"Female-Driven" The Honeymooners Reboot in Development at CBS With Damon Wayans Jr.

01/07/2022 04:00 pm EST

A "female-driven" reboot of the classic sitcom The Honeymooners is in development at CBS. Damon Wayans Jr. (New Girl, CBS' Happy Together, Happy Endings) and Kameron Tarlow's (Grimm) Two Shakes Entertainment will executive produce the new re-imagining about a newly-married couple who "are determined to have a marriage where they are true equals in every way." The rebooted Honeymooners comes from writer-showrunner Lindsey Shockley (Black-ish, Mixed-ish) and director Kelly Park (Country Comfort, CBS' The Neighborhood), who executive produce the multi-camera sitcom with Tarlow and Wayans. 

The Honeymooners redo is described as "a bold, female-driven reboot of the iconic working-class comedy centered around new wife Ruth and her husband Alex who are determined to have a marriage where they are true equals in every way," according to Deadline. "But what happens when a marriage has two heads of the household? Are they co-heads? Or no head at all?" 

When Wayans Jr. launched production company Two Shakes Entertainment in 2018 with a two-year first-look deal at CBS TV Studios, Deadline reported Two Shakes "is committed to working with diverse voices, both in front and behind the camera. Its focus is on pursuing protagonists who don't traditionally get to be at the center of a show and bringing their stories to the screen as quickly as possible." 

Jackie Gleason created and starred in the original sitcom that began as a comedy sketch on the Gleason-hosted Cavalcade of Stars and his variety show. The original Honeymooners ran for a single season of a "classic 39" episodes on CBS from 1955 to 1956, tightly focused on scheming and blustering bus driver Ralph Kramden (Gleason), his deadpan housewife Alice (Audrey Meadows), and their best friends Ed Norton (Art Carney) and Trixie (Joyce Randolph).

Gleason revived the Honeymooners sketches on The Jackie Gleason Show and subsequent variety show Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine, following it with musical specials and four one-hour Honeymooners specials. The influential sitcom, which famously inspired the animated Flintstones, was first re-imagined on the big screen with a 2005 feature film from Paramount Pictures. The Honeymooners movie reboot featured a largely Black cast led by Cedric the Entertainer, Gabrielle Union, Mike Epps, and Regina Hall. 

CBS first began developing a reboot of The Honeymooners in 2016. Bob Kushell (3rd Rock from the Sun, ABC sitcom The Muppets.) was attached as writer with Jeff Greenstein (CBS' Mom, Will & Grace) as producer for CBS Studios, but that remake failed to materialize. 

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