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'''''The Honeymooners''''' is an [[Television in the United States|American]] television [[situation comedy]] produced by Jackie Gleason Enterprises, Inc.<ref name="jge">According to ''The Honeymooners' Companion – The Kramdens and the Nortons Revisited'', the official name of the production company did not employ capital letters.</ref> for [[CBS]] from 1955–56. It was based on characters developed by [[Jackie Gleason]] in 1951 and popularized in a series of [[sketch comedy|sketches]] first performed on the successful [[variety show]] ''[[The Jackie Gleason Show|Cavalcade of Stars]]'', and subsequently on ''The Jackie Gleason Show''. The show was set in the [[Bensonhurst, Brooklyn]] apartment of Ralph Kramden (Gleason) and his wife Alice ([[Audrey Meadows]]), a struggling [[working class]] couple, and also featured upstairs neighbors Ed Norton ([[Art Carney]]) and his wife Trixie ([[Joyce Randolph]]).
'''''The Honeymooners''''' is an [[Television in the United States|American]] television [[situation comedy]] produced by jackie gleason enterprises, inc.<ref name="jge">According to ''The Honeymooners' Companion – The Kramdens and the Nortons Revisited'', the official name of the production company did not employ capital letters.</ref> for [[CBS]] from 1955–56. It was based on characters developed by [[Jackie Gleason]] in 1951 and popularized in a series of [[sketch comedy|sketches]] first performed on the successful [[variety show]] ''[[The Jackie Gleason Show|Cavalcade of Stars]]'', and subsequently on ''The Jackie Gleason Show''. The show was set in the [[Bensonhurst, Brooklyn]] apartment of Ralph Kramden (Gleason) and his wife Alice ([[Audrey Meadows]]), a struggling [[working class]] couple, and also featured upstairs neighbors Ed Norton ([[Art Carney]]) and his wife Trixie ([[Joyce Randolph]]).


''The Honeymooners'' debuted as a half-hour series on [[October 1]] [[1955]]. Although initially a [[Nielsen Ratings|ratings]] success—it was the #2 show in the United States—it faced stiff competition from the popular ''[[Perry Como|Perry Como Show]]''. The show eventually dropped to #19, and production ended after 39 episodes (now referred to as the "Classic 39"). The final episode of ''The Honeymooners'' aired on [[September 22]] [[1956]]. Gleason revived "The Honeymooners" as a sketch in his variety shows, most notably as part of a 1966–70 version of ''The Jackie Gleason Show''.
''The Honeymooners'' debuted as a half-hour series on [[October 1]] [[1955]]. Although initially a [[Nielsen Ratings|ratings]] success—it was the #2 show in the United States—it faced stiff competition from the popular ''[[Perry Como|Perry Como Show]]''. The show eventually dropped to #19, and production ended after 39 episodes (now referred to as the "Classic 39"). The final episode of ''The Honeymooners'' aired on [[September 22]] [[1956]]. Gleason revived "The Honeymooners" as a sketch in his variety shows, most notably as part of a 1966–70 version of ''The Jackie Gleason Show''.

Revision as of 02:56, 23 May 2007

For the film, see The Honeymooners (2005 film).
The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners Title Screen
Created byJackie Gleason
StarringJackie Gleason
Art Carney
Audrey Meadows
Joyce Randolph
Opening theme"You're My Greatest Love"
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes39 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerJack Philbin
ProducerJack Hurdle
Camera setupThree-camera Electronicam
Running time30 minutes (including commercials)
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseOctober 1 1955 –
September 22 1956

The Honeymooners is an American television situation comedy produced by jackie gleason enterprises, inc.[1] for CBS from 1955–56. It was based on characters developed by Jackie Gleason in 1951 and popularized in a series of sketches first performed on the successful variety show Cavalcade of Stars, and subsequently on The Jackie Gleason Show. The show was set in the Bensonhurst, Brooklyn apartment of Ralph Kramden (Gleason) and his wife Alice (Audrey Meadows), a struggling working class couple, and also featured upstairs neighbors Ed Norton (Art Carney) and his wife Trixie (Joyce Randolph).

