CBS to Air 'I Love Lucy' Christmas Special Dec. 20

CBS will air the I Love Lucy Christmas Special Dec. 20. The one-hour special offers a pair of colorized episodes, titled “The Christmas Episode” and “Paris at Last.”

The main titles and end credits are combined into one set at the beginning and end of the hour, with no interruption between the episodes.

“The Christmas Episode” finds the Ricardos and Mertzes decorating Lucy and Ricky’s tree and reminiscing about how their lives have changed since the arrival of the Ricardos’ son, Little Ricky.

It was first broadcast on CBS on Christmas Eve, 1956.

Related: 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' on CBS Dec. 2

In “Paris at Last,” the Ricardos and Mertzes arrive in France, where Lucy encounters a sidewalk artist who sells multiple copies of the same “original” oil painting, and a con man who offers a better exchange rate for her dollars than the one offered in the banks.

“Paris at Last” was originally broadcast on Feb. 27, 1956.

I Love Lucy Christmas specials have aired on CBS the past six years, each combining the holiday-themed episode with a comedy classic.

I Love Lucy was broadcast on CBS from 1951 to 1957. It starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo and Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Ethel and Fred Mertz.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.