I Love Lucy: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Film recording of the pilot episode for the television series I Love Lucy, made for CBS in 1951. The brown metal reel of 16mm film is enclosed in a brown film can. The label reads, "Ball & Arnaz / Pepito / Audition / 2nd Edition with / Laught added / Serial number 51030201".

This pilot episode was directed by Ralph Levy and filmed before a live audience at CBS Columbia Square in Hollywood, California on March 2, 1951. The pilot episode was not made for broadcast and did not air as part of the show's original run, although it did convince CBS to greenlight the series for production. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz gave this reel of film to Pepito Perez as a personal gift and keepsake. Perez was an actor and comedian best known for his character "Pepito the Spanish Clown," an act he performed in this 1951 pilot episode. The pilot film was thought lost until Perez' widow Joanne discovered this copy, which CBS then restored and aired in a special broadcast March 30, 1990.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1951
• referenced: Arnaz, Desi
• referenced: Ball, Lucille
• maker: Columbia Broadcasting System
• Object Name: Film
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: film (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 1 in x 12 1/2 in; 2.54 cm x 31.75 cm
• subject association: Television
• associated subject: Comedy
• ID Number: 1990.0694.01
• catalog number: 1990.0694.01
• accession number: 1990.0694
• Credit Line: Margaret E. Perez
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.