25 of the most toxic relationships on TV

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Alice and Ralph

Although The Honeymooners aired in the very conservative 1950s, that didn’t stop Ralph from constantly threatening Alice with a punch to the face. Sure, women weren’t considered much more than a man’s property, but getting hit with a fist is still a stretch.

We never actually saw Ralph haul off and punch Alice, but he certainly did offer to do it enough. In fact, this threat has become part of our cultural lexicon. When he declared, “To the moon, Alice,” not only was he promising to knock her into space, but he was also cementing a catch phrase that would last much longer than the show actually aired.

Of course they had their sweet moments, and Alice never really seemed legitimately afraid of Ralph. Perpetually grumpy and eternally optimistic, Ralph never met a money-making scheme he didn’t enjoy. Things often went sideways, and when Alice wasn’t as understanding as he thought she should be, an argument would ensue and he would inevitably threaten to send her “to the moon.”

This could never happen in today’s world. We could never have a leading TV character suggest hitting his wife, every single episode. But in the 1950s, I guess domestic violence was a lot funnier. (Unless it was happening to you, naturally.)