''The Honeymooners'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

, and based on a recurring

comedy sketch Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...

of the same name that had been part of Gleason's

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

. It follows the lives of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

bus driver Ralph Kramden (Gleason), his wife Alice (

Audrey Meadows Audrey Meadows ( Cotter, February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress best known for her role as the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy ''The Honeymooners''. She was the younger sister of ...

), Ralph's best friend Ed Norton (

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best known for his role as Ed Norton on the si ...

) and Ed's wife Trixie (

Joyce Randolph Joyce Randolph ( Sirola; October 21, 1924) is an American actress, best known for playing Trixie Norton on the television sitcom ''The Honeymooners''. Early life and career Randolph was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 21, 1924. As a teena ...

) as they get involved with various schemes in their day-to-day living. Most episodes revolve around Ralph's poor choices in absurd dilemmas which frequently show his judgmental attitude in a comedic tone. The show occasionally features more serious issues such as

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

and social status. The sketches first aired on the DuMont network's variety series ''Cavalcade of Stars'', which Gleason hosted, and subsequently on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

network's ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

'' which was broadcast live in front of a theater audience. The popularity of the sketches led Gleason to rework ''The Honeymooners'' as a filmed half-hour series which debuted on 1 October 1955 on CBS, replacing the variety series. It was initially a ratings success as the No. 2 show in the United States, facing stiff competition from ''The Perry Como Show'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. Gleason's show eventually dropped to No. 19, and production ended after 39 episodes (now referred to as the "Classic 39 episodes"). The final episode of ''The Honeymooners'' aired on 22 September 1956, and Gleason sporadically revived the characters until 1978. ''The Honeymooners'' was one of the first U.S. television shows to portray working-class married couples in a gritty, non-idyllic manner, as the show is mostly set in the Kramdens' kitchen in a neglected

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

apartment building.Conner (2010)
Sitcoms Often Reinforce Racial Ethnic Stereotypes
One of the sponsors of the show was Buick.

Cast and characters

The majority of ''The Honeymooners'' episodes focus on four principal characters and generally use fixed sets within their Brooklyn apartment building. Although various secondary characters make multiple appearances and occasional exterior shots are incorporated during editing, virtually all action and dialogue is "on stage" inside the normal backdrop.

Ralph Kramden

Played by

—a bus driver for the fictional Gotham Bus Company based in New York City. He is never seen driving a bus (except in publicity photos), but he sometimes is shown at the bus depot. Ralph is frustrated by his lack of success and often develops

get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century. Most schemes create an impression that part ...

s. He is very short-tempered, frequently resorting to bellowing, insults, and hollow threats. Well hidden beneath the many layers of bluster, however, is a softhearted man who loves his wife and is devoted to his best pal, Ed Norton. Ralph enjoys bowling and playing pool; he's proficient at both, and he is an enthusiastic member of the Loyal Order of Raccoons (although in several episodes, a blackboard at the lodge lists his dues as being in arrears). Ralph's mother rarely is mentioned, although she does appear in one episode. Ralph's father is only mentioned in one episode ("Young Man with a Horn") as having given Ralph a cornet he learned to play as a boy, and Ralph insists on keeping the cornet when Alice suggests it be thrown away. The Ralph character was given honorary membership in the real New York City bus drivers' union (Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union) during the run of the show, and a Brooklyn bus depot was named in Gleason's honor after his death. Ralph Kramden was the inspiration for the animated character

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintsto ...

.Fischer, Stuart ''Kids' TV: The First Twenty-Five Years'' "The Flintstones" An eight-foot-tall bronze statue of a jolly Jackie Gleason in the bus driver's uniform was also erected in 1999 in front of Manhattan's midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal.

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

funded the statue in cooperation with Gleason's estate and the Port Authority.

Alice Kramden

Alice ( née Alice Gibson), played in the first nine skits from 1951 to January 1952 by Pert Kelton, and by

for all remaining episodes, is Ralph's patient but sharp-tongued wife of 14 years. She often finds herself bearing the brunt of Ralph's tantrums and demands, which she returns with biting sarcasm. She is levelheaded, in contrast to Ralph's pattern of inventing various schemes to enhance his wealth or his pride. She sees his schemes' unworkability, but he becomes angry and ignores her advice (and by the end of the episode, her misgivings almost always prove correct). She has grown accustomed to his empty threats—such as "One of these days, POW!!! Right in the kisser!", "BANG, ZOOM!" or "You're going to the Moon!"— to which she usually replies, "Ahhh, shaddap!" Alice runs the finances of the Kramden household, and Ralph frequently has to beg her for money to pay for his lodge dues or crazy schemes. Alice studied to be a secretary before her marriage and works briefly in that capacity when Ralph is laid off.

Wilma Flintstone Wilma Flintstone is a fictional character in the television animated series ''The Flintstones''. Wilma is the red-headed woman married to caveman Fred Flintstone, daughter of Pearl Slaghoople, and mother of Pebbles Flintstone. Her best friend is ...

is based on Alice Kramden. Another

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

for Ralph is Alice's mother, who is even sharper-tongued than her daughter and despises Ralph as a bad provider. Alice's father is occasionally mentioned, but never seen. Alice's sister Agnes appears in episode 22, "Here Comes The Bride". (Ralph jeopardizes his newlywed sister-in-law's marriage after giving some bad advice to the groom, but it all works out in the end). Ralph and Alice lived with her mother for six years after getting married before they got their own apartment. In a 1967 revival, Ralph refers to Alice (played by Sheila MacRae in 1966–70 and once more in 1973) as being one of 12 children, and to her father as never working. ''The Honeymooners'' originally appeared as a sketch on the

DuMont Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

's ''Cavalcade of Stars'', with the role of Alice played by Pert Kelton (1907–1968). When his contract with DuMont expired, Gleason moved to the CBS network where he had ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', and the Alice role went to Audrey Meadows because Kelton had been blacklisted. According to playwright

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

, a family friend, writing many years later in his autobiography ''Timebends: A Life'', extensive inquiries finally revealed that her blacklisting was due to the fact that her husband Ralph had, many years earlier, marched in a May Day parade. “Ralph, I knew, had absolutely no leftist connections whatever but had simply thrown himself in with a gang of actors protesting whatever it was that year, and Pert had never even voted in her life”. The character's name is mentioned in the 1998 American stoner comedy film ''

Half Baked ''Half Baked'' is a 1998 American stoner comedy film starring Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Harland Williams, and Guillermo Díaz. The film was directed by Tamra Davis, co-written by Chappelle and Neal Brennan and produced by Robert Simonds. ...

'' in the lyrics to the song by the movie's character “Sir Smoka-Alot”.

