By 1977, the classic 39 episodes of The Honeymooners had been playing in re-runs for 20 years. Even that far removed from the show's heyday, Ralph and Alice Kramden, along with Ed and Trixie Norton, were enough of a commodity that ABC greenlit their very own Christmas special, to air November 28th.

The whole gang was back, except for Joyce Randolph, who no longer appeared as Norton's wife Trixie. She'd been replaced by Jane Kean, who played Trixie on The Jackie Gleason Show. The characters, however, remained the same as ever, and life for Ralph was no less frustrating during the holiday season.

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The Honeymoonersjackie gleason

Jackie Gleason used to edit ''The Honeymooners'' while it was live

At work, Rakph's boss suggests that Kramden would be a suitable director for the company's Christmas play. While that might seem at odds with Ralph's entire personality, he's got an ulterior motive. The previous Christmas play director was promoted to Vice President of the bus line.

Naturally, conflict begins to build, as Alice is expecting a holiday vacation to Miami with her husband. On top of that, she sees it as pretty unlikely that Ralph would ever be embraced as the company's vice president. 

Even though he has no previous directing experience, Ralph is pretty gung-ho about the whole thing and casts Norton as both Tiny Tim and Scrooge in his adaptation of A Christmas Carol. He even sells commercial time to keep up with production expenses.

While Ralph directing a Christmas play doesn't make much sense, Jackie Gleason directed the real-life special. There was also a bit of irony surrounding Alice's regrets about missing out on a Miami vacation. The special was actually taped in Miami!

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