i love lucy is an american sitcom. it stars lucille ball, desi arnaz, vivian vance, and william frawley. it was written by television writer bob schiller. the black-and-white series first ran from 15 october 1951 to 6 may 1957 on cbs. even after the series ended in 1957, it continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials. this show ran from 1957 to 1960. it was known first as "the lucille ball-desi arnaz show" and later in reruns as "the lucy-desi comedy hour".