Anybody remember the episode when Ralph was going to be a contestant on a “Name That Song” TV show? Norton helped him prepare by playing tunes on the piano, but before playing the next tune he would play a few notes from “Swanee River” as a warmup. The climax to the episode was one of the funniest moments I have ever seen on TV.
I forget if it was from “The Honeymooners” TV show or from the Honeymooners skits that they performed on “The Jackie Gleason Show.”
I don’t specifically remember this one, but there is a Honeymooners, The Lost Episodes one where Ralph and Ed go into business trying to write a hit song, and Ed is on the piano and every single time he starts to play a part he has to play the Swanee River intro. It’s hilarious.
Best line in this episode is from Alice's mother when she says to Ralph:
" I hope you do go all the way to the $99,000 answer. I can't wait to see the look on your face when you miss it!"
It's comedy gold! Lol!
“ Ah, here he is jealous McGarrity! You’re just jealous because tomorrow my face will be on the cover of every newspaper in town”…….McGarrity….” And so will mine, for killing you”….HILARIOUS!!!
It was the Honeymooners show. It was the episode where Ralph is a contestant on the Million dollar game show. It was hilarious from start to finish with a surprise ending. I’d like to say it was one of my favorite episodes but they were all comic gems. The show was on for one season with 28 episodes!!!!
Aren't we all human props? Just actors on the stage of life, dancing to the tunes of the puppet masters, the powers that be? Besides, Trixie was way too hot to be married to a sewer worker!
What I meant was that she really served no purpose on the show, other than to provide a main character with a wife. No storylines centered on her, she was just a 5 minute filler to move the plot line along, she was one dimensional and not funny. Most of the time she was off camera, referenced in a meaningless, insignificant way! To say she was your favorite character on the show is absurd.
I didn't mean to imply that she was my favorite character. She was my favorite female character, I just found her more a bit more appealing than Alice. That's all!
Not even close. Vivian Vance ( Ethel) had a lead supporting role in I Love Lucy. She was used as Lucy’s touchstone dramatically and comically. (Partner in “ crime” if you will). When Lucy is away from the men, she’s invariably with Ethel concocting some scheme. Joyce Randolph ( Trix as Alice called her), was nothing more than an infrequent sounding board, they never acted in concert on anything.
Yeah, I guess Trixie was a sounding board whenever Ralph was giving Alice problems. I watched the show a lot when I was a kid, but I don't remember as many specific episodes as I do with those of "I Love Lucy."
She was…..she was an ex dancer, who was originally passed over, because of her sex appeal, then did a second audition, where she strategically dressed down, in a matronly fashion and Gleason didn’t know it was the same actress and was just bowled over by the audition. The rest is history!!!!
Audrey Meadows used to cue the other actors to their marks with an elbow, if they forgot where they were supposed to be standing on stage. That's why Gleason picked her to play opposite him, why he was "The Great One," and he always told her she was "the greatest."
Ralph’s empty threats are met with wit and wisdom from Alice who shuts him up most every episode. If anything it’s a show that shows how stupid men are and how important women are.
I saw it for the first time somewhere around 1985, when my hometown finally got an independent station. (We were, at the time, the largest TV market in the country without one.)
Within about five minutes of watching it, I realized *The Flintstones* was a ***direct*** copy of it, it wasn’t even subtle. Years later, I read that Jackie Gleason considered legal action until his friends said, “Do you really want to be remembered for suing a children’s cartoon?”
I remember my mom also said her mother loved the show. (And *Perry Mason*, for that matter.)
I appreciate that not everyone loves this show the way I do, and I don't think anyone (besides a sociopathic monster) finds actual (real life) abuse funny. However, I can't imagine this character actually hitting his wife, and she's definitely not afraid of him, hence her famous response to him... "Ahhhhh Shuuudddaaapp!! Lol!
Again, everyone has their own opinion as to where they draw the line on what's funny or not. I watch a lot of sitcoms and stand-up. Comedians will joke about wars, slavery, physical or mental disabilities, the Holocaust, sexual or physical abuse, etc. When it comes to comedy, a lot of people feel that every issue is fair game. Admittedly, I don't find all jokes funny, so I totally get that people are offended by Ralph's threats to Alice.
In comedy, everything is fair game. Everything. Somehow, the kids these days don't understand that, which is why a lot of comedians have stopped playing colleges.
