The Honeymooners: Lost Episodes 1951-1957 DVD Review
Fans of “The Honeymooners” will be over the moon for this set of lost episodes.
Before I talk about the set, I should explain the premise of “The Honeymooners” to those that are not familiar with this series. “The Honeymooners” is essentially an immensely popular classic sitcom that revolves around a grouchy, whining, bickering, loud bus driver (Ralph Kramden) in New York and his obedient, but tough wife Alice who can hold her own against Ralph’s mood swings and what not. The two other major characters in the show are the Kramden’s married neighbors Ed Norton (the well intentioned, but dopey sewer worker) and his wife Trixie Norton. In typical sitcom fashion, the show revolves around their various arguments, predicaments, and in some cases, their trips.
The set kicks off with 9 short (and one 41 minute Christmas episode) episodes from “Cavalcade Of Stars” program. Plots involve Ralph and Alice arguing about bread, a TV set, etc. It should be noted that several episodes from this era are still lost. While the episodes will please fans of the show, the episodes are memorable for the fact that Pert Kelton plays Alice in these episodes and not Audrey Meadows. While she’s fine in her role, she is much too old to be Alice.
After the ‘Stars’ episodes, there are a whopping 98 episodes from “The Jackie Gleason Show” (1952-1957). Episode plots involve: Halloween costumes, a jellybean contest, a lost wedding ring, losing on a quiz show, taxes, Ralph’s diets, the Nortons sleeping over at Ralph’s place, bad lunch, a prowler, vacations to Berlin, Paris, Italy, Ireland, England, and Spain (with musical numbers), a trip to Fred’s Landing, opening a hot dog stand, a New Year’s Eve party, Alice getting a job, Ralph being mistaken as a bookie, “You Bet Your Life,” pool games, a suit, Alice’s family, a toothache, Ralph getting a job promotion, Ed and Ralph writing songs, hypnotism, Ralph and Alice talking to an adoption agency, apartment issues (like plumbing and heat), a physical examination for Ralph, a car prize, and much more. The episodes range in length from 6 minutes to 52 minutes.
As someone who didn’t grow up on this series, but was certainly familiar with the show via clips and pop culture references, I was wondering how I would view this show 59 plus years later since these episodes originally aired. Obviously, I can’t claim why this show was such a hit at the time because I wasn’t around then. If I had to guess, however, I imagine that it worked for audiences because it was semi relatable. It’s an honest (maybe a little too honest) sitcom that doesn’t sugar coat life. It’s about life’s troubles, marriage, and working through problems. Despite the sometimes borderline abusive behavior and harsh insults by Ralph, the show always had heart and ended with reconciliations and proclamations of love despite the problems Ralph and Alice endured. Basically, it’s the type of comforting, formulaic sitcom that allows viewers to let these characters into their homes each week while also identifying with the character’s struggles.
I’m sure the chemistry of the cast is also another reason why “The Honeymooners” was a success. Despite how one may feel about Jackie Gleason or his character, there’s no denying that he had a great chemistry with Audrey Meadows and Art Carney (Ed). Speaking of Art Carney, he steals the show in my book. Whenever the show gets tiresome, routine, or overlong in the case of the nearly hour long episodes, Art Carney manages to brighten up the episodes with his goofball character and amusing line deliveries. It’s no wonder why his character become such a beloved TV icon. He was the Kramer of his day.
Summary: This box set is a perfect purchase (or present) for fans of “The Honeymooners”.
Video/Audio:
The fullscreen B&W picture quality definitely varies in quality with virtually every episode. Some episodes look decent, some are in really bad shape, some are grainy, some are blurry, some havy wavy images, and some look surprisingly sharp. Basically, the quality is all over the place and you never know what to expect with each episode.
The 2.0 audio track has some garbled, scratchy, hard to hear audio while other episodes sound fine (especially considering their age). Be prepared for some audio imperfections like with the episode “Hero”.
Extras:
* Scripts for the missing episodes “Easter Hats,” “Alice’s Birthday,” “The Missing Pair Of Pants”.
* Nescafe, Chesterfield and Old Gold commercials with “The Honeymooners” cast members.
* “The Honeymooners” parodies on “The Jack Benny Show” and “The Red Skelton Show”
* “The Honeymooners” in color, “The Honeymooners” specials, “Here’s Lucy,” “The Mothers-In-Law,” “The Lucilla Ball” specials, “Lucy And Desi: A Home Movie,” “The Doris Day Show” ads.
* “The Honeymooners Lost Radio Episodes” titled “Letter To The Boss” and “Love Letter”. As a big fan of radio dramas, I was pleased to see these extras. Since the show isn’t very visual, it makes sense that the show had radio episodes. The material is a natural fit for radio.
* Art Carney (as Ed Norton) chats with Ed Sullivan and Johnnie Ray. Ed Norton’s “family” is interviewed by Robert Q. Lewis. Ed Norton also chats with Jackie Gleason about the Brooklyn Dodgers, the high cost of living, and rock music.
* Footage of Art Carney getting an award from sewer workers, a sketch with Carney and Meadows,
* “History Of The Lost Episodes”- A 14 minute featurette with historian Dan Wingate talking about the lost episodes.
* An interview with Joyce Randolph chatting about the character she played (Trixie).
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