Edward Lillywhite/Ethelbert "Ed" Norton

Played by

; a New York City municipal sewer worker and Ralph's best friend (and upstairs neighbor). He is considerably more good-natured than Ralph, but nonetheless trades insults with him on a regular basis. Ed (typically called "Norton" by Ralph and sometimes by his own wife, Trixie) often gets mixed up in Ralph's schemes. His carefree and rather dimwitted nature usually results in raising Ralph's ire, while Ralph often showers him with verbal abuse and throws him out of the apartment when Ed irritates him. In most episodes, Ed is shown to be better-read, better-liked, more worldly and more even-tempered than Ralph, despite his unassuming manner and the fact that he usually lets Ralph take the lead in their escapades. Ed and Ralph both are members of the fictional Raccoon Lodge. Like Ralph, Ed enjoys and is good at bowling and playing pool. Ed worked for the New York City sewer department, and described his job as a "Sub-supervisor in the sub-division of the department of subterranean sanitation, I just keep things moving along." He served in the U.S. Navy in World War 2, and used his G.I. Bill money to pay for typing school, but felt he was unable to work in an office because he hated working in confined spaces. The relatively few scenes set in the Norton apartment showed it to have the same layout as the Kramdens' but more nicely furnished. Though Norton makes the same weekly $62 salary as Ralph (roughly $ in current dollars), their higher standard of living might be explained by Norton's freer use of credit; at one point he admits to having 19 charge accounts. Ed is the inspiration for Barney Rubble in ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

,'' and for

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

(in terms of design, clothing, and mannerisms). In 1999, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' ranked him 20th on its list of the "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time." According to ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'', Norton is ranked 8th of the "greatest sidekicks ever."

Thelma "Trixie" Norton

Played most famously by

; Ed's wife and Alice's best friend. She did not appear in every episode and had a less developed character, though she is shown to be somewhat bossy toward her husband. In one episode, she surprisingly is depicted as a pool hustler. On another episode, Ralph insults Trixie by making a reference to Minsky's (a famous New York City burlesque theater; the original Trixie character was an ex-burlesque dancer). There are a few references to Trixie's burlesque background in the lost episodes (e.g., Norton: "Every night I'd meet her backstage and hand her a rose ... . It was her costume!"). Randolph played Trixie as an ordinary, rather prudish, housewife, complaining to her husband on one occasion when a "fresh" young store clerk called her "sweetie pie." In a 1967 special, Trixie (played by Jane Kean from 1966–1970 and 1976–1978) resentfully denied Ralph's implications that she "worked in burlesque" to which he replied, "If the shoe fits, take it off." Trixie is the inspiration for

Betty Rubble Betty Rubble is a fictional character in the television animated series '' The Flintstones'' and its spin-offs and live-action motion pictures. She is the black-haired wife of caveman Barney Rubble and the adoptive mother of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. H ...

in ''The Flintstones''.

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...

was the first and original Trixie Norton in a ''Honeymooners'' sketch with

, and Pert Kelton. The ex-dancer character was rewritten and recast after just one episode with the more wholesome-looking Randolph playing the character as a housewife."Elaine Stritch Biography"
tcm.com, accessed August 31, 2009

Others

Some of the actors who appeared multiple times on the show include George O. Petrie and Frank Marth as various characters, Ethel Owen as Alice's mother, Zamah Cunningham as apartment building neighbor Mrs. Manicotti, and Cliff Hall as the Raccoon Lodge president. Ronnie Burns, son of

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...

and

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ...

, made a guest appearance on one episode. On another episode, Ed Norton makes a reference to a co-worker "Nat Birnbaum" (as in "'nat," a three-letter word for bug," says crossword puzzle aficionado Norton).

's real name was Nathan Birnbaum.

The apartment house

The Kramdens and Nortons lived in an apartment house at 328 Chauncey Street in

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

, New York City, a nod to the fact that Jackie Gleason lived there after his family moved from his birthplace at 364 Chauncey Street. In the 1955 episode "A Woman's Work is Never Done," the address is referred to as 728 Chauncey Street. The landlord of the apartment house is Mr. Johnson. In the ''Honeymooners'' episodes taped from 1967 to 1970, the address of the apartment house changed to 358 Chauncey Street, and the number of the Kramden apartment is 3B. The actual 328 Chauncey Street is located in the

Stuyvesant Heights Stuyvesant may refer to: People * Peter Stuyvesant (1592–1672), the last governor of New Netherland * Peter Gerard Stuyvesant (1778–1847), lawyer, landowner and philanthropist. * Rutherfurd Stuyvesant (1843–1909), socialite and land develope ...

section of the borough, approximately eight miles northeast of the show's fictional location.

Apartment residents

* Mr. and Mrs. Manicotti: An older couple of Italian descent. * Tommy Manicotti: He played stickball and contracted the measles. He also left his water pistol in the Kramdens' apartment. * Garrity: A vocal upstairs neighbor with whom Ralph was frequently feuding. He fought with Ralph for disturbing the neighbors with practicing for ''

The $99,000 Answer ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...

'' quiz show. But showing some humor in other episodes, he accused Ralph of renting the tuxedo for his sister-in-law's wedding from an undertaker, and loved Ralph's joke about "sending a knight out on a dog like this." * Garrity Boy: He played stickball and contracted the measles. * Mrs. Bennett: Needed her radiator fixed when Ralph was the janitor. * Johnny Bennett: He played stickball, earned an apple for a home-run—and contracted the measles like the other boys. * Mrs. Doyle: Mother of Tommy Doyle. * Tommy Doyle: He was arrested for spending a $100 counterfeit bill that Ralph gave him to take his suits to the cleaners. * Mrs. Stevens: She gave Alice a box for hairpins that was made of matchsticks for Christmas which was the same exact gift Ralph was about to give her but he vastly overpaid for it and thought he had a great gift rather than an insignificant trinket for Alice. Alice gave Mrs. Stevens a kitchen thermometer. * Mrs. Olsen: She said that Ralph broke her Venetian blinds instead of repairing them when Ralph temporarily was the building janitor. * Mrs. Hannah: Needed her bathtub fixed when Ralph was the janitor. * Mrs. Fogerty: Accused Ralph of taking food out of her ice box when Ralph was the janitor. * Mrs. Schwartz: The apartment house blabbermouth who reported that the Kramdens had set the all-time lowest gas bill for the building. She also was curious to know if the house phone was able to connect to

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

when Ralph was the janitor. * Mr. Riley: Had a full garbage can that needed to be emptied when Ralph was the janitor. * Judy Connors: A teenager who did not want her father to meet a boy named Wallace, her date. * Tommy Mullins: A

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

service member who was home on leave for Christmas. * Carlos Sanchez: A

mambo Mambo most often refers to: * Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

dancer who works at night. * Mr. and Mrs. August Gunther: Former residents of the building. August hit it big with his doughnut business. * Mr. Johnson: The building's landlord. 328 Chauncey St

Plot

Most of ''The Honeymooners'' takes place in Ralph and Alice Kramden's small, sparsely furnished two-room apartment. Other settings used in the show included the Gotham Bus Company depot, the Raccoon Lodge, a neighborhood pool parlor, a park bench where Ralph and Ed occasionally meet for lunch, and on occasion the Nortons' apartment (always noticeably better-furnished than the Kramdens'). Many episodes begin with a shot of Alice in the apartment awaiting Ralph's arrival from work. Most episodes focus on Ralph's and Ed's characters, although Alice played a substantial role. Trixie played a smaller role in the series, and did not appear in every episode as did the other three. Each episode presented a self-contained story, which rarely carried over into a subsequent one. The show employed a number of standard sitcom clichés and plots, particularly those of

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgus ...

