Without The Honeymooners, there would be no The Flintstones. Without The Flintstones, there would be no The Simpsons. Without The Simpsons, most of your favorite comedies from the past 20 years would be a lot less funny. The Honeymooners — starring Jackie Gleason as frustrated bus driver Ralph Kramden, the criminally underrated Audrey Meadows as his patient wife Alice, Art Carney as Ralph’s good-natured sidekick Ed Norton, and Joyce Randolph as Ed’s wife and Alice’s friend Trixie — is one of the most influential sitcoms of all-time. And 60-plus years later, it still holds up. You don’t realize how many well-worn tropes originated from the “Classic 39” until you watch the entire thing in one sitting (which I did last year; I highly recommend it).
The Honeymooners made its debut as a sketch on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network’s Cavalcade of Stars before moving to CBS, which just put into development a “modern-day” Honeymooners reboot. That’s according to the Hollywood Reporter, which adds, “The multicamera comedy hails from Bob Kushell, who will pen the script and produce… The new take centers on two couples — best friends and neighbors like the original — who contend with a new dynamic when one couple remarries after divorcing four years earlier.”
Kushell, who’s written for 3rd Rock from the Sun, Suburgatory, and The Simpsons, also co-created The Muppets, which was canceled by ABC after one failed season. CBS hopes his The Honeymooners reboot is more successful, and I hope Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey are cast as Ralph and Alice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGV5q6Ii5j8
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)