If you judge a sitcom’s quality by its length, then The Honeymooners doesn’t have much
to show for itself.
It only had a single season of 39 episodes If you examine it a bit deeper, you’ll see
why it’s regarded as one of the best sitcoms of all time.
The sketch-show-style humor was formulaic but hilarious.
Audiences would howl every time they heard Ralph shout, “To the moon, Alice!”
It made a major impact in its short run, and there are plenty of details that even fans
don’t know.
Keep watching to learn about interesting Honeymooners bloopers and secrets.
Two Alices Pert Kelton first appeared as Alice in a 1967
sketch where, ironically enough, she appeared as Alice’s mother.
That later earned her the role of Alice in the first seven episodes of The Honeymooners.
Her husband Ralph Bell appeared in an ad in the Daily Work in 1948.
That got him branded a fascist and put on the Red Channels pamphlet which was the unofficial
list of names on the Hollywood blacklist.
She was considered guilty by association.
Jackie Gleason fought to keep her on the show, but the network took her off and said she
left due to a heart condition.
Audrey Meadows took over, but Jackie originally thought she was “too young and too pretty.”
She went home to have a photographer take her picture without hair and makeup.
He saw the photos and was convinced, even though he didn’t know they were of Audrey.
When he found out, he thought it was proof that she had a great sense of humor.
Audrey Meadows’ Contract Audrey Meadows became a core part of The Honeymooners
after she signed her contract in 1952.
Like Alice, she was no fool and made sure to read the fine print.
Her two brothers were both attorneys.
They joined her and her manager at the table.
The group insisted that she get residuals for any re-broadcasted episodes.
The network agreed because they didn’t have much faith in the show.
40 years later, The Honeymooners remained a late-night staple after it ended.
Audrey is the only one who ever earned money from the reruns.
Ralph Occasionally Schemed Too Early Many shows are known for predicting things
before they happen, whether it’s a political event or a new product.
The Honeymooners was great at the latter.
If Ralph had waited a few years, perhaps he could have gotten rich!
Consider the episode TV or Not TV.
Alice asks him why he won’t get a TV, and he says he’s waiting until they can play
3D.
Certain stations broadcasted 3D movies as early as the ’80s, and 3D sets went on the
market by the early 2010s.
They didn’t succeed, but what if Ralph had waited for 3D movies?
He could have gotten at least a small payday.
Other products referenced on the show came out after its run and went on to be successful.
Two of the most successful are low-calorie pizza and glow-in-the-dark wallpaper.
Ralph could have made bank with those.
The Flintstones The Flinstones were highly influenced by The
Honeymooners.
Jackie insisted on getting an early look at it and didn’t take kindly to the similarities.
You could almost swap out Ralph and Alice for Fred and Wilma and Art and Joyce for Barney
and Betty without much of a change except for the time period.
He considered suing Hanna Barbara.
His publicists advised him against it, asking him if he wanted to go down in history as
“the man who killed Fred Flinstone.”
He didn’t take any action against a 1956 animated short with main characters Ralph
Krumden and Ned Morton, either.
It ticked his funny bone and received his blessing.
“Lost Episodes” The Honeymooners not only had lost episodes
but invented the term.
Jackie always had copies of a few limited live sketches in storage, but he didn’t
know what to do with them and kept them put away.
Most of these lost episodes, other than the ones known as the Classic 39, followed the
same formula.
Ralph hears about a money-making scheme.
He asks Alice for a bit of money to get it started, but she denies him.
He goes to Norton instead.
Their scheme fails, and Ralph admits that Alice was right.
It’s a repetitive storyline today but, thanks to a bit of physical and slapstick humor,
audiences of the time didn’t tire of it.
Jackie Gleason the Singer Jackie was a man of many hats and talents.
He was never able to read music but loved to play.
He composed the theme songs for The Honeymooners, You're My Greatest Love, and The Jackie Gleason
Show - Melancholy Serenade.
All he had to do was sing out his ideas to transcribers.
He was also the leader of an easy-listening band that produced successful mood music albums.
The first one, Music for Lovers Only, once held the record for the longest stay on the
Top 10 of the Billboard album charts at 153 weeks.
Jackie even once held the record for the most albums at #1 without any hits on the Top 40.
The Apartment Audrey Meadows got stacks of mail every week
from viewers about the Kramden’s apartment.
They sent aprons, curtains, and other decor to help Alice spruce it up.
The thing was that Jackie had intentionally designed the apartment to be flat and almost
depressing.