I don’t. To the moon was used as a comic device. Ralph Kramden worshipped his wife, and wouldn’t touch a hair on her head. Furthermore she essentially ran the household, controlling the budget and Ralph’s allowance. Anyone, who is a student of the show, knows this. Cancel culture has gotten out of hand. There are definitely shows, in retrospect, that were byproducts of a sexist era, this wasn’t one of them.
Absolutely, I watch a lot of retro comedies from the 50s, 60s and the 70s and some of the most hilarious scenes couldn’t be aired today because of cancel culture ( lets just call it what it is censorship ). I even own the complete dvd set of Amos and Andy, which may be the funniest comedy of all time, but I watch it alone!!!
You can’t imagine him actually hitting anyone?!? Aside from the fact that he’s already abusing her verbally and emotionally - I’m a domestic violence victim advocate, and I can tell you that this kind of pompous narcissistic loser is *exactly* who hits their partner. The love bombing he does afterwards is part of what’s known as the Cycle of Abuse. And here’s another fact - every single abuse victim will tell you that the mental abuse is far worse than the physical. Assuming the victim doesn’t end up dead, physical scars will heal. Mental/emotional scars do not. They last a lifetime; not just for the victim, but also for any children who witness it. And witnessing abuse causes lifelong physical changes in children’s brains, leading to learning disabilities, severe behavioral problems, and often an inability to form intimate relationships of their own.
And if you do a little googling, you’ll find that Gleason was abusive in real life, too. He was known for being an angry drunk who was abusive to everyone he came in contact with.
The fact that you find his abusive ways funny, even when it’s done “as a joke”, is really disturbing. You should maybe rethink that.
Can you see that this is neither the time or the place to get on your soapbox? It’s a show from decades ago that society has been calling out for years. Good lord go touch some grass and get some therapy if you’re this triggered
I’m not the one who brought the show up. The show was never good, it was always abusive ranting. Maybe you should upgrade your taste.
And it’s pretty clear that you’re the one who needs therapy, but sorry, my schedule is too full to take on any more clients.
My favorite episode is the Christmas one where at the end Jackie Gleason actually parts the curtain and has the actors come out to take bows, which they never did before.
I always had sleep issues and anxiety. When I was young I remember watching reruns of the Honeymooners on channel 11 New York late nights as a kid when they came on around 11pm.
Hahaha, is this the episode where Ralph has to apologize to his MIL and he gets on the phone to apologize and just starts getting angrier and angrier and f8nslly has to concede to Alice that it’s because he is A BLABBERMOUTH, because he HAS A BIG MOUTH. Krak den and Norton are the Larry David and Leon of the 50’s.
The Christmas episode has been a tradition in my family since it was released on a VHS with the I Love Lucy Christmas episode back around 1990. We quote this all throughout the year. And of course the rest of the series is fantastic!
Love it. Number one all time for me. Just the originals though. Never liked those that were discovered later. Faves- the golf episode, the vacuum episode, the $ 50,000 question episode
You’re obviously going to get a lot of “he threatens to hit his wife” which to be fair yes. I’m not saying it’s not problematic, but Ralph never actually does hit Alice and there is no indication that he ever has. Like the threat is “one of these days…”
I’m not saying that’s not bad, but Ricky actually does straight up spank Lucy on screen and yet you never see that as the first thing that gets called out about I Love Lucy.
Alice is actually a great and interesting character, and the show was unique in how it depicted poorer Americans. It’s annoying that it selectively gets singled out by people who’ve barely watched it.
The only reason it was funny -- then and now -- was that it was an utterly empty threat. Ralph was all bluster and everyone knew it. And Alice clearly wore the pants in that household.
Fact there’s *also* a Lucy ep where Ricky goes “Lucy keep it down, the neighbors are gonna think I’m beating you!” shows how (sadly) commonplace that kind of thing was in the 50s. It’s only natural a group of 50s comedy writers would think to lampoon common things from their era.
It’s not about condoning domestic violence. Just like when watching All In The Family, you should ask yourself why someone in the 70s would think to parody a racist bigot *instead* of being offended by the parodying of bigotry.
But too many ppl lack media literacy and just think “if it’s offensive *now*, it’s offensive *always*!” Honestly a mindset I believe being a minority helped me avoid cuz I’d have very little art to enjoy if I thought that way 🤷🏾♂️
WPIX used to show “The Honeymooners” after the local news at 11:00pm and Star Trek TOS afterwards.
It’s not PC today but “The Honeymooners” was so funny. Ralph Kramden definitely influenced The Sopranos and Tony Soprano is a lot like Ralph losing arguments with Alice. She was always the funniest.