The Honeymooners debuted as a half-hour series on October 1 1955. Although initially a ratings success—it was the #2 show in the United States—it faced stiff competition from the popular Perry Como Show. The show eventually dropped to #19, and production ended after 39 episodes (now referred to as the "Classic 39"). The final episode of The Honeymooners aired on September 22 1956. Gleason revived "The Honeymooners" as a sketch in his variety shows, most notably as part of a 1966–70 version of The Jackie Gleason Show.

Despite its relatively brief run, The Honeymooners is considered one of the premier examples of American television comedy. It has been referenced in numerous homages and parodies, and has inspired successful television comedies such as The Flintstones and The King of Queens. A critically-panned film remake starring Cedric the Entertainer was released in 2005.

Cast and crew

File:Honeymooners Cast.jpeg
The main cast of The Honeymooners during its 1955–56 run (from left to right): Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney, and Joyce Randolph.

The majority of The Honeymooners focused on its four principal characters, although various secondary characters made multiple appearances.

  • Ralph Kramden, played by Jackie Gleason, is a bus driver for the fictional Gotham Bus Company. He is never seen driving a bus (except in publicity photos), but is shown multiple times at the bus depot. Ralph is frustrated by his lack of success, and often develops schemes designed to earn him and his wife a quick fortune. Ralph frequently resorts to insults and hollow threats of physical violence.
  • Alice Kramden (née Gibson), played by Audrey Meadows, is Ralph's patient and quick-witted wife of fourteen years. Alice often finds herself bearing the brunt of Ralph's insults, but she usually returns them in equal measure.
  • Edward "Ed" Norton, played by Art Carney, is a New York City sewer worker and Ralph's best friend. He is considerably more good-natured than Ralph, but nonetheless trades insults with him on a regular basis. Ed (typically called "Norton" by Ralph) often gets mixed up in Ralph's schemes, and his carefree nature usually results in raising Ralph's ire. Ed and Ralph are both members of the fictional Raccoon Lodge.
  • Thelma "Trixie" Norton, played by Joyce Randolph, is Ed's caring wife and Alice's best friend. Like Ed and Alice, Trixie trades insults with Ralph on a regular basis.

Some of the actors that appeared multiple times on the show include Frank Marth, Eddie Hanley, Les Damon, John Gibson, Cliff Hall, and George Petrie.[2]

Executive producer Jack Philbin and producer Jack Hurdle were brought to The Honeymooners by Gleason, having performed the same duties on The Jackie Gleason Show. All 39 episodes were written amongst three two-man teams—Marvin Marx and Walter Stone, Andy "A.J." Russell and Herbert Finn, and Leonard Stern and Sydney Zelinka. All three teams also wrote for The Jackie Gleason Show. They were paid a weekly salary and received residuals for the first seven cycles of reruns, which were paid off by the end of the first year.[3]

History

Origins

In July 1950, Jackie Gleason took over as the host of Cavalcade of Stars, a variety show that aired on the DuMont Television Network. After a few episodes, Gleason and his writing staff developed a sketch that drew upon familiar domestic situations for its material. Gleason wanted a realistic portrayal of life for a poor husband and wife living in Brooklyn. The couple would fight constantly, 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" for the name of the new sketch. 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 wife.[3]

"The Honeymooners" made its debut on October 5, 1951, as a six-minute sketch.[4] Castmember Art Carney made a brief appearance as a police officer who gets hit with a pie 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 pains to duplicate on set the interior of the apartment where he grew up (right down to his boyhood address of 358 Chauncey Street).[4]

Early additions to the cast of later sketches were upstairs neighbors Ed and Trixie Norton. Ed (played by 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, Ed's former burlesque dancer wife, was portrayed by Elaine Stritch, but was replaced by Joyce Randolph after just one appearance. Just as Alice acted as a foil for Ralph, so did Trixie for Ed.[4][5] Due in part to the colorful array of characters that 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 was unable to re-sign him.