He based it on the one he lived at in Brooklyn, New York.
Ralph made the same $62 a week as his neighbor Ed, but he’d never want to use credit to
furnish it.
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Keep watching to learn about more bloopers and facts from The Honeymooners.
Inspirations from Art Art Carney also brought elements of his own
life into his character.
His tendency to play Ed Norton with exaggerated gestures and speech was an imitation of his
obsessive-compulsive father.
That signature porkpie hat even came directly from Art’s wardrobe.
He bought it in 1935 while he was in high school for $5.
He said in a 1985 interview with People Magazine that he still had it in a corner of his closet
in his Westbrook, Connecticut home.
No Dress Rehearsals Live sketch shows were the foundation of Jackie
Gleason’s career.
When it came time to film The Honeymooners, he refused to allow dress rehearsals.
He felt that having only one script run-through kept the jokes fresh.
The lack of preparation meant a faster production schedule.
The Honeymooners filmed two episodes a week at the Adelphi Theater instead of a sound
stage.
The other actors did their own preparation without him.
They’d be the most prepared when it came time to film.
That meant that Jackie would often forget lines and signal with a pat on his stomach.
They’d cover for him, and it was usually Audrey Meadows who saved the day.
She also used signals, such as glances and jutting elbows, to lead him to his marks.
Ad-LIbbing Jackie’s hatred for rehearsals and retakes
meant that mistakes often had to be worked into the show.
His ability to ad-lib and semi-photographic memory made that easier.
There’s the scene in the episode The Man from Space where a knob falls off of his spaceman
costume.
Alice picks up the knob and hands it back to him.
He says, “Gimme that.
That’s my Denaturalizer.”
In the episode Better Living Through TV, Ralph and Norton are rehearsing a commercial to
sell a kitchen gadget.
Part of it falls off, and Ralph says “Maybe we ought to say something about spear-fishing?”
Goofs/Bloopers Not even the best ad-libbing and gesturing
could hide all Honeymooners bloopers.
Take the background of the windows on the Kramden apartment.
Depending on the moment, it may or may not have a fire escape.
The door knob on the apartment may also be on the right or left side of the door, depending
on the episode.
The fact that their door opens out into the hallway isn’t right.
If it’s meant to be used to enter their home, it should always come into the building
itself.
Their address is also confusing.
They’re said to live on the Bensonhurts section of Brooklyn at 328 Chauncey Street.
That’s actually in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.
Behind-The-Scenes Drama The stars of The Honeymooners had clear chemistry
and helped each other on stage.
When the cameras stopped rolling, there was hidden animosity.
Joyce Randolph admitted that not being able to rehearse made her break down in cold sweats.
She also noted that Jackie’s drinking gave him an unpredictable personality.
Jackie and Art, best friends on-screen, also had struggles.
There are rumors that Jackie was jealous of Art’s career or that Art didn’t respect
Jackie because he didn’t take comedy seriously.
They vowed never to work again after The Honeymooners ended, but they broke that vow when they came
together in the 1985 film Izzy and Moe.
Jackie even claimed that his friend was 90% responsible for the show’s success.
Cary Grant Almost Guest-Starred Cary Grant went to the Paramount lot one afternoon
while The Honeymooners was on its summer hiatus.
Audrey was the first to see him and was starstruck.
She wanted to talk to him, but he walked away.
He was only visiting because he was a massive fan and wanted to speak to Jackie about getting
a guest role.
He suggested being Ed’s assistant in the sewer.
Audrey couldn’t imagine him playing a sewer worker and suggested against it.
He slyly responded, “I’ve seen worse filth and worked with bigger rats.”
Audrey and Carey eventually did work together in 1962’s That Touch of Mink and developed
a lifelong friendship.
Jackie Quit After One Season The Honeymooners was on a roll for months
after it premiered and was second only to I Love Lucy in popularity.
Jackie was dubbed the “king of Saturday night television,” but he soon abdicated
his throne.
In the fall of 1995, NBC moved The Perry Como Show to the 8 p.m. time slot.
That gave THe Honeymooners a worthy opponent.
By September of 1956, it dropped to the #19 spot in the ratings, and CBS was considering
canceling it.
Jackie pulled the plug before they could.
He said that 39 episodes were enough and that the writers had already come up with all possible
plots for a half-hour sitcom, and he’d rather go out on a high note.
The Honeymooners did reappear as a skit on The Jackie Gleason Show from 1966-1970.
Who’s your favorite classic sitcom couple?
Let us know in the comments.