Between 1951 and 1957,
Desi Arnaz (1917–1986) and
Lucille Ball (1911–1989) starred in and produced (via their
Desilu production company) the immensely popular
I Love Lucy show. In early 1958, Desi Arnaz convinced
CBS to purchase
Desilu Playhouse with the promise that a bi-monthly
Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show (later rebroadcast as
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour) would be among the dramas, comedies and musicals planned for the show.
Westinghouse Electric Company paid a then-record $12 million to sponsor the show, which resulted in the cancellation of the prestigious anthology series
Studio One, also sponsored by Westinghouse. ,
Aldo Ray and
Lucille Ball as the title character, "K. O. Kitty", the comedy shown as the show's fifth episode. Lucy plays a dance teacher who inherits a boxer's contract. (1958) The show debuted on Monday nights in the 10:00–11:00 pm [Eastern Standard Time] evening time slot on October 6, 1958, hosted by Desi Arnaz, with
Betty Furness continuing as the Westinghouse spokesperson (as she had been on
Studio One). The first show was "Lucy Goes to Mexico," a Lucy–Desi Hour with guest star
Maurice Chevalier. The dramatic "Bernadette" (a biography of the
Roman Catholic Church's Saint Bernadette), starring
Pier Angeli, premiered in week two. Later shows included comedies, dramas and musicals, and various one-off comedies and dramas starring Lucille Ball in non-"Lucy" character performances. In October 1959, the show moved to Friday nights from 9:00–10:00 pm [Eastern Standard Time]. The show lasted only one more year, due to an inability to attract big guest stars, the growing popularity then of westerns and police shows being shown on
prime time. It ran opposite the competing
ABC television network's highly rated
77 Sunset Strip that season, and the Arnaz–Ball divorce in 1960. Just prior to their marital breakup, Ball and Arnaz, along with
Vivian Vance,
William Frawley, and
Little Ricky, filmed the last
Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show, entitled "Lucy Meets The Moustache" and featuring guest stars
Ernie Kovacs and
Edie Adams. This last hour-long installment of the
I Love Lucy format and characters was broadcast on April 1, 1960. The final telecast of
The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, "Murder is a Private Affair", aired on June 10, 1960. ==Notable episodes==