The Honeymooners – Classic TV

Intro

The Honeymooners is surely classic TV. TV is such a vast subject to ponder that I want to focus on one piece – “Classic TV” – the hits of the past and what made them great in a series over the coming months.

There are plenty of shows that could appear on a classics list but I am starting with comedy.

Here are some common characteristics of classic TV comedy shows.

• The subject/premise was appealing
• The writing was exceptional
• The cast fit together perfectly
• In a series, the overall framework became familiar to the audience but each episode had something new and unexpected.

The Honeymooners

My first vote for the Classic TV list is The Honeymooners starring Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows with Art Carney and Joyce Randolph.

The Honeymooners has a lot of fascinating insider details and behind-the-scenes, little known items of interest in addition to the obvious audience appeal.

Let’s see what we can find out.

The Idea

The idea for The Honeymooners show actually was birthed 4 years earlier as a sketch on The Cavalcade of Stars variety show hosted by Jackie Gleason. It started with only Jackie and his wife (Pert Kelton) and it was lacking other character support and needed a stronger writing effort. Art Carney and Joyce Randolph were written into the story and Pert Kelton was replaced by Audrey Meadows.

The revamped Honeymooners appeared as a featured sketch on a number of Jackie Gleason Show variety shows and was so well received by audiences that Jackie decided to spin The Honeymooners off into a half hour sit com which debuted in 1955.

Where it All Began

328 Chauncey Street, Brooklyn

When he conceived The Honeymooners, Jackie Gleason insisted that the Kramden apartment be modeled after one of his boyhood homes in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn: 328 Chauncey Street, apartment 3-A. “The place was dull. The bulbs weren’t very bright. The surroundings were very bare,” Gleason said of the tenement apartment. Ralph Kramden’s address is also 328 Chauncey St., though he lives in the more Brooklyn-sounding Bensonhurst. – Neatorama

Website Neatorama.com has a very informative article, including the Chauncey St. information and images above.

It will be well worth your time to read it here:

Honeymooners on Neatorama

Classic Honeymooners Clips

There are a number of Classic Clips on YouTube.

Here are two of my favorites:

If you don’t get a lot of laughs at these, you aren’t breathing!

Do You Want More Classic TV Posts?

What do you think about getting more than just a link to a video.

It takes me more time to research and it takes you more time to read/look and follow some links to more behind-the-scenes detail.

But I was fascinated to learn the details about the Honeymooners.

Should I do some more?

Leave a comment below, please!

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The Honeymooners -Classic TV

Thanks! I appreciate it.

Dick S