About the "Lost" episodes of "The Honeymooners" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Rezny@gmail.com · 12-04-2010, 01:36 AM

About the lost episodes ,2 questions:1)What did you think of them? and 2)Did you know that Jackie Gleason,before his death,said to Viacom,something like :"Either air them or pitch 'em".?

TV Knowledge Fan · 12-04-2010, 04:28 AM

...that the "lost episodes" were actually sketches from "THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW" between 1952 and 1957, of various lengths (10 minutes to a full hour). They wouldn't exist today if Jackie hadn't included a clause in his CBS contract to receive a kinescope film copy of every telecast for his personal use [this was because he discovered that DuMont was not saving his 1950-'52 "CAVALCADE OF STARS" episodes, which featured the original "Honeymooners" sketches during the 1951-'52 season], which he proceeded to save in an air conditioned vault over the years. He waited until the right moment, in 1984, to finally do something with them- it cost him money to maintain that air conditioned vault, and he probably would have "pitched" his kinnies if the Museum of Broadcasting {the "Paley Center For Media" today} hadn't announced the discovery of four of his variety hours that CBS had uncovered in their archives, which featured "Honeymooners" sketches. That gave Jackie the incentive to say, in effect, "Y'know, I have those shows, too. In fact, I got a lot of 'em! Wanna make a deal?". Viacom, the owner of the "Classic 39" (1955-'56) filmed episodes, successfully negotiated one with Jackie for the rights to create 68 additional half-hours from the "live" sketches for viewing on their "Showtime" cable channel in the fall of 1984, then added a few years later with the filmed shows in syndication.

The live version of "The Honeymooners" {"the lost episodes"} is just as entertaining as the filmed version!

12-04-2010, 01:36 AM	#1
Rezny@gmail.com Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 20, 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 2,675	About the "Lost" episodes of "The Honeymooners" About the lost episodes ,2 questions:1)What did you think of them? and 2)Did you know that Jackie Gleason,before his death,said to Viacom,something like :"Either air them or pitch 'em".?

12-04-2010, 04:28 AM	#2
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	You have to understand... ...that the "lost episodes" were actually sketches from "THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW" between 1952 and 1957, of various lengths (10 minutes to a full hour). They wouldn't exist today if Jackie hadn't included a clause in his CBS contract to receive a kinescope film copy of every telecast for his personal use [this was because he discovered that DuMont was not saving his 1950-'52 "CAVALCADE OF STARS" episodes, which featured the original "Honeymooners" sketches during the 1951-'52 season], which he proceeded to save in an air conditioned vault over the years. He waited until the right moment, in 1984, to finally do something with them- it cost him money to maintain that air conditioned vault, and he probably would have "pitched" his kinnies if the Museum of Broadcasting {the "Paley Center For Media" today} hadn't announced the discovery of four of his variety hours that CBS had uncovered in their archives, which featured "Honeymooners" sketches. That gave Jackie the incentive to say, in effect, "Y'know, I have those shows, too. In fact, I got a lot of 'em! Wanna make a deal?". Viacom, the owner of the "Classic 39" (1955-'56) filmed episodes, successfully negotiated one with Jackie for the rights to create 68 additional half-hours from the "live" sketches for viewing on their "Showtime" cable channel in the fall of 1984, then added a few years later with the filmed shows in syndication. The live version of "The Honeymooners" {"the lost episodes"} is just as entertaining as the filmed version!