# The Honeymooners (1955)

> A bus driver and his sewer worker pal chase get rich schemes while their wives endure them in 1950s New York.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4220

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 39
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Jackie Gleason
- Network: CBS
- Cast: Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney, Joyce Randolph, Ned Glass, Betty Garde, Ethel Owen, Joseph Ruskin
- TMDB rating: 8.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042114/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: combative, warm, brisk, nostalgic, comedic

## What critics say

Audiences regard The Honeymooners as an acclaimed, influential sitcom whose sharp writing and central performances made it a landmark of American television comedy.

## Synopsis

The Honeymooners (1955-1956) is a American national-television classic sitcom created by Jackie Gleason for CBS. Jackie Gleason plays bus driver Ralph Kramden, a loud, scheming New Yorker whose plans to strike it rich keep collapsing, while Art Carney plays his sewer worker best friend Ed Norton, and Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden and Joyce Randolph as Trixie Norton look on with weary patience. The engine of each half hour is simple: Ralph wants a shortcut out of his cramped tenement life, a new scheme or get rich quick idea arrives, and the friction between the two couples turns it into a mess. Across a single season of 39 episodes, the series stays small in scale, built around recurring apartment rooms and everyday money worries. Its tone is brisk, combative and warm, with marital banter and physical comedy carrying the laughs. Working class New York life gives the bickering a grounded edge. Fans of I Love Lucy, The Flintstones and All in the Family will find resonance in its domestic squabbles and scheming heroes, and it remains one of the most influential situation comedies in American history.

## Shows like The Honeymooners

- [All in the Family (1971)](https://ember.film/tv/1814)
- [Everybody Loves Raymond (1996)](https://ember.film/tv/2029)
- [Dennis the Menace (1959)](https://ember.film/tv/9269)
- [Diff'rent Strokes (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/2290)
- [Married... with Children (1987)](https://ember.film/tv/4027)
- [The Odd Couple (1970)](https://ember.film/tv/1706)
- [The Lucy Show (1962)](https://ember.film/tv/2033)
- [The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/61900)
- [The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)](https://ember.film/tv/2021)
- [Laverne & Shirley (1976)](https://ember.film/tv/2885)

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