, get-rich-quick schemes, and comic misunderstanding. As to the occasional plot continuations, there were two such sequences—one concerning Ralph being sent to a psychiatrist because of "impatient" behavior during work that resulted in several passengers lodging complaints about his professional demeanor, and one that continued for two sequential shows in which Aunt Ethel visited and Ralph hatched a scheme to marry her off to the neighborhood butcher. The series presents Ralph as an

everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

and an

underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

who struggles to make a better life for himself and his wife, but who ultimately fails due to his own shortcomings. He, often along with Ed, devises a number of get-rich-quick schemes, none of which succeed. Ralph would be quick to blame others for his misfortune until it was pointed out to him where he had fallen short. Ralph's anger then would be replaced by short-lived remorse, and he would apologize for his actions. Many of these apologies to Alice ended with Ralph saying in a heartfelt manner, "Baby, you're the greatest," followed by a hug and kiss. In most episodes, Ralph's short temper got the best of him, leading him to yell at others and to threaten comical physical violence, usually against Alice. Ralph's favorite threats to her were "One of these days ... One of these days ... Pow! right in the kisser!" or to knock her "to the Moon, Alice!" (Sometimes this last threat was simply abbreviated: as "Bang, zoom!") On other occasions, Ralph simply told Alice, "Oh, are you gonna get yours." All of this led to criticism, more than 40 years later, that the show displayed an ironic acceptance of domestic violence. But Ralph never carried out his threats, and others have pointed out that Alice knew he never would because of their deep love for each other. In retaliation, the targets of Ralph's verbal abuse often responded by simply joking about his weight, a common theme throughout the series. Incidentally, Alice never was seen to back down during any of Ralph's tirades. For the "Classic 39" episodes of ''The Honeymooners'', there was no continuing story arc. Each episode is self-contained. For example, in the series premiere episode "TV Or Not TV," Ralph and Norton buy a television set with the intent to share it. By the next week's show, the set is gone although in later episodes a set is shown in the Nortons' apartment. In the installment "The Baby Sitter," the Kramdens get a telephone, but in the next episode, it is gone. And, in the episode, "A Dog's Life," Alice gets a dog from the pound which Ralph tries to return. But, in the end, Ralph finds himself growing to love the dog and decides to keep it along with a few other dogs. However, in the next episode, the dogs are nowhere to be seen and are never referred to again. Occasionally, references to earlier episodes were made, including to Ralph's various "crazy harebrained schemes" from the lost episodes. Norton's

sleepwalking Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism or noctambulism, is a phenomenon of combined sleep and wakefulness. It is classified as a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. It occurs during slow wave stage of sleep, in a state of lo ...

in "The Sleepwalker" was referenced in "Oh My Aching Back." But, it was not until the 1967 "Trip To Europe" shows that a ''Honeymooners'' story arc is finally used.

History

Origins

In July 1950, Jackie Gleason took over as the host of ''Cavalcade of Stars'', a variety show that aired on the struggling DuMont Television Network. After the first year, he and his writers

Harry Crane Harry Crane (April 23, 1914 – September 13, 1999) was an American comedy writer who helped to create the concept for ''The Honeymooners'' and its signature characters.''New York Times'': "Harry Crane, 85, Who Helped Create 'The Honeymooners'" by Nick Ravo
Monday September 20, 1999''Variety'': "Harry Crane" by Doug Galloway
September 16, 1999 developed a sketch that drew upon familiar domestic situations for its material. Based on the popular radio show ''

The Bickersons ''The Bickersons'' was a radio comedy sketch series that began September 8, 1946, on NBC, moving the following year to CBS where it continued until August 28, 1951. The show's married protagonists, portrayed by Don Ameche (later by Lew Parker) a ...

'', Gleason wanted a realistic portrayal of life for a poor husband and wife living in

, his home borough. The couple would continually argue, but ultimately show their love for each other. After rejecting titles such as "The Beast," "The Lovers," and "The Couple Next Door," Gleason and his staff settled on "The Honeymooners." Gleason took the role of Ralph Kramden, a blustery bus driver, and he chose veteran comedy movie actress Pert Kelton for the role of Alice Kramden, Ralph's acerbic and long-suffering wife. "The Honeymooners" made its debut on October 5, 1951, as a six-minute sketch. Ensemble cast member

made a brief appearance as a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

who gets hit with flour Ralph had thrown out the window. The tone of these early sketches was much darker than the later series, with Ralph exhibiting extreme bitterness and frustration with his marriage to an equally bitter and argumentative middle-aged woman (Kelton was nine years older than Gleason). The Kramdens' financial struggles mirrored those of Gleason's early life in Brooklyn, and he took great pains to duplicate on set the interior of the apartment where he grew up (right down to his boyhood address of 328 Chauncey Street). The Kramdens—and later the Nortons when those characters were added—are childless, an issue only occasionally explored, but a condition on which Gleason insisted. Ralph and Alice did legally adopt a baby girl whom they named Ralphina (because he actually wanted a baby boy he could name after himself but fell in love with the baby girl the agency had placed with them). However, the biological mother requested to have her baby returned, and the agency asked whether the Kramdens would be willing to do so even though they were the legal parents. Ralph agreed and stated that they would visit her and she would have a real-life Santa Claus every Christmas. A few later skits had Ralph mistakenly believe for a while that Alice was pregnant. Early cast additions in later sketches were upstairs neighbors Ed and Trixie Norton. Ed (Carney) was a sewer worker and Ralph's best friend, although his innocent and guileless nature was the source of many arguments between the two. Trixie (maiden name never mentioned), Ed's wife, originally portrayed by

as a burlesque dancer, but was replaced after just one appearance by the more wholesome-looking

. Trixie is a foil to Ed, just as Alice is for Ralph, but derivatively, and almost always off-screen. Due in part to the colorful array of characters Gleason invented (including the cast of ''The Honeymooners''), ''Cavalcade of Stars'' became a huge success for DuMont. It increased its audience share from nine to 25 percent. Gleason's contract with DuMont expired in the summer of 1952, and the financially struggling network (which suffered through ten layoffs from July through October 1953) was unable to re-sign him so he moved on to CBS.

Move to CBS

president

William S. Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System ( CBS) from a small radio network into ...

in July 1952 made sure the cast of the former DuMont ensemble that was becoming ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' embarked on a highly successful five-week promotional tour across the United States, performing a variety of musical numbers and sketches (including the popular "Honeymooners"). However, actress Pert Kelton who played Alice Kramden and other roles, was blacklisted at the time and was replaced on the tour by '' Beulah'' actress Ginger Jones, who subsequently also was blacklisted (having earlier been named on the ''Red Channels'' blacklist) by CBS. All this political maneuvering meant yet another new Alice was needed.
Gleason honeymooners 1965

Jones's replacement was

, known for her work in the 1951 Broadway musical '' Top Banana'' and on the

Bob and Ray Bob and Ray were an American comedy duo whose career spanned five decades, composed of comedians Bob Elliott (1923–2016) and Ray Goulding (1922–1990). The duo's format was typically to satirize the medium in which they were performing, suc ...

television show. However, before being cast for CBS, Meadows had to overcome Gleason's reservations about her being too attractive to make a credible Alice. To accomplish this, she hired a photographer to come to her apartment early in the morning and take pictures of her wearing no make-up, clad in a torn housecoat, and with her hair undone. When the pictures were delivered to Gleason, he looked at them and said, "That's our Alice." When it was explained who it was, Gleason reportedly said, "Any dame who has a sense of humor like that deserves the job." With the addition of Meadows the now-iconic "Honeymooners" lineup of Gleason, Carney, Meadows, and Randolph was in place. The rising popularity of ''The Honeymooners'' was reflected in its increasing prominence of the sketches as part of ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' variety lineup. During the first season, it appeared on a regular basis (although not weekly) as a series of short sketches ranging in length from seven to thirteen minutes. For the 1953–54 season, the shorter sketches were outnumbered by ones that ran for a half-hour or longer. Playing off its growing popularity, during the 1954–55 season most episodes of ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' consisted entirely of ''The Honeymooners''. Fan response became overwhelming. Meadows received hundreds of

curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fa ...

s and

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

s in the mail from fans who wanted to help Alice lead a fancier life. By January 1955, ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' was competing with—and sometimes beating—''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along wit ...

