How Will a Modern Version of The Honeymooners Work?

Details of the concept are vague. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “the new take centers on two couples—best friends and neighbors like the original—who contend with a new dynamic when one couple remarries after divorcing four years earlier.” Conceptually, there’s a lot to revamp from a show that took place in the ’50s before many types of people were legally liberated, something that’s already been tried once with the 2005 movie of the same name with a black cast. Will Jackie Gleason’s Ralph character (a bus driver) verbally berate his wife Alice as much as the original Ralph did? Or will the show flip the domestic dynamic in a smart way?

Though its decades old, The Honeymooners is still lauded (reruns play as a marathon every New Year’s Eve). That’s despite the fact that the show, based on a sketch, only aired 39 episodes from 1955-1956. THR notes:

The classic sitcom ranks as one of the first U.S. TV series to portray working-class married couples in a gritty setting — with episodes largely taking place in the families’ rundown Brooklyn apartment building. (Repeats of The Honeymooners currently air on MeTV.)

This fits right in with what might be a post-election boom in shows centered around the struggles of the working class.