A Very Brooklyn New Year's Day Pleasure

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Want to know what I did on New Year's Day, dear Reader? I spent most of the day watching the Honeymooners' Marathon on channel 11. I know, I know... I should have been a bit more productive, but I can't think of a better way to start 2009 than to watch the quintessential Brooklyn show.
The first time I came across the show in the mid-1970's, I had just arrived to this country, living on Long Island with my parents.
Ralph, Norton, Alice and Trixie were not like any of the other characters featured on American television. They did not own a split-level home, they did not drive a big car and things never seemed to work out for Ralph and Alice. Compared to "Leave it for Beaver," "The Andy Griffith Show" or "Bewitched" ( my personal favorite) and other shows that I was introduced to during my first years here, the Kramdens seemed so different.
Frankly, I did not understand the setting, the plot or the appeal of the show. Where did they live? Who were these Americans who lived in such a small apartment? The Honeymooners inhabited a different America, far away from the 'perfect' one featured in those other shows. This was real life. These were real people. And they lived in a real place: Brooklyn.
Only after I moved to the borough myself years afterwards, did I truly understand the show and fell in love with its characters. So, what better way to spend a Brooklyn New Year's Day than in the company of Ralph and Alice?

What did you do?


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