Who has ever noticed that the first TV show in the U.S. to feature an interracial couple was I Love Lucy?

Question

I think it was the first. And surprising, that there seemed to be no controversy.
:-)

I asked this question before, and people said he was white. But no, he wasn't white. He was a tan-skinned, black-haired Cuban man. Some Cubans are white, just as some Mexiacns are white. But Arnaz wasn't.

Have you ever seen Mambo Kings? It might be hard to tell that Arnaz is not white on the old black and white programs, but The Mambo Kings is in color. Pretty easy to tell there.

Anyways, I just thought it is interesting that they should have had an interracial couple on the television show so long ago, and there was no controversy.

WOW. Thanks guys. I didn't realize that anyone had made a fuss over it. I will have to study the history of the program a little closer.

Answer 1

im 17 and i knew that he obviously wasnt white when i first saw it, he clearly isnt white lol. and there was controversy.....they wanted to take lucy as the wife and put a white husband but she said that if her husband, desi, couldnt be the husband, she wouldnt be on the show. so they gave in and it became a huge success.

Answer 2

Yea Lucille Ball was one in a million. Did you know that when her good friend named Gene Roddenberry needed a studio to film Star Trek,it was Lucy who loaned him Desilu Studios to film the episodes?
I also liked the way Lucy's family would refer to Ricky as "Micky". Oh by the way,yes there WAS a lot of controversy over Leonard Nimoy's character as Spock appearing on the show with the ears and lightly green skin. Several television stations all over the Bible Belt felt he looked like some kind of demon.

Answer 3

Yup. There WAS a fuss over it.

Just like there was a fuss over the first interacial kiss on TV
(William Shatner & Nichelle Nichols on the original Star Trek Series). Just like there was a fuss when the husband & wife shared a bed on "Bewitched" and even more controversy when she got pregnant and had a child on the show.

There's lots of milestones and there will always be people against them.

Answer 4

Hmmm you have a good point. I think that maybe people loved Lucy so much it overshadowed Arnaz not being white or people just didn't care. I think maybe if it was a black and white couple it might have been a big deal which is a dumb double standard.

Answer 5

I thought the guy was white cuban or something? I do know Star Trek had the first interracial kiss. Edit: Ricky is not dark, at all.

Answer 6

All of us who grew up watching the I Love Lucy show know this! At least for me this was never a "thing" because I was not raised to see or judge anyone by their skin color. I guess I just never thought a thing about Lucy and Ricky, it was just a good ol' funny show! We didn't have a clue about "interracial couples"!

Answer 7

Growing up and watching that show, I never noticed anything strange about them because my dad is Hispanic with a heavy accent just like Ricky, and my mom is white. So nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me.

Answer 8

I know I was in total shock to find out he was Cuban and that I love Lucy was the first TV show (I though hey I watch that show LMAO)

Answer 9

Yeah when I first saw I Love Lucy I didn't really think that Ricky could or was Hispanic; it wasn't until someone pointed it out to me that it hit me

Answer 10

There was no controversy over Spock, either; the first biracial (Vulcan/human) on TV, as far as I know....

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