Move to CBS

That summer, CBS president William S. Paley convinced Gleason to leave the DuMont Network and bring his show to CBS. In July, the cast of the retitled 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"). The cast performed four shows a day, which was too much for Kelton, who was suffering from heart problems. She was replaced on the tour by Gingr Jones (sic), and subsequently was blacklisted (having earlier been named on the Red Channels blacklist) by CBS, which meant that a new Alice was needed.[5][6]

Jones's replacement was Audrey Meadows, already known for her work in the 1951 musical Top Banana and on Bob and Ray's television show. Before receiving the role, 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 with no make-up on, wearing a torn housecoat, and with her hair undone.[7][6] When the pictures were delivered to Gleason, he looked at them and said, "That's our Alice." When it was explained to him who it was he said, "Any dame who has a sense of humor like that deserves the job."[6] With the addition of Meadows the now-famous "Honeymooners" lineup of Gleason, Carney, Meadows, and Randolph was in place.

The rising popularity of "The Honeymooners" was reflected in its increasing prominence as part of The Jackie Gleason Show. During the first season, it appeared on a regular basis (although not weekly) as a short sketch during part of the larger variety show. The sketches ranged 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. During the 1954–55 season, most episodes consisted entirely of "The Honeymooners". Fan response was overwhelming. Meadows received hundreds of curtains and aprons 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 as the most-watched show in the United States. Audience members lined up around the block hours in advance to attend the show.[3]

Before Gleason's initial three-year contract with CBS expired, he was offered a much larger one by CBS and Buick (the carmaker having dropped their sponsorship of The Milton Berle Show). The three-year contract, reportedly valued at $USD 11 million, was 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 received $2,000 per week, and Joyce Randolph (who did not appear in every episode) received $500 per week. Production for The Honeymooners was handled by Jackie Gleason Enterprises, Inc., which also produced the show's lead-in, Stage Show.[3][4]

The first episode of the new half-hour series aired Saturday, October 1, 1955, at 8:30 pm (during prime time), opposite Ozark Jubilee on ABC and The Perry Como Show on NBC. As it was sponsored by Buick, the opening credits ended with an advertisement ("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 references to the carmaker were removed when the show entered syndication.[7]

Critical reaction to The Honeymooners was mixed. While The New York Times and Broadcasting and Telecasting Magazine wrote that it was "labored" and lacked the spontaneity of the live sketches, TV Guide praised it as "rollicking", "slapsticky" and "fast-paced".[3] In February 1956, the show was moved to the 8 pm time slot, but had already started to lose viewers to the hugely popular Perry Como Show. Gleason's writers had also begun to feel confined by the restrictive half-hour format, and Gleason felt that they were starting to run out of original ideas. 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."[3] Gleason subsequently sold the films of the "Classic 39" episodes of the show to CBS for $USD 1.5 million.[4]

Revivals

One week after The Honeymooners ended, The Jackie Gleason Show returned on September 29. "The "Honeymooners" sketches were soon brought back as part of the revived variety show. When Art Carney left the show in 1957, the sketches ceased production. In 1962, Gleason's variety show returned as Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine. The "Honeymooners" sketches returned as well, whenever Carney was available. Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph were replaced as Alice and Trixie by Sue Ane Langdon and Patricia Wilson, respectively.[4][5]

In January 1966, Meadows returned as Alice for a musical special entitled The Honeymooners: The Adoption, a re-enactment of a 1955 sketch of the same name. When The Jackie Gleason Show (now based in Miami Beach, Florida) returned in 1966, the "Honeymooners" sketches (now in color for the first time) returned as a series of elaborate musicals. The sketches, which comprised ten of the first season's thirty-two shows, followed a story arc that had the Kramdens and Nortons traveling across Europe after Ralph won a contest. "The Color Honeymooners," as it has since become known, featured Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean in the roles of Alice and Trixie, respectively (Meadows and Randolph did not want to relocate to Miami). One notable 1967 segment featured the return of Pert Kelton, this time playing Alice's mother, Mrs. Gibson.[4][5]

"The Honeymooners" ended again when The Jackie Gleason Show was canceled in 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. After the cancellation, it was brought back for four one-hour specials (including one Valentine's Day and two Christmas shows) on ABC, which aired from 1976–78. Alongside Gleason and Carney, Meadows returned as Alice, while Jane Kean continued to play Trixie. These four specials are the final original "Honeymooners" productions.[5]

Production

The Honeymooners was filmed using three Electronicams.