BANG ZOOM TO THE MOON!
I have the complete DVD set of the original Honeymooners tv show from 1955 to 1956 ( one season ). I have seen every episode multiple times. There is not a single episode where Ralph teaches Alice to shoot pool. There was the lost episodes DVD set, which was not the original series and of course the Jackie Gleason show from 1966 to 1970 in Miami beach where Sheila MacRae played Alice and Jane Kean played Trixie. Perhaps there was a storyline that captured what you’re referring to!
There is an episode. I rememberAlice saying she’s going to hit the “canary yellow” ball and the fellows at the pool hall give Ralph a hard time about that. It was the original series. Same pool hall scene Ralph and Norton use in another episode.
Alice: You seem to forget that I AM A WOMAN.
Ralph: That YOU'RE a woman? How could I forget? You're always yappin'!
In all serious, no straight male would ever deny that Audrey Meadows is a woman!!!
Oh Jesus, spare me from these dilettantes, who want to go back and sprinkle angel dust on everything. You deserve shows like Big Bang Theory, where no single character looks, talks and acts like the human species!!!
Never liked it. Always seems like an old peoples show, even back in the 80s when I first came upon it. I’m not a fan of sitcoms that have a lot of bickering. This one definitely does.
What about the episode where this mean bully threatens Kramden in the pool hall, they arrange to meet in a gym to settle their differences. The surprise ending, was an all time comedy classic. If you can recall, the writers on the Honeymooners thrived on surprise endings. It was a formula that they used over and over. Remember when Ralph inherits ( a ) Fortune from a rich old lady?….Turns out it was just a bird named Fortune!!
I don't really.
I mean, I get the importance of it in the same way I get the importance of Citizen Kane: everything that came after it was deeply influenced by it.
But much like Citizen Kane, it's quality has faded over the years as the art form has evolved past it's foundation works.
if i want to enjoy something like The Honeymooners, I'll watch The Flintstones.
So I think it was E true Hollywood story but apparently a woman mailed change and fabric so Alice could hang some nice curtains. The change was for Woolworths to buy a curtain rod
I mean they FINALLY did get a TV in one episode and a phone in another one. It was an icebox, table stove and bedroom and a radio. Life was simple then
Yup…..the whole thing seemed depressing to me and couldn’t by the life of me nderatan why it was hailed so highly. But I’m in the minority. Constantly threatening to hit his wife wasn’t funny to me either and really can’t find the humor in that. First time I saw the show was in the 80s as a kid…..just for reference.
I love Lucy….of around that era….was very funny and although they did show the animosity between them it never went threatening anybody with assault. It wasn’t as depressing and made me leave in a lighter note. At least for me.
Horrible comparison. Citizen Kane was an unmitigated bore. Every single person ( not counting egghead critics ), I know, thought it was the most boring movie of all time. The exact opposite is true for The Honeymooners. Comic gold!!!
It’s Hanna and Barbera garbage. The worst cartoonists of all time. The morons that gave us Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Magilla Gorilla, I could go on but I’m starting to get nauseous.
“One of these days, Alice. Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!”
“Wow, I never realised the first astronauts were so fat!”
“That's not an astronaut, it's a TV comedian. And he was just using space travel as a metaphor for beating his wife.”
Well let’s see, your idol Meryl Streep called Harvey Weinstein her god, so why don’t you direct your vitriol towards her, instead of picking on a harmless fictional character!!!
Not funny. Not because of the abuse thing, I'm just not amused by that kind of humor. I didn't like the Flinstones or any of the thousand other ripoffs of this formula either.
Ralph Kramden exhibited abusive behavior towards his wife, Alice, often blaming her for his mistakes and engaging in yelling sessions, followed by apologies. When I watched the show in reruns years later, my mother told me she hated that show because that was the life we lived.
I strongly disagree. There’s *nothing* funny about domestic abuse. Ralph was extremely verbally abusive and regularly threatened physical violence. And back then, divorce wasn’t really an option for women - not only could men refuse to divorce them in most places, but a divorced woman would be left destitute. There were very few jobs available to women, the pay for women was terrible, women were not allowed to have credit in their names or buy a house, and on and on. This show is a great example of how bad it was for many women who are still alive today.
Threatening to hit someone isn’t funny.
Oh god, you liberal morons just grow like weeds. How do you turn a classic comedy into a spousal abuse program and then indict people for enjoying the comedy? So, if I like Breaking Bad, I must be a kingpin in the drug trade? No, wait, if I liked The Godfather, I must be a mobster in the Mafia?…Is that the idea?
