<Li> blowhard Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden </Li> <P> The series was a big hit for CBS, finishing at #8 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1953--1954 season and #2 in 1954--1955 . The Jackie Gleason Show also earned Emmy nominations for best variety series in 1953, 1954 and 1955, for Gleason as best star in 1954 and 1955, for Audrey Meadows as best supporting actress in 1954 and 1957, Art Carney for best supporting actor in 1957, June Taylor for best choreography in 1956, and best writing and best engineering effects in 1955 . The series won Emmys for Meadows as best supporting actress in 1955, Carney as best supporting actor in 1954 and 1955, and Taylor for choreography in 1955 . Gleason never received an Emmy . </P> <P> By far the most memorable and popular of Gleason's characters was blowhard Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden, featured originally in a series of Cavalcade skits known as "The Honeymooners", with Pert Kelton as his wife Alice, and Art Carney as his upstairs neighbor Ed Norton . These were so popular that in 1955 Gleason suspended the variety format and filmed The Honeymooners as a regular half - hour sitcom (television's first spin - off), co-starring Carney, Audrey Meadows (who had replaced the blacklisted Kelton after the earlier move to CBS), and Joyce Randolph . Finishing 19th in the ratings, these 39 episodes were subsequently rerun constantly in syndication, often five nights a week, with the cycle repeating every two months for decades . They are probably the most familiar body of work from 1950s television with the exception of I Love Lucy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz . </P> <P> The show's original variety format and title returned in September 1956 and continued until June 1957 . Then, in October 1958, Gleason debuted a half - hour version of The Jackie Gleason Show, with Buddy Hackett as a sidekick, but it was short - lived, cancelled in January 1959 . </P>

What was jackie gleason's wife's name on the jackie gleason show