In 1955, most television shows (including The Jackie Gleason Show) were performed live and recorded using kinescope technology. One notable exception was I Love Lucy, which was recorded directly onto 35 mm film. For The Honeymooners, Gleason utilized the Electronicam TV-film system, developed by DuMont in the early 1950s. As a result of the superior picture and sound quality afforded by the Electronicam system, episodes of The Honeymooners were much more suitable for rebroadcast than were other shows of the era.[4][5]

All 39 episodes of The Honeymooners were filmed at the Adelphi Theater in New York City, in front of an audience of 1,000. Episodes were never fully rehearsed, as Gleason felt that rehearsals would rob the show of its spontaneity. The result was that while the cast was able to bring a fresh approach to the material, mistakes were often made—lines were either recited incorrectly or forgotten altogether, and actors did not follow the scripted action. To compensate, the cast developed visual cues for each other: Gleason patted his stomach when he forgot a line, while Meadows would glance at the refrigerator when someone else was supposed to retrieve something from it.[7][8]

In contrast to other popular comedies of the era (such as Father Knows Best, I Love Lucy, Leave It to Beaver, and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet), which depicted their characters in comfortable, middle class suburban environments, the set design for The Honeymooners reflected the blue collar existence of its characters. The Kramdens' apartment, in particular, was sparsely furnished—the main set was a kitchen, which consisted of a functional table and chairs, a curtain-less window (with a view of a fire escape) and an outdated icebox.[4][5][6]

The instrumental theme song for The Honeymooners, "You're My Greatest Love", was composed by Gleason and performed by an orchestra led by Ray Bloch (who had previously served as orchestra leader on Gleason's variety show, as well as The Ed Sullivan Show). Although lyrics were composed, they were never sung. Instead, the actors were given an enthusiastic introduction by CBS staff announcer Gaylord Avery. Sammy Spear, who later became Gleason's musical director, provided the arrangement.[9] 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.[3] The show's original announcer was Jack Lescoulie, who was also a spokesman for the sponsor, Buick. For the non-sponsored syndicated version, the introduction was voiced by CBS staff announcer Gaylord Avery.

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 (1957, 1966) but lost. Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows were both nominated in 1956 for their work on The Honeymooners. Gleason was nominated for Best Actor – Continuing Performance but lost to Phil Silvers, while Meadows was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role but lost to Nanette Fabray. Meadows was also nominated for Emmys for her portrayal of Alice Kramden in 1954 and 1957.[10][11]

The following table summarizes award wins by cast members, both for The Honeymooners and The Jackie Gleason Show.

Actor Awards won Show
Art Carney Emmy, Best Series Supporting Actor (1954) The Jackie Gleason Show
Emmy, Best Supporting Actor in a Regular Series (1955) The Jackie Gleason Show
Emmy, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (1956) The Honeymooners
Emmy, Special Classifications of Individual Achievement (1967) The Jackie Gleason Show
Emmy, Special Classification of Individual Achievements (1968) The Jackie Gleason Show
Audrey Meadows Emmy, Best Supporting Actress in a Regular Series (1955) The Jackie Gleason Show

Plot

For the full list of episodes, see List of The Honeymooners episodes

Most of The Honeymooners took place in Ralph and Alice Kramden's kitchen. Other settings used in the show included the Gotham Bus Company depot, the Raccoon Lodge, and on occasion the Nortons' apartment. Many episodes began with a shot of Alice in the kitchen, awaiting Ralph's arrival from work. Most episodes focused on Ralph and Ed Norton's characters, although Alice played a substantial role. Ed's wife Trixie played a smaller role in the series, and didn't appear in every episode as the other three did. Each episode presented a self-contained story, which never carried over into a subsequent one. The show employed a number of standard sitcom clichés and plots, particularly those of jealousy and comic misunderstanding.