'' as the most-watched TV show in the United States. Audience members lined up around the block hours in advance to attend the show.

The "Classic 39" episodes

The "Classic 39" episodes of ''The Honeymooners'' are the ones that originally aired as a weekly half-hour sitcom on CBS from October 1955 to September 1956. Before Gleason's initial three-year contract with CBS expired, he was offered a much larger one by CBS and General Motors' Buick division (the carmaker having dropped their sponsorship of Milton Berle's '' Buick-Berle Show'' after two seasons on NBC). The three-year contract, reportedly valued at $11 million, was at the time one of the largest in show business history. It called for Gleason to produce 78 filmed episodes of ''The Honeymooners'' over two seasons, with an option for a third season of 39 more. He was scheduled to receive $65,000 for each episode ($70,000 per episode in the second season), but had to pay all production costs out of that amount. Art Carney received $3,500 per week, Audrey Meadows $2,000, and Joyce Randolph (who did not appear in every episode) $500 per week. Production for ''The Honeymooners'' was handled by Jackie Gleason Enterprises Inc., which also produced the show's lead-in, ''Stage Show'', which starred

The Dorsey Brothers The Dorsey Brothers were an American studio dance band, led by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording in 1928 for OKeh Records. History The Dorsey Brothers recorded songs for the dime store labels (Banner, Cameo, Domino, Jewel, Oriole, ...

. Reportedly, only Audrey Meadows, who later became a banker, received residuals when the "Classic 39" episodes were rebroadcast in syndicated reruns. Her brother Edward, a lawyer, had inserted language to that effect into her contract. However, Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton, did receive royalty payments when the "lost" ''Honeymooners'' episodes from the variety shows were released. The first episode of the new half-hour series aired on Saturday, October 1, 1955, at 8.30 pm

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

(during prime time), opposite ''

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ...

'' on ABC and ''

The Perry Como Show Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signin ...

'' on

. Because it was sponsored by Buick, the opening credits originally ended with a sponsor identification by announcer

Jack Lescoulie Jack Lescoulie (November 17, 1912 – July 22, 1987) was a radio and television announcer and host, notably on NBC's ''Today'' during the 1950s and 1960s; a newspaper source lists his date of birth as May 17, 1912. Lescoulie was also known for h ...

("Brought to you by ... your Buick dealer. And, away we go!"), and the show concluded with a brief Gleason sales pitch for the company, all common practices at the time. However, all references to the carmaker were removed when the show entered syndication in 1957, although "And, away we go!" was a phrase Gleason frequently used in various shows and is inscribed at his gravesite as his memorial catchphrase. The initial critical reaction to the half-hour sitcom ''Honeymooners'' was mixed. ''The New York Times'' and ''Broadcasting & Telecasting Magazine'' wrote that it was "labored" and lacked the spontaneity of the live sketches. But ''

'' praised it as "rollicking," "slapsticky" and "fast-paced." In February 1956, the show was moved to the 8 p.m. (EST) timeslot, but already had begun losing viewers to the hugely popular ''Perry Como Show''. Gleason's writers also had begun to feel confined by the restrictive half-hour format—in previous seasons, ''Honeymooners'' sketches typically ran 35 minutes or more—and Gleason felt they were beginning to run out of original ideas. So, after just one season, Gleason and CBS agreed to cancel ''The Honeymooners'', which aired its 39th and last original episode on September 22, 1956. In explaining his decision to end the show with $7 million remaining on his contract Gleason said, "The excellence of the material could not be maintained, and I had too much fondness for the show to cheapen it.” Gleason subsequently sold the films of the "Classic 39" episodes of the show to CBS for $1.5 million.

Production

In 1955, many television shows (including ''The Jackie Gleason Show'') were performed live and recorded using

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 194 ...

technology, though sitcoms already largely were recorded on film, e.g., ''

Amos 'n' Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio show ...

'', ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

'', ''

My Little Margie ''My Little Margie'' is an American television situation comedy starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell that alternated between CBS and NBC from 1952 to 1955. The series was created by Frank Fox and produced in Los Angeles, California, at Hal Ro ...

'', and ''

I Married Joan ''I Married Joan'' is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It starred actress Joan Davis as the manic, scatterbrained wife of a mild-mannered community judge (Jim Backus). Synopsis The show, whose syndicated ope ...

''. ''

'', which was recorded directly onto 35mm film, had influenced television production companies to produce directly on film. For ''The Honeymooners'', Gleason utilized the Electronicam TV-film system, developed by DuMont in the early 1950s, which allowed for a live performance to be directly captured on film. As a result of the superior picture and sound quality afforded by the system, episodes of ''The Honeymooners'' were much more suitable for rebroadcast than were most other "live" shows of the era. All 39 episodes of ''The Honeymooners'' were filmed at the DuMont Television Network's

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

at 152 West 54th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, in front of an audience of 1,000. Episodes were never fully rehearsed because Gleason felt rehearsals would rob the show of its spontaneity. A result was that, while the cast was able to bring a fresh approach to the material, mistakes often were made. Lines either were recited incorrectly or altogether forgotten, and actors did not always follow the scripted action directions. To compensate, the cast developed visual cues for each other. For example, Gleason patted his stomach when he forgot a line, while Meadows would glance at the icebox when someone else was supposed to retrieve something from it. In contrast to other popular comedies of the era (such as ''

Father Knows Best ''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by ...

'', '' Leave It to Beaver'', and ''

''), which depicted their characters in comfortable,

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...

suburban environments,

Richard Rychtarik Waslav Richard Rychtarik (July 20, 1894 — July 10, 1982"Richard Rychtarik, 87, Designer of Stage Sets," ''New York Times'' (July 12, 1982), page A12.) was a Czech-born American set and costume designer. His significance was in his efforts to bring ...

's set design for ''The Honeymooners'' reflected the

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and power ...

existence of its characters. The Kramdens lived in a small, painfully sparsely furnished two-room apartment (the main set) in a tenement building at least four stories high (the Kramdens were on the third floor and the Nortons' were one floor above them), badly aired and with insufficient lighting. They used the single main room as the

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running wate ...

, dining and living room. It consisted of a functional table and chairs, a plain chest of drawers, a curtainless window with a view of a

fire escape A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency th ...

, a noisy sink, and an outdated

icebox An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. Before the development of electric refrige ...

