The Honeymooners - Classic 39 Episodes

Some years ago, WPIX (Channel 11 in New York) announced that it was again going to show re-runs of "The Honeymooners." This upset a lot of people. Ralph Kramden, they said, treats his wife like a Neanderthal man. He even said to her , "I'm the king of the castle. You're nothing, a peasant." Yet even though they had terrible fights, they always hugged and kissed each other at the end. In Jackie Gleason's words, "He loved this broad."Gleason never understood why Ralph Kramden became so popular. He had other characters: Reginald van Gleason III, Joe the Bartender, The Poor Soul. And "The Honeymooners" was just another sketch on his variety show. But Ralph and his buddy, sewer worker Ed Norton (Art Carney), had something special. They were like Laurel and Hardy, if Laurel and Hardy lived in Brooklyn. In fact, Art Carney once got a letter from Stan, telling him how much he and Ollie enjoyed the show.Audrey Meadows very much wanted to play Alice Kramden, Ralph's wife. But according to one story, Gleason felt she was "too attractive" to be a Brooklyn housewife, circa 1956. So Audrey sent Jackie a few photographs of her dressed in her Alice outfits. "That's my Alice! Get me that girl!" Gleason probably didn't use those exact words, but I'm just trying to make this interesting. Years later, Jackie claimed this never happened. "She showed up, read her lines, and I hired her." How dull. I like the first story much better. At any rate, when Joyce Randolph was hired to play Norton's wife Trixie, they were ready to go.Obviously I can't discuss all 39 episodes here, but I'd just like to mention a few of my favorites:TV OR NOT TV-When she learns that the Nortons are about to get their second television set, Alice wants one too. Ed tells Ralph that he can't afford a new set, so Ralph has an idea: if the two of them pool their money, they can get a great set. But in whose apartment will the set go? Ralph has another idea: let's flip a coin. "Heads I win, tails you lose." It comes up tails, so the set goes in Ralph's apartment!One afternoon, we see Norton sneaking into Ralph's apartment. He's going to watch "Captain Video." He puts on his official Captain Video space helmet, and adjusts his official Captain Video disintegrator ray gun. Ralph walks in, sees him in his helmet, and almost has a heart attack."Captain Video" was on every weekday afternoon on the old Dumont network (Channel 5 in New York), which is where Jackie Gleason started on television before moving to CBS. The only thing I remember about it was that the sets looked extremely cheap, like they were made of cardboard. Actors had to be careful not to move too fast, or the whole thing would come tumbling down!By the way, when Alice complains that all day long she's got to look at "these four walls, that stove, this refrigerator, and that ice box," it was done on purpose. Jackie Gleason wanted this room to look as much like his mother's old apartment in Brooklyn as possible. That's why there are no curtains on the windows. One day, a stagehand was hanging up a picture on the set. Jackie told him to take it down. There were no pictures on the wall of his mother's apartment.The Golfer-In order to get in good with his boss Mr. Marshall, Ralph tells him he's a great golfer. When the boss asks him to play with him next weekend, Ralph and Norton practice in Ralph's apartment. (When you see Ralph's golf outfit, you may not believe your eyes!) In the middle of this, Alice comes in and has the best line in the episode. "I'm sorry I went to the movies. I could have seen a better show right here!"Better Living Through TV-Ralph has bought up a thousand can openers that have been gathering dust in a warehouse. By doing a TV commercial with Norton, he hopes to sell them all and make a quick killing. Norton is the Chef of the Past and Ralph the Chef of the Future. Norton does his part well, but live TV makes Ralph a little nervous. We can tell this because when Ralph enters and Norton asks who he is, Ralph says, "Hamina, hamina, hamina." Ralph nicks his finger trying to use use the "handy housewife helper" and destroys the set.Mama Loves Mambo-When a mambo dancer moves into the building, Ralph is hardly thrilled. "You fellows work during the day," he tells Norton and Ralph. "I work nights, and I'll be hanging around here all day." The funniest scene in this episode is when Ralph comes home from work, and there's every lady in the building taking a mambo lesson, even Angelina Manicotti. "You, at your age, should be ashamed of yourself," he tells her. "But Mr. Kramden, it's fun!"The Man From Space-Ed and Ralph enter the annual costume contest at the Racoon Lodge. The longest, loudest laugh in the history of "The Honeymooners" happened when Ralph walked out of the bedroom in his costume. (Yeah, he's a pinball machine all right.)Why did the show last only one season? Again, there are at least two stories to explain that one. Jackie Gleason claimed that he didn't do a second season because he felt that he couldn't maintain the level of excellence of the first season shows. But the story I always heard was that they were all set to do a second season when the sponsor suddenly pulled out. Take your pick.

