First, haven't they basically remade The Honeymooners a dozen times already? I liked it when they called it the Fintsontones, and the Simpsons. Second, The Hooneymooners might be the most over-rated piece of popular entertainment in the mass media era. I'm not saying it wasn't funny, just that it was never nearly as funny, or filled with as much pathos, as its partisans claim. Gleason himself was something of an asshole. I grew up with grandparents and a mother from Brooklyn, and they loved the show, and Gleason (I had to watch the Miami Beach show every week, puzzled and oddly fascinated by the June Taylor dancers) and heard so much about the original Honeymooners that maybe it was inevitable that I would be a little underwhelmed when I eventually saw them for myself. Again, not bad television, given the time, and Gleason's aversion to rehearsal, but I would argue with anyone who wanted to make it a top ten sitcom.
I agree that Ralph's bluster and Alice's competence softens the domestic violence themes, but that partalways makes me uncomfortable anyway. The classic obersvaton about the Simpson's is that we love Homer because Marge loves him (or is it the other way round?), but I never do understand why Alice loves Ralph (she outclasses him in so many ways), which makes actual or threatened abuse to real an option. It is also a bit off putting to see the super rich Gleason (how much did he get paid for that show? I forget but it was a hell of a lot) getting rich alternatingly making fun of and sentimentally idealizing the lower working class. A real re-make of this show today would be set in Staten Island and the Cramdens would be Trump voters, and he would be making jokes about beating his wife and immigrants who threaten his bus driver job, tragically and violently unable to accurately make sense of the reasons and culprits in his chronic financial instability, and I am not sure how funny or heart warming that would be. In the early 70s we could make fun of Archie Bunker, but today Ralph and Archie have had their revenge, and it's not funny ha ha. On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 10:54 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > I agree with Steve here, and as he pointed out earlier, the original > series was built upon what Gleason could do. In theater, plays are rarely > written for only one individual to play a role. Current accusations not > withstanding, "The Cosby Show" remade without Bill Cosby would be stupid. > Same would be true about "The Bob Newhart Show" without Bob. Just because > Gleason's name wasn't in the Honeymooners title doesn't mean he wasn't > fundamental to what the series was. > > I'm all for a fresh take on a classic concept. If CBS decided to > greenlight a live sitcom centered around two low income couples in a > tiny apartment building, good for them. But taking the name of Gleason's > series ought not need to be a part of that. > > > On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 10:38 PM Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > > To me, what it represents is a lack of originality and a fear of > > risk-taking. This is why broadcast TV is losing viewers. Or part of > > the reason. No one is going to get fired with a reboot of a > > well-respected series. This has failure etched on it from the start. I > > hope I'm wrong. But I don't watch a single broadcast TV drama or > > comedy today. > > Sisket & Ebert used to wonder why they don't remake bad movies and get > > it right the second time. That may make sense here. > > > > On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 10:23 PM, 'Dave Sikula' via TVorNotTV > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I will never understand people getting upsets over reboots. Granted, "The > > > Honeymooners" is a near-perfect series, but if the new version works, we > get > > > a good new TV series. If it doesn't, it'll vanish. > > > > > > If it weren't for doing new versions of things, my business of the > theatre > > > would basically not exist. > > > > > > We survived the "Bewitched" movie, we'll survive this. > > > > > > --Dave Sikula > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 9:56:03 PM UTC-8, Kevin M. (RPCV) > wrote: > > >> > > >> > > >> > http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/cbs-planning-to-reboot-the-honeymooners-w456074 > > > > > > -- > > > -- > > > TV or Not TV .... 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