. The Kramdens' bedroom never was seen, although in the episode about Ed Norton's sleepwalking the Nortons' bedroom is. One of the few other sitcoms about a blue-collar family was ''

The Life of Riley ''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. Radio The radio program initially aired on the Blue Network (later kn ...

'', whose first season (1949–50) had featured Jackie Gleason in the lead role, although veteran movie actor

William Bendix William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered for his role in ''Wake Island'', which earned him an Academy ...

, who had originated the role of Chester A. Riley on the radio show, thereafter took over the role on television. The instrumental

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for ''The Honeymooners'', called "You're My Greatest Love," was composed by Gleason and performed by an orchestra led by Ray Bloch—who previously had been the orchestra leader on Gleason's variety show, as well as ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...

''. Although lyrics were composed, they were never sung. Sammy Spear, who later became Gleason's musical director, provided the arrangement. The music heard in the episodes was not performed during the show, so to enhance the feeling of a live performance for the studio audience an orchestra performed before filming and during breaks. The show's original announcer was

, who also was a spokesman for the sponsor, Buick. For the non-sponsored syndicated version, the introduction was voiced by CBS staff announcer Gaylord Avery.

Revivals

On September 29, 1956, one week after ''The Honeymooners'' ended as a weekly 30-minute series, ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' returned. The "Honeymooners" were brought back as part of the revived variety show. Many of these episodes were, for the first time, produced as original musicals with music and lyrics by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler. The stories featured the Kramdens and Nortons touring Europe after winning a contest. Live musicals had become extremely popular on live television in the mid-fifties due to the success of the 1954 and 1955 live broadcasts of

Mary Martin Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in '' South Pacific'' (194 ...

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

as well as several Max Leibman original musicals. In 1959, ''TV Guide'' magazine mentioned Gleason's interest in producing new ''Honeymooners'' shows. This did not happen for several years, but he did team up with Art Carney to revive an old Honeymooners scene for an October 1960 CBS special called ''The Big Sell'', poking fun at US salespeople. After the spectacular failure of Gleason's 1961 game show '' You're in the Picture'', and the relative success of the eight-episode talk show that Gleason used to fill its time slot, Gleason's variety show returned in 1962 under the title ''Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine''. The "Honeymooners" sketches returned as part of that show whenever Carney was available. However, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph were replaced as Alice and Trixie by Sue Ane Langdon and Patricia Wilson, respectively, for two sketches. In January 1966, Meadows again returned on Gleason's ''

American Scene Magazine ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

'' variety series as Alice for ''The Honeymooners: The Adoption'', a re-enactment of a 1955 non-musical sketch of the same name with original songs added by Duddy and Bresler. When ''

'', by then based in Gleason's relocated headquarters in Miami Beach, Florida, returned in 1966, the "Honeymooners" sketches, in color for the first time, featured Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean in, respectively, the roles of Alice and Trixie, because Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph declined to relocate to Miami. Gleason raised no objections to recasting but was adamant that the Ed Norton role never be played by anyone other than Art Carney. The 1966 videotaped ''Honeymooners'' were also musical episodes, covering 10 of the first season's thirty-two shows. Most of these were updated remakes of 1956-57 musical episodes with songs by Duddy and Bresler, expanded with new material. These programs were syndicated for local stations as ''The Honeymooners Go To Europe'' and released on DVD as ''The Color Honeymooners'', the latter being the general term assigned to them. One notable 1967 segment featured the return of Pert Kelton (in one of her last performances before her death in 1968 of heart disease at the age of 61), but this time she played Alice's mother, Mrs. Gibson. ''The Honeymooners'' ended again when CBS announced the cancellation of ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' on February 16, 1970, the result of a disagreement in direction between Gleason and the network. Gleason wanted to continue interspersing "The Honeymooners" within the confines of his regular variety show, while CBS wanted a full-hour "Honeymooners" every week. (CBS's ongoing effort to move its product toward younger audiences and away from established variety show stars was another potential factor in the show's demise.) On October 11, 1973, Gleason, Carney, MacRae and Kean reunited for a "Honeymooners" skit called "Women's Lib" as part of a Gleason special on CBS. The Kramdens and Nortons were brought back for four final one-hour specials on ABC, which aired from 1976 to 1978. Alongside Gleason and Carney, Audrey Meadows returned as Alice. Meanwhile, Jane Kean continued to play Trixie. (

, the actress most identified as Trixie, never played the part again after the 1950s.) These four specials came at a time when Gleason and Carney were each achieving new-found expanded fame, with Gleason's prominent role in the box office smash ''

Smokey and the Bandit ''Smokey and the Bandit'' is a 1977 American road action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams and Mike Henry. The directorial debut of stuntman Hal Needham, the film follows ...

'' and Carney winning an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for his leading role in ''

Harry and Tonto ''Harry and Tonto'' is a 1974 road movie written by Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfeld and directed by Mazursky. It features Art Carney as Harry in an Oscar-winning performance. Tonto is his pet cat. Plot Harry Coombes (Art Carney) is an elderly ...

'', which brought some more attention to these series of specials. These were the final original "Honeymooners" productions.

Awards

Art Carney won five Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Ed Norton—two for the original ''Jackie Gleason Show'', one for ''The Honeymooners'', and two for the final version of ''The Jackie Gleason Show''. He was nominated for another two (in 1957 and 1966), but lost. Gleason and Meadows both were nominated in 1956 for their work on ''The Honeymooners''. Gleason was nominated for Best Actor–Continuing Performance, but lost to

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popu ...

, while Meadows was nominated for Best Actress-Supporting Role but lost to

Nanette Fabray Nanette Fabray (born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Theresa Fabares; October 27, 1920 – February 22, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and became a musical-theatre actress dur ...

. Meadows also was nominated for Emmys for her portrayal of Alice Kramden in 1954 and 1957. The following table summarizes award wins by cast members, both for ''The Honeymooners'' and ''The Jackie Gleason Show''.

Broadcast history

Episodes ("Classic 39")

Syndication and home media releases

''The Honeymooners'' gained its greatest fame in syndication, where it has aired continually since its original cancellation.

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship of Th ...

in New York City has aired the series for more than five decades (after initially running in 1957–1958 on WRCA-TV, which now is

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo stati ...

), with occasional brief breaks. It regularly airs on WPIX with a marathon that begins on the final hour of New Year's Eve and runs well into New Year's Day. In the United Kingdom it originally aired on ITV between 1958–1963. BBC Two aired 38 of the original 39 episodes beginning in 1989 and ending in 1991. The show also has aired in Australia,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and Suriname. It previously was seen on

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ra ...

from June 2008 to September 2009 and on

Me-TV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

from December 2010 to September 2011. In April 2012, the show returned to

. The show currently airs on the network on Sunday nights. In 1984, the Museum of Television and Radio announced the "discovery" of four original ''Honeymooners'' sketches from the original series ''The Jackie Gleason Show''. Later, when they held a public viewing for three of them the response was overwhelmingly positive. In January 1985, Gleason announced the release of an additional group of "lost" episodes from his private vault. As with the previously released sketches, these "lost episodes" actually were

s of sketches from the 1952–55, 1956–57 run of ''The Jackie Gleason Show''. Because the prints had not been stored under ideal conditions, parts of the soundtracks of three episodes were unusable, and the voices had to be redubbed. Gleason personally approved the soundalike actors, with noted voice actor Joe Alaskey providing Kramden's lines. Gleason sold the broadcast rights to the so-called "lost" episodes to Viacom, and they first were aired from 1985–1986 as a series of sixty-eight 22-minute episodes on the Showtime cable network. They since have joined the original 39 episodes in syndication, and also have been released on VHS and DVD. In September 2004, another "lost" episode reportedly was discovered at the Peabody Award archives in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. This episode, titled "Love Letter," originally aired on ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' on October 16, 1954. It aired for the first time since then on October 16, 2004, its 50th anniversary, on TVLand.