Once upon a time, about a year after my birth, in the mid 1950's, a television "situation" comedy appeared on black and white screens across the nation, with 39 filmed (rare for those times) episodes of unbelievable, eternal, unforgettable, enduring, pure gems of entertainment which had never been seen before, except perhaps for some early "I Love Lucy" entries. But even those pale by comparison to this collection of absolute joy. Any fan, even semi-fan of Jackie Gleason's "The Honeymooners" will want/need this collection, and price/value, this is probably the best DVD purchase any Amazonian shopper can make. It's a must buy in fact, even if one needs to balance their living expense budget as to what is absolutely necessary to own, versus something that is a luxury.When Jackie Gleason (the original "great one" before Wayne Gretzky) started a sketch/variety/music show in the early 50's on CBS, one of his recurring comedy sketches was of "The Honeymooners," which told the simple tales of an overweight, common man, Brooklyn bus driver Ralph, with big dreams and disappointments, his long-suffering but loving (and lovely) wife Alice, and their neighbor pals, crazy Ed Norton, a sewer worker, and his wife Trixie. The orginal brief sketch segments would prove to be so popular that Gleason later just turned to these characters in a sort of spinoff, but in a full, filmed half-hour length series of its own. Later, Gleason turned back to sketch and variety, but as before, "The Honeymooners" remained in more shorter episodes, and later and hour long color versions were to come because of simple fan demand, and so much more.The generally shorter and only slightly less memorable "lost episodes" of "The Honeymooners" were never filmed, but saved to primitive video captures, and are available for purchase elsewhere on Amazon, but in my opinion, they fall short of this DVD set, which contains the high quality and original "classic 39" when this was a weekly series all of its own. For those with the bread, and for any true Honeymooners fan, the "lost episodes" are also worth scrimping and saving for (as I think they are rather overpriced), but any basic Honeymooners fan will want to get this first collection, and proceed on from there. Jackie Gleason's "Honeymooners" would later be reincarnated in a 1960's hour long, color version, albeit with different actresses playing Alice and Trixie, but from memory alone (as I have not seen the hour color episodes in many moons), even those are or should be a must buy for true Honeymooners super-fans.What makes the original 39 "classic" episodes such an eternal joy, is really quite simple, especially compared with nearly every other "situation comedy" that came before or after it. This show was and remains simply "funny." And that came from the writing, the execution, the cast, the characters, and the "situations" which developed in each and every story. There has never been such comic (and at other times seriously touching) genius on television, period, before this show, and since to this very day.While so much has already been written about, and probably said better than I could about this TV icon/legend of a show, while one could break it all down with greater depth and meaning, the plain fact is that this was and remains television's highest achievement as far as just plain "funny" goes. Every single one of these 39 episodes is a treasure, full of unforgettable moments and cast/character interactions, scripted lines and situations, unscripted and ad-libbed ones (as this was filmed before a live audience, something almost unheard of at the time), and every single episode is a comedy-candy treat to watch and re-watch over and over again. For the latter reason alone, this is truly a must-buy for any and all DVD collectors of "comedy."Watching this series, which featured the most plain "set" in TV comedy history, a true fan cannot help to be amazed at the "replay" value here. No other comic television series or collection has ever come close to this, and I doubt any ever will. But while earlier and later, other TV series would present so many more episodes in number, this, a scant 39 episodes worth, will forever remain that which all other TV comedy series are judged against. This is, again, just simply funny, down-to-earth, comic/pathos genius, and even replaying certain segments and lines and moments from memory alone, can still provide infinite private and shared laughs.That really is the hallmark of any great work of art/comedy, the ability of simple memories alone to make one giggle or laugh, even in the middle of the night or day, and even during tough times when life beats us down into sadness and depression. The "populist" and "common-man" nature of this collection and series, has the ability to touch the best in even the least of us all, and whatever one's position in life, almost everyone will find a lot to simply love about this great work of art/comedy. And reason to go on, and hope for the best, from this crazy thing we call existence. For if laughter is truly a medicine, this is the best prescription ever created.While Honeymooner fans and fanatics will always find endless enjoyment from the "classic 39" for various reasons, the fact is, I have always identified with this whole general idea on my own personal levels. One being an appreciation for the simple art of something being just pure "funny," two, being as how I grew up in just such a lower-lower middle class upbringing myself but one, bottom line, filled with love, and three, my father (sans the weight), who died young but was a great fan and introduced me and my brother to this long ago, and who strangely enough, looked almost exactly like Jackie Gleason.To this day, for personal and objective reasons alike, this collection, which I bought for myself as well as for my brother as a gift, represents the height of TV situation comedy, and TV comedy in general. Each and every episode included here, is "classic," and for good reason. A true Honeymooners fan will never get tired of these. Unlike most other DVD's and DVD collections, this is one you will watch again and again. Nicely packaged, produced, presented, and excellently priced as I write this, this is worth its weight in gold, every penny. Every single episode is a total winner. And every episode itself, is pure gold, period.For any true-blue Honeymooners fan with the means, you just, MUST buy this. You'll never regret the purchase. In fact, I'm sure it will be eventually be seen by you as the best money you ever spent, on just about anything...

Great to see these again. A good script still trumps 4k HDR technology any day. Enjoy being whisked back to the gag-a-minute world of the 1950s sitcom. Although it is set in an era where the wife was expected to stay at home and have dinner ready, the stories poke fun at that attitude, and there is none of the bad language or cringe-worthy sexism which makes more recent comedies feel old-fashioned.

so great to see this show. You never see it online or on channels so really glad I ordered it. Such a funny dynamic at the heart of the show. Amazing to think it's nearly 70 years old.

What a treat to find comedy like this and what great value. This show is up there with Bilko for the wit and good natured humour. In the UK we very rarely get to see this 1950's comedy but you will recognise it's influence on a lot of UK and USA comedy (forget Friends this is better and the gag about Polo Ponies was lifted 15 years later by Steptoe and Son). If you want a real flavour of Brooklyn humour in the 1950's you won't find better. Make sure you have a Multi-Region DVD player.

The classic 39 episodes are teriffic. My only gripe is the sound level on episode 1 is very very low - had to turn the volume up on my tv almost on full to hear it. The image isn't as sharp or fresh as the 90s BBC2 airings.

What can I say? Only that this collection is a treat to watch.There are similar scenes to some of those of the great Oliver Hardy's as the 'know it all' who won't be told, the movement of his right hand to pass between someone and an object like a table.This is the point where you know that his plan is doomed.Jackie Gleason's character of Ralph is Brilliant and is truly complimented by the superb Art Carney as Norton.If you like good clean 50s comedy you must buy this DVD.Make sure you have a Region 1 or 0 player and enjoy.