TV We Love Season 1 Episode 4

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Transcript

00:00The Golden Age of Television

00:08I Love Lucy didn't just change American television, it invented American television

00:12Back when one screen brought everyone together

00:16Watching television was a family event

00:19The shows that shaped us

00:21The Brady Bunch was part of the American soul

00:24It's timeless

00:25The familiar faces

00:27Ralph Cramden was loved by the Honeymooners

00:30He was a presence

00:33The unforgettable moments

00:34Dynasty captured the essence of what the 1980s were about in America

00:38These are their stories

00:40Cheers is the pinnacle of how great the sitcom can be

00:43This is TV We Love

00:45The year is 1955

00:53Dwight D. Eisenhower is in the White House

00:57Rock and roll is in its infancy

00:59And music is blaring out of diner jukeboxes

01:02America is caught up in a booming post-war glow

01:05And looming Cold War chill

01:08Suburbs are packing up

01:10And the American dream is being sold with every white picket fence

01:14Teenagers discovered this new phenomenon

01:17Known as Elvis Presley

01:19While their parents, eh, they're still watching Perry Como

01:23And then one loudmouthed Brooklyn bus driver

01:28Are you nuts or something?

01:30Changed sitcom history forever

01:32The Honeymooners is kind of in a class all of its own

01:42Well, so you're in the championship class

01:45Well, where do you play Craven?

01:46Well, The Honeymooners is one of the most interesting comic universes ever created

01:51Characters were perfect

01:54The characterizations were perfect

01:56The scripts were well written

01:57It was perfect

01:59The Honeymooners is my favorite show ever

02:00I love it

02:01And every time I see it come on, it just makes me smile

02:04At a time like this, you're gonna smile

02:06You're gonna smile

02:07Jackie Gleason

02:09He's one of the funniest performers in the history of comedy

02:13Ha ha!

02:15The show that really stood the test of time

02:17And people still are discovering now

02:20As a matter of fact, one night at rehearsal

02:21He said that I have something that comes across the footlights

02:24And reaches out into the audience

02:26You know, I think The Honeymooners is one of the most important shows

02:29In the history of American television

02:31You certainly have

02:33Jackie Gleason is not the kind of person

02:37You would have pointed to in the streets and said

02:40Now there's a star

02:42And he did so much in entertainment

02:47And he really learned to sort of dominate the stage

02:50In so many different vaudeville houses throughout the country

02:54Jackie Gleason had already established himself as a major talent

02:59William Paley, the founder of CBS

03:02He noticed Gleason and said that we're gonna create a show for him

03:08And that's exactly what he did

03:10The Jackie Gleason Show

03:12Gleason was an impresario

03:16That he had a vision not only of the sketches

03:19But of the entire show

03:20Gleason really wanted to bring song, dance, and comedy

03:25And make Saturday Night

03:26This spectacular entertainment

03:28He was in control of every element of the show

03:33It was larger than life

03:35You saw these dancers from above

03:37You were seen like a 30s musical

03:40They had these dancers on the show

03:45It was called the June Taylor Dancers

03:48My father and I were standing in the wings

03:51And the June Taylor Dancers had just finished their number

03:54As they came out, my father would say

03:56This is my son Brian

03:57This is my son Brian

03:58And they were all so tall

04:00All I remember is rear ends and legs

04:04Going by me, you know

04:06It's a variety show

04:17So people are singing and dancing

04:18The Honeymooners was a sketch within a larger show

04:28You know, he had other characters

04:31Ralph Cramden was the character

04:33But he had Reginald Van Gleason

04:35He had the poor soul

04:37He had Joe the bartender

04:39He had a dozen of these different characters

04:42I think the most relatable character

04:46That he ever came up with

04:47Was probably Ralph Cramden

04:49And The Honeymooners

04:50Jackie Gleason

04:53The Honeymooners

04:57The Honeymooners is about a bus driver in Brooklyn

05:01Ralph Cramden

05:02And his wife, Alice

05:04And their neighbors are Ed and Trixie Norton

05:07And they all are getting along

05:09In very blue-collar environment in Brooklyn

05:12Which is one of the most realistic New York apartments ever shown

05:15It's like a family show

05:18Because it represented these people

05:21That are often living paycheck to paycheck

05:23And are fighting their way through every day

05:26But with a sense of humor

05:28And God bless, isn't that what we all want?

05:32What's more important than a man and a woman loving each other?

05:35What's more important than a man and a woman trying to make it?