CBS Media Ventures CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glo ...

(the modern-day successor to Viacom), via CBS Broadcasting, owns the "Classic 39" series outright, while the Gleason estate owns the "lost episodes" (although CMV does distribute them).

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

CBS DVD CBS Home Entertainment (formerly CBS Video Enterprises, Inc., MGM/CBS Home Video, CBS/Fox Video and CBS Video, currently branded as CBS DVD for DVD releases and CBS Blu-ray for Blu-ray releases) is a home entertainment company owned by Paramoun ...

released the six-disc DVD box set ''The Honeymooners "Classic 39" Episodes'' in November 2003 (only available in Region 1). The set contains all 39 episodes from the series' original 1955–56 broadcast run. Also included in the set is an edited version of a 1990 anniversary special hosted by Audrey Meadows, as well as original show openings and closings sponsored by Buick that were removed when the show went into syndication. MPI Home Video released 80 of the "lost episodes" in Region 1 DVD format during 2001–02, spread out on 24 single-disc volumes. MPI subsequently re-packaged the 24 volumes into six 4-disc box sets. Both the 24 individual volumes and the six 4-disc box sets went out of print during the course of 2008. However, MPI has since renewed its deal with Jackie Gleason Enterprises LLC and has continued to release new editions of the "lost episodes" and other ''Honeymooners'' material not currently owned by CBS. On July 28, 2011, MPI Home Video announced the release of a completely restored set of all existing ''Honeymooners Lost Episodes'' from 1951 to 1957. The 50-hour, 15 DVD set would contain 107 ''Honeymooners'' sketches, included the home video debut of the nine existing original DuMont Network sketches, six other sketches never before released on home video and the eight musical ''Honeymooners'' episodes from 1957, which are collectively known as the "Trip To Europe" shows that have been long sought after by ''Honeymooners'' fans. The new restored set of ''Lost Episodes'' was released on October 4, 2011, sixty years after the first ''Honeymooners'' sketch aired. In June 2006, MPI Home Video released ''The Color Honeymooners – Collection 1'' (

NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...

and

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

), which collects the "Trip to Europe" story arc presented on ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' in 1966. It has since released an additional three volumes featuring additional episodes from this story arc. AmericanLife TV Network has also aired ''The Color Honeymooners'' shows under license from Gleason Enterprises and Paul Brownstein Productions. In May 2022, MPI Home Video released Jackie Gleason TV Treasures, which includes three never before released Honeymooners sketches from the early 1960's, the 1966 musical remake of The Adoption Honeymooners episode, and seven color Honeymooners episodes not included in previous Color Honeymooners Collections. Paramount and CBS Home Entertainment released the 39 episodes on Blu-ray Disc in March 2014. In Australia (Region 4), Shock Entertainment released "The Honeymooners - Classic 39 Episodes" 5-Disc Set in NTSC format on November 13, 2009, and a re-release on August 5, 2020.

Impact

Steven Sheehan explains the popularity of ''The Honeymooners'' as the embodiment of working-class masculinity in the character of Ralph Kramden, and postwar ideals in American society regarding work, housing, consumerism, and consumer satisfaction. The series visually demonstrated the burdens of material obligations and participation in consumer culture, as well as the common use of threats—even though ''The Honeymooners'' never showed or even hinted at actual violence—of domestic violence in working class households. * In 1997, the episodes "The $99,000 Answer" and "TV or Not TV" were respectively ranked No. 6 and No. 26 on " ''TV Guide''s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". * In 1999, ''

'' published a list titled "TV's 100 Greatest Characters Ever!" Ed Norton was No. 20, and Ralph Kramden was No. 2. * In 2002, ''The Honeymooners'' was listed at No. 3 on ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. * On June 1, 2007, FOX aired a ''TV's Funniest Moments'' special, in which a clip from the episode "The $99,000 Answer" was on the list. In the clip, Ralph lamely identifies the composer of " Swanee River" as being "Ed Norton". * In 2013, ''TV Guide'' ranked ''The Honeymooners'' No. 13 on their list of the 60 Greatest Shows of All Time. * The instrument used for Visible/

Infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

Imaging by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

on the '' New Horizons'' space probe was named after Ralph Kramden, in parallel to the Alice instrument (naming not related to the TV show) that was used on the ''Rosetta'' mission

Legacy

Due to its enduring popularity, ''The Honeymooners'' has been referenced numerous times in American pop culture, and has served as the inspiration for other television shows, most notably ''The Flintstones''. The show also introduced memorable

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

s into American culture, such as "Bang, zoom, straight to the Moon!", "One of these days... one of these days...," "Homina, homina, homina," and "Baby, you're the greatest".

''The Flintstones''

In 1960, the Hanna-Barbera-produced animated sitcom ''

'' debuted on ABC. Many critics and viewers noted the close resemblance of that show's premise and characters to that of ''The Honeymooners''. In various interviews over the years, creators and founders of their production company

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the anim ...

and Joseph Barbera each stated that ''The Honeymooners'' was one of the inspirations for ''The Flintstones''. Gleason later said that he considered suing, but decided that becoming known as "the guy who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air" was not worth the negative publicity. Historically, ''The Honeymooners'' itself was compared in its day to the similar comedy series The Bickersons as well as Laurel and Hardy (particularly Sons of the Desert), and while ''The Flintstones'' made no secret of hiring some of the writers and being inspired by the premise, ''The Flintstones'' original series and its spinoffs changed over the years, ultimately having more differences than similarities, starting with its setting and artistic approach.

Spoofs, parodies and importation

* In the '' Futurama'' episode "

The Series Has Landed "The Series Has Landed", also known as "Episode Two: The Series Has Landed", is the second episode of the first season of ''Futurama''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 4, 1999. The episode was written by Ken Kee ...

", Ralph Kramden is believed to have been an early astronaut, due to his catchphrase (which Fry protests was "a metaphor for beating his wife".) **In the episode " Spanish Fry" of the same show, Lrrr says, "One of these days, Ndnd, bang! zoom! straight to the third moon of Omicron Persei 8!!" * The ''

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job A side job, also informally called a side hustle or side gig, is an additional job that a person takes in addition to their primary job in order to supplement their income. Side jobs may be done out of nec ...

'' episode "A Trip To The Moon" contains a lengthy parody of ''The Honeymooners'' as ''The Bluemooners'', with

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

as Ralph,

Charles Rocket Charles Adams Claverie (August 28, 1949 – October 7, 2005), known by stage names Charlie Hamburger, Charlie Kennedy and Charles Rocket, was an American actor, comedian, musician, and television news reporter. He was a cast member on ''Saturda ...

as Norton,

Allyce Beasley Allyce Beasley ( Tannenberg) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as rhyming, love-struck receptionist Agnes DiPesto in the television series ''Moonlighting''. From 2001 to 2007, she was the announcer on Playhouse Disney, a mor ...

as Trixie, and

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

as Alice. * The sitcom ''

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, a total of nine seasons and 207 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who also served as the show ...

