World Famous Comics: Jackie Lynn Bowen The Color Honeymooners - Collection 1
Jackie Lynn Bowen The Color Honeymooners - Collection 1
Starring: Jackie Lynn Bowen, Milton Berle, Pat Sandy, Judy Jordan, Lanita Kent Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC Label: Mpi Home Video Number of Items: 3 Region Code: 1 Release Date: June 27, 2006 Running Time: 450 minutes Theatrical Release Date: September 17, 1966
Description: The Color Honeymooners (a/k/a The Jackie Gleason Show), a top-rated comedy/variety program aired, "from the sun and fun capital of the world – Miami Beach!" on Saturday night from 1966-70 on CBS-TV. This long-running series marked the final weekly TV show for "The Great One." Reprising their famous characters from The Honeymooners, the cast was led by Jackie Gleason (Ralph Kramden) and Art Carney (Ed Norton). Newcomers Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean played long-suffering wives Alice and Trixie. Like popular variety series of the time, the show’s format was a clever combination of new comedy sketches coupled with classic Honeymooners bits. Plenty of big name guest stars and a generous helping of singing and dancing rounded out the hour. Regulars included Gleason’s glamorous Glea-Girls; the June Taylor Dancers; Sammy Spear and His Orchestra, and announcer, Johnny Olson. This 4-disc boxed set includes 10 episodes and bonus features: In 25 Words or Less, Ship of Fools, Poor People of Paris, Confusion, Italian Style, Curse of the Kramdens, The Mod Couple, You’re in the Picture, We Spy, Petticoat Jungle, Mexican Hat Trick
Amazon.com: In 1966, Jackie Gleason's television variety show added a new hour-long sketch that reintroduced audiences to one of America's favorite families--the Kramdens and their neighbors the Nortons, whom Gleason immortalized as The Honeymooners in the 1950s, first on his variety series, and as its own program. For this all-color incarnation, Gleason reunited with Art Carney as pal Ed Norton, while Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean were the new Alice and Trixie, respectively. The Color Honeymooners also added musical numbers to the sketches, but aside from these new features, it was the same old Honeymooners, as seen in this four-disc set, which preserves the nine-episode "Trip to Europe" story arc. It's actually a revised version of the "Box Top Kid" sketch from The Jackie Gleason Show circa '56-57, which finds Ralph consumed with contest fever after his brother-in-law wins an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe through a write-in contest. After Norton pens a slogan for Flakey Wakey, Ralph is granted first prize--but must first prove that he's lost weight from eating the product. This spins into an eight-part story which takes the Kramdens and Nortons to Europe, where they cause havoc in the great cities of the Continent, as well as on an African safari. The sketches are balanced out by a number of musical bits, including performances by the June Taylor Dancers, the Glea Girls, and other regulars and guests.
The real question for Honeymooners fans is: do the color episodes hold up when compared to the originals? And the answer is, in a way, no: Gleason and Carney are older and a bit slower in regard to timing and performance, and MacRae and Kean, while pleasant, can't touch Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph as Alice and Trixie. And the musical and production numbers, while eye-catching, weigh down the humor at the core of the sketches. But there's still plenty of chemistry between Gleason and Carney in their best-loved roles, and if you're a die-hard Honeymooners/Gleason fan, you'll probably want to add these episodes to your collection. The four-disc set includes all nine unedited episodes from the story arc, as well as the featurette "The Great Gleason Express," which chronicles the star's process of moving his show from New York to Miami Beach ("the sun and fun capital of the world," lest you've forgotten) via a lavish train, with plenty of stops along the way to cater to his fans. The featurette is rounded out by an interview with Gleason's widow, Marilyn Taylor Gleason. --Paul Gaita
Gleason fans Anyone into the Honeymooners might like "Everybody Loves Raymond" 's Brad Garrett (the big cop) playing Jackie Gleason in a movie. The movie's called "Gleason," and it wasn't bad. Garrett even manages to hide his 6'7 height well. And the voice is almost dead-on.
