The sitcom that revolutionized television in the 1950s in the United States was I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball and her husband, Cuban band leader and sometime actor, Desi Arnaz. It was the first scripted program ever to be performed in front of a studio audience, and to be recorded rather than broadcast live. I Love Lucy set the pattern for situation comedies for years to come. Ball and Arnaz played a married couple similar to themselves, but Lucy always got involved in crazy, comic situations. These often involved slapstick and physical humor.