October 1, 1955…”The Honeymooners” Debuts, Setting The Record Straight…
October 1, 1955…”The Honeymooners” Debuts On CBS
Setting The Record Straight On “The Honeymooners”
Above is a great shot of the cast and writers going over a script at Jackie Gleason’s office.
Today is the anniversary of The Classic 39 “Honeymooners” episodes done on film for the 1955-56 season on CBS. but the younger generation may not know, those characters were not new.
Actually, “The Honeymooners” live sketches began October 5, 1951 on Dumont’s “Cavalcade Of Stars” which Gleason began hosting in June of that year. That first sketch was six minutes long, but often, on that one hour show, they went as long as 45 minutes. These sketches continued into the late 60s.
When Gleason moved to CBS in the fall of 1951, they called Studio 50 (Ed Sullivan Theater) home, and the sketches continued on the new “Jackie Gleason Show”. It was the top show for CBS, but after a few years, Jackie needed a break from the grind of a live one hour show every week, so they decided to do a season of Honeymooners on film, which was done at Dumont’s Adelphi Theater a few blocks away.
About a third of the way through the 39 episode, Gleason began to rethink this half hour film idea. To him, 30 minutes was often not enough time to develop the story, and Perry Como’s one hour show on NBC was tough competition for a half hour show. The last show aired on September 22, 1956, and one week later, the live one hour “Jackie Gleason Show” came back to blockbuster ratings for another year, with the Honeymooners sketches included. And Away We Go! -Bobby Ellerbee
Remember when Gleason moved show production to Miami?
What a jump start for TV production there!
And of course, part of DuMont’s legacy was their Electronicam System, which was used in the filming of the show.
Great photo thanks ❤️❤️❤️
Also, Jackie Gleason did not believe in rehearsing as he liked the spontaneity and reactions of live TV where anything could be ad libbed. The rest of the cast wasn’t happy not rehearsing much but the results are priceless.
I love how you guys find these great behind the scenes photos…keep sending them I am enjoying it way 2much.
Such a great idea. This was some of the best comedy I’ve ever seen. Seeing the shows on a big screen is an experience.
Yes, and in 2016 today, the show is still in repeats, including and especially on WPIX-TV in New York City. Not including the cable networks or digital over-the-air sub-channels, the “classic 39” edition of “The Honeymooners” is the only B&W series currently airing “locally” on any NYC-based station through its primary channel (as “WPIX 11.1”). Always a great series, and a personal favorite of mine too!
The offices were at the Park Sheraton Hotel as I recall. Was Frank Satenstein the original director?
His manager Bullets Durgom, is probably in the picture.
I remember seeing the DuMont show, the CBS show, and the filmed episodes in re-runs for years.
Jackie was an accomplished “Mood/Romantic” songwriter/musician in the 50’s and early 60’s. Here we see those gold records on the mantle!
Always one of my favorite shows.