show "I Love Lucy" featured a real-time pregnancy, with the title character, Lucy Ricardo, giving birth to a baby boy in the episode "Lucy Goes to the Hospital". This coincided with the real-life pregnancy and birth of Lucy's actress, Lucille Ball, who gave birth to Desi Arnaz Jr. by caesarean section.
The show's writers initially planned to match the sex of the Ricardo's baby with Ball's real baby, and two alternative endings were prepared. The birth of Little Ricky was first aired on January 19, 1953, and was watched by a record-breaking 71.7% of all households with television sets, or 44 million viewers.
Little Ricky was first played by two sets of twins, and later by Keith Thibodeaux, whose stage name when playing Ricky Ricardo Jr. was Richard Keith. Thibodeaux was chosen for the role at age 5, due to his skill on the drums. He was billed as Richard Keith because his Cajun French last name, "Thibodeaux", was considered too hard to pronounce.
Unlike some programs that advance the age of a newborn over a short period, "I Love Lucy" allowed Little Ricky to grow up in real-time during the first few seasons. America saw Little Ricky as an infant in the 1952–53 season and a toddler from 1953 to 1956. However, for the 1956–57 season, Little Ricky's age suddenly jumped by two years, and he became a young school-age boy from 1956 to 1960.
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Smoking in hospitals
Despite bans on staff smoking in common areas, it was common for nurses and doctors to smoke in the presence of patients, even in situations where it directly put patients at risk. For instance, in the early 1980s, a patient room in the respiratory ICU doubled as a staff break room and smoking lounge. Even nonsmoking staff were affected, as smoke would fill the unit when the door was opened.
Today, tobacco smoking is known to be addictive and a leading cause of cancer and respiratory diseases. As more hospitals become ""smoke-free" environments, smoking is rarely tolerated. New nurses who smoke may even find themselves unemployable. While it is still common for patients to smoke during their hospital stays, hospitals have nearly universally adopted smoke-free building policies, and patients must go outdoors to smoke. However, this raises safety concerns, as patients may be unsupervised or may be at risk in inclement weather.
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