"I Love Lucy" was named the Best Television Show of All-Time and Best Television Comedy of All Time on the nationally televised Barbara Walters special "The Best in TV - The Greatest Shows of Our Time."
"I Love Lucy" was voted as Greatest TV Comedy through an online poll conducted by ABC News and People Magazine, in which more than 1 million people voted. "I Love Lucy" won both categories it was nominated for; Best Television Comedy of All Time and Best Television Show of All Time.
The city of Jamestown and the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival were each included in two different segments during the two-hour Barbara Walters television special. Footage for the special was captured when a team of producers and cameramen from ABC News and People Magazine visited Jamestown, Desilu Studios and the Lucy Desi Museum in August during the 2012 Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy.
"The announcement of 'I Love Lucy' being the best television show of all time really shows why Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are called the 'First Couple of Comedy,'" said Journey Gunderson, executive director of the Lucy Desi Center for Comedy. "'Lucy' revolutionized TV as we know it, and to be recognized by fans from across the world as the greatest television show of all-time is a true testament to the lasting impact of Lucille Ball's legacy."
The Lucy Desi Center is also unveiling a new exhibit at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago on Wednesday. The center loaned an exhibit which will include a variety of memorabilia from the Lucy Desi Museum and Desilu Studios, including one of Lucille Ball's Emmy awards for 'I Love Lucy'.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications is one of only three broadcast museums in the United States. The museum includes interactive exhibit galleries, expanded archives, a media cafe, working radio and television studios, a gift shop and regularly scheduled public programs on historic and contemporary radio and television issues.
The unveiling will take place after the premiere of "I Love Lucy: Live On Stage" at the Broadway Palace at Water Tower Place in Chicago. The show will run through Nov. 11. The same production premiered in Los Angeles last year to sold-out crowds for its initial five-month run. The show, which is staged and directed by Rick Sparks, features performers such as Sirena Irwin (Lucy Ricardo), Bill Mendieta (Ricky Ricardo), Curtis Pettyjohn (Fred Mertz), and Joanna Daniels (Ethel Mertz).