A great investment
So, how much were they making for their acting efforts? A “measly” $4,000 per week, collectively. While Lucy was busy in front of the camera and making the audience hoot and holler, Desi was in the back, ensuring that they were going to get paid.
Desi would go on to make one of the wisest investment decisions in TV history. Back then, there were no such things as reruns. After the show ended, it was gone from the airwaves. So, Desi made sure that all 179 episodes of I Love Lucy belonged to them. When reruns became a thing, he sold the videos to CBS for millions. Now, that’s some forward thinking!