Lucille Ball, commonly referred to as the First Lady of Television, would have celebrated her 100th birthday today if she had still been with us.  Ball is a one of a kind woman who paved the way for women in television, as well as in business.  The sitcom was a relatively new type of program, and with the advent of the classic I Love Lucy, Ball and her then husband, Desi Arnaz, really built up that genre and made it what it is today.  Ball was a master at comedy and she never let the show decrease in its hilarity.  The entire time the show was on the air, I Love Lucy was consistently the #1 show on television (for four of six seasons).  After her starring role on Lucy, which lasted for nine seasons, she went on to create the shows The Lucy Show (6 seasons), Here's Lucy (6 season) and Life with Lucy (1 season).  One of the other most important things about her as a person was her business savvy.  Ball and Arnaz together created the production company Desilu which was the production company behind all of Ball's work, and continued on as a profitable company.  After Ball and Arnaz divorced, she bought out Arnaz's share of the company and she ran the entire company herself.  She sat in on all the board meetings and consistently made all the big decisions.  She was one of the first women to take on such a high profile job, and she executed it with nothing but grace.  Being the head of Desilu Studios, the leading role on multiple television shows and a mother is no small feat, but Ball handled it with style and never lost her passion.  She was truly an incredible woman and lead a wonderful life until her untimely death at age 77 from heart complications.  Ball was a pioneer in television and deserves to be remembered and honored on her (would-have-been) 100th birthday today.

Before I wrap this post up I want to share with you my favorite moment from Lucille Ball's career.  This is the very first episode that I ever saw of I Love Lucy, which probably would have been when I was ten or eleven, and it is still my favorite episode to date.  This is the seen from season one when Lucy and Ethel decide to swap roles with their husbands and try to become the bread-winners of their families.  They cannot find a job that they can do so they decide to try working at a candy factory.  I'll let the clip do the rest of the talking.