"There has appeared in the papers a story to the effect that Lucille Ball, who happens to be my wife, is going to quit playing in a show called 'I Love Lucy', in which I happen to play with her. This whole thing is ridiculous. Now it's possible that Lucy may have made some such remark in a very offhand way. Everybody would like to quit work and loaf for a while. It's the kind of thing everybody tosses off a couple times a week in casual conversation. Only with Lucy, the casual remark got picked up off the floor and blown right up to the ceiling. In the first place, Lucy can't quit in two years even if she wanted to, which she doesn't. Our contract with Philip Morris runs until the end of the 1956-56 season. And I want to make one more thing crystal clear. Some people have been speculating, in print, about the possibility of 'I Love Lucy' continuing with someone else taking Lucille's place. That is the one thing we are absolutely dead sure about: there will never be an 'I Love Lucy' without Lucille Ball. Period. Exclamation point."—Desi Arnaz, article, TV Guide 1954. #lucilleball #desiarnaz #ilovelucy #phillipmorris #sponsors #tvguide #contract #loafers #iquit #rumors #offhand #casualconversation #period #exclamationpoint https://www.instagram.com/p/CR4BiQ6l18l/?utm_medium=tumblr