Seventy-five years after premiering on CBS, the trailblazing multi-camera sitcom I Love Lucy will become the first recipient of the Television Academy’s Legacy Award, an honor that was established earlier this year to annually recognize “a television program that’s made a profound and generational impact on audiences and remains relevant to society, culture and the industry today,” the organization announced Tuesday.
A special tribute to the show — which starred the real-life couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, was made by their Desilu Productions and pioneered the format of shooting a TV show with three cameras in front of a live studio audience — will take place on Sunday, Sept. 6, as part of night two of the two-night Creative Arts Emmys ceremony.
I Love Lucy, which was nominated for a total of 20 Emmys during its original run, winning four, including best situation comedy series twice, and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1991, was chosen for the Legacy Award by the TV Academy’s board of governors from a pool of candidates recommended by its special awards committee.
Many outside observers had expected that the honor would go to a show that the Emmys had overlooked during its original run, and from which key talent is still living, such as The Wire, My So-Called Life, Parks and Recreation, Better Call Saul or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
