syndication

Before streaming, actors would receive payment when a popular show went into syndication.

But it still managed to have an afterlife without one, as fans obsessively continued to watch it in syndication or on streaming platforms.

In the recent reruns that have aired on CBS and in syndication, viewers heard an occasional joke about the Bush administration or a plug for a comic’s MySpace address.

Its final episode aired in 1998, but the series has been broadcast continuously since then, first in syndication and then through streaming.

“I Love Lucy” was filmed before a live studio audience using multiple synchronized cameras, innovations that paved the way for both massively profitable syndication and future sitcoms.