The Plot Thickens

In a small town in New York, young Lucille Ball becomes enamored with showbiz after watching vaudeville acts and silent movies at the amusement park near her home.

Lucy heads to Broadway where she meets her first girlboss: fashion baroness Hattie Carnegie, who hires Lucy to model coats and dresses for New York high society.

For her first movie role, Lucy wears a flesh-toned bodysuit and waist-length blonde wig while chained to a rock. But her clowning on set gets her noticed, and she begins to land larger and larger parts.

Forced from his native Cuba by violent revolution, and armed with an appetite for girls and gambling, Desi Arnaz sparks a dance craze in the nightclubs of Miami and sweet-talks his way into New York society.

From the start, Lucy and Desi fight as fiercely as they love. After a spur-of-the-moment elopement, the newlyweds buy a small ranch north of Hollywood and call it "Desilu."

With a TV deal from CBS, Desi assembles a ragtag team of collaborators to make a new kind of program, one that would rewrite the rules of television.

At the height of Lucy's popularity, the government kicks off a political investigation that threatens to ruin her career.

Lucy and Desi’s production company expands as they buy the RKO lot. But the strain of running an empire takes its toll, and Desi falls further into gambling, drinking and philandering.

Escaping Hollywood after her split, Lucy heads east for a chance to star on Broadway. There she meets a new man, a Borscht Belt comedian with a bad toupee and even worse business sense.

Lucy sinks into a depression after the failure of her newest show and becomes a reclusive yet fiercely competitive backgammon player.

More from Ben Mankiewicz’s fascinating interview with Lucie Arnaz, who speaks about working with her mom, growing up on the RKO studio lot, and what made "I Love Lucy" special.

Ben Mankiewicz speaks to Aaron Sorkin, the writer-director of Being the Ricardos, about what drew him to Lucy’s story, Lucy and Desi’s intense relationship, and the danger they faced when HUAC thought Lucy was a communist.

Ben Mankiewicz speaks to three celebrity fans about how they were influenced by Lucille Ball, Lucy’s incredible talent for physical comedy, and why "I Love Lucy" is still beloved today.

Ben Mankiewicz speaks with the Oscar-winning actor about playing William Frawley in "Being the Ricardos," and how Frawley's tumultuous relationship with Vivian Vance informed the characters of Fred and Ethel Mertz.