05:39Ralph is the master of the get-rich-quick scheme

05:41And so he's always trying to master

05:42To better his station in life

05:44By doing something that will require the least work possible

05:48To beat the system

05:49And he's always beaten down by the system instead

05:52I am going to make a fortune

05:54And I am going to let you in on a deal

05:56There we go again

05:58You know, if you break it down

06:00To its simplest form

06:02It could sound pretty corny

06:04Get-rich-quick, got a dreamer

06:06You could put so many different actors in that role

06:09And it would feel like a cliche

06:10But the cast is really what made it work

06:13I can't stand to make a fortune again

06:15I'm going broke

06:16I mean, they're really otherworldly

06:18The Honeymooners

06:21It starts out as an occasional bit

06:24Done in an hour-long variety show

06:26Ladies and gentlemen

06:28It's time once again for a visit with Ralph and Alice Cramden

06:32Better known to you as The Honeymooners

06:34And then started to eat up more and more of that variety show

06:40And it became popular

06:41I guess back in the day

06:42You probably used to write in

06:43You know, actually write a letter

06:45Like, we really like this Honeymooners skit

06:50My boy

06:50It was a 14-minute sketch

06:52When I was hired just every other week

06:54Right

06:54Then it went to every week

06:5614-minute sketch

06:57Then it went to a half hour

06:59Then it went to an hour

07:00Right

07:01And now for the champagne

07:03The success of The Honeymooners

07:06Took Gleason by surprise

07:07But it was really the interaction of the characters

07:10I think the people responded to

07:11On The Honeymooners

07:12Let me fill the glasses

07:13Now, come on, Ralph

07:14Tell me, please, what this is all about

07:16I think audiences loved The Honeymooners

07:18Because they could relate to it

07:21A toast

07:21The Honeymooners was authentic

07:23The portrayal of families on television

07:26Prior to The Honeymooners

07:27Is really idealized

07:29In Father Knows Best

07:31And it's mostly middle-to-upper-class families

07:35That we're seeing

07:35And so The Honeymooners is really the first time

07:38We're seeing a working-class family

07:40In a small Brooklyn apartment

07:43With modest means

07:45Modest living

07:46Struggling to make ends meet

07:47We couldn't afford it

07:49If you'd take it a little easy

07:50And stop throwing a guy around

07:51It's funny

07:52But the underlying premise is

07:54Striving

07:55And longing

07:56And I think a lot of people

07:58In that era

07:59Related to that

08:00CBS sees the writing on the wall

08:05With The Honeymooners

08:05It's become popular enough

08:07That CBS decides

08:08Let's do a series

08:09CBS looks at The Honeymooners

08:12And says

08:12Why can't we do

08:13The same thing that we're doing

08:15With I Love Lucy

08:16In 1955

08:19Gleason was approached

08:20To create

08:20Two years of The Honeymooners

08:22And put it on film

08:24It's kind of like

08:26When characters on SNL

08:27Have a catchphrase

08:29Or become popular

08:29They keep showing up

08:30More and more and more

08:31And more

08:31The same thing

08:32The Honeymooners

08:32Were getting more and more popular

08:34And so

08:34Jackie Gleason got offered a deal

08:36To do The Honeymooners

08:37As its own stand-alone

08:38Domestic sitcom

08:39Well

08:40So you got the news

08:42Huh fellas

08:42Yeah

08:43Well it only goes to prove

08:45That a good man

08:45Is not hard to find

08:47The Honeymooners

08:54Had their own individual series

08:56In 1955

08:57What's so funny?

09:01There's so many things

09:02To love about the show

09:03It was brilliant

09:05But not intellectually brilliant

09:07Right

09:08It was simplistically brilliant

09:10Jackie Gleason

09:12He's all you need

09:13Because

09:14He's one of the funny

09:17As performers

09:18In the history of comedy

09:20He's just born with it

09:24I mean

09:25I've known a few people

09:26Who have

09:27They're just

09:27They're just born that way

09:30And they're like

09:30You got Chris Farley

09:31Old Matt's gonna be your shadow

09:34Here's you

09:35Here's Matt

09:36There's you

09:37There

09:37Jackie Gleason

09:40He's hilarious

09:41When he snaps

09:42And gets really angry

09:44Besides you wouldn't even

09:45Fit through the manhole

09:46Get out

09:46He's hilarious

09:48When he is

09:49Putting up with somebody

09:51That's slowing him down

09:52Come on

09:55I think that any

09:58Smart lead comedian

10:00In their own show

10:01Appreciates their second banana

10:03And it's the same

10:04With Cramden and Norton

10:05Ralph is funny

10:06Because he has

10:08Ed to play off of

10:09Hey

10:09Ralph

10:10That reminds me

10:11Can I use your phone?

