40 Eye-Opening Facts About The Honeymooners’ Jackie Gleason

In showbiz history, there are few bigger personalities than Jackie Gleason. The man was larger than life, both on and off screen, though the image many have of him as a rotund comic genius is only half the story. Gleason was a complicated guy who lived a hard life before fame, and it completely shaped who he was – for better or worse. Here are some eye-opening facts about “The Great One.”

40. The Honeymooners wasn’t originally a hit

Contrary to what you might think, The Honeymooners wasn’t a runaway hit during its initial run. The show aired 39 episodes between October 1955 and September 1956, but by the end of this stretch it had fallen to 19th in the ratings. According to The Honeymooners’ Companion by Donna McCrohan, Gleason and CBS then mutually agreed to cancel the show, rather than commit to a potentially subpar second season.

39. State-of-the-art cameras proved key to success

The key to The Honeymooners’ eventual success was its second life in reruns. The show was filmed with the state-of-the-art ElectroniCam, as opposed to the kinescope method used by other shows of the day. This meant it looked much better than its competition and re-runs didn’t suffer from a lack of picture quality, even as the years and technology moved on.

38. His famous catchphrases weren’t said very often

The somewhat problematic catchphrase, “Pow! Right in the kisser!” has been indelibly associated with Ralph Kramden over the years. Similarly, “Baby, you’re the greatest!” is commonly linked to the show, too. It may surprise you to learn, though, that these lines were delivered merely once and nine times respectively in the 39 episodes of The Honeymooners. Wait, what?!

37. He hated rehearsing

Gleason wasn’t an actor who enjoyed rehearsals. In fact, he hated them intensely – so he just didn’t do them. Perhaps as a method of downplaying the need for his presence at rehearsals, he claimed an ability to look at an episode’s script only once and immediately memorize all his lines. This would have meant he had a photographic memory, which is pretty rare.