Video: '"I LOVE LUCY" - Episode Spotlight: "The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub"'

(Monday, October 15, 1951, 9 p.m. EST) — I Love Lucy, an American television series often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms in history, debuted tonight on CBS.

The show starred Lucille Ball, her then real-life husband Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley.

It followed the life of Lucy Ricardo (Ball), a young middle-class housewife in New York City, who often concocted plans with her best friends Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vance and Frawley) to appear alongside her bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz) in his nightclub, trying numerous schemes to mingle with, or be a part of show business.

Video: 'Top 10 Classic I Love Lucy Moments'

I Love Lucy became the most-watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons, and it was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings.

The show, which was the first scripted television program to be shot on 35mm film in front of a studio audience, by cinematographer Karl Freund, won five Emmy Awards and received numerous nominations and honors.

As of 2011, episodes of the show have been syndicated in dozens of languages across the world and remain popular with an American audience of 40 million each year.