in an awful spot with these shows; they've got to be good." Arnaz's determination to change scheduling formats went back several years, as far back as 1954. "When I first suggested it, CBS wouldn't listen. Last year (1956) again, they talked me into continuing with the weekly half-hour. But this time (1957) I made up my mind." Keeping the main plot line of the I Love Lucy program allowed Comedy Hour to retain the main cast. It also allowed Arnaz to drop any hint of continuity by releasing all of the I Love Lucy characters and substituting them with celebrity guest stars. That concept, which proved so successful during the program's Hollywood episodes in seasons 4 & 5, was what Arnaz had in mind when he commented "you can't stand still." Except for the main characters (still played by Ball, Arnaz, Vance, Frawley, and Thibodeaux) one character from I Love Lucy appeared on Comedy Hour: Lucy's mother Mrs. McGillicuddy as Little Ricky's babysitter, in "The Ricardos Go to Japan"; columnist Hedda Hopper played herself in "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana" as she had in the season 4 I Love Lucy episode "The Hedda Hopper Story." Arnaz believed the use of celebrity stars would allow him to demand higher fees, take some pressure off himself portraying Ricky Ricardo, and keep the "Lucy" concept fresh by encouraging continued ratings success. Although done during the last season of I Love Lucy, the move to Connecticut allowed the writers to expand possible script ideas as they had "used up every conceivable story line that could be set in the tiny New York apartment." Not noted publicly at the time, Arnaz was suffering serious health problems, and had been ordered by doctors to cut back on his work and acting schedule. When he entered into negotiations with CBS, for a seventh season of I Love Lucy, Arnaz insisted Desilu be allowed to change to the hour format and a monthly production schedule. CBS president William S. Paley would have sued Desilu had Arnaz's health not been an issue but instead agreed to the change. Arnaz quickly found a new sponsor for the 1957–1958 season: Ford Motor Company. Originally Comedy Hour was slated to produce 10 original episodes per season. However, due to high production costs Arnaz cut that to eight, then five episodes. Five were produced in season one (1957–1958) and season two (1958–1959)