10:12Jackie Gleason

10:13Was the great one

10:13But the Honeymooners

10:14Doesn't work without

10:15Ed Norton

10:15Is it an important call?

10:18What

10:18Would I ask you

10:20If it wasn't important?

10:21They worked so well together

10:23Because they really

10:24Both had impeccable timing

10:26Will you make the call?

10:30They'd wait that split second

10:32Before they reacted

10:33Or they said a line

10:35Thank you

10:36And Ed can be dumber than Ralph

10:46I'm leaving you my bowling shoes

10:48And so that makes Ralph

10:49Look good and look smart

10:50And have something

10:51To be frustrated with

10:52I was just gonna go out

10:52And buy myself

10:53A new pair of bowling shoes

10:54This couldn't happen

10:55At a better time

10:56And yet have a

10:58Willing accomplice

10:59In his schemes

11:00This solves the whole problem

11:02I mean neither of them

11:03Would be considered smart

11:06But Ralph Cramden

11:07Was incredibly intense

11:08And Ed Norton

11:09Was comparatively laid back

11:10And that combination

11:12Of energies

11:14Really worked

11:15Gleason obviously

11:18Saw him on the

11:19Maury Amsterdam show

11:21And thought

11:22He's got talent

11:23And he had him in

11:24To read for a part

11:26On the Honeymooners

11:27I don't possess a mansion

11:29A villa in France

11:31A yacht

11:32Or a string of palopony

11:34What makes Art Carney

11:35So special

11:36He was such a talented man

11:39He was musically talented

11:41He really could play the piano

11:44Comedically talented

11:47You told me that

11:49Every time you turn around

11:49I'd make money

11:50Well so far

11:51You ain't been exactly

11:52No big with him

11:53He's so versatile

11:55Yes

11:55Serious actor

11:56Could do it all

11:57Right here

11:58Right here

11:58So we're just a couple

12:00Of kids really

12:01And we acted like

12:02A couple of kids too

12:03Hold it up your face

12:04Ralph

12:04Hold it up your face

12:05You can make people laugh

12:07As Cramden and Ed Norton did

12:09Inner satisfaction

12:11Is hard to explain

12:13Hold it up your face

12:14Ralph's gonna be up to something

12:16Ed Norton's gonna annoy him

12:18But there's gonna be

12:19Deep friendship

12:20And deep love

12:21Beneath the surface

12:23Of all of this

12:25And it's palpable

12:26I don't know if there's ever

12:27Been a pair of comedians

12:28On television

12:29On the same show

12:30That were both

12:31Amazing physical comedians

12:33Art Carney was a great talent

12:35Jackie knew that art

12:38Was what everybody

12:39Was laughing at

12:39And so he knew

12:40To step back

12:41And let Ed Norton

12:42Flourish with his

12:44Idiosyncrasies

12:45And his over the top

12:46Ridiculousnesses

12:47That was just a gift

12:49Teach me to mambo

12:50Do exactly as I do

12:51Yes

12:52But these two guys

12:53Jackie Gleason's

12:55Ability to throw his body

12:57All over the place

12:58Art Carney's

13:02Looseness with his body

13:03Do the hucklebox

13:05Do the hucklebox

13:06If you don't know how to do

13:08Go around

13:09Were hilarious

13:12They were just

13:13You just can't take

13:14Your eyes off of them

13:15Yes sir

13:16Because you know

13:18They're going to move

13:19In a funny way

13:19They're not just

13:20Going to deliver

13:20Funny lines

13:21I got it now

13:24They were the whole package

13:27I think one of the things

13:33People loved about

13:34The honeymooners

13:35Is the portrayals

13:37Of these women

13:38As friends

13:39And as wives

13:40And partners

13:41Calling their husbands out

13:42You don't need anything

13:43To keep your weight down

13:44You need something

13:45To hold it up

13:46Matching them

13:47At their wits

13:47Not being submissive

13:49And certainly challenging them

13:50While at the same time

13:52Loving them

13:52None of the wives

13:53Are going

13:54None of the wives

13:55Are going

13:55Well for your information

13:57Trixie's going

13:58Norton's on his way

13:59You have to tell her

13:59She can't go

14:00Women at that time

14:05Were all

14:06Hi honey

14:06Would you like dinner

14:08You know

14:08They were all

14:09Milk toast

14:10The women in most

14:11Of the sitcoms

14:12Are when I was growing up

14:13Like father knows best

14:14Well not Audrey Meadows

14:16When you're not going