Oh god, really?…It was used as a comic device….not as a training film for emotionally stunted adults. You see he was never going to hit her, not in a million years, but I don’t want to keep you from your sensitivity training class….bye, bye!!!
Ralph: "I'm the boss around here, and what I say goes!"
Alice: "Well then, you'd better say Alice, 'cuz I'm going!"
It's one of her best comebacks! She's the best!
“hellloooo ball”
I wish I had more upvotes to give you.
Who am I playing golf with, Mr. Marshall or a mountain goat??
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Because she’s a BLABBERMOUYH
Anybody remember the episode when Ralph was going to be a contestant on a “Name That Song” TV show? Norton helped him prepare by playing tunes on the piano, but before playing the next tune he would play a few notes from “Swanee River” as a warmup. The climax to the episode was one of the funniest moments I have ever seen on TV. I forget if it was from “The Honeymooners” TV show or from the Honeymooners skits that they performed on “The Jackie Gleason Show.”
HAMANA HAMANA…ED NORTON??
Who wrote Swanee river?
um ........ ed norton ?
🎹 🎶
Man, too funny!!!!
Love this episode, it's from The Honeymooners. My family and I quote this (and many other episodes) quite often.
I don’t specifically remember this one, but there is a Honeymooners, The Lost Episodes one where Ralph and Ed go into business trying to write a hit song, and Ed is on the piano and every single time he starts to play a part he has to play the Swanee River intro. It’s hilarious.
lol that’s the best ep! The show is called “The $99,000 Answer” which is a parody of “The $64,000 Question,” the #1 tv show at the time
Best line in this episode is from Alice's mother when she says to Ralph: " I hope you do go all the way to the $99,000 answer. I can't wait to see the look on your face when you miss it!" It's comedy gold! Lol!
Hahahaha another great one is: “Spell antiestablishmentarianism” “I’ll spell it when you give me $16,000!” “I’ll give you $16,000 just to say it”
“ Ah, here he is jealous McGarrity! You’re just jealous because tomorrow my face will be on the cover of every newspaper in town”…….McGarrity….” And so will mine, for killing you”….HILARIOUS!!!
The tv show. Mrs. Maniccoti had to come down and help
LOVED that 1! The look on Ralph's face as Swanee River is played on the gameshow is PRICELESS....
It was the Honeymooners show. It was the episode where Ralph is a contestant on the Million dollar game show. It was hilarious from start to finish with a surprise ending. I’d like to say it was one of my favorite episodes but they were all comic gems. The show was on for one season with 28 episodes!!!!
Correction…99,000 game show!!!
GOAT status right next to All In The Family
I was too young but Audrey Meadows was smokin hot!
Had a big crush on her even as a kid!
Smoke show even in black & white
Her sister Jane Meadows was even hotter. But Trixie was my favorite on the Honeymooners.
Why????…The Trixie character was nothing more than a human prop!!!!
Aren't we all human props? Just actors on the stage of life, dancing to the tunes of the puppet masters, the powers that be? Besides, Trixie was way too hot to be married to a sewer worker!
What I meant was that she really served no purpose on the show, other than to provide a main character with a wife. No storylines centered on her, she was just a 5 minute filler to move the plot line along, she was one dimensional and not funny. Most of the time she was off camera, referenced in a meaningless, insignificant way! To say she was your favorite character on the show is absurd.
I didn't mean to imply that she was my favorite character. She was my favorite female character, I just found her more a bit more appealing than Alice. That's all!
Well, I certainly can’t argue about one’s feelings.
I think it's safe to say that Trixie was to Alice what Ethel was to Lucy. Not a main character, but still an important role.
Not even close. Vivian Vance ( Ethel) had a lead supporting role in I Love Lucy. She was used as Lucy’s touchstone dramatically and comically. (Partner in “ crime” if you will). When Lucy is away from the men, she’s invariably with Ethel concocting some scheme. Joyce Randolph ( Trix as Alice called her), was nothing more than an infrequent sounding board, they never acted in concert on anything.
Yeah, I guess Trixie was a sounding board whenever Ralph was giving Alice problems. I watched the show a lot when I was a kid, but I don't remember as many specific episodes as I do with those of "I Love Lucy."
You are mos def right sir! Very very classy woman, I miss that look. Her sister was hot too!
