Amazon.com reviews for
"The Honeymooners" (1955)

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The Honeymooners Classic 39 Collection (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Get the bag. As The Honeymooners continues to get bumped from late-night TV schedules across the nation--by laughably unfunny shows such as Friends and Murphy Brown no less--legions of Honeymoonies will need to get their fix in other ways. This eight-volume set--the Honeymoonie's Holy Grail--contains all 39 episodes from the legendary 1955-1956 season. There's no commentary from some "expert" who compares Ralph to gods from Greek mythology or memories from some assistant producer--it's just the meat, and that's enough to make any fan salivate. This was the only season that The Honeymooners had a life of its own apart from the Jackie Gleason Show, and as much as we tried to welcome the "Lost Episodes" into our family, they very rarely matched the high quality of the classic 39. Rather than sequence them in order, the producers have decided to group them by eight different themes including Ralph's jealous nature, his life at the Gotham Bus Company, his friendship with Norton, domestic troubles, and financial woes. Sometimes this approach is a bit forced, but it does illustrate why The Honeymooners is the ultimate situation comedy: You can show them out of order. No matter what happens to the Bensonhurst foursome, Ralph will still work for the bus company, Norton in the sewer. They'll be struggling to get by, passing the time bowling, shooting pool, arguing with the wives, and dreaming of a better day. And it's in the mundanity of everyday life that The Honeymooners finds boundless humor. Even when the events were anything but mundane--bank robbers, counterfeiters, TV commercials, game shows, golf dates with The Boss--the real story and the best jokes were about the reality of their lives and the realization that, because of marriage and friendship, they didn't really have it so bad after all. The chemistry between Jackie Gleason and Art Carney still amazes after all these years. Audrey Meadows's Alice is the perfect foil for Ralph, stern but sympathetic. And Joyce Randolph's Trixie? Well, let's just call her "earnest." Still, for all of Norton's frenetic energy and Alice's wisdom, the show belongs to Ralph Kramden. Somehow, Gleason took a chauvinistic, paranoid, insensitive, scheming, bitter, loudmouth, underachieving bus driver and made him a hero to millions. --Marc Greilsamer

The Very Best of the Honeymooners (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: A busload of material featuring Ralph Kramden, the hefty bus driver from Brooklyn immortalized by Jackie Gleason in The Honeymooners, appears on this DVD, though the title is somewhat misleading. This production is more of a tribute to Gleason himself and his fellow performers, especially perennial sidekick Art Carney. A constant theme throughout is Gleason's remarkable ability to ad-lib when things went wrong on live television. Short clips of bloopers and improvisations involving characters such as the drunken playboy "Reginald Van Gleason" or the eternal sad sack "Poor Soul" appear frequently, along with monologue bits from Gleason's hour-long variety shows. In fact, the material featuring characters from The Honeymooners that appears is taken from sketches performed as part of the variety show, and include such classic bits as Ralph and Alice Kramden preparing to be contestants on Beat the Clock, Ralph trying to help his wife's sister to elope, and a full-length sketch in which Ralph thinks he's been fired and writes an ill-conceived letter to his boss. Art Carney takes a starring role in a bonus program entitled The Wit and Wisdom of Ed Norton. --Robert J. McNamara

The Honeymooners - The Lost Episodes, Vol. 1 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Jackie Gleason fans will get a bang-zoom out of this collection of three rarely seen (as opposed to "the classic 39," which true brother Raccoons can recite chapter and verse) Honeymooners episodes that aired in 1953 as part of The Jackie Gleason Show. "Letter to the Boss," "Suspense," and "Dinner Guest" were among the so-called "lost episodes" that had not been seen since their original broadcast until their discovery in Gleason's personal archives in the 1980s. While technically crude, they offer a funny and fascinating early glimpse at a classic sitcom and these beloved characters. Bus driver Ralph Kramden, Gleason's signature role, is even more of a volcanic blowhard than in the series. In one shocking, pre-PC moment in "Suspense," he bellows to Audrey Meadows's long-suffering but devoted Alice, "For the first time in our marriage, I'm going to beat you up." One longs for the tender romance of "One of these days, Alice, pow, right in the kisser." The misunderstanding, a time-honored sitcom plot device, fuels the two best episodes. In "Letter," Ralph thinks he has been fired from the bus company after nine years, and he writes a scathing missive to his boss ("You dirty bum"). When he learns he's actually been promoted, he frantically tries to retrieve the letter. In "Suspense," he believes Alice is going to kill him after he overhears her rehearsing for a play. Art Carney's Ed Norton, one of the great TV buddies, shines in the otherwise routine "Dinner Guest" as he demonstrates how to mambo, while Ralph clumsily tries to curry favor with his boss. This DVD also contains a bonus compilation segment, "Ralph Kramden's Greatest Schemes." --Donald Liebenson

The Honeymooners - The Lost Episodes, Vol. 2 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Unseen since their original broadcast in 1953 and 1955, these episodes from Jackie Gleason's own collection have all the ingredients that made The Honeymooners such a hit.

In "Songs and Witty Sayings" Ralph and Ed have their eyes on the $200 prize at a talent show. Unfortunately their mind-reading act can't hold a candle to Alice and Trixie's hula dance. "Norton Moves In" finds Ed and Trixie sleeping over at the Kramdens'. When the boys have to sleep on a cot in the kitchen, Ralph's short fuse starts to burn. The disc closes with "Income Tax," in which Ralph has to decide between the IRS and a new bowling ball.

The Honeymooners might be dated, but the razor-sharp script and perfect timing still feel fresh. The endless battle between Ralph and Alice crackles with energy, and Art Carney's laconic Ed Norton remains one of TV's greatest characters. This classic show can still give many modern sitcoms a run for their money. --Simon Leake