The Honeymooners: "Classic 39" Episodes

Rating: 
Number of Discs:  5
Running Time:  16:56
Color: BLACK & WHITE

Selection #: 3224607
Studio:  CBS Entertainment Division
Theatrical Release:  0

Format: Standard learn about formats >
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Description
About this series:
Baby, they’re the greatest! Before there was Homer Simpson, before there were Kings of Queens, there was the bus driver from Bensonhurst: Ralph Kramden, a struggling everyman whose dreams were exceeded only by his waistline. Audiences were first introduced to what would become The Honeymooners as a continuing sketch on The Jackie Gleason Show, an hour-long variety program which debuted in 1952. The sketches were so popular that, three years later, 39 half-hour episodes were filmed and aired as a separate series. Joining Gleason were Art Carney, a brilliant comic foil as Ralph’s best friend and neighbor, sewer-worker Ed Norton; the incomparable Audrey Meadows (who replaced original cast member Pert Kelton) as Ralph’s long-suffering wife Alice; and Joyce Randolph as Ed’s wife Trixie. Fifty years later, The Honeymooners remains laugh-out-loud funny, a genuinely timeless comedy, thanks to the universal themes of the scripts and, above all, the peerless work of one of the most gifted ensembles in television history.


About this set:
Here, on 5 discs, are all 39 of the classic episodes that aired during the 1955-56 season. They’re the most famous, and are the foundation of the series’ legendary status. Among the best remembered are The Golfer, in which Ralph, with some “help” from Norton, tries to take up the game in order to impress his boss (don’t miss Norton’s immortal attempt to address the ball, “Helloooo, ball”); Funny Money, in which Ralph goes on a wild spending spree after finding a suitcase filled with money on his bus (watch for a definitive encounter between Ralph and his mother-in-law); Dial J for Janitor, with Ralph taking on the job of building janitor; Please Leave the Premises, which is exactly what Ralph and Alice must do when he refuses to pay a rent increase; Alice and the Blonde, in which Ralph and Ed’s excessive attention to the wife of a bus company executive leads Alice to take drastic action (watch for Jackie Gleason’s unscripted response when, in a climactic scene, Audrey Meadows accidentally blows smoke directly in in his face); Pardon My Glove, a classic example of Ralph’s jealousy getting the better of him; and perhaps the most famous of all, Better Living Through TV, in which Ralph (as the “Chef of the Future”) and Norton do a live TV commercial. And of course, there are numerous episodes featuring Ralph’s beloved Raccoon Lodge. With each episode presented uncut, as originally aired, this collection is an absolute essential.

Cast

• Frank Marth
• Sammy Spear
• Jackie Gleason
• Doug Downs
• Jack Etra
• George Petrie
• Zamah Cunningham

• Jack Hurdle
• Leonard Anderson
• Joyce Randolph
• Dan Cavelli
• Art Carney
• Audrey Meadows
• Frank Satenstein

Extra Features