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, CBS offered Gleason an opportunity to produce and star in the series, "The Honeymooners" in 1955 (39 episodes). Some of the so-called "lost episodes" were 15 minute skits originally broadcast on DuMont. Gleason retained the rights to the reruns which became extremely popular with an almost cult-like following.
The Honeymooners starred Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, Art Carney as Ed Norton, Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden, and Joyce Randolph as Trixie Norton. Their characters were popular and enduring enough to be successfully transplanted to the stone age as The Flintstones two decades later.
As it debuted on The Cavalcade of Stars, The Honeymooners can be considered television's first spin-off.