One of the first sitcoms in television history could soon return in a new form on CBS. The US network is currently developing a new edition of “The Honeymooners”. The series ran for one season from fall 1955 to spring 1956 on CBS and was the first to focus on working-class married couples.
The new series, which is also being developed as a sitcom filmed live in front of an audience, would thematically address issues of equality. The focus is on the new wife Ruth and her husband Alex. Both are determined to have a marriage that is completely equal on all levels. But is this even possible? Does a household have two bosses or perhaps none at all?
The reboot is being developed by “Mixed-ish” producer Lindsey Shockley, and the pilot will be directed by Kelly Park. Damon Wayans Jr.’s Two Shakes Entertainment (“Happy Endings”) is responsible. Back in 2016, CBS briefly had a new edition of “The Honeymooners” in development, but the project ultimately did not go to series.
The original series, which was never broadcast in Germany, had its origins in a recurring sketch on the “Jackie Gleason Show”, which had been on CBS since 1952. Gleason then also starred in “The Honeymooners.”
The sitcom revolved around two married couples: the bus driver Ralph Kamden (Jackie Gleason) and his wife Alice (Audrey Meadows) and the sewer worker Ed Norton (Art Carney) and his wife Trixie (Joyce Randolph), who are best friends together lived in run-down apartment buildings in Brooklyn. After the Great Depression, everyday life for these working class people was anything but glamorous and the series took that into account. Ralph and Ed often fought as underdogs for a better life for themselves and their wives. However, there was never a lack of humor due to the series’ sketch-like narrative style.
