The ‘Honeymoon’ Isn’t Over

It may be hard to fathom, but The Honeymooners, one of the most beloved shows from TV’s Golden Age, was not a success when it aired on CBS from October, 1955 to September, 1956. The top-rated show that season was “The $64,000 Question.”

But over the past 35 years, those endearing denizens of Brooklyn--the portly, blustery bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason); his long-suffering wife Alice (Audrey Meadows), and their best friends and neighbors, the rubbery-limbed sewer worker Ed Norton (Art Carney) and his wife Trixie (Joyce Randolph) have become entrenched in American pop culture.

For good reason: “The Honeymooners” series deftly mixed slapstick humor with pathos. For all of Ralph’s threats, he truly loved Alice. Norton and Ralph had a warm, strong friendship.

“Honeymooners” expressions became catch phrases. Expressions such as “To the moon, Alice” and “One of these days, Alice ... Pow! Right in the kisser.”

“The Honeymooners” was first introduced 40 years ago as a continuing sketch on the Dumont network’s hourlong comedy-variety series “Cavalcade of Stars,” which was hosted by Gleason. In its first incarnation, Pert Kelton played the role of Alice. Audrey Meadows came on board in 1952 when Gleason became the star of his own CBS musical-variety show, “The Jackie Gleason Show.” In 1955, “The Honeymooners” became an independent series.

Gleason, who abhorred rehearsals, filmed two episodes of “The Honeymooners” a week in front of a live audience. Gleason and Co. made 39 episodes of the series before Gleason returned to the one-hour variety format in 1956. In 1984, Gleason made available “lost episodes” of “The Honeymooners,” kinescopes of sketches from “The Jackie Gleason Show.” These episodes have since been added to “The Honeymooners” syndication package.

Not only are the “The Honeymooners” alive and well in reruns, MPI Home Video has released several volumes of the series.

A footnote: Carney, who left “The Jackie Gleason Show” as a regular in 1957, and Gleason revived their roles as Ralph and Ed in 1966 for four seasons on Gleason’s one-hour CBS series. This go-around, Sheila MacRae played Alice and Jane Kean was Trixie. Those later “Honeymooners” have not aired on television since and are not available on video.

“The Honeymooners” airs Mondays-Fridays at 9:30 a.m. on XETV and 12:30 a.m. on KTLA and Mondays-Fridays at noon and Saturdays at 8 p.m. on WGN.