colored sets? Does it matter?

Are the walls and decor painted a special color/shade for black and white?

I doubt it, although I've seen claims that it matters.

For years in the 1950s we took black and white photos and people shot black and white home movies, and nobody had to watch out for certain colors. The film "sees" white, black, and gray shades.

On the other hand, when color came in, there seemed to be an effort to emphasize color, to show off the difference. So prior to that, when the art department has to paint a wall, did they paint it gray since it didn't make any difference? Possibly.

These real color photos from Lucy

https://www.decades.com/articles/11-rare-color-photos-from-the-set-of-i-love-lucy

tell me they went overboard when colorizing some episodes.

It actually matters a great deal. Colors show up differently on black and white film and not necessarily what you'd think. It's based on the wavelength of the light and the sensitivity of the film. You can also use various filters to change which colors show up lighter or darker.

I filmed a commercial using the original Honeymooners backdrop and the walls were a nondescript mousy tan.

I read on the internet (LOL) somewhere that the reason the Addams Family house living room set had lots of RED is it showed a better contrast in the black & White +- ?

off the net:
different colors showed up differently on B&W televisions. So while they didn't care about the colors looking "right" in-person, they had to consider how those colors would translate to black and white television.

I guess you can't compare it to black and white photos like I was trying to.

different colors showed up differently on B&W televisions. So while they didn't care about the colors looking "right" in-person, they had to consider how those colors would translate to black and white television.

The difference in the color of wall coverings between the stair way vs main room, is a good example of the reasons why I always heard it was considered "uneconomic" to make the transition to color programming.

They had painted themselves into a "corner" achieving effects that worked in B&W that would require a complete make over in color.

I read on the internet (LOL) somewhere that the reason the Addams Family house living room set had lots of RED is it showed a better contrast in the black & White +- ?

Here's another example that sort of serves to back up your relevant info -- prints that were struck for b & w TV airings of the old theatrical Fleischer and Paramount color animated cartoons are commonly seen with prominent red colors. Here is the reason, as stated at CartoonResearch.com:

"...in the 1950s and well into the 1960s, it was customary, when 16mm prints were being made up for broadcast television use, to accentuate the red in the printing process. He said that was necessary to make those color prints “read correctly” on the black & white equipment in use back then."

To this day, those "red" prints are commonly found on DVDs comprised of public domain cartoons.

tell me they went overboard when colorizing some episodes.Yes some of them look aweful.........

I read on the internet (LOL) somewhere that the reason the Addams Family house living room set had lots of RED is it showed a better contrast in the black & White +- ?

off the net:
different colors showed up differently on B&W televisions. So while they didn't care about the colors looking "right" in-person, they had to consider how those colors would translate to black and white television.

That's exactly why the directors of photography get the big bucks. There's special equipment to help filming in black and white and many tests are done to see how each element will show up in black and white.