dougdoepke
Poor bus driver Ralph (Gleason), he's got all these little guy dreams in a big guy world. But no matter how many times his big dreams fail, he's ready to try again. Good thing he's got his Alice (Meadows). She's the sensible bedrock holding things together, even that dumpy little flat where nothing is put between us and the characters of this classic comedy series. In fact, her deadpan face-offs with a bellowing Ralph are real hoots. But she better be a rock because "sanitation engineer" and upstairs neighbor Norton (Carney) falls for every one of Ralph's cockamamie schemes. It doesn't matter how loony they are, good old Ed will go along, a real buddy. Together, the two of them get a ton of laughs out of the kind of unlovely jobs that hold us all together. And shouldn't overlook Trixie (Randolph). She's there to support Alice and keep Ed from spiraling off with Ralph. Maybe there's not many laughs from Trixie, but there is a lot of good solid support. No doubt, it may be the men we laugh at, but it's the women we respect. And if there was ever better chemistry, more underlying pathos, or more laughs in a comedy series of any decade, I haven't seen it. A genuine blue-collar classic from an unlikely white-collar decade.
dataconflossmoor
What is wrong with Ralph Kramden? Objectively speaking, everything!! He is so faulted, why would anyone want to be his friend? Why would any woman want to be his wife? Originally starting off as a variety show skit, one of three on Jackie Gleason's comedy hour, it (the Honeymooners) undeniably became the favorite! The totally Brooklyn venue sort of explained everything! "One of these days Alice!! bang!!! zoom!!" this was a dubious form of humor!! The distinction that Jackie Gleason made was that without having a kid, and thus, there would not be an innocent child who was witnessing abuse, and also, Ralph never actually hitting Alice, the punchline (No pun intended) was fanny!! Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) was the culprit for the lion's share of calamity on this program!! The conclusion to every episode had Ralph seeking some sort of forgiveness from his beyond tolerant and loving wife, Alice!! At first, Audrey Meadows was not considered a suitable fit for the role of Alice Kramden, she was too glamorous and intelligent! Next day for rehearsal, she dressed herself down and got a little boisterous.. The cast and directors loved it, and more importantly, so did the television audience!! Art Carney, was the extremely likable buffoon, Ed Norton, who garnered a charismatic following with the live studio audience he was performing for, as well as anyone who watched "The Honeymooners"!! Carney was a favorite on "The Honeymooners" and contributed to the success of the series tremendously!! Joyce Randolph (Ed Norton's wife, Trixie) had more of a cameo appearance on the show, yet her typically New York disposition spiced the show up, and most episodes which she stared in were considered the better ones!! What was the most significant aspect to "The Honeymooners" was that it evoked a bittersweet end result of human error!! An avalanche of character discrepancies besieged Ralph Kramden's emotional resolve in almost every segment of "The Honeymooners" The most critical aspect to a humorous situation is when the resonating complications to a given situation are completely avoidable!! The peccant plight of Ralph Kramden was always neon accented on this program!! Mistakes are made because people are only human and they make them... Once mistakes are made, all there is really left to do is to laugh!! This is the definition of situation comedy and "The Honeymooners" perpetually depicted such inexcusably inevitable flaws with the Kramdens and the Nortons with a flippant reality!! Such outrageous human atrocities were portrayed far more astutely than perhaps any other of television's attempt at a situation comedy show made before or after "The Honeymooners" aired!! I loved "The Honeymooners", it has an identifiability which puts people's inadequacies in their proper perspectives. Living in a tenement, constantly bickering, making the wrong decisions about money, what little of it that you have, and basically, reducing your life to one big mess are ingredients for total catastrophe!! However, what this show points out time and time again is that all of the characters in this television show have the ability to laugh everything off!! All four of them are not phased by adversity, because they know that all of them love and care for one another!! This was the summon substance of what "The Honeymooners" was all about!! Perhaps the most effective comedy ever to be made... in a denotative sense, relating to situation comedies and their initial purpose for amusing people...without question!! "The Honeymooners" was the best comedy ever made!! The mercurial element to this show made it extremely plausible!! In terms of poignancy issues, and sharp and witty one liners, there are other shows that are better, by and large though, in all aspects of situation comedy, "The Honeymooners" is one of the top ten sitcoms in the history of television!!
Fred
Dear Honeymooners fans: I am a student of the Classic 39, and I have researched the names of the actors and actresses who played in all episodes, but I cannot find the name of the actress who played Rita Wedemeyer, Bert's lovely and vivacious wife. Frank Behrens played Bert, and he is the only one listed on IMDb's episode-by-episode breakdown of the Classic 39 for that particular episode, which is called Ralph and the Blonde.I am guessing that the actress who played Rita was about 25 at the time that episode was filmed in 1955, which would make her about 75 today.Can anybody find out? Thanks.
Bawoof
Okay, so we've all got our favorites. I must include my two: 1. Who could possibly forget the "Chef of the future" episode? In grade school, my sister and I saw this in syndication and literally laughed and cried throughout the entire climax. Unfortunately, it's only this good the first time around, but well worth watching.2. Since most of the classic 39 ended with Ralph realizing his buffoonery and proclaiming to Alice: "Baby! You're the greatest!"--it was truly refreshing to see an episode with a twist ending. Of course, I'm referring to "The $99,000.00 Answer." Those who've already seen it are probably laughing right now, remembering the first time they'd ever seen this episode. Again, the magic is there only the first time around; still, the climax blindsides the viewer with something totally unexpected and hilarious. Think back to when you first saw this episode; could YOU see the ending coming? I couldn't. For those of you reading this who may not have already seen it--rent or buy this one at the video store. I won't spoil it for you. Laugh and enjoy!