15 Fun Facts About ‘I Love Lucy’ You Never Heard Before

13. All fun and games until…

What if you went to work one day and drowned in a grape vat? This was very nearly the case for Ball while filming “Lucy’s Italian Movie” in the grape-stomping scene. In the episode, Teresa Tirelli was an extra whose job was to wrestle Ball in the grape vat. The problem was, Tirelli did not speak English and though an interpreter explained what was supposed to happen in the scene—fake fight filmed from the waist up—Tirelli misinterpreted and held Ball’s head under the mushy grapes until she almost choked to death. The kicker? No one realized there was a problem until the scene was finished!

14. Expecting who?

When Ball became pregnant in 1952, writers couldn’t use the word “pregnant” and had to opt for “expecting” instead. Fans watched as Ball’s baby bump grew and 44 million viewers—made up of 72% of U.S. homes with televisions at that time—tuned in to watch the star give birth to little Ricky. Not only was “pregnant verses expecting” a hot topic, but each episode that featured Lucy’s pregnancy was reviewed by a minister, priest, and rabbi to make sure that they would in no ways offend the viewing audience. Times sure are different now!

15. Break down those walls!

I Love Lucy was responsible for many television firsts, and some of these made a great impact on a social and cultural level. It was the first television series that featured a real pregnant woman portraying a pregnant woman, and to show an interracial couple, both things that were more or less unheard of in the 50s.