I Love Lucy was an American television series that aired from October 15, 1951 to May 6, 1957 on CBS, and was ranked one of the "100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time" by Time magazine and captivates an American audience of 40 million every year. The program was so popular that it won five Emmy Awards and was the first show to top the Nielsen ratings, followed only by the Andy Griffith Show and Seinfeld. Although I Love Lucy was hugely successful as a show and distracted many Americans from their problems in the 1950s, it did not depict an exact depiction of middle-class American society during the 1950s, but most of the series was true to life. 1950s America was a generally quiet era regarding foreign affairs, but was full of domestic improvements with the development of the interstate system, the Department of Health, Labor, Welfare, and the founding of NASA along with a constant increase in the standard of living. this has left many Americans longing for a “good life.” I Love Lucy placed a strong emphasis on being wealthy, with Lucy and Ricky Ricardo never having problems with money. For example, when Lucy wants to prove to Ricky that she can be in a TV commercial, she destroys the TV and comes in to act out a scene. In the 1950s, televisions were expensive, but that wasn't a big deal. The sense of a strong economy can also be seen in other aspects of I Love Lucy, such as the showcasing of Ricky's successful career as a singer and bandleader for the Tropicana Club, which demonstrated that the American people had no problem spending their own money. on entertainment. Married women in the 1950s were ideally efficient, patient and charming housewives, with only 30% of all married women working... middle of paper... struggling, which only solidified the confidence of Ricky in a correct society. at the moment. At one point, Lucy attempted to get a job (which was itself quite controversial given that only 40% of all women worked) when Ricky and Fred criticized women's roles as housewives and how simple it was. Ethyl and she went to the job seekers office but had trouble finding work, as they had no formal skills, but ended up working in a candy factory where they failed miserably and learned the lesson that earning your keep was a " men's work", together with Fred and Ricky almost destroy their apartment in an attempt to prepare dinner. Works Cited • I Love Lucy S01E30 • I Love Lucy S02E01-S02E04 • Out of Many: A History of the American People 6th Edition [Chapter 27] • http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Love_Lucy• http://www. imdb.com/title/tt0043208/• http://elcoushistory.tripod.com/economics1950.html