The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners
Format: Sitcom
No. of episodes: 39 (List of episodes)
Production
Location(s): Adelphi Theater, Manhattan, New York
Camera setup: Three-camera Electronicam
Running time: 30 minutes (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original run: October 1, 1955 – September 22, 1956
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. 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.
Cast and characters
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 is very quick-tempered, and frequently resorts to insults and
hollow threats of physical violence.
Alice Kramden (née Gibson), played by Audrey Meadows, is Ralph's patient, but
sharp-tongued wife of roughly 15 years. Alice often finds herself bearing the
brunt of Ralph's insults, which she returns in fine form. She is bitingly
sarcastic and very level-headed, trying to convince Ralph of the stupidity of
his various schemes, which makes him lose his temper. However, she is
considerably unruffled and never fazed by Ralph's constant threats to strike her
"one of these days..." She studied to be a secretary before her marriage and
works briefly in that capacity when Ralph is laid off. Ralph's jealousy of
Alice's handsome boss "Tony Amico", who is told that Ralph is Alice's brother
because married women have a harder time finding jobs, soon puts paid to that
venture, particularly after Amico asks Ralph about dating Alice. Another foil
for Ralph is Alice's mother, even sharper-tongued, whom Ralph despises. Alice's
father is occasionally mentioned but never seen.
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 and
rather dimwitted nature usually results in raising Ralph's ire, while Ralph
often showers him with verbal abuse, shoves him around, and throws him out of
the apartment when Ed irritates him. Ed and Ralph are both members of the
fictional Raccoon Lodge.
Thelma "Trixie" Norton, played by Joyce Randolph, is Ed's wife and Alice's
best friend. She did not appear on every episode and had a less developed
character, though she is shown to be bossy towards her husband and rather
disposed towards violence. In one episode she is depicted as a pool hustler. On
another episode, Ralph insults Trixie by making a reference to Minsky's (a
burlesque theatre; the original Trixie (played by Elaine Stritch) was a
burlesque dancer). However Randolph's characterization was more wholesome and
there are no references to her background. She is even rather prudish,
complaining to her husband when a "fresh" store employee called her
"sweetie-pie".
Some of the actors that 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 Mrs. Manicotti, and Cliff Hall as the Raccoon Lodge
President.[4]
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.
"The Honeymooners" made its debut on October 5, 1951, as a six-minute sketch.
Cast member Art Carney made a brief appearance as a police officer 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) are childless, an issue never explored, but a condition on which
Gleason insisted.
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 Norton (maiden name unknown), Ed's wife, was originally
portrayed as a burlesque dancer by Elaine Stritch, but was replaced by the more
wholesome looking Joyce Randolph, after just one appearance. Trixie is a foil to
Ed, just as Alice does for Ralph, but derivatively, and almost always
off-screen.
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 (which folded in the mid-1950s) was unable to
re-sign him.
Move to CBS
CBS president William S. Paley convinced Gleason to leave the DuMont Network
and bring his show to CBS. In July 1952, 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." In actuality, Kelton
was blacklisted as a suspected communist. 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.
Jones' 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. 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." 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.
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.
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.
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". 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." Gleason
subsequently sold the films of the "Classic 39" episodes of the show to CBS for
$USD 1.5 million.
Revivals
One week after The Honeymooners ended, The Jackie Gleason Show returned on
September 29, 1956. "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.
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.
"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. On October 11, 1973, Gleason, Carney, MacRae and Kean reunited for a
'Honeymooners' skit called "Women's Lib" on a Gleason special on CBS. Finally,
the Kramdens and Nortons were brought back for four final one-hour specials on
ABC, which aired from 1976–78. Alongside Gleason and Carney, Audrey Meadows
returned as Alice (for the first time since 1966) while Jane Kean continued to
play Trixie. Joyce Randolph, the actress most identified as Trixie, never played
the part after the 1950s. These four specials were the final original
"Honeymooners" productions.
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 some other shows of the era.
All 39 episodes of The Honeymooners were filmed at the DuMont Television
Network's 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.
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.
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. 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 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. Gleason and 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.
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
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 short-lived 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.
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.
Ralph never carried out his threats, however, and others have pointed out that
Alice knew he never would. In retaliation, the targets of Ralph's verbal abuse
often responded by simply joking about his weight, a common theme throughout the
series. Alice was never seen to back down during any of Ralph's tirades.
Syndication and home video The Honeymooners "Classic 39" Episodes DVDThe
Honeymooners gained its greatest fame in syndication, where it has aired almost
continually since its cancellation. New York's WPIX-TV airs The Honeymooners
nightly and on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day for more than four decades,
with occasional breaks, in a marathon entitled The Honeymooners' blowout. BBC2
aired 38 of the original 39 episodes beginning in 1989 and ending in 1991. The
show has also aired in Australia, Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Ireland and
Suriname.
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.
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. 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. 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. Another set of eight episodes will be released on
February 26, 2008. The AmericanLife TV Network is currently airing The Color
Honeymooners shows under license from Gleason Enterprises and Paul Brownstein
Television.
Impact and legacy "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. Co-creator William Hanna has stated that The
Honeymooners was used as a basis for the concept of The Flintstones.[citation
needed] Mel Blanc, the voice of Barney Rubble, was asked to model Barney's voice
after Ed Norton, but reportedly refused. 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.
