Little Labors

Other people’s babies, three

When Lucille Ball was pregnant, her character on television was also pregnant, though the word pregnant, like a swear word, could not, at the time, be said on television; Lucy was, instead, expecting. She carried bags, and stood behind chairs and sofas, so as to protect viewers from a full visual sense of what was expected. Lucille’s husband on the show, Ricky Ricardo, was played by her actual husband, Desi Arnaz. In real life, Lucille Ball turned down show-business offers until someone was willing to also employ Desi Arnaz, who, probably because he was Cuban, was mostly denied employment. This dynamic is reversed in I Love Lucy. Ricky Ricardo is a successful bandleader at a nightclub, and a regular plot point is Lucy’s desperate attempts to be part of his show. The episode of I Love Lucy in which Little Ricky is born was watched by forty-four million Americans, in three out of every four homes that had a television, and was titled, simply, Lucy Goes to the Hospital.