Ball's Role in The Company
Ball's contribution was more on the artistic side. Ball had developed a sense for making many Desilu program proposals which would be popular to broad audiences and be successful in both their original broadcast and syndication re-runs. Before starring in I Love Lucy Ball had starred in many "B" movies before helping start Desilu Productions, and based on that experience, she had a good idea of what television audiences wanted.
High quality (i.e., high cost), original production concepts (such as The Untouchables or Star Trek) were approved by Ball for development into broadcast series. She assessed proposed projects based on how the public would enjoy the production and their potential for long-term acceptance and enjoyment. This ensured a profitable revenue stream from the programs through re-runs, which would recover the studio's initially high development and production costs. As a result, even decades after the absorption of Desilu Productions, and the production end of all of the original television series Desilu approved for development, the series have all achieved enduring success and redevelopment into feature length motion picture franchises in their own right, or both (e.g., Star Trek, Mission Impossible, and The Untouchables).
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