14:17Now you listen to me Ralph

14:18I am going

14:19On that fishing trip

14:20No

14:21She would just yell

14:22At Jackie Gleason

14:23She didn't let him

14:23Get away with anything

14:24Interesting story

14:26With Audrey Meadows

14:27She goes for her

14:29First interview

14:30And Gleason said no

14:32She's way too pretty

14:33Way too pretty

14:33To be Alice

14:34To be Alice

14:34So she went back

14:36Woke up in the morning

14:37No makeup

14:38Looked like a mess

14:39Had her photographer

14:40Come to the house

14:42Snap pictures

14:44Imposed with frying pans

14:46And coffee pots

14:47And stuff

14:47And we got the pictures

14:49Developed by four

14:49In the afternoon

14:50And Jackie looked

14:51At the pictures

14:52He said my god

14:53He said it's Alice

14:54Who is she

14:56Where is she

14:57Can we get her

14:58And Bo

14:59I said well

14:59That's the girl

14:59Who was in here

15:00Yesterday to see you

15:01And Jackie said

15:02Any dame

15:03With a sense of humor

15:03Like that

15:04Deserves the job

15:05Hire her

15:06And Jack doesn't

15:08Remember the specifics

15:09As the story is told

15:10But I've seen the photos

15:12That Audrey had taken

15:14So I believe

15:16She knew what it took

15:17To get the role

15:18And I think history

15:19Shows that she delivered

15:21You get this

15:23Drop and get it straight

15:25I think what Audrey Meadows

15:26Brought to that show

15:28Which was way before her time

15:29Was a sense of

15:31Self-empowerment

15:32She really did

15:33She owned her space

15:34In that relationship

15:35She also told me

15:36Something very interesting

15:37That early on

15:38She decided

15:39That she would play

15:40Alice stationary

15:42Now obviously

15:43She had to enter

15:44Sometimes and exit

15:45But when she was in a scene

15:47She kind of

15:49Planted herself in position

15:50Because Art Carney

15:52Was such a physical actor

15:54And Gleeson was such

15:56An enormous

15:57Literally and figuratively

15:59Presence

15:59And so she thought

16:01That if she just

16:02Held her ground

16:03She'd be like

16:04The eye of the storm

16:05While all this other stuff

16:06Was going on

16:07And then she'd always have

16:09Some line

16:10That would just kind of

16:11Cut through everything

16:12If they ever institute

16:14A nut of the month club

16:15I've got a very good idea

16:18Who's going to be

16:18January and February

16:20Jackie loved Audrey

16:23Nothing ever did get by her

16:26And she was very comfortable

16:27Playing a rather authoritative

16:29Wise counterpart to Ralph

16:32She knew how to have

16:33Alice go toe-to-toe with Ralph

16:35Audrey Meadows was a great

16:37Compliment to Jackie Gleeson

16:38Because every time

16:40Ralph gets excited

16:41About anything

16:41She's just seen it

16:43Too many times

16:44For her to care

16:45Even an iota

16:46She played her role

16:51Beautifully

16:52And she was iconic

16:53What's the matter

16:54With me Trixie

16:55Don't I get nothing

16:55I'm too tired

16:57How do you like that

16:58I've been working

16:59Down the sewer all day long

17:00And she's tired

17:01That's another reason

17:03Joyce Randolph

17:04Was a wonderful woman

17:05She was brought aboard

17:07To the Gleeson show

17:08As a bit actress

17:10And Jackie respected

17:11And knew that

17:11Jackie was confident

17:13With her

17:13Someday you're gonna ask me

17:15To do something for you

17:16Joe Cates is on the phone

17:18And he asked me

17:19Had I seen something

17:20They were doing

17:20Called the honeymooners

17:21And I said

17:22No I don't know

17:23What that is

17:23And he said

17:24Well if Art Carney's

17:25Playing the sewer worker

17:26And now they've written

17:27A wife called Trixie

17:28For the sewer worker

17:29And Mr. Gleeson said

17:30Get me that serious actress

17:32Ed Norton

17:33I wouldn't stay

17:34Another minute

17:35In this house with you

17:36I'm going downstairs

17:37And spend the night

17:37With Al

17:38The honeymooners

17:41Can be hard to watch

17:42To a modern audience

17:43Because Ralph

17:44Threatens his wife

17:46With physical violence

17:48One of these days

17:49And he actually

17:50Puts up the fist

17:51The whole threatening

17:52To send her to the moon

17:54Do you want to go to the moon?

