The Honeymooners

The Honeymooners was a situation comedy, which is well-remembered and influential as a highlight of television's golden age. Yet the show was in fact seen for most of its life as a segment within other programs, lasting only one season as an independent series. Created by Jackie Gleason, who starred as bus driver and put-upon husband, Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners debuted in 1951 as a sketch within the variety show Cavalcade of Stars, a series then hosted by Gleason and with Art Carney and Pert Kelton as regulars. Carney played Ralph's best friend, sewer worker Ed Norton, which would become Carney's definitive role, and Kelton was initially cast as Ralph's wife Alice. When the show moved to CBS as The Jackie Gleason Show in 1952, Audrey Meadows took over as Alice, and Joyce Randolph was added as Ed's wife Trixie. 
The Honeymooners sketches remained a popular element, and in 1955, for a single season, the series aired as a half-hour sitcom, before reverting the following year back to the variety format. When Carney left as a regular in 1957, The Honeymooners sketches became far more sporadic until 1966, with new color segments shot, often as full hour musical comedies; Gleason and Carney reprised their roles, while Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean took over as the wives. Pert Kelton, the original Alice, guest starred as Ralph's mother-in-law. In 2005, a feature-length remake was released to movie theaters, starring an African-American cast.
A common element of The Honeymooners often referenced in pop culture is Ralph Kramden's threat to his wife that he would punch her so hard that she'd land on the moon.
==References==
;Sesame Street
* As part of their courtship in Episode 1070, Oscar and Hermine engage in a series of verbal insults. One of Hermine's threats include, "Your face... to the moon, Oscar! Pow! Zoom!"
* After practicing the trumpet throughout Episode 2071, Oscar the Grouch twice remarks that he "hit the high note, Alice." This is a reference to the 1956 Honeymooners episode "Young Man with a Horn" where Ralph tries to improve himself.
* In Episode 2052, Forgetful Jones tries to figure out which hat is the one he's most familiar with. While donning a cook's hat, he declares to a kid named Ralphie, "Chef of the Future!" in reference to Ralph Kramden's role from the Honeymooners episode "Better Living Through TV."
* A sketch with Danny DeVito and Oscar the Grouch ends with the two of them yelling insults at a Grouch bus which did not stop at the bus stop. One of DeVito's insults is "Who taught you how to drive a bus, Ralph Kramden?" 
* During the end scene of Episode 2141, several characters are heard within the sewer wishing each other goodnight. Among the comments are, "Goodnight, Ralphie-boy!" in reference to sewer worker Ed Norton, who would often refer to Ralph as such.
* Oscar as Ralph Kramden and Telly Monster as Ed Norton appear in the October 1991 issue of Sesame Street Magazine.
* The Grand High Triangle Lover and his assistant, Norman, who appeared on Sesame Street beginning in Season 22, have voices and personalities based on Ralph Kramden and Norton. A number of episodes with their involvement have parodied the series:
** Episode 3375 spoofs the episode "The $99,000 Answer" with Telly appearing on "The 99,000 Triangles Game." Much like the ending to the sitcom episode, the answer Telly must provide is based on an annoying habit Norman (the Art Carney role) had been performing earlier.
** Episode 3756 features an extended spoof of the series based on the home life of the Grand High Triangle Lover. His apartment is modeled directly after that of the show, complete with a black-and-white color scheme. Mrs. Grand High Triangle Lover is also seen, resembling Alice Kramden. After dinner, the Grand High Triangle Lover exclaims, "Baby, it was the greatest!," a spin on one of Ralph Kramden's signature phrases. Later, before leading his party guests in "The Alphabet Song", the Grand High Triangle Lover plays a short riff of "Old Folks at Home," a reference to the episode "The $99,000 Answer."
* A telephone repair man in Episode 2704 is performed by David Rudman in an impression of Ed Norton.
* In an animated Sesame Street insert, Flossee and Splatt, the two characters try to ride a see-saw. Splatt, the smaller of the two, says to Flossee that when she lands on the opposite end, "It's gonna be BANG-ZOOM-to the Moon, Splatt!"
* While preparing for Slimey's trip to the moon in Episode 3696, Oscar the Grouch is reading several magazines about space travel, one of which is entitled Bang! Zoom! To The Moon!
* In Episode 3758 of Sesame Street, Alice Snuffleupagus asks where Slimey has gone. Big-brother Snuffy tells her "To the moon, Alice, to the moon!"
* In one installment of Monster Clubhouse, the monsters answer a letter from "little Rafaela Cramden." 
* Ralph Crammedon gets his name, profession and catchphrase from Ralph Kramden.
;The Muppets
* One of the books seen on Fozzie Bear's night stand in the March 18, 1984 edition of The Muppets comic strip is titled "The Best of Ralph and Ed."
* In episode 101 of The Jim Henson Hour, Digit, receiving TV feeds from all over, gets a feed of The Honeymooners and shouts "One of these days Alice. POW! Right in the kisser!"
* Muppets Tonight spoofed the show in episode 104 as "The Lunarmooners". The sketch purported to be a "pilot" that the Muppets had made with John Goodman in 1969, shortly after the moon landing. The sketch features Goodman as Alf, Miss Piggy as his wife Alison, and Fozzie Bear as his friend Newton. In the sketch, Alf reverses one of Ralph Kramden's famous catchphrases: "One of these days, Alison... Bang! Zoom! Right to the Earth!"
;Other
* In "Tutter Gathers Some Moss", Tutter builds a catapult and tells Moss it will send him to the moon. He reiterates: "To the moon, Moss!"
==Connections==
*Art Carney played Ed Norton
*Cedric the Entertainer played Ralph Kramden in the 2005 film adaptation
*John Leguizamo played Dodge in the 2005 film adaptation
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Category:TV References