How sweet it is: "The Honeymooners" on MeTV

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhja_tdmfWRvhY5ZJcwUVMzEyH1I49gC1zfpEGg9P24FAQpXoSujmSu6NkMZioeyKCw2B_oM2i5gIzDb5M6_ihE12IyGHfocZ0xT-K_WRV4BCvAkDxBDRMXbwrDHAf6oVvHR6o6Is-A46M/s1600/the-honeymooners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhja_tdmfWRvhY5ZJcwUVMzEyH1I49gC1zfpEGg9P24FAQpXoSujmSu6NkMZioeyKCw2B_oM2i5gIzDb5M6_ihE12IyGHfocZ0xT-K_WRV4BCvAkDxBDRMXbwrDHAf6oVvHR6o6Is-A46M/s400/the-honeymooners.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the final episode of the first season of AMC’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men</i>, set in 1960, advertising wunderkind Don Draper pitches his creative concept to Kodak for its latest product, a slide projector called the Carousel. He speaks of the power of nostalgia and describes the device as a time machine with the ability to take people to that place everyone most longs to go, “back home again.” As he delivers his presentation in a darkened conference room, images of Draper’s own young wife and children flash onto a screen one by one, and the carousel works its magic on on those who watch.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">MeTV is another sort of time machine. Its viewers are regularly transported to an earlier, some say more golden, age of television – the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, those decades when the network’s target audience, baby boomers like me, was very young. Tripping into the past by way of MeTV is a purely cheerful experience, nothing at all like the harrowing journey of Martin Sloan (Gig Young) whose “Walking Distance” detour into his past took him through the looking glass of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Twilight Zone</i>.</span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thanks to MeTV I’ve once again been able to travel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Streets of San Francisco</i> and revisit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rockford Files</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dick Van Dyke Show</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mary Tyler Moore </i>and, most recently, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rhoda</i>– all great and legendary series. But the show I can never resist, no matter how many times I’ve seen it, is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Honeymooners</i>, the classic 39 episodes that aired on CBS from 1955 – 56. Since it airs on MeTV at 1:30 a.m. PDT these days, I’ve got the DVR up and running in the middle of the night just so I can savor the antics of Ralph and Alice Kramden (Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows) and Ed Norton (Art Carney) a time or two more.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqW1EATrNbEKJWChADRALFxKXohFpLiHiqNjiwNqP4IIaer1ypJWQ3x3IXH676WuKQZIjBUUWKTadtNYmjWKWER9ZqAHU9m1fP8i5vk7YwFiS5Mgg-ttPYjE4M6k3AKe6qPTenBIRJic/s1600/Alice_Ralph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqW1EATrNbEKJWChADRALFxKXohFpLiHiqNjiwNqP4IIaer1ypJWQ3x3IXH676WuKQZIjBUUWKTadtNYmjWKWER9ZqAHU9m1fP8i5vk7YwFiS5Mgg-ttPYjE4M6k3AKe6qPTenBIRJic/s400/Alice_Ralph.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Alice and Ralph - a promised trip to the moon will end with "Baby, you're the greatest!"</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Everyone in my family was a big fan of Jackie Gleason and we were crazy about his Ralph Kramden, the supersized New York bus driver, a man with “big ideas” and dreams of becoming a “big shot” one day. We got a kick out of Ed Norton, the quirky sewer worker who was Ralph’s neighbor and best friend, and adored long-suffering Alice Kramden, purveyor of sparingly dispensed but devastating wisecracks, who knew well that beneath Ralph’s bluff and bluster he was a big-hearted softy. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Honeymooners </i>ran on television in one form or another from the early ‘50s into the late ‘70s, so it’s fair to say that it was always in the background of our lives as my brother and I grew up.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Honeymooners </i>made its first TV appearance as a comedy sketch on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cavalcade of Stars</i>, a variety show Jackie Gleason hosted on the now-dufunct DuMont Network from 1950 – 1952. When he was hired away by CBS in 1952 and began the enormously successful <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jackie Gleason Show</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Honeymooners </i>continued as a regular sketch within the show. It was wildly popular and became an increasingly more prominent part of the program, so when Gleason decided to take a break from the hour-long variety show format, it became a stand-alone half-hours series from 1955 – 56. The 39 episodes from that season came to be referred to as “the Classic 39.” When Gleason resumed the variety show format for a final season, 1956 – 57, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Honeymooners</i> became, once more, a sketch segment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVQnUPZgO4LYM53ouAeS_2_LeH5T899XizwPskmxfUOojrkrklQOR94nAY-kaqNcE8CDS-IAdRmKZIVnL5zU5v3dz7ouWa_YTXbtDTHOcu__ZzXN8tjFHmA1eS4ZZz4ats5ZN7ATjIHA/s1600/honeymooners_set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVQnUPZgO4LYM53ouAeS_2_LeH5T899XizwPskmxfUOojrkrklQOR94nAY-kaqNcE8CDS-IAdRmKZIVnL5zU5v3dz7ouWa_YTXbtDTHOcu__ZzXN8tjFHmA1eS4ZZz4ats5ZN7ATjIHA/s400/honeymooners_set.