Lucille Ball's 'I Love Lucy' Takes Over Google With Vintage Logo On Comedienne's 100th Birthday

Google's home page on August 6 paid tribute to funny lady Lucille Ball (1911 - 1989), who would have turned 100 on that day.

The Emmy Award-winning comedienne starred in both stage and screen features during her career, but her titular role in the 1950s classic TV sitcom "I Love Lucy" is her best-known work around the world.

NPR explains the lasting impact "I Love Lucy" had on television:

In many ways, I Love Lucy was the sitcom that created the form that survives today: three cameras rolling before a live audience, and the cast of likable characters thrust into unlikely situations.

On August 6, Google's home page featured an interactive doodle, modeled after the intro to the beloved show. Users visiting Google.com were greeted by a vintage-style TV set in place of the usual Google logo. A back-and-white heart appeared onscreen, followed by the words "Google," scrawled in a font to match the original "I Love Lucy" title. A play button invited the user to twirl the top dial on the TV and select from several of the show's iconic clips. One such scene featured Lucy's misadventure working in a chocolate factory, where she and her friend Ethel struggle to keep up with the conveyor belt and resort to stuffing chocolates in their mouths as fast as they can.

Google.com isn't the only place where you can find nods to the carrot-topped queen of comedy's centennial. Author Steve Kluger, an expert on all things Lucy, has put together a list of reasons why Lucy still makes us laugh. As reported by the Washington Post, LIFE magazine has released 16 never-before-seen photos of the acress. You can also check out a slideshow of memorable moments from Ball's career (here).

Check out the video (below) to view the clips used in the Google Doodle. You can also visit Google.com on August 6 to see the logo for yourself.
WATCH:

Comments

[AllenFromAtlanta]

11:32 AM on 08/08/2011

I kept clicking through the channels looking for vitameatavegamin.

[slackgeek]

01:46 AM on 08/08/2011

love her!

[Danny Olvera]

01:09 AM on 08/08/2011

My mom says that when she first emigrated to this country, all she had was Lucy. This was before Spanish media grew to become common, at an age when speaking Spanish was looked down upon.

My mom, the daughter of farmers, came to the US to live with an aunt she hardly knew and a family who had long forgotten their roots. Unable to speak the language, my mom was mostly lost, except for I love Lucy. She would watch it on TV and laugh, despite the obvious language barriers. My mom said that watching Lucy would help her forget about how much she missed her home and her country. She even says that if she hadn't had Lucy, she would have moved back to Mexico and she wouldn't have met my dad.

So, I guess I owe Lucy my life.

[pepper1311]

04:44 PM on 08/07/2011

All those great pictures. Loved them all, she was a real beauty.

[IATSE MEMBER]

08:40 PM on 08/06/2011

I love that I live in a World where we once had Lucy and now have a Sarah! The comedy never stops...

[IATSE MEMBER]

08:36 PM on 08/06/2011

I look fwd to Princess Moose Wink's 100 years of winks,you betcha's and lame stream media references...

[LMPE]

08:16 PM on 08/06/2011

I was curious. Does anyone know the name of the episode in which Lucy and Ethel get stuck in the shower that fills up?

[rockysparks]

07:25 PM on 08/06/2011

Turner Classic Movies tjoday )Saturday, August 6th) is showing 24 hours of Lucille Ball's movies. What a treat! Lucy was a beautiful and glamorous actress in the years before her fame as Lucy Ricardo on television. Her movies aren't all great --- but Lucy is always interesting. And some of them, like "The Fuller Brush Girl" are hilarious foreshadowings of what was to come with "I Love Lucy." One of the films shown is "The Long, Long Trailer," in which her then-husband Desi Arnaz has a chance to show off his comic talents which were a perfect balance to Lucy's clowning. Thanks, TCM!

[LMPE]

08:15 PM on 08/06/2011

A movie of hers that I liked was "The Dark Corner", a film noir.

I also once saw Desi Arnaz Jr in a horror flick called "House of the Long Shadows" with Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

[rockysparks]

08:33 PM on 08/06/2011

Never saw either one of them. I'll have to watch for them.

[Claude Call]

05:44 PM on 08/06/2011

I'm going to be "That Guy" and note that the script-on-satin heart intro wasn't the intro to the show while it was running, but rather the intro that was used for the rebroadcasts and for syndication. The original openings involved stick figures of Lucy and Desi, and the logo of the episode's sponsor.

Nonetheless, it's a nice tribute.

[BlackYowe]

03:43 PM on 08/06/2011

Lots of celebrating here as she was born in Celeron, NY not far from where I live.

[LMPE]

03:37 PM on 08/06/2011

Now that's some great stuff!

[Annette Vaillancourt]

01:06 PM on 08/06/2011

Although I watched "I Love Lucy" as a kid, it wasn't until I saw it as an adult that I really appreciated what the show was trying to do.

[LMPE]

03:36 PM on 08/06/2011

I actually didn't start watching it until I was in college, when I watched a lot of classic shows on TVLand.

[thegirlnextdoor]

01:04 PM on 08/06/2011

could not find the doodle - but I do LOVE Lucy! From her I learned to try to not take myself so seriously and to laugh more. Thanks Lucy!

[bgofca]

01:04 PM on 08/06/2011

i'm glad she made a lot of people laugh. i never cared for her humor, but at least some people's lives were made better laughing.

[Leebossa]

01:01 PM on 08/06/2011

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!