Pregnancies, like the sharing of beds by couples, even married ones, were taboo to TV networks in the 1950s – and this was in the days before the FCC or Parents Television Council crackdowns. Despite a few brave pioneering souls, the major shows eschewed anything related to couples coupling, which became a significant problem when Lucy Arnaz, start of the I Love Lucy television show, became pregnant herself.

On this day, December 8, in 1952, the I Love Lucy episode titled “Lucy Is Enceinte,” using the French word for “pregnant,” first aired, marking the first major television show to acknowledge pregnancy.

Lucy’s was not the first recorded pregnancy – that distinction went to the Mary Kay and Johnny show, coincidentally also the first one to show a couple sharing a bed – both trends the I Love Lucy producers chose not to pursue. Every effort was made to hide or euphemize her condition – words like “showing” were used at first, followed by “expecting.” The French translation was about as daring as they felt they could go at that age.