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Art Carney, Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows on the set</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In 1962 Jackie Gleason returned to TV following a hiatus with his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Scene Magazine</i> (1962 – 1966). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Honeymooners</i> was occasionally featured as part of this variety show. Sue Ane Langdon would appear as Alice in two 1962 sketches and Audrey Meadows would return as Alice in an hour-long 1966 musical sketch.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Beginning with the 1966 – 67 season and through the remainder of its run until 1970, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jackie Gleason Show </i>was filmed in color and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Honeymooners </i>installments<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>of this era are known as “the Color <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Honeymooners</i>.” Sheila MacRae portrayed Alice in these mostly mini-musical episodes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">From 1970 – 1978, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Honeymooners </i>aired as a series of nearly annual specials with Audrey Meadows returning as Alice in 1976. Finally, in 1985, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Honeymooners</i> reunion special was broadcast in May and an anniversary special aired in October.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Of all the show's incarnations, it's the early <i>Honeymooners</i> I'm forever drawn to. Part of this, of course, is about the pure quality of the show during that period when it was at its peak. But another part of the attraction has to do with memories of nights with my family in front of a console TV and the unrestrained laughter that filled our living room.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEmkWG8x9BCWVb9ue-H6yHdeyhHPNzMjtEgmrgzE3cT4x9FTGUyd266xoPaxHy1124evvqNDkv2UNopeSBLi1azs2KyPOgcqrKket1ZLwMhZkJ8oVqhnZFXsqXS0QB3nWfGIaubXaWEU/s1600/the_hustler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEmkWG8x9BCWVb9ue-H6yHdeyhHPNzMjtEgmrgzE3cT4x9FTGUyd266xoPaxHy1124evvqNDkv2UNopeSBLi1azs2KyPOgcqrKket1ZLwMhZkJ8oVqhnZFXsqXS0QB3nWfGIaubXaWEU/s400/the_hustler.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman, <i>The Hustler </i>(1961)</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Jackie Gleason (1916 – 1987), dubbed “The Great One” by Orson Welles, was nominated for five Emmys from 1953 – 1956. He was honored with a Peabody Award for excellence in television entertainment in 1956, won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a musical for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Take Me Along </i>in 1960 and garnered a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination in 1961 for his performance in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hustler</i>. “Away We Go” is etched in the marble of the mausoleum in Miami where he is interred.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Art Carney (1918 – 2003) was nominated for eight Emmys for his portrayal of Ed Norton - he won five. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a play, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovers </i>(1969), and originated the role of Felix Unger in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Odd Couple</i>on Broadway in 1965. </span>Carney won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry and Tonto</i> in 1974. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Audrey Meadows (1922 – 1996) won one of four Emmys she was nominated for for her portrayal of Alice Kramden. She worked steadily in TV and movies from the early 1950s until 1995.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This post is part of <b><i>Me-TV's Summer of Classic TV Blogathon</i></b><i> hosted by the Classic TV Blog Association. </i>Go to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://classic-tv-blog-assoc.blogspot.com/" style="color: #990000;" target="_blank">http://classic-tv-blog-assoc.blogspot.com</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> to view more posts in this blogathon. You can also go to <a href="http://metvnetwork.com/" style="color: #990000;" target="_blank">http://metvnetwork.com</a> to learn more about Me-TV and view its summer line-up of classic TV shows.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQeVbB2O84zFRqpQf-I5FntYr3Q471fLj14SAMJ81asksRNUIXuLbP-X1Y43bbxVvZN_g3VUp6YbSAUparx5sK7tMDZBhgLexnPdlYD4HTU2d_EIR7uup1VWt2Jm5jK1MrDRKbKO8ryuc/s1600/MeTV_blogathon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQeVbB2O84zFRqpQf-I5FntYr3Q471fLj14SAMJ81asksRNUIXuLbP-X1Y43bbxVvZN_g3VUp6YbSAUparx5sK7tMDZBhgLexnPdlYD4HTU2d_EIR7uup1VWt2Jm5jK1MrDRKbKO8ryuc/s200/MeTV_blogathon.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div>

Art Carney Audrey Meadows Jackie Gleason Me-TV's Summer of Classic TV Blogathon The Honeymooners The Lady Eve (author) How sweet it is: "The Honeymooners" on MeTV

In the final episode of the first season of AMC’s Mad Men , set in 1960, advertising wunderkind Don Draper pitches his creative concept to K...

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