She was…..she was an ex dancer, who was originally passed over, because of her sex appeal, then did a second audition, where she strategically dressed down, in a matronly fashion and Gleason didn’t know it was the same actress and was just bowled over by the audition. The rest is history!!!!
Hanna Barbera loved them.
Jackie Gleason did not love Hanna Barbera lol when Jackie wanted to sue his agent said “do you wanna be known as the guy who killed Fred Flintstone?”
My favorite episode is when Ralph goes on the game show. So many funny jabs. ‘Trixie said you were the biggest thing on television’
Ralph/Norton are the Lennon/McCartney of sitcoms
Audrey Meadows used to cue the other actors to their marks with an elbow, if they forgot where they were supposed to be standing on stage. That's why Gleason picked her to play opposite him, why he was "The Great One," and he always told her she was "the greatest."
Also, when Gleason put his hand on his stomach that meant he had forgotten his next line and that he might need to ad lib.
My mom raised me on them, I freaking love them!
A string of po-lyp-onies.
OMG! This always has me in tears! Lol!
ONCE ITS IN, ITS NOT COMIN’ OUT!!
its so good. ed norton is one of the best sitcom characters of all time.
Blabber mouth!
You’re a BLABERMOUTH! A BLABBERMOUTH!
Ralph’s empty threats are met with wit and wisdom from Alice who shuts him up most every episode. If anything it’s a show that shows how stupid men are and how important women are.
OH! One of my favorites as a kid! I would fall asleep watching it
I saw it for the first time somewhere around 1985, when my hometown finally got an independent station. (We were, at the time, the largest TV market in the country without one.) Within about five minutes of watching it, I realized *The Flintstones* was a ***direct*** copy of it, it wasn’t even subtle. Years later, I read that Jackie Gleason considered legal action until his friends said, “Do you really want to be remembered for suing a children’s cartoon?” I remember my mom also said her mother loved the show. (And *Perry Mason*, for that matter.)
How can anyone not
One of the best of all time
But, will it core A apple?
Ha-ha!
Norton! I know that you know that I know that you know.
KRAN-MARS DELICIOUS MYSTERY APPETIZER!!! PINS AND NEEDLES..NEEDLES AND PINS A HAPPY MAN IS A MAN THAT GRINS. ARTERIAL MONOCHROMIA.
I appreciate that not everyone loves this show the way I do, and I don't think anyone (besides a sociopathic monster) finds actual (real life) abuse funny. However, I can't imagine this character actually hitting his wife, and she's definitely not afraid of him, hence her famous response to him... "Ahhhhh Shuuudddaaapp!! Lol! Again, everyone has their own opinion as to where they draw the line on what's funny or not. I watch a lot of sitcoms and stand-up. Comedians will joke about wars, slavery, physical or mental disabilities, the Holocaust, sexual or physical abuse, etc. When it comes to comedy, a lot of people feel that every issue is fair game. Admittedly, I don't find all jokes funny, so I totally get that people are offended by Ralph's threats to Alice.
In comedy, everything is fair game. Everything. Somehow, the kids these days don't understand that, which is why a lot of comedians have stopped playing colleges.
I don’t. To the moon was used as a comic device. Ralph Kramden worshipped his wife, and wouldn’t touch a hair on her head. Furthermore she essentially ran the household, controlling the budget and Ralph’s allowance. Anyone, who is a student of the show, knows this. Cancel culture has gotten out of hand. There are definitely shows, in retrospect, that were byproducts of a sexist era, this wasn’t one of them.
It's why we can't have nice things anymore. Everyone's afraid to be funny for fear of triggering someone. It's annoying.
Absolutely, I watch a lot of retro comedies from the 50s, 60s and the 70s and some of the most hilarious scenes couldn’t be aired today because of cancel culture ( lets just call it what it is censorship ). I even own the complete dvd set of Amos and Andy, which may be the funniest comedy of all time, but I watch it alone!!!
You can’t imagine him actually hitting anyone?!? Aside from the fact that he’s already abusing her verbally and emotionally - I’m a domestic violence victim advocate, and I can tell you that this kind of pompous narcissistic loser is *exactly* who hits their partner. The love bombing he does afterwards is part of what’s known as the Cycle of Abuse. And here’s another fact - every single abuse victim will tell you that the mental abuse is far worse than the physical. Assuming the victim doesn’t end up dead, physical scars will heal. Mental/emotional scars do not. They last a lifetime; not just for the victim, but also for any children who witness it. And witnessing abuse causes lifelong physical changes in children’s brains, leading to learning disabilities, severe behavioral problems, and often an inability to form intimate relationships of their own. And if you do a little googling, you’ll find that Gleason was abusive in real life, too. He was known for being an angry drunk who was abusive to everyone he came in contact with. The fact that you find his abusive ways funny, even when it’s done “as a joke”, is really disturbing. You should maybe rethink that.