The show presented Ralph as an everyman and an underdog who struggled to make a better life for himself and his wife, but who ultimately failed due to his own shortcomings. He (along with Ed) devised a number of get-rich-quick schemes, none of which succeeded. Ralph was quick to blame others for his misfortune, until it was pointed out to him where he had fallen short. Ralph's anger was replaced by remorse, and he would then apologize for his actions. Many of these apologies to Alice ended with Ralph saying, "Baby, you're the greatest", followed by a hug and kiss.[3][5][6]

In most episodes, Ralph's short temper got the best of him, leading him to yell at others and to threaten physical violence, particularly against Alice. Ralph's favorite threats to her were "Bang, zoom, straight to the moon!" and "One of these days … one of these days … POW, right in the kisser!" This has led some to criticize the show as displaying an acceptance of domestic violence.[12][13] Ralph never carried out his threats, however, and others have pointed out that Alice knew he never would.[5][6] In retaliation, the targets of Ralph's verbal abuse often responded by simply joking about his weight, a common theme throughout the series.[5][6] And Alice, noticeably, was never seen to back down from any of Ralph's "threats".

Syndication and home video

File:Honeymooners Classic 39 DVD cover.jpg
The Honeymooners "Classic 39" Episodes DVD

The Honeymooners gained its greatest fame in syndication, where it has aired almost continually since its cancellation. New York's WPIX-TV aired The Honeymooners nightly and on New Year's Day for more than two decades, with occasional breaks.[4] BBC2 aired 38 of the original 39 episodes beginning in 1989 and ending in 1991.[5] The show has also aired in Australia, Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Suriname.[3]

In 1984, the Museum of Television and Radio announced the discovery of four original Honeymooners sketches from the original The Jackie Gleason Show. When they later 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" were actually kinescopes of sketches from the 1952–55 run of The Jackie Gleason Show.[14]

Gleason sold the broadcast rights to the lost episodes to Viacom, and they were first aired from 1985–86 as a series of 68 22-minute episodes on the Showtime cable network. They have since joined the original 39 episodes in syndication, and have also been released on VHS and DVD.[14] In September 2004, another "lost" episode was reported discovered at the Peabody Award archives in Georgia. This episode, "Love Letter," originally aired on The Jackie Gleason Show on October 16, 1954.[15] It aired for the first time since then on October 16, 2004 (its fiftieth anniversary), on TV Land.

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

Paramount Home Entertainment released a six disc-DVD set entitled 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 entered syndication.

MPI Home Video released the "lost episodes" on DVD in Region 1 in 24 volume collections from 2001 - 2002. They have subsequently re-released these episodes in 6 box sets featuring all 80 episodes.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
The Honeymooners- Lost Episodes Collection 1 13 October 30 2001
The Honeymooners- Lost Episodes Collection 2 13 October 30 2001
The Honeymooners- Lost Episodes Collection 3 15 January 29 2002
The Honeymooners- Lost Episodes Collection 4 15 March 26 2002
The Honeymooners- Lost Episodes Collection 5 12 June 25 2002
The Honeymooners- Lost Episodes Collection 6 12 August 27 2002

In June 2006, MPI Home Video released The Color Honeymooners – Collection 1 (NTSC and PAL), which collects the "Trip to Europe" story arc presented on The Jackie Gleason Show in 1966. The AmericanLife TV Network is currently airing The Color Honeymooners shows under license from Gleason Enterprises and Paul Brownstein Television.

Impact and legacy

File:Honeymousers.jpg
"The Honey-Mousers", showing Ralph Crumden and Ned Morton.

Due to its enduring popularity, The Honeymooners has been referenced numerous times in American pop culture, and has also served as the inspiration behind other television shows. The show also introduced memorable catchphrases into American culture, such as "Bang, zoom, straight to the moon!", "One of these days...one of these days...POW, right in the kisser!" and "Baby, you're the greatest."

