TV LAND TO PRESENT RECENTLY UNEARTHED LOST EPISODE OF THE HONEYMOONERS 50 YEARS TO THE MINUTE OF ITS ORIGINAL AIRING

Posted Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Network to Air Episode on October 16, 2004 at 8 p.m. ET/PT

New York, NY, October 13, 2004 - In a historic television event 50 years to the minute of its original airing, TV Land will present a new "lost" episode of the classic 1950s comedy The Honeymooners entitled "Love Letter" on October 16, 2004 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Uncovered in the Peabody Awards Archive at the University of Georgia, this "lost" episode originally aired on October 16, 1954 on The Jackie Gleason Show.

"Love Letter" deals with Ralph Kramden's (Jackie Gleason) discovery of a love letter that he mistakenly believes is meant for his wife Alice (Audrey Meadows). The episode was uncovered in the Peabody Awards archive at the University of Georgia. It was discovered during a preservation review of the archives' kinescopes and videotapes. Although it was re-made so that it could be part of the "Classic 39," this particular episode was presumed "lost" and is the only known copy which exists from The Jackie Gleason Show.

"By presenting this episode of The Honeymooners, which hasn't been seen in 50 years, TV Land continues to deliver its promise to bring the best and rarest of television to our viewers," states Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land and Nick at Nite. "This is an exceptional moment in TV history and TV Land is thrilled that we can share this historic episode with our viewers."

The Honeymooners - which began as a segment on Dumont's Cavalcade of Stars -- elicited such an enormous response from viewers that it became a regular feature and eventually received an entire half-hour time slot on CBS, becoming one of TV's all-time classic comedies.  The Honeymooners ranked #2 from 1954-55, garnered Emmy Awards for Audrey Meadows (Supporting Actress in a Regular Series in 1954) and Art Carney (Best Supporting Actor from 1953-55 plus Special Classification of Individual Achievement for The Jackie Gleason Show 1966-67 and 1967-78).

The series revolves around Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason), a frustrated New York bus driver with a big mouth and a tiny Brooklyn apartment he shares with his wife, Alice (Audrey Meadows).  Living upstairs from the Kramdens are their best friends, the Nortons.  Ed (Art Carney) -- who everyone including his wife, Trixie (Joyce Randolph) calls Norton -- is a sewer worker for the Department of Sanitation and is often working on get-rich-quick schemes with Ralph.

Now seen in over 82 million U.S. homes, TV Land's program mix features popular dramas, sitcoms, westerns, Retromercials and a TV-referential interstitial environment, all programmed with a specific audience in mind - the first generation of Americans to grow up watching television and features all-time Classic hits like All in the Family, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, The Carol Burnett Show and Bonanza.

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