The Honeymooners: Classic 39 Collection

( 8 )

Overview

Watching these classic 1955-1956 episodes of The Honeymooners is likely to leave viewers seduced. The high quality of the shows' humor is a given, to be sure; between the characterizations by Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph (the sole surviving star of the show as of November 2003), the writing by one of the best teams of its era, and Gleason's overall production, the series is timeless in its appeal and has been delighting audiences in syndicated reruns since the end of the 1950s. ...
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Overview

Watching these classic 1955-1956 episodes of The Honeymooners is likely to leave viewers seduced. The high quality of the shows' humor is a given, to be sure; between the characterizations by Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph (the sole surviving star of the show as of November 2003), the writing by one of the best teams of its era, and Gleason's overall production, the series is timeless in its appeal and has been delighting audiences in syndicated reruns since the end of the 1950s. One could reasonably assume that any of these "Classic 39" episodes (the ones from 1955-1956, shot on film in front of a live audience, as opposed to the so-called "lost episodes," which originated as sketches on Gleason's variety show, presented live on-the-air and preserved on kinescope), each of which has been rerun thousands of times, would have nothing new to reveal -- but that would be wrong. The transfers and the playback on these discs are so sharp -- superior even to the current broadcast masters -- that there are details one just never saw before. In "The Bensonhurst Bomber, the shadows that fall across the pool tables in the opening scene, and even the texture of the fabric of Ralph Kramden's (Jackie Gleason) uniform or in guest player George Mathews' suit is visible. And in "Funny Money" (where Ralph finds a bag filled with money), the picture is so sharp that the lines in Ralph's custom-made sports coat shimmer. One can also appreciate the realism of the Brooklyn street backdrops and the alleyway backdrop seen out the Kramdens' window, right down to the dusk and night lighting effects. In addition, one can now see exactly how carefully the details, even in the costumes, right down to the badges and buttons of Ralph Kramden's uniform, were captured. The effect is one of almost hyper-realism, especially in glittering black-and-white -- it's the next best thing to being at the actual shoot. Equally important, watching the shows this way, uncut and seamlessly, one can appreciate the details of scripting that have eluded us for many years in broadcasts. In "Oh My Aching Back, for example -- the show in which Ralph goes bowling and wrenches his back on the eve of a bus company physical -- it turns out that every detail of the plot, even the reason why there is no food in Ed Norton's ice-box that night (and why Trixie Norton isn't home), which leads to a priceless series of gags, is all explained in a breezy, subtle one-minute sequence at the beginning of the episode. This and other openings and closings to episodes haven't been shown since the series originally aired. Presented this way, the best of these episodes come off every bit as beautifully symmetrical as the best one-act plays. This box is filled with little delights like that, which also help to explain another aspect of the appeal of this series. The way it was produced -- live but on film, in front of an audience, with carefully crafted scripts but also with a degree of spontaneity (thanks to Gleason's refusal to fully rehearse) -- combined the strongest elements of live theater and filmed entertainment. The so-called "lost episodes," by contrast, having gone out live, mostly lack the polish or care of these shows, either visually or as performances, and fail a good part of the time as a result. Incidentally, one of the ironies of the lead-off episode, "TV or Not TV, is that the program that Ed Norton is so anxious to see, Captain Video, was never rerun or reshown because it was preserved on kinescope (virtually all lost) rather than shot on film. In fact, the main way that anyone has known about Captain Video, or has had any impression of what it was like, is from watching this episode of The Honeymooners. The first four discs here each contain eight uncut 26-minute episodes. Disc five has seven original shows plus a 20-minute-long 35th anniversary special from 1990, hosted by the late Audrey Meadows and featuring interviews with the late Art Carney, Joyce Randoloph, Gleason company supporting players Frank Marth and George Petrie, and writer Leonard Stern, plus archival interviews with Gleason from a mid-'80s 60 Minutes appearance. Carney is the most interesting in terms of explaining his character (and one particularly popular bit of comic business that he adopted from his own father), while Meadows is the most entertaining. The other bonus features are the series' original opening and closing sequences, which include plugs -- in their credits and announcements, as well as from Gleason (stepping out of character) -- for the series' sponsor, Buick. The programming of the set is fine as far as it goes, presenting the shows in their original broadcast order. The menu on each disc is in two sections delineating each episode under its official name, which will not always be obvious to those familiar with the plots; the stills in the boxes are sometimes a better guide. Each show gets three chapters, including opening and closing credits, which is adequate since the plots are simply structured, with the complexities growing out of the characterizations and settings. The only flaw lies in the lack of additional credits -- none of the actors who played supporting roles in the show, including such familiar names as Marth and Petrie, Ronnie Burns, Sid Nathan, and Ned Glass (who was blacklisted at the time), and even such renowned New York theatrical figures as Alexander Clark, were ever named in the credits. There should have been a full cast list for each show included somewhere in the packaging. The five discs come in separate narrow clamshell-style cases that are packaged together in a slipcase, with a minimum of room available for annotation, though it is also a very handy format. On a purely practical level, the menus are easy to use and the sound is in excellent shape, mastered very cleanly, and a match for the image, which is perfect. And all of it costs about a fifth as much (and weighs about a tenth as much) as the only prior comparable release, the laserdisc version from 11 years earlier, in two massive and awkward boxes (which mostly ripped at the corners under the weight) that were discontinued very quickly, and now feel like so much wasted tonnage.
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Special Features