  • In 1960, the animated sitcom The Flintstones debuted. Many critics and viewers noted the close resemblance of that show's premise and characters to that of The Honeymooners.[16] Co-creator William Hanna has stated that The Honeymooners was used as a basis for the concept of The Flintstones. Mel Blanc, the voice of Barney Rubble, was asked to model Barney's voice after Ed Norton, but reportedly refused. Jackie Gleason later said that he had thought about suing, but decided not to as he did not want to be the person responsible for having the show pulled off the air.[17][18]
  • The sitcom King of Queens was inspired partly by The Honeymooners.[19] In a 2001 episode of the show ("Inner Tube"), Doug Heffernan (played by Kevin James) dreams that he is Ralph Kramden and his friend Deacon Palmer (played by Victor Williams) is Ed Norton. The sequence was filmed in black-and-white and the audio quality (including the audience) matches a '50s style.
  • In 1999, TV Guide published a list entitled "TV's 50 Greatest Characters Ever!" Ed Norton was #2, and Ralph Kramden was #13.[6]
  • In 2002, The Honeymooners was listed at #3 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
  • The show was parodied in a series of animated Looney Tunes shorts, in which the principal characters 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).[20] Human caricatures of Ralph and Ed are pitted against Bugs Bunny in the 1956 Warner cartoon "Half-Fare Hare". In one Sylvester and Tweety cartoon — in which Granny gets rousted out of her house by the big bad wolf, only to get the wolf in the end — Granny (June Foray) hollered, "One of these days...one of these days...Pow! Right in the kisser!" And in another cartoon, when Sylvester falls into an open manhole, inside we hear a voice like Ed Norton's say "Hey, look at this Ralph, a pussycat". To which, Sylvester simply pears out of the sewer to the audience.
  • As Ralph Kramden was a New York City bus driver, one of the service depots in Brooklyn was renamed the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot 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 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 TV Land"[21]
  • Comedian Eddie Murphy impersonated Ralph and Ed in an infamous stand-up routine depicting Kramden and Norton as gay lovers as part of his 1983 concert film Eddie Murphy Delirious.
  • An episode ("A Trip To The Moon") of the 1980s detective spoof Moonlighting features lead characters David Addison, Maddie Hayes, Agnes Dipesto, and Richard Addison performing a Honeymooners re-creation.
  • Comedian Joe Piscopo released a song entitled "Honeymooners Rap" in 1985, in which he impersonated Ralph Kramden while Eddie Murphy supplied the voice for Ed Norton.
  • The Honeymooners was spoofed in an episode of Perfect Strangers as a result of the character Balki Bartoukomos (Bronson Pinchot) spinning an extended metaphor about the characters' 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. Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) portrayed Ralph Kramden and Balki portrayed Ed Norton (retaining his foreign accent in the role).
  • In the Futurama episode "The Series Has Landed," Fry witnesses the future's interpretation of The Honeymooners. "Bang, zoom, straight to the moon!" was thought of as an early occurrence of man's desire to travel to space. Fry correctly notes that the quote was actually an allegory for domestic violence. In the episode "Spanish Fry," one of the aliens also refers to the catchphrase—"One of these days... Bang, zoom, straight to the third moon of Omicron Persei 8!".
  • In the Family Guy episode "The Fat Guy Strangler," Lois Griffin's brother Patrick was traumatized as a child when he walked in on his mother having an affair with Jackie Gleason, who apparently ejaculated in her face while saying his catchphrase, "Pow! Right in the kisser!" Peter Griffin triggers Patrick's killing spree by wearing a bus driver's uniform identical to the one Gleason wore on The Honeymooners and repeating this phrase several times. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has said that Gleason was an influence for Peter's character.[22]
  • The 1985 film Back to the Future features a scene set in 1955, where the family of Lorraine Baines is watching an episode of The Honeymooners entitled "The Man from Space". This is technically an anachronism, however, as the scene takes place in November, while that episode did not air until December 31.
  • Louis C.K. has stated in an interview that he based the layout of Louie's apartment in Lucky Louie on the Kramdens' apartment, in contrast to other shows like The King of Queens that have very nicely decorated apartments on low incomes.[23]
  • Two remote-sensing cameras on the New Horizons space probe to the dwarf planet Pluto are named "Ralph" and "Alice."
  • On January 15, 2007, the clip-art comic strip Partially Clips featured a reference to The Honeymooners.