17:55But you also have

17:57In both his wife

17:59And his best friend's wife

18:01These characters

18:03Who are really

18:04Independently minded

18:05Empowered

18:07The girls are really

18:07Going to be in

18:08For some shock

18:09When they find out

18:10That we left without them

18:11Ralph

18:12Ain't got the courage

18:14To look back there

18:15As Mrs. Morton back there

18:17Right behind you

18:20Certainly

18:21Ralph's threats of violence

18:23Are really part of

18:24His comedic bluster

18:25The show makes it

18:29Very clear

18:29That Alice is

18:31Unafraid

18:32And in control

18:33Tell her I ran off

18:34And joined the circus

18:35What as?

18:38An elephant?

18:39I loved her reaction to it

18:41Audrey Meadows

18:41Just wouldn't put up

18:42With any

18:43It was fabulous

18:44You're the type

18:45That would bend

18:45Way over

18:46And pick up a pocketbook

18:48On April Fool's Day

18:49I wouldn't

18:50You couldn't

18:52There's certain things

18:53You probably could not

18:54Get away with today

18:55But ultimately

18:56You know that

18:57They love each other

18:57And the frustrations

18:59Of the marriage

18:59Is something that

19:00Everyone can share

19:01As long as the love

19:02Is there

19:02Go ahead

19:04Say it Alice

19:05Say it

19:05Now

19:06That never flies

19:08Today

19:09But it was uproariously

19:10Funny

19:11In the moment

19:12Go ahead

19:13Tell me I'm a maniac

19:14Go ahead

19:15It's really a testament

19:16To Jackie Gleason

19:17And the writing

19:18Because Ralph

19:20Played by someone else

19:21Could be a terrible

19:22Abusive bully

19:23I don't care

19:24But the fact that

19:25You see that he's

19:26Never going to do it

19:27Oh Ralph

19:29And the fact that

19:30Many shows ended

19:31With a big hug

19:32And a big kiss

19:33And baby

19:34You're the greatest

19:34It was a love story

19:36At its core

19:36I love you

19:38Baby you're the greatest

19:42Police and his writers

19:53Were very interested

19:55In creating catchphrases

19:56All right

19:57With you Ralph

19:58They knew that

20:03They would resonate

20:05With the American public

20:06If there were certain words

20:07They said over and over again

20:09To the moon Alice

20:10One of these days

20:12One of these days

20:13One of these days Alice

20:15To the moon

20:16To the moon

20:17One of these days Alice

20:18To the moon

20:19To the moon Alice

20:20Bang zoom

20:22Bang zoom

20:23And every character

20:25Had their own catchphrase

20:27And certainly

20:28Ed Norton's

20:29Ralphie boy

20:30Stay there

20:31Ralphie boy

20:32And Alice was really funny

20:34About Ralph

20:36And his weight

20:37This is probably

20:37The biggest thing

20:38I ever got into

20:39The biggest thing

20:40You ever got into

20:41Was your pants

20:42And these lines

20:43Really resonate

20:44With the audience

20:45Leeson got frustrated

20:46With some of the fat jokes

20:47You got it here

20:48And you got it here

20:51And you got it here

20:53But the writers knew

20:55They connected

20:55With the audience

20:56Ralph

20:59I still to this day

21:01Sometimes when

21:02My wife makes

21:03A droll comment to me

21:05I go Ralph

21:07Ralph

21:08It was so theatrical

21:13Claustrophobically theatrical

21:17For the most part

21:18Those 39 episodes

21:19Took place in one room

21:21it's the ugliest set in the history of television this one room was the kitchen but it also served

21:31as the living room the dining room it was the room we never see their bedroom would you like

21:37to see the other room we don't get to leave what is the bedroom going in the kitchen it's got a

21:42real sense of life not able to break free and how does a friend's song go always stuck in second

21:48gear all i know is i can't make alice quit a job i can't get a maid and i gotta break my back clean

21:53enough this house on my day off ralph felt that way everything he did it hadn't been his day or even

21:59his year failed again there are certain episodes of the honeymooners the dancing bit