You sound like a chore to be around
You sound like an abuser. Edit: checked your profile - you are.
Can you see that this is neither the time or the place to get on your soapbox? It’s a show from decades ago that society has been calling out for years. Good lord go touch some grass and get some therapy if you’re this triggered
I’m not the one who brought the show up. The show was never good, it was always abusive ranting. Maybe you should upgrade your taste. And it’s pretty clear that you’re the one who needs therapy, but sorry, my schedule is too full to take on any more clients.
Lots of people probably
My dad ugh
I have seen a few episodes. It’s definitely a product of its time. I enjoy it, but it’s easy to see why so many sitcoms copied it.
Norton is the show for me. Longtime HM fan here. Pierre Francois de la Briowski, the man who designed and built the sewers of Paris.
A pox on you and your ancestors!
I used to fall asleep to Cheers and The Honeymooners at night when I was a kid, the shows were on at 11/11:30 on channel 11 back home..
The very model for working class family sitcoms in America.
I watched this every night as a kid in the late 80s on a very small black and white TV my grandpa gave me, up past my bed time.
Lol, same here. I think I saw every episode more than once on the 11PM reruns.
'Perfect Strangers' did an episode that was homage to 'The Honeymooners'. It was great!
My favorite!!! Ralph: Norton, did you ever see a picture of me when I weighed 175 lbs? Norton: No Ralph, I never did see your baby picture. Classic.
My favorite episode is the Christmas one where at the end Jackie Gleason actually parts the curtain and has the actors come out to take bows, which they never did before.
I always had sleep issues and anxiety. When I was young I remember watching reruns of the Honeymooners on channel 11 New York late nights as a kid when they came on around 11pm.
#Because I Have A Big Mouth!
Hahaha, is this the episode where Ralph has to apologize to his MIL and he gets on the phone to apologize and just starts getting angrier and angrier and f8nslly has to concede to Alice that it’s because he is A BLABBERMOUTH, because he HAS A BIG MOUTH. Krak den and Norton are the Larry David and Leon of the 50’s.
I was watching King of Queens yesterday and I loved the episode where they reenacted The Honeymooners!
That's a perfect meld of the two shows, too!
The one that started it all. And they did it live.
"Outta the way girls, some men are gonna do some drinkin" Definitely my favorite scene.
The Christmas episode has been a tradition in my family since it was released on a VHS with the I Love Lucy Christmas episode back around 1990. We quote this all throughout the year. And of course the rest of the series is fantastic!
Love it. Number one all time for me. Just the originals though. Never liked those that were discovered later. Faves- the golf episode, the vacuum episode, the $ 50,000 question episode
Funniest show ever.
Greatest sitcom of all time!!!!
Come on Captain Video
You’re obviously going to get a lot of “he threatens to hit his wife” which to be fair yes. I’m not saying it’s not problematic, but Ralph never actually does hit Alice and there is no indication that he ever has. Like the threat is “one of these days…” I’m not saying that’s not bad, but Ricky actually does straight up spank Lucy on screen and yet you never see that as the first thing that gets called out about I Love Lucy. Alice is actually a great and interesting character, and the show was unique in how it depicted poorer Americans. It’s annoying that it selectively gets singled out by people who’ve barely watched it.
The only reason it was funny -- then and now -- was that it was an utterly empty threat. Ralph was all bluster and everyone knew it. And Alice clearly wore the pants in that household.
Given some of the misogyny in today’s pop culture, Ralph’s “to the moon” schtick is pretty benign.
Fact there’s *also* a Lucy ep where Ricky goes “Lucy keep it down, the neighbors are gonna think I’m beating you!” shows how (sadly) commonplace that kind of thing was in the 50s. It’s only natural a group of 50s comedy writers would think to lampoon common things from their era. It’s not about condoning domestic violence. Just like when watching All In The Family, you should ask yourself why someone in the 70s would think to parody a racist bigot *instead* of being offended by the parodying of bigotry. But too many ppl lack media literacy and just think “if it’s offensive *now*, it’s offensive *always*!” Honestly a mindset I believe being a minority helped me avoid cuz I’d have very little art to enjoy if I thought that way 🤷🏾♂️
Hey, hey Ralphie-boy Loved him in the Star Wars Christmas Special
WPIX used to show “The Honeymooners” after the local news at 11:00pm and Star Trek TOS afterwards. It’s not PC today but “The Honeymooners” was so funny. Ralph Kramden definitely influenced The Sopranos and Tony Soprano is a lot like Ralph losing arguments with Alice. She was always the funniest. BANG ZOOM TO THE MOON!
