LITTLE ROCK — What is it? The Honeymooners Lost Episodes, 15 discs with more than 50 hours of content from MPI Home Video.
How much? $129.98
When? Now
What’s The Honeymooners? Please tell me you’re kidding.
“One of these days ... Pow! Right in the kisser.” “Baby, you’re the greatest.” Ring any bells?
The Honeymooners is considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time - a groundbreaking comedy series from the early years of television.
It was a relatively simple concept centering on blustery bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason), his sarcastic wife, Alice (Pert Kelton, then Audrey Meadows), his best pal Ed Norton (Art Carney) and Norton’s wife Trixie (Joyce Randolph). The action rarely left the Kramdens’ shabby Brooklyn apartment.
Ralph and Alice would usually have some sort of disagreement - often caused by Ralph’s schemes with Ed - but they always made up in the end.
What is this set, exactly? The Honeymooners has a complicated history. It began as a recurring sketch on Cavalcade of Stars variety series, hosted by Gleason on the Du-Mont network and with Kelton playing the part of Alice. When Gleason moved to CBS for The Jackie Gleason Show, the Honeymooners setup went with him, and Meadows replaced Kelton. The skits were so popular that they eventually became a half-hour solo show, before Gleason chose to return to the shorter sketch format.
The 39 full-fledged shows - known as the “Classic 39” - were filmed, saved and aired frequently in syndication.
The episodes and sketches from Cavalcade and The Jackie Gleason Show were thought “lost” but, actually, many were saved on kinescope in Gleason’s vault and were released in the 1980s. Others resurfaced over the next 20 years and this is the first time all the recovered “lost” episodes have been collected together in one DVD set.
Some of the sketches and episodes, including eight special musical episodes from 1957,haven’t been seen since their initial broadcast.
Because they were broadcast live, there are occasional flubs but part of the fun is seeing how the cast reacts.
As a result, the set is a treasure trove for Honeymooners fans and TV-history buffs alike.
Are there extras? Definitely.
Bonus features include two CBS radio episodes of The Honeymooners and scripts for three sketches that are still missing. TV historian Dan Wingate explains the history of the series in one feature, and there’s a 20-minute interview with Randolph, the only surviving cast member.
In addition, the set includes several “ interviews” with Carney in-character as Ed Norton, a collection of commercials featuring the cast, two Honeymooners parody sketches from different series and a funny skit with Meadows and Carney.
New this week: Brideshead Revisited, 30th Anniversary Edition; Californication, Season 4; The Fugitive, Complete Series; How the States Got Their Shapes, Season 1; Mr. Sunshine, Complete Series; Pie in the Sky, Complete Collection.
New next week: Law & Order, Complete Series; Band of Brothers & The Pacific, Special Edition Gift Set; The Wild Thornberrys, Season 2, Part 1.
Style, Pages 58 on 10/30/2011