The success of The Honeymooners in countries outside the United States has led to the production of new shows based entirely on it. In 1994, the Dutch broadcasting network KRO produced a version of The Honeymooners entitled Toen Was Geluk Heel Gewoon ([Back] then was happiness very ordinary), using translated scripts of the original series but changing its setting to 1950s Rotterdam. 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 continues to run.[24] In 1998, the Polish network Polsat produced a version of The Honeymooners entitled Miodowe lata, using both translated scripts of the original series and new ones, but changing its setting to modern-day Warsaw. The original series ran until 2003 and was continued in 2004 as Całkiem nowe lata miodowe.[25]

On June 10, 2005, a feature film remake of The Honeymooners was released, featuring a predominantly African American cast. The roles of Ralph, Alice, Ed, and Trixie were played by Cedric the Entertainer, Gabrielle Union, Mike Epps, and Regina Hall, respectively. The movie was a critical and commercial failure, earning slightly more than $USD 13 million worldwide.[26]

Episodes

Main article: List of The Honeymooners episodes

Additional reading

  • Katsigeorgis, John (2002). To The Moon: The Honeymooners Book of Trivia - Official Authorized Edition. Metrobooks. ISBN 1-58663-694-4.
  • McCrohan, Donna and Peter Crescenti (1986). The Honeymooners Lost Episodes. Workman Publishing. ISBN 0-89480-157-0.
  • Meadows, Audrey (1994). Love, Alice: My Life as a Honeymooner. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-59881-7.

References

  1. ^ According to The Honeymooners' Companion – The Kramdens and the Nortons Revisited, the official name of the production company did not employ capital letters.
  2. ^ "Full Cast and Crew for "The Honeymooners"". Retrieved 2006-11-27.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i McCrohan, Donna (1978). The Honeymooners' Companion – The Kramdens and the Nortons Revisited. New York: Workman Publishing. ISBN 0894800221.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simon, Ron. "The Honeymooners". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewisohn, Mark. ""BBC Guide to Comedy - The Honeymooners"". BBC. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Gehring, Wes (November 2001). ""'The honeymooners' turns 50: a half-century after they first arrived on TV screens, Ralph and Alice Kramden and Ed Norton continue to delight audiences on countless late-night reruns"". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-12-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b c Boudreaux, Jonathan (November 12, 2003). "The Honeymooners "Classic 39" Episodes DVD Review". tvdvdreviews.com. Retrieved 2006-11-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ ""Classic TV At Its Best"". Retrieved 2006-11-26.
  9. ^ ""Jackie Gleason"". Retrieved 2006-11-30.
  10. ^ "1956 Emmy Awards". Retrieved 2006-12-07.
  11. ^ "Art Carney at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  12. ^ ""Take time this month to reflect on effects of domestic violence and work to end it!"". Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  13. ^ Michalski, Thomas (23 November 2006). ""Various agencies help crack down on domestic violence"". Pinellas Park Beacon. Retrieved 2006-12-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ a b Kaplan, Peter W. (26 January, 1985). ""75 'Honeymooners' Episodes Found"". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-11-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ ""'Lost' episode of 'Honeymooners' uncovered". Retrieved 2006-11-26.
  16. ^ "The Honeymooners on TV Heaven". Retrieved 2006-12-07.
  17. ^ "The Flintstones Frequently Asked Questions List". Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  18. ^ "The Flintstones Frequently Asked Questions List". Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  19. ^ "The King of Queens - About the Show". Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  20. ^ "The Honey-Mousers". Retrieved 2006-12-23.
  21. ^ ""Ralph Kramden Statue"". Retrieved 2006-11-30.
  22. ^ Chayes, Matt (19 September 2003). ""All in the Family Guy: MacFarlane tells all"". Pipe Dream. Retrieved 2006-12-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ Hagan, Joe (January 21, 2006). ""HBO tries to revive the sitcom. But can foul-mouthed Louis C.K. thrive in a feel-good genre?"". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2006-11-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ ""KRO Produces A Dutch Version of The Honeymooners"". Retrieved 2006-11-26.
  25. ^ Meils, Cathy (October 26, 1998). ""'Honeymooners' intro'd by Polsat"". Variety.com. Retrieved 2006-11-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ "The Honeymooners at boxofficemojo.com". Retrieved 2006-11-26.

External links

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