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The Curious Animosity of Fred and Ethel Mertz

Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.

I Love Lucy would probably correctly be identified as being the most popular and beloved television series of all-time. And since it's debut on October 15, 1951, it is probably also the most watched.

Pre-production on the new sitcom wasn't really overly complex. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were set to play the show's main couple, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and there were only two others in the show's regular cast. These two being Lucy and Ricky's best friends and landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz.

Okay, let's start at the top- why the names? Where did the monikers Fred and Ethel Mertz come from? The name "Fred" comes from Lucille ball's brother, Fred. The "Ethel" was in honor of Lucy's longtime pal, the famed broadway and Hollywood star, Ethel Merman.

When the show's writers were trying to come up with an appropriate surname for the pair, they started batting around very silly names- like "Throttlebottom." It was writer Madelyn Pugh who came up with "Mertz," a name taken in honor of a doctor who lived down the block from her in her youth in Indianapolis.

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