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“I Love Lucy” Gender Analysis And Its Influence On Popularity And Longevity, Brianna Knoll

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

This thesis takes an analytical approach to examine the television show I Love Lucy. The contributing factors to the show’s continued success are considered, including Lucille Ball’s comedic style, domesticity and the role of housewives, marital relations, pregnancy on television, and the larger gender representations with a subtopic of social norms. Upon studying the above aspects of I Love Lucy, it is clear that each topic played an essential role in the success of the show. Ball’s comedic style combined with her portrayal of a 1950s housewife, and the social norms that she and her co-stars broke through …