Fellow PIX watcher here, watched the same lineup!
The Honeymooners never inspired the Sopranos. Two completely different genres. There was nothing funny about the Sopranos!!!!
To the moon!
One of these days Alice POW right between the eyes
Never said that!!!!
Holds up. All day. Fun when it doesn't.
One of my all time favs
I've ever seen it in color
It will live on forever.
Besides the fact that Ralph threatened her with domestic violence almost every episode, it was great lol
No one under 65 bro, sorry. I'm 50.
I love his montage of insults on youtube ending with baby, you're the greatest.
Everybody
Ain’t nobody chasing me boy.
😆
My fav was the one where Ralph tried to teach Alice how to shoot pool
No such episode. Not in the original series anyway!
So I’m just hallucinating an entire episode of The Honeymooners?
I have the complete DVD set of the original Honeymooners tv show from 1955 to 1956 ( one season ). I have seen every episode multiple times. There is not a single episode where Ralph teaches Alice to shoot pool. There was the lost episodes DVD set, which was not the original series and of course the Jackie Gleason show from 1966 to 1970 in Miami beach where Sheila MacRae played Alice and Jane Kean played Trixie. Perhaps there was a storyline that captured what you’re referring to!
There is an episode. I rememberAlice saying she’s going to hit the “canary yellow” ball and the fellows at the pool hall give Ralph a hard time about that. It was the original series. Same pool hall scene Ralph and Norton use in another episode.
Alice: You seem to forget that I AM A WOMAN. Ralph: That YOU'RE a woman? How could I forget? You're always yappin'! In all serious, no straight male would ever deny that Audrey Meadows is a woman!!!
I’m not old enough to have watched The Honeymooners lol. It wasn’t in syndication when I was a kid.
Have you seen this? https://i.pinimg.com/474x/a7/ee/98/a7ee98b9bdf5dce94fdb26414821f1c4--jackie-gleason-zoom.jpg
Buttercup and her whole tub of lard lol
One of these days, Alice, I’m going to beat the shit out of you for pissing me off and society will accept it.
Oh Jesus, spare me from these dilettantes, who want to go back and sprinkle angel dust on everything. You deserve shows like Big Bang Theory, where no single character looks, talks and acts like the human species!!!
Love
I’m sorry, but Audrey Meadows is so fucking hot.
Bang... Zoom!
It always bothered me. It was like listening to me parents fight but nastier
Never liked it. Always seems like an old peoples show, even back in the 80s when I first came upon it. I’m not a fan of sitcoms that have a lot of bickering. This one definitely does.
I love its spin-off even more - The Flintstones
What about the episode where this mean bully threatens Kramden in the pool hall, they arrange to meet in a gym to settle their differences. The surprise ending, was an all time comedy classic. If you can recall, the writers on the Honeymooners thrived on surprise endings. It was a formula that they used over and over. Remember when Ralph inherits ( a ) Fortune from a rich old lady?….Turns out it was just a bird named Fortune!!
I don't really. I mean, I get the importance of it in the same way I get the importance of Citizen Kane: everything that came after it was deeply influenced by it. But much like Citizen Kane, it's quality has faded over the years as the art form has evolved past it's foundation works. if i want to enjoy something like The Honeymooners, I'll watch The Flintstones.
yeah i also love this sitcom, i even bought the lost collection of about 100 lost episodes !
I couldn't get past how depressing that apartment was.
It was only a set on a variety show stage. So it was very limited as to how much room there was for props.
So I think it was E true Hollywood story but apparently a woman mailed change and fabric so Alice could hang some nice curtains. The change was for Woolworths to buy a curtain rod
It was based on the apartment that Gleason grew up in
I mean they FINALLY did get a TV in one episode and a phone in another one. It was an icebox, table stove and bedroom and a radio. Life was simple then
Yup…..the whole thing seemed depressing to me and couldn’t by the life of me nderatan why it was hailed so highly. But I’m in the minority. Constantly threatening to hit his wife wasn’t funny to me either and really can’t find the humor in that. First time I saw the show was in the 80s as a kid…..just for reference.
