The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a collection of thirteen black-and-white one-hour specials airing occasionally from 1957 to 1960 (as opposed to the thirty-minute regular series, I Love Lucy).

The successor to the classic comedy, I Love Lucy, the programs featured the same cast members: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, and Little Ricky (billed as Richard Keith in his post-Lucy–Desi acting assignments).

[1] Desilu produced the show, which was mostly filmed at their Los Angeles studios with occasional on-location shoots at Lake Arrowhead, Las Vegas, and Sun Valley, Idaho.

It also allowed Arnaz to drop any hint of continuity by releasing all of the I Love Lucy characters and substituting them with celebrity guest stars.

That concept, which proved so successful during the program's Hollywood episodes in seasons 4 & 5, was what Arnaz had in mind when he commented "you can't stand still."

Arnaz believed the use of celebrity stars would allow him to demand higher fees, take some pressure off himself portraying Ricky Ricardo, and keep the "Lucy" concept fresh by encouraging continued ratings success.

Although done during the last season of I Love Lucy, the move to Connecticut allowed the writers to expand possible script ideas as they had "used up every conceivable story line that could be set in the tiny New York apartment.

"[2] Not noted publicly at the time, Arnaz was suffering serious health problems, and was ordered by doctors to cut back on his work and acting schedule.

When he entered into negotiations with CBS, for a seventh season of I Love Lucy, Arnaz insisted Desilu be allowed to change to the hour format and a monthly production schedule.

[2] During the final season of I Love Lucy (episode 14), the Ricardos, soon followed by the Mertzes, had moved to Westport, Connecticut, reflecting the growth of the suburbs throughout America during the 1950s.

A key part of the Comedy Hour format was guest stars in each episode, including Hedda Hopper; Ann Sothern; Rudy Vallee; Cesar Romero; Tallulah Bankhead; Fred MacMurray and June Haver; Betty Grable and Harry James; Fernando Lamas; Maurice Chevalier; Danny Thomas and his Make Room for Daddy co-stars; Red Skelton; Paul Douglas; Ida Lupino and Howard Duff; Milton Berle; Bob Cummings; and, in the final episode, "Lucy Meets the Moustache", Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams.

Although noted in I Love Lucy as the main reason they were able to afford moving to Connecticut, the joint Ricardo-Mertz egg business is only mentioned once.

New friends from the I Love Lucy Connecticut episodes, the Ramseys (or the Mortons), were not in the Comedy Hour cast and are mentioned twice, each as babysitters for Little Ricky.

After the final Lucy-Desi program the two never worked together onscreen again, although Arnaz executive produced the first 15 of The Lucy Show episodes before leaving Desilu Productions in 1962.

The interaction between Ricky and Lucy, a major element of the original program's success, was not up to par (reflecting Ball's and Arnaz's personal problems).

Because of these problems (and Desi spending more time trying to maintain Desilu), the live studio audience was replaced with a laugh track by the final season (although both Milton Berle and writer Bob Schiller stated in The Lucy Book by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman, that for the ninth-season premiere, "Milton Berle Hides Out at The Ricardos", a live audience was brought in for some of the scenes to give a sense of timing).

While in production of the final episode, "Lucy Meets the Mustache", tensions between them were so high that Ball and Arnaz could not speak to each other without having loud arguments or shouting matches on set.

[4] Critics have generally regarded the series as a rather pallid continuation of I Love Lucy, with not enough of the original show's brisk pace and memorable sketchwork, and an excessive use of celebrity guest-stars.

With the new hour-long show, Desi Arnaz wanted to keep the famous I Love Lucy theme composed by Eliot Daniel, but with some changes.

Even though Wilbur Hatch was still musical conductor, studio musicians were employed to record the theme, as the Desi Arnaz Orchestra had been disbanded.

[citation needed] CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment) released the entire series of all thirteen Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour specials on DVD under the package name I Love Lucy: The Final Seasons 7-9 on March 13, 2007, in Region 1, and is presented with certain edits such as "The Celebrity Next Door" when Tallulah Bankhead remarks at the Ricardo's house about being allergic to strawberries (which is a plot point later in the episode) and digitally remastered.