22:08you know all these classic comedy things that you can show students today and they're like i've

22:17noticed that in a hundred movies they're like yeah that's when they did it first

22:21now tell me sir are you married yes you're married and what is your wife's name

22:31mrs cramden probably my favorite episode is the one titled 99 000 answer which american audiences

22:39could really relate to because of the prevalence of quiz shows and the popularity of quiz shows at

22:43the time when he wants to be on the 99 000 answer and ed norton has to play swanee river every time

22:52and the more times he does it the funnier it gets because

22:59ralph is just so focused on memorizing all these facts

23:04and all he can do is suffer in silence and try to maintain his composure that's often when he's

23:13funniest when he's not saying anything and you just know he's he's just suffering

23:19that's amazing writing because they planted this joke where ed has to warm up and you just think

23:33it's some silly device all right mr cramden for 100 who is the composer of swanee river

23:39swanee river that's right swanee river can we have a few bars of swanee river jose and then it ends up

23:46paying off the entire episode

23:48that's swanee river one of the greatest endings of any episode ever ed norton

23:58oh i'm terribly sorry my favorite was when ralph comes up with is it the housewife handy helper

24:06a kitchen device look at all these attachments here it opens up cans it takes corks out of bottles

24:12it cause apple it scales fish in one of his countless ways that he was going to break out

24:20and become rich and he does a tv commercial and of course becomes stage struck

24:25that's the funniest version of jackie gleason panicking

24:34the fact that they rehearsed it so many times for it to just completely fall apart and in this

24:43case it only falls apart because he just freezes

24:45chef for the future oh hello i'm glad to have you aboard chef for the future i'm gonna chef for the

24:52future hello i'm glad to have you aboard again chef for the future ralph really panics and blanks

25:00with ed so loyally by his side

25:02what does it say in a book

25:07the golf swing first step up plant your feet firmly on the ground and address the ball

25:14my favorite episode is probably the golfer the episode where jackie gleason ralph cramden wants

25:21to learn how to play golf so he can impress his boss what do they mean by address the ball

25:25how should i know that's what it says here i'll read a little further maybe it explains

25:30and norton takes a little textbook on golf that's all it says address the ball step up

25:37plant your feet firmly

25:40hello ball

25:43it's one of the funniest episodes of american television comedy ever hello ball is like one

25:50of those iconic lines yes hello ball you're making this direction yes it's not resonating

25:56with the person who's being directed at right and it's just funny hello ball hello ball hello

26:03ball hello ball hello ball there's nothing better i think it was very difficult working with jackie

26:11gleason it really was that could be a bit chaotic if you hadn't had enough rehearsal

26:17jackie gleason you would like to change things and sometimes the writers weren't all for it but

26:24he's in control it was shot live everybody had to memorize their lines they didn't have

26:30repeat takes it was basically like seeing a theater production that changed every week that's a lot of

26:37pressure well you were just doing it live straight through they never were done with single cameras

26:44stop and start they were done live

26:46they filmed two shows a week it was exhausting especially with gleason not rehearsing

26:55gleason was famous for not wanting to rehearse and then art carney was famous for the opposite

27:00and they didn't use cue cards not at all it would have been awful

27:05he was i think used to getting things his way and he may have been a little bit of a temperamental

27:10artist and gleason obviously had a bigger than life personality and occasionally a temper

27:15so i'm sure he wasn't always the easiest person to get along with

27:20he would also throw out a scene at about quarter to eight and call all of us in his dressing room

27:26and he'd say that last thing it's no good we're not going to play it so he'd say frank just shoot

27:31us all civil war style and that meant photograph whoever was talking and he would say to me now

27:37i'll start at odd and you just go along with me improvise improvise few people realize that the

27:41honeymooners itself as a tv show only ran for one season and the honeymooners got mixed reviews when

27:48they're initially seen on film in 1955 over the course of the season it actually goes down in the

27:57ratings it's not this huge uh hit by the end it's up against the perry como show i know that may not

28:04impress you now but going up against perry como was hard to do back then gleason i think was a little

28:10frustrated that they were putting all this hard work into these filmed episodes but it didn't have

28:16the connection so they thought back in those days one year was 39 episodes which is incredible to

28:22think of today it's like a meat grinder and now the networks do 13 but that's the way we did the

28:28honeymooners and that's tough writing and very difficult to do at the end cbs wanted to renew it

28:38technically it was planned for a two years and a third year option and the story goes jackie