'' was partially inspired by ''The Honeymooners''. * The show was parodied in a series of animated '' Looney Tunes'' shorts, in which the principal characters, Ralph and Alice Crumden and Ned and Trixie Morton, are depicted as mice and Ralph's "big dream" is to get enough cheese to impress Alice. These cartoons are '' The Honey-Mousers'' (1956), '' Cheese It, the Cat!'' (1957), and '' Mice Follies'' (1960). The Sylvester and

Tweety Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...

short '' Red Riding Hoodwinked'' (1955) has the usually-cheerful Granny character taking on the role of blustery, female Ralph. Ralph and Ed are caricatured as train-riding hoboes and pitted against

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

in the 1956 Warner cartoon ''

Half-Fare Hare ''Half-Fare Hare'' is a 1956 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. The short was released on August 18, 1956, and stars Bugs Bunny. Plot Bugs Bunny boards the Chattanooga Choo Choo and finds two hoboes who look an ...

''. And in another Sylvester-Tweety cartoon, ''

A Bird in a Bonnet ''A Bird in a Bonnet'' is a 1958 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc, Daws Butler and June Foray. The short was released on September 27, 1958, and stars Tweety and Sylv ...

'' (1958), when Sylvester falls into an open manhole, inside a voice like Ed Norton's says, "Whoo-hoo-hoo! Hey, look at this, Ralph, a pussycat." To which Sylvester simply peers out of the sewer to the audience. * The writer/comic Louis C.K. stated in an interview that he based the layout of Louie's apartment in the HBO show ''

Lucky Louie ''Lucky Louie'' is an American television sitcom created by Louis C.K., which aired on HBO in the U.S. for one season in 2006 — and in Canada on Movie Central, The Movie Network, and The Comedy Network. As the show's creator, writer and executi ...

'' on the Kramdens' apartment, in contrast to other shows such as ''

'' that have very nicely decorated apartments despite the characters' professed low incomes. * Stan Freberg created a brief audio skit titled "The Honeyearthers," in which Ralph, Alice, Norton, and Trixie are aliens living on the moon. In keeping with the 1950s ideas of what aliens would look like, they have two heads, one eye, one ear, four hands, three feet and antennae. Ralph drives a rocket ship and Norton works in a "green cheese mine." At the end of the skit, Ralph offers to take Alice on a "honeyearth" to renew their marriage. *In ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...

'' (1985) Lorraine's (

Lea Thompson Lea Katherine Thompson (born May 31, 1961) is an American actress and director. She is best known for her role as Lorraine Baines-McFly in the ''Back to the Future'' film trilogy (1985–1990) and Beverly Switzler in '' Howard the Duck'' (1 ...

) father (

George DiCenzo George Ralph DiCenzo (April 21, 1940 – August 9, 2010) was an American actor, and one-time associate producer for ''Dark Shadows''. He was in the show business for over 30 years, with extensive film, TV, stage, and commercial credits. DiCenzo ...

) wheels their newly acquired television set in front of the family table, saying giddily: "Now we can watch Jackie Gleason while we eat!" – a reference to the TV series. Scenes from the episode "The Man from Space" are also shown even though that particular scene was set on November 5, 1955 – the day "The Sleepwalker" aired. * In the ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-loo ...

'' season 3 episode "High High" (where the Jump Street team is assigned to go undercover at a performing arts school), Doug Penhall cites ''The Honeymooners'' as one of his favorite shows growing up. Towards the end, he reenacts a scene from the episode "Young Man with a Horn" for acting class. * ''The Honeymooners'' was spoofed in an episode of '' Perfect Strangers'' as a result of the character Balki Bartoukomos ( Bronson Pinchot)'s spinning an extended metaphor about the characters' existential situation to an episode of ''The Honeymooners'' he had once seen; Balki's description of the episode is shown in a black-and-white flashback. * As Ralph Kramden was a New York City bus driver, one of the service depots in Brooklyn was renamed the

Jackie Gleason Bus Depot MTA Regional Bus Operations operates local and express buses serving New York City in the United States out of 29 bus depots. These depots are located in all five boroughs of the city, with the exception of one located in nearby Yonkers in Westch ...

in 1988. All buses that originate from the bus depot bear a sticker on the front that has a logo derived from the "face on the Moon" opening credits of ''The Honeymooners''. The MTA also took 1948 GM-TDH5101 bus number 4789, renumbered it to 2969 and made it the 'official Jackie Gleason bus'. * A statue of Gleason as Ralph Kramden stands at the Eighth Avenue entrance to the

Port Authority Bus Terminal The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving about 8,000 buse ...

in New York City. The plaque on the base of the statue reads, "Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden — Bus Driver — Raccoon Lodge Treasurer — Dreamer — Presented by the People of

" *The

Toronto Coach Terminal The Toronto Coach Terminal is a decommissioned bus station for intercity bus services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was the central intercity bus station in Toronto until mid-2021, when it was replaced by the Union Station Bus Termin ...

included a restaurant and bar named Kramden's Kafe from 1990 until 2013. * An episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'', "

The Ten-Per-Cent Solution "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" is the eighth episode of the The Simpsons (season 23), twenty-third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United Sta ...

", includes a fictional rip-off of ''The Honeymooners'' called ''The Adventures of Fatso Flannigan''. * In 2011, an adult parody titled ''The Honeymoaners'' was released by DreamZone Entertainment, with Peter O'Tole as Ralph and Anthony Rosano as Ed. Both actors also played Fred and Barney in ''The Flintstones – A XXX Parody'', an adult parody of the Flintstones, which have a resemblance to the show (as mentioned above). The plot of the parody is similar to the episode "The $99,000 Answer", only here the show is called "The $69,000 Answer" and Ralph is answering questions about sex. * ''The Honeymooners'' was spoofed in episode 22 of the first season of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' (then known as NBC's ''Saturday Night'') in a sketch featuring The Killer Bees (referenced as 'The Bees' in this particular episode).

John Belushi John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...

took the role of Ralph, with Gilda Radner as Alice, Dan Aykroyd as Norton, and

Jane Curtin Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedian. First coming to prominence as an original cast member on the hit TV comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for ...

as Trixie. * The first adult film parody of the show, ''Honeymooners'', premiered in 1976 and starred John Leslie as the Ralph Kramden character. * In 1988 Ron Jeremy led a cast of adult performers in the critically panned ''The Horneymooners''. * ''The Honeymooners'' was partly the inspiration for the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

series ''

Kenan and Kel ''Kenan & Kel'' is an American buddy comedy sitcom created by Kim Bass. The show originally aired on the Nickelodeon network for four seasons, from July 15, 1996, to July 15, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, the series follows mischievous Kenan ...

''.

Adaptations and remakes

The success of ''The Honeymooners'' in countries outside the United States has led to the production of new shows based entirely on it.

