In the late 1940s, Jackie Gleason hosted a variety show,
The Cavalcade of Stars, on the DuMont Television Network.
There he created skits of The Honeymooners with another
DuMont performer, Art Carney. The skits became so popular
that CBS offered Gleason an opportunity to produce and
star in a series of The Honeymooners in 1955, resulting
in 39 episodes. Gleason retained the rights to the reruns
which became extremely popular with an almost cult-like
following. In the 1980s, Gleason released a number of
so-called "lost episodes" (which were in reality
never lost but were just sitting in Gleason's vault for
decades), though it's not known whether they were skits
originally produced for DuMont, or additional CBS productions.
These episodes were released on video and sometimes show
up in syndication alongside what are known as "The
Classic 39".
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