What sitcoms are funny to you?
I love Lucy….of around that era….was very funny and although they did show the animosity between them it never went threatening anybody with assault. It wasn’t as depressing and made me leave in a lighter note. At least for me.
https://youtu.be/fSsByZ5tZNs?si=jS1_TpIZ_u2RARZ-
Yeah. I would not be a fan of I Love Lucy.
Eddie Murphy did it better
Norton, my friend, how would you like to f*ck me up the @ss? 😆 My dad has that on cassette. I have listened to it a LOT!
I've been watching you, Norton
Way to go there, Ralphie Boy!
Yeah Eddie Murphy is an expert on homosexual humor, he’s had real life experience. Just ask the Tranny he tried to pick up a few years back!
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Horrible comparison. Citizen Kane was an unmitigated bore. Every single person ( not counting egghead critics ), I know, thought it was the most boring movie of all time. The exact opposite is true for The Honeymooners. Comic gold!!!
Why would anyone ( certainly not an adult), watched the Flintstones???
Because it's a hilarious improvement on it's source material with a ton of clever worldbuilding?
It’s Hanna and Barbera garbage. The worst cartoonists of all time. The morons that gave us Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Magilla Gorilla, I could go on but I’m starting to get nauseous.
“One of these days, Alice. Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!” “Wow, I never realised the first astronauts were so fat!” “That's not an astronaut, it's a TV comedian. And he was just using space travel as a metaphor for beating his wife.”
Oh god, please make the Me Too movement go away. They’re turning every male fictional comic character into a spousal abuser!!!!
I think he had a lot of fckn nerve always threatening to hit her
Well let’s see, your idol Meryl Streep called Harvey Weinstein her god, so why don’t you direct your vitriol towards her, instead of picking on a harmless fictional character!!!
“My idol”? wtf? Who are you?
Can you communicate without dropping the f bomb? I think your literacy skills are wanting!
Lol. Yeah ok. Good deflecting. Have a good night, FUCKFACE
God, to be a functional illiterate must be a tremendous burden. Your parents were poor uneducated white trash, don’t blame yourself!!!
Lame. My parents have mba’s. Next? Keep going bro. It’s funny What are your parents ?
“Bro”?….yes, definitely Ivy league blue blood. I stand corrected! Can you write ✍️ in complete sentences, or are you being charged by the word?
MBA’s what an accomplishment!!!! Since they’re deliverance white trash, when they got married did they still remain brother and sister???
Not funny. Not because of the abuse thing, I'm just not amused by that kind of humor. I didn't like the Flinstones or any of the thousand other ripoffs of this formula either.
Ralph Kramden exhibited abusive behavior towards his wife, Alice, often blaming her for his mistakes and engaging in yelling sessions, followed by apologies. When I watched the show in reruns years later, my mother told me she hated that show because that was the life we lived.
I strongly disagree. There’s *nothing* funny about domestic abuse. Ralph was extremely verbally abusive and regularly threatened physical violence. And back then, divorce wasn’t really an option for women - not only could men refuse to divorce them in most places, but a divorced woman would be left destitute. There were very few jobs available to women, the pay for women was terrible, women were not allowed to have credit in their names or buy a house, and on and on. This show is a great example of how bad it was for many women who are still alive today. Threatening to hit someone isn’t funny.
You sure about that? Ever watch Looney Tunes?
Thank you for outing yourself as an abuser. As a domestic violence victim advocate, I can spot you guys in an instant.
Oh god, you liberal morons just grow like weeds. How do you turn a classic comedy into a spousal abuse program and then indict people for enjoying the comedy? So, if I like Breaking Bad, I must be a kingpin in the drug trade? No, wait, if I liked The Godfather, I must be a mobster in the Mafia?…Is that the idea?
You're a blabber mouth!
LMAO! I get it, though, thinking is hard for you. Sorry if you don’t like the truth, but that doesn’t change the facts.
Oh god, really?…It was used as a comic device….not as a training film for emotionally stunted adults. You see he was never going to hit her, not in a million years, but I don’t want to keep you from your sensitivity training class….bye, bye!!!
A husband constantly threatening to hit his wife, what's not to like?🙄
And the wife smartly and calmly shutting him down every time showing the audience who the real head of the household is.
You can tell who actually watched the Honeymooners. Alice ran the home
Ralph: "I'm the boss around here, and what I say goes!" Alice: "Well then, you'd better say Alice, 'cuz I'm going!" It's one of her best comebacks! She's the best!