When I first saw ELR, I noticed Garrett acted like Gleason was an influence, and I was right.
Away We Went!
As one of five still living members of The Glea Club, I was delighted to see the old shows again. The first group (quick re-dos of the old black and whites with added music and dancing) were great fun to do and proved so popular that we did three more seasons of brand new shows. Mr G and dear Art were in their element, and great fun was had by all. Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler wrote super songs and dance numbers, and even Mr G did not hesitate to sing out. It's sad that the cast, the orchestra members, and most of the dancers could not have seen and enjoyed these tapes. The color values are great, the sound is good, and what memories!! Can't wait for numbers three and four!
Childhood reborn! If you are a late baby boomer like myself, you may remember the early black and white Honeymooners on late, late night television. Or at other odd hours on local TV stations playing over and over in endless re-runs. You probably actually watched the full color weekly broadcasts ("from Miami Beach, the fun and sun capital of the world")that comprise this collection. From the camera racing over the water towards the Miami Beach skyline, through the fun Broadway style musical production numbers to the closing Curtain Calls (Jackie's voice getting louder with each cast member called, "Sheila MacCrae! ART CARNEY!!)the warm fuzzy feelings just keep getting better. Oh yeah, and it's funny!
A slower train on a slower track - but gets there on time As the story goes, the New York to Florida relocation of the '60s Jackie Gleason Show was fun in the beginning (1964), but then the excitement seemed to dissipate in predictability - it's presumed that the fans who followed Jackie from the Dumont days still loved all the characters - but there was one very conspicuous by his absence - Ralph Kramden. This character was nowhere to be found on Gleason's 1959 show with Buddy Hackett, and on his 1963 to 1965 shows. On Jaunary 8th, 1966 they did their last B & W Honeymooners, an hour special with music; and Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, and Jane Kean. (Jane was fine, but what a shame Joyce Randolph didn't make the trip down South). Apparently, that was a huge hit, so now it was time to bring 'em back (with Sheila MacCrae and Jane Kean as the wives). Also brought back were the original 1950s scripts, with some modifications). The main difference between the 1954/1957 versions is "color". I believe most fans would have purchased these '50s versions - the players *look* more like their "Classic 39" counterparts. (I was lucky enough to attend viewings of some of these original shows at the Museum Of Broadcasting in NY around 1985). Too bad that the 1957 shows were not also filmed/videod in color, too. Well, c'est la vie. (Ralph might say, SEST LA VYE). So let's sit back and enjoy these very rare programs. All have great production numbers, costuming, sets. The scripts are strong; the acting - it goes without saying. Ten years passed and they didn't miss a beat. (It seemed that their timing was a bit off in the first of the remakes, though). The matured and weightier (*sorry, Great One*) Jackie and Art get to show their versatility through the shows; it's not exactly the pair you've seen from the mid-50s though, so a way of appreciating the proceedings is to treat it as Gleason and Carney on Broadway, so to speak, more than the Honeymooners sing. The Trip to London has some business reminiscent of the "Chef of the Future" episode; not as funny, but still funny. Unfortunately, there's a heavy reliance on vaudeville stuff: ghosts in a castle, guys in gorilla suits in a very tired and dated safari sketch. Its as much Abbott and Costello as Gleason and Carney, and that's a little depressing, although A & C still work for me. Another drawback is the somewhat "theatrical" feel to the shows - the actors appear to berequired to boom out their voices as if playing to a huge auditorium. The "Classic 39" was also done "live" but for whatever technical reason were able to deliver the dialogue softly at times. Let's hope those B & W versions can be rescued from isolation - with all due respect to Sheila MacCrae and Jane Kean, the "Classic 39" troupe looks funnier in the French Bastile!
HOW SWEET IT IS! I grew up watching the original 30 minute black and white 39 episodes of The Honeymooners and bought them all on DVD. All I can say about the one hour Color Honeymooners Collection #1, I can sum it up in one word: FANTASTIC!!! Each hour is turned into a musical, and it's so well done by the song writers. So if you like the Honeymooners and musicals, you can't go wrong!
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