International remakes

Two series, 26 episodes in all were made for R.C.T.I. in 1996. It was the first sitcom of that style ever attempted in Indonesia. It was titled ''Detak Detik'' (''Ticking Seconds'') and starred Mat Sola as the Jackie Gleason character. Art Carney rang the cast prior to production to give them his best wishes. It was decided to make Mat Sola a Silver Bird taxi driver, as they had a bit more prestige in Indonesia. They left Nurbuat, who mirrored Ed Norton, as a sewerage worker. The chemistry worked well. The series had to remove any references to alcohol, as Indonesia is a country with a Muslim majority population.

French Canada was entertained for years in the 1960s and '70s by a sitcom titled ''Cré Basile'', with

Olivier Guimond Olivier Guimond ( fils; May 21, 1914 – November 29, 1971) was a Canadian actor and humorist. He is the father of voice actor Richard Darbois. Biography Early life Olivier Guimond came from a family of burlesque artists. At the beginning ...

Béatrice Picard Béatrice Picard, , (born July 3, 1929 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian actress whose career spans over six decades. She became known for her role as Angelina Desmarais in one of the first French Canadian "télé-roman" series called "Le surven ...

, Denis Drouin and

Amulette Garneau Amulette Garneau (August 11, 1928 – November 7, 2008) was a Canadian actress living in Quebec. She was born Huguette Laurendeau in Montreal and was educated at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, going on to study acting at the school of ...

, which was an uncredited Quebecois version of ''The Honeymooners''. It could, by contemporary standards, qualify as plagiarism.

In 1994, the Dutch broadcasting network KRO produced a version of ''The Honeymooners'' titled ''

Toen Was Geluk Heel Gewoon ''Toen Was Geluk Heel Gewoon'' (''Then Happiness Was Common'') was a popular Dutch sitcom broadcast on KRO from January 2, 1994 till June 3, 2009. It's a Dutch adaptation of the American sitcom ''The Honeymooners'' starring Gerard Cox Gerardu ...

'' (''Then happiness was common''), using translated scripts of the original series but changing its setting to 1950s

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

. After the original 39 scripts were exhausted, the series' lead actors, Gerard Cox and Sjoerd Pleijsier, took over writing, adding many new characters and references to Dutch history and popular culture. The series was a hit in the Netherlands and it finished its run after 16 years and 229 episodes in June 2009. The actors reprised their characters five years later in a feature-length movie.

In 1994, the Swedish network

TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to: *TV4 (Poland), a private Polish television station *TV4 (Sweden), a Swedish television network **TV4 Group, owners of the Swedish television station *South African Broadcasting Corporation TV4, a channel operated by the st ...

produced a version of ''The Honeymooners'' titled ''Rena Rama Rolf'', but changing its setting to modern-day Gothenburg, where Rolf (Ralph) is working as a

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

driver. The show ran until 1998.

In 1998, the Polish network

Polsat Polsat is a Polish free-to-air television channel that was launched on 5 December 1992 by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak. , it is the most watched television channel in Poland with a market share of 11.30% Polsat belongs to Grupa Polsat Plus ( WSECPS, wh ...

produced a version of ''The Honeymooners'' titled ''Miodowe lata'' which translates to "Honey years", using both translated scripts of the original series and new ones, but changing its setting to modern-day

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. The original series ran until 2003 and was continued in 2004 as ''Całkiem nowe lata miodowe''.

Comics

Vince Musacchia created a comic book series based on ''The Honeymooners'' for

Hypergraphics Hypergraphy, also called hypergraphics or metagraphics, is an experimental form of visual communication developed by the Lettrist movement. Hypergraphy abandons the phonetic values communicated by most conventional written languages in favor of ...

between 1987 and 1989.

Film

On June 10, 2005, a feature film remake of ''The Honeymooners'' was released, featuring a predominantly

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

cast. The roles of Ralph, Alice, Ed, and Trixie were played by

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He hosted BET's '' ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and '' Def Comedy Jam'' in 1995. He is ...

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That' ...

Mike Epps Michael Elliot Epps (born November 18, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Day-Day Jones in ''Next Friday'' and its sequel, ''Friday After Next'', and also appeared in ''The Hangover'' and '' The Hangover Part III'' as "Bl ...

, and

Regina Hall Regina Lee Hall (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Brenda Meeks in the comedy horror ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has since appeared in the television series '' Ally McBeal ...

, respectively. The movie was a critical and commercial failure, earning slightly more than US$13 million worldwide. The film was released by Paramount Pictures.

Video game

In 1988, First Row Software released a ''Honeymooners'' computer game for the Commodore 64 and

DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...

systems. The game involves the Kramdens and Nortons trying to earn $223 for train fare to Miami Beach, where Ralph wants to host the annual Raccoon Lodge convention, by playing a variety of mini-games related to the series. Additionally, players have the option of trying to double their money after each round by answering a ''Honeymooners''-related question in a bonus round based on "The $99,000 Answer" episode.

Reboots

In December 2016, a CBS reboot of ''The Honeymooners'' with Bob Kushell writing and executive producing the series was announced but it never came to fruition. Producers Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Eric & Kim Tannenbaum, and

Jeff Greenstein Jeff Greenstein is an American television writer, producer and director. Greenstein was the showrunner of ''Will & Grace'' and '' Dream On'', as well as on '' Partners'' and ''Getting Personal'', both of which he created. A member of the Write ...

were also announced as part of the development deal. In January 2022, a CBS reboot of ''The Honeymooners'' with Damon Wayans Jr. executive producing the series was announced.

Musical

In September 2017,

Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live i ...

produced the world-premiere of a musical adaptation of ''The Honeymooners'', starring Michael McGrath as Ralph,

Michael Mastro Michael R. Mastro (born June 1, 1925) is an American real estate developer, who was in business for forty years managing apartments and mid-size office parks in Seattle. He declared bankruptcy in 2009. Mastro and his wife, Linda, a former Bellev ...

as Ed,

Leslie Kritzer Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (born May 24, 1977) is an American singer and musical theatre actress. Life and career Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer was born in Manhattan and raised in Livingston, New Jersey. Her father is Jewish, and her mother is of Puer ...

as Alice, and

Laura Bell Bundy Laura Ashley Bell Bundy (born April 10, 1981) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for originating the Broadway roles of Amber Von Tussle in the musical version of '' Hairspray and'' Elle Woods in the musical version of ''Legall ...

as Trixie. The musical had a book by Dusty Kay and

Bill Nuss Bill Nuss is a TV writer and producer, who also writes for feature films and Broadway. He is President of Confidential Pictures, a Los Angeles-based production company that supplies primetime series to network, cable and streamers. With Dus ...

, with music by Stephen Weiner and lyrics by Peter Mills. It was directed by

John Rando John Rando is an American stage director who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for ''Urinetown the Musical'' in 2002. He received his 2nd nomination in the same category in 2015 for the 2014 Broadway revival of '' On the Town''. ...

and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse.The Honeymooners: September 28–October 29, 2017
. ''Paper Mill Playhouse''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Honeymooners, The 1955 American television series debuts 1956 American television series endings 1950s American sitcoms American television spin-offs Black-and-white American television shows Brooklyn in fiction CBS original programming Culture of Brooklyn English-language television shows Fictional married couples Mass media portrayals of the working class Television series about marriage Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in Brooklyn Television shows adapted into comics Television shows adapted into films Television shows adapted into video games Television series based on comedy sketches Television shows filmed in New York (state) Television shows filmed in New York City