5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT but not quite the very best sketches, June 5, 2002
This review is from: The Honeymooners Lost Episodes, Vol. 2 [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This video has one of the most LEGENDARY Honeymooners sketches ever: Songs and Witty Sayings. The set up is simple. Ralph Kramden (Fred Flintstone role model) and Ed Norton (Yogi Bear role model) want to enter a talent contest. So their wives do too..and the rivalry..and hilarity begins.
Why is this episode so famous? Honeymooners/Gleason documentaries always show part of this sketch, where Jackie Gleason and Art Carney do a bit where they imitate Laurel and Hardy, the comedy team to which these two performers were rightly compared. And it IS a scream. View it for yourself with all of the surprises. Various books also note that Stan Laurel, a huge Gleason fan, was watching that night.
That being said, this sketch is actually one of the weaker ones available on video. The opening segment with Gleason and Carney seems (unlike most Honeymooners you watch) scripted. Gleason somehow seems a bit off in the beginning, and does not seem to be totally transformed into Ralph Kramden (seldom did Gleason seem to be merely acting the part of Ralph). The actual talent show a bit draggy. The BEST parts -- aside from the Laurel and Hardy parody -- are apartment scenes with Gleason and Audrey Meadows (wife Alice). Even so, even a slightly-off Honeymooners sketch is better than most things on TV today...so it's WELL worth your money.
This tape also boasts another "lost" (not really lost but until released by Gleason towards the end of his life stored for years in his air-conditioned vault) Norton Moves In, an ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS shorter Honeymooners sketch. Setup: the Norton's apartment is being painted so Ed and wife Trixie have to move in for the night. I won't give it away but you MUST know this.It has been said many times that no one did comedy-pain better than Jackie Gleason. You'll see a bit of it here -- and that alone is worth the price of this tape.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Greatness is The Honeymooners, August 7, 2001
This review is from: The Honeymooners Lost Episodes, Vol. 2 [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This is a must for any and all Honeymooners fan! Enjoy singing along with Ralph, Alice, Ed & Trixie!
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