"Honeymooners" thread ..

You poor man (or woman, as the case may be).

This reminds me, having grown up in the New York City television market, that some people grew up in culturally-deprived areas. (sorry, I couldn't resist).

The episode with Chef of the Future is my favorite. One of the best parts is, because the shows were done live, some of the ad libs they did. In the Chef of the Future episode, the gadget breaks and nearly goes off stage, so Ralph goes to pick it up, and Norton says... "should we say something about spear fishing?"

The quiz show was the $99,000 Answer - the guy who played the quiz show host wasn't one of the regular stock actors who would play characters in the show. When "Herb Norris" would go to reunions, he would be amazed that people would remember not only him, but every line he said.

 

If you are a fan of Gleason - you should read this article on his genius and his drinking

http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/03-05/03_05_great_drunk.htm

Here's a snippet

 

Beautifully captured in chapter 1 of Delillo's Underworld.

 

I've never been able to make it through that book. About 150 pages in I just give up.

 

The "Golf Lesson" may be the single funniest sitcom episode ever.

 

Bad move. Great book.

 

the game wasn't sold out, was it?

 

That is a funny story.

 

Loved the Honeymooners while growing up in Brooklyn, watching it on WPIX 11 for years and years, each episode umpteen times.

The one that comes to mind first is when Ralph has problems with his mother-in-law during dinner. She picks, picks, picks, with her comments to Alice, until he blows his top:

"YOU... ARE A BLAB-BER-MOUTH!!. A blabbermouth!! You!! Blabber-mouth!! OUT!!


Alice was trying to calm him down during the eruption. She's leaves, too. After she's gone for a while Ralph is desperate to get her back. Norton has the bright idea to record an apology on one of those wind-up controllers(sp?). Ralph is doing fine, telling Alice he's sorry and all. He says he's not sore at her mother, but starts building steam...

"... it's not her fault.... she can't help it... SHE'S A BLAB-BER-MOUTH!! A blabbermouth!!"

Norton jumps on Ralph's back and brings him back down. Ralph regains his composure and then records a perfect apology. Norton takes it and delivers it to Alice, who comes back to the apartment. But Norton delivered the meltdown apology, and Alice has come to say she's leaving for good. She walks out the apartment and Ralph is screaming at her: "Alice! You got the wrong record! You got the wrong..."

It occurs to him that Norton bucked up. He goes to the window, raises it, and an audience member beats Ralph to his line by a half-second:

"Norton?" Ralph calls up in a pleasant voice. "Norton? Come on down pal of mine." Norton's headed down while Ralph picks up a broom handle and slams it on the table while pacing. "Come on... DOWN! Come on DOWN!"

The next scence, Norton has a bandage on his eye when he opens the door to come in. Ralph stands up in menacing fashion. "You are a stupidhead." He seems ready to beat Norton again, but learns that the correct record has been delivered and Alice is on the way back.

Hysterical stuff.

Also: When Ralph almost gets shot at the pool hall and ends up beating down a tough guy at the apartment while Alice and Norton are tied up in the kitchen. Another classic.

 

No, it wasn't sold out. There were at least 5,000 seats available, and I think the attendance was something like 35,000. The game was on local television, I think it might have been cloudy with threats of rain, and a lot of people thought it would have been sold out.