The Honeymooners anniversary special (DVD version) Includes rare interviews with the stars; Original series opening and closings not seen since 1956
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Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble
Endlessly rerun and committed to memory by legions who were yet to be born when the shows were initially telecast in 1955 and ’56, the “Classic 39” episodes of The Honeymooners remain the pinnacle of sitcom entertainment for many loyalists, and a landmark for countless more. The TV DNA of Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden character can be found in everyone from Fred Flintstone to Al Bundy, Homer Simpson, and beyond. Given the indelibility of Gleason’s creation, the fact that the actual Honeymooners series ran shy of 40 episodes -- all collected here -- remains an astonishing fact. Ralph and Alice and Ed and Trixie had other adventures as part of The Jackie Gleason Show, but it is in these episodes that the series cast its enduring die for countless domestic sitcoms to follow. Ralph drives a bus; and together with his Bensonhurst neighbor Ed Norton Art Carney, a sewer worker, he is always looking to get rich quick. Doomed to failure, he is fortunate in life to have Alice Audrey Meadows by his side -- sharper, wittier, and as hopelessly devoted to her doltish husband as he is to her. Their “honeymoon” truly never ends, even when their rows end with Ralph threatening to send her “to the moon” with a roundhouse punch. As wonderful and complex as Ralph and Alice’s interplay was, the series' best moments involved Ralph and Ed -- working stiffs with barely a clue between them. For many, the recollection of Ralph teaching Ed to “address” the ball remains so unfailingly convulsive as to render the game of golf unplayable. It’s great to have them all together on five DVDs.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 11/4/2003
  • UPC: 097368792043
  • Original Release: 1955

    • Rating:

  • Source: Paramount
  • Region Code: 1
  • Sound: Dolby Digital
  • Time: 16:56:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 7,281

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Jackie Gleason Ralph Kramden
Audrey Meadows Alice Kramden
Art Carney Ed Norton
Joyce Randolph Trixie Norton
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Menu

Side #1 -- Disc 1
   TV or Not TV
   Funny Money
   The Golfer
   A Woman's Work Is Never Done
   A Matter of Life and Death
   The Sleepwalker
   Better Living Through TV
   Pal O'Mine
   Setup
      Subtitle Options: English
      Subtitle Options: Español
      Subtitle Options: None
Side #2 -- Disc 2
   Brother Ralph
   Hello, Mom
   The Deciding Vote
   Something Fishy
   'Twas the Night Before Christmas
   The Man From Space
   A Matter of Record
   Oh My Aching Back
   Setup
      Subtitle Options: English
      Subtitle Options: Español
      Subtitle Options: None
Side #3 -- Disc 3
   The Baby Sitter
   The $99,000 Answer
   Ralph Kramden, Inc.
   Young at Heart
   A Dog's Life
   Here Comes the Bride
   Mama Loves Mambo
   Please Leave the Premises
   Setup
      Subtitle Options: English
      Subtitle Options: Español
      Subtitle Options: None
Side #4 -- Disc 4
   Pardon My Glove
   Young Man With a Horn
   Head of the House
   The Worry Wart
   Trapped
   The Loudspeaker
   On Stage
   Opportunity Knocks But
   Setup
      Subtitle Options: English
      Subtitle Options: Español
      Subtitle Options: None
Side #5 -- Disc 5
   Unconventional Behavior
   The Safety Award
   Mind Your Own Business
   Alice and the Blonde
   The Bensonhurst Bomber
   Dial J for Janitor
   A Man's Pride
   Special Features
      The Honeymooners Anniversary Special
      Original Series Opening
      Original Series Closings: Closing 1
      Original Series Closings: Closing 2
   Setup
      Subtitle Options: English
      Subtitle Options: Español
      Subtitle Options: None
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 8 )
Rating Distribution

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(5)

4 Star

(1)

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Sort by: Showing all of 8 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Baby,it's the greatest!!!

    Comedy ,when comedy was just plain funny.Nothing off color.The best writing coupled with the best timing,played by true legends.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    39 STARS

    And then some. The Classic 39 is a hallmark of television greatness. The Great One and his players were never better than they are here. Every episode stands on its own. Simply perfect.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 10, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

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    Posted November 27, 2010

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    Posted November 29, 2009

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    Posted July 25, 2009

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    Posted June 19, 2010

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    Posted February 5, 2009

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Sort by: Showing all of 8 Customer Reviews