The Honeymooners might, at first look, appear to be a easy comedy about two working-class Brooklynites yelling at or complaining about their wives, however the 1955 present was extra than simply its cringe catchphrases. Not solely did Jackie Gleason’s sitcom encourage myriad iconic TV packages to return, but it surely additionally featured two childless {couples} (within the Fifties, gasp) and stripped away the idyllic portrait of marriage many exhibits again then have been attempting to push.
To essentially perceive the numerous affect of The Honeymooners right this moment — its fundamental character, bus driver Ralph Kramden, has his personal statue in New York, in spite of everything — right here’s a take a look at the making of the single-season present and the legacy these “Traditional 39” episodes left behind…
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‘The Honeymooners’ Impressed ‘The Flintstones’
As The Flintstones co-creator William Hanna as soon as defined, “At the moment, The Honeymooners was the most well-liked present on the air, and for my invoice, it was the funniest present on the air. The characters, I assumed, have been terrific. Now, that influenced enormously what we did with The Flintstones. The Honeymooners was there, and we used that as a sort of foundation for the idea.”
Mel Blanc remembered being requested to voice Barney as a “pre-historic Artwork Carney,” and Gleason’s lawyer instructed him he might in all probability sue and get The Flintstones pulled, however Gleason didn’t wish to be the man liable for killing the present.
The Present Was a Spin-Off of Gleason’s Selection Present
“The Honeymooners” was a sketch first carried out in Gleason’s selection present, Cavalcade of Stars, and after discovering success at CBS with The Jackie Gleason Present, the actor took the sketch collection and pitched it to the community. They agreed to do the present however with one ultimatum…
No Commies
Pert Kelton initially performed the character of Ralph’s spouse, Alice Kramden, in Cavalcade of Stars, however CBS pushed Gleason to drop her after she was accused of being a communist. Kelton was blacklisted within the Fifties and didn’t get a lot work for the subsequent decade.
‘Futurama’ Referred to as Out the Present’s Controversial Catchphrase
Ralph Kramden’s (in)well-known catchphrase was the violent risk: “One among today, Alice — Pow! Proper within the kisser!” He’d generally change it up with, “BANG, ZOOM!” or “You’re going to the moon!” as a result of Ralph apparently craved selection in his abusive outbursts.
Futurama, of all exhibits, poked enjoyable on the what-the-hell of all of it in an episode the place Fry accompanies Leela on a Lunar Exploration tour and learns that the long run someway thinks Kramden was the primary area pioneer.
Audrey Meadows Defended Ralph Kramden’s Verbal Threats
“He by no means did contact her,” Meadows, who performed Ralph’s spouse Alice Kramden, instructed Phyllis George on The CBS Morning Information when the controversial catchphrase was introduced up. “There was no violence there. It was his approach of letting off steam, and that’s it.” Different critics have argued that the 2 characters’ devotion towards one another trumped Ralph’s recurring rants.
‘The Simpsons’ Rip-Off
The episode “The Ten-Per-Cent Resolution” noticed the Simpsons make a journey to the Museum of Tv. Whereas there, they see an exhibit and clip from The Adventures of Fatso Flanagan, a parody of The Honeymooners with Itchy & Scratchy-level violence.
Ralph Kramden’s Unique Job
The writers initially needed Kramden to be a police officer, however Gleason didn’t dig the concept, fearing that placing Kramden able of energy would alienate viewers. He insisted that Kramden be a bus driver as a substitute.
The Bus Driver Who By no means Drove an Precise Bus
Resulting from being filmed in a stay studio, Ralph Kramden was by no means proven working his job at New York Metropolis’s Gotham Bus Firm (besides in promotional photographs). We’d by no means see Kramden in a bus till Cedric the Entertainer performed the brash fella within the 2005 reboot.
Ed Norton Was Initially a Cop, Too
Within the preliminary sketches for Cavalcade of Stars, Artwork Carney portrayed his character, Ed Norton, as a cop who will get flour-ed when Alice dumps a bag of it out the window. The character, after all, would go on to be a sewer employee within the sitcom as a substitute.
The Kramdens’ Residence Tackle
The road tackle, 328 Chauncey Road, was the identical tackle of Gleason’s childhood residence within the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The present modified the neighborhood to Bensonhurst as a result of they thought it’d be higher acknowledged.
That Time the Gang Obtained Become Looney Tunes
The Looney Tunes did a collection of animated shorts that featured the Kramdens (and Ned and Trixie) because the Crumdens, a married pair of cartoon mice.
No One Thought Jackie Gleason Would Make It in Hollywood
Whereas Gleason was doing bit components in movies throughout the early Nineteen Forties, he reportedly didn’t make a lot of an impression on Hollywood. To earn a residing, he mixed comedy and music and developed his personal nightclub act, and when he wasn’t performing, he hosted nightly ragers in his lodge suite. “Anybody who knew Jackie Gleason within the Nineteen Forties would let you know The Fats Man would by no means make it,” CBS historian Robert Metz as soon as wrote. “His buddies at Lindy’s watched him spend cash as quick as he soaked up the booze.”
’The Honeymooners’ Impressed ‘The King of Queens’
Not solely did The Honeymooners encourage The King of Queens, however the Kevin James collection had him go to sleep to an episode of the Fifties sitcom, resulting in a dream sequence of him as Ralph Kramden.
On and Off
Whereas Gleason pulled the plug on the present following the primary season’s eventual drop in rankings, he saved doing Honeymooners sketches for his selection present. When Artwork Carney referred to as it a day in 1957, Gleason dropped it for good — for some time, a minimum of. In 1962, he revived his selection present and did sketches every time Carney was obtainable for work. Nevertheless, new actresses performed Alice and Trixie since Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph didn’t wish to relocate to Miami, the place the brand new sketches have been filmed.
Gleason Composed the Theme Music Himself
The instrumental piano theme titled “You’re My Biggest Love” was composed by Gleason, and though lyrics have been written, they have been by no means sung as a result of the melody was simply that good.
