Rebooting ‘The Honeymooners’ is a bad idea

o here we g again, fr mthe sublime t the ridicul us — TV style.

Just as we’re getting psyched f r WPIX/Ch. 11’s annual New Year’s Eve marath n f “The Honeymooners,” falling n the 60th anniversary f its swan s ng, c mes w rd that CBS will reb t the series.

S mewhere, Ralph Kramden hears this news — face c nt rting, eyes p pping — bell ws like a stricken c w and pir uettes int ne f his fainting sw ns.

I’ve said it bef re and I’ll say it again: why try t replicate any sh w that was nearly perfect — particularly a series like “The H neym ners,” ne f the best sitc ms in American TV hist ry? I’m referring t the “Classic 39” epis des, which aired fr m 1955-56 n CBS, headlined by Jackie Gleas n —“With the stars Art Carney, Audrey Mead ws and J yce Rand lph.” It was Gleas n’s decisi n t turn this recurring sketch n his TV variety sh w int a standal ne series — and his decisi n t pull the plug after ne magical seas n, perhaps sensing it w uld be f lly t try catching lightning in a sec nd b ttle.

(oK, s the sh w’s ratings trailed ff in Seas n 1 bef re it f und new life in syndicati n. But still.)

Sure, Gleas n reprised Ralph, Alice, Ed and Trixie n his ’60s-era (c l r) variety sh w — with Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean as Alice and Trixie — but th se were tepid musical “H neym ners” sketches which paled (despite Carney’s return) t the riginal “Classic 39.” Ditt f r th se mid-t -late ’70s “H neym ners” specials n ABC, n which Gleas n and Carney played seni r versi ns f Ralph and Ed: paint-by-numbers kn ck ffs f the riginal masterpiece.

S what’s the p int in trying this exercise again?

Acc rding t the H llyw d Rep rter, the new versi n f “The H neym ners” will enc mpass tw c uples — best friends and neighb rs à la Ralph, Alice, Ed and Trixie — wh deal with a new dynamic when ne f the c uples remarries after a f ur-year div rce. And did I menti n that it’s being devel ped by the same guy wh tried (and failed) t remake “The Muppets” f r ABC?

That’s wr ng n s many levels.

Maybe the sh w will be terrific. Maybe, like its black-and-white predecess r, it will have a t pn tch cast that gels nicely int a c hesive c medy unit. Maybe, as Art Carney’s bi grapher, I’m just t picky ab ut (and pr tective f) the riginal series. But d y u remember the 2005 big-screen versi n f “The H neym ners” starring Cedric the Entertainer (as Ralph) and Mike Epps (as N rt n)? Neither d es any ne else. That’s the p int. Maybe y u can, as they say, “re-imagine” a classic — but that’s usually sh w-biz sh rthand f r “We c uldn’t think f anything new.” #Rehash. And s it g es. Just days after “The H neym ners” news came a rep rt fr mVariety: S ny Pictures TV is in the “very early stages” f reb ting N rman Lear’s 1970s series “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times” int six-epis de anth l gies using new act rs t recreate classic epis des f the riginals. It’s n t unprecedented; the BBC pulled this ff with England’s legendary sitc m “Hancock’s Half Hour” (which premiered n British TV in 1956, just as “The H neym ners” was ending its run).

That being said, I’m n t s sure there are any classic epis des f either “The Jeffers ns” r “G d Times.” But the brilliant “All in the Family” with any ne but Carr ll o’C nn r as Archie Bunker? Perish the th ught.

Just wait until o’C nn r, up in TV heaven, hears they’re remaking his ic nic gem — and bl ws ne f Archie’s trademark raspberries.

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