The 1990 Sitcom Dinosaurs_(TV_series) bears a strong resemblance to the
Honeymooners, particularly parents Earl and Fran. All in the Family premiered as
a mid-season replacement on CBS five months after the last episode of The Jackie
Gleason Show and took over Gleason's Saturday evening time slot the following
fall.
The sitcom King of Queens was inspired partly by The Honeymooners. In a 2001
episode of the show ("Inner Tube"), Doug Heffernan (played by Kevin James)
dreams that he is Ralph Kramden, his wife Carrie (played by Leah Remini) is
Alice 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. 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). 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 peers 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'.
Click here to see a great
Honeymooners video clip.
Impact and legacy continued
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"
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.
A Tribe Called Quest's song What contains the line "What's Ralph Kramden, if
he ain't yellin', at Ed Norton, what's coke snortin'?"
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 Pinky and the Brain episode "Win Big", Pinky repeatedly says, "Bang,
zoom, right in the kisser!" after watching The Honeymooners. Later in the
episode, the knowledge of the origin of this phrase plays a part in Brain's
attempt at world domination. The entire plot of the episode also seems to parody
the Classic 39 episode The $99,000 Answer, especially in how the episode ends,
when Brain attributes the Honeymooners line in his final question to Pinky.
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 by the people in the year 3000 as a representation of man's desire to
travel to space. Fry correctly notes that the quote was actually a metaphor for
domestic violence. In the episode "Spanish Fry", one of the aliens also refers
to the catchphrase—"One of these days Ndnd... Bang, zoom, straight to the third
moon of Omicron Persei 8!".
Impact and legacy continued
In the Family Guy episode "The Fat Guy Strangler", Lois Griffin's brother,
Patrick, who has been in an asylum for most of his life for killing some fat
men, and of whose existence Lois was ignorant her whole life, was traumatized as
a child when he walked in on his mother having oral sex with Jackie Gleason, who
ejaculates off-camera while saying his catchphrase, "Pow! Right in the kisser!"
over and over. Peter Griffin triggers Patrick's killing spree by wearing a bus
driver's uniform identical to the one Gleason wore on The Honeymooners. After
Patrick is caught, he is left traumatized again at the end of the episode by
Peter's endlessly repeating the phrase "Pow! Right in the kisser!". Family Guy
creator Seth MacFarlane has said that Gleason was an influence for Peter's
character. In another Family Guy episode titled "PTV" when Peter is sitting on
the couch watching the TV and the FCC is censoring everything that may be
offensive, Brian states that there was something weird about that Honeymooners
episode he watched that day and it cuts to a scene where Jackie Gleason's
character is saying "One of these days Alice, one of these days!" and the
voiceover replacement says "I'm going to stimulate the economy by buying an
American Car."
In the "Stan of Arabia (Part 1)" episode of American Dad! (another MacFarlane
creation), Stan Smith uses the "Pow! Right in the kisser!" line to threaten his
wife Francine Smith, only with a gunshot to the ceiling replacing the word
"pow". 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.
Earlier in the movie, Marty McFly's family was watching a rerun of the same
episode over dinner; he is thus able to indentify the episode (which was
supposedly being aired for its first time) as a "rerun".
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.[25] 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.
On June 1, 2007, FOX aired a special of TV's Funniest Moments. A clip from
the episode titled The $99,000 Answer was on the list. It was when Ralph
identifies the composer of Swanee River as being "Ed Norton".
Impact and legacy continued
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.
In 1994, the Swedish network TV4 produced a version of the show entitled Rena
Rama Rolf, but changing its to modern-day Gothenburg, Rolf (Ralph) is working as
a streetcar driver. The show ran until 1998.
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.
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.
In 1988, software company First Row Software released a Honeymooners
videogame for Commodore 64 and DOS systems.
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.
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Car Repair
For the best car repair service go to Don's Auto Clinic at
1950 Ellesmere Rd #21 Scarborough ON, M1H 2V8 Phone: 416-438-9575
Make an appointment and don't worry about what kind of service you'll get
because it's the best. I've been going there for at least 3 years. (Zane
Ladhani---of Zane's Comedy Warehouse www.zanes-comedy-warehouse.com)
Don't ask for a discount because you won't need one.
Chinese Food
Chinese Food is great and there are a lot of restaurants but if you want to
go to one of the best chinese food restaurants in Toronto then go to Kim Kims at
Kim Kim Hakka Chinese Restaurant 1188 Kennedy Road Scarborough, ON M1P 2L1
416-757-8300 (Near Kennedy and Lawrence) www.kimkim.ca
I ususally have the Curry Chicken on Rice but you'll be happy with whatever
you order.
If you can't handle spicy food tell them when you order.
Don't ask for a discount because you won't need one.
Real Estate Services
The best real estate agents in Toronto are the Wright Sisters. They
are the right choice whether you're buying or selling property.
Lindsay & Melanie Wright Sales Representatives
RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd., Brokerage 2237 Queen Street East Toronto ON M4E
1G2
Office: (416) 699-9292 Toll Free: 1-866-921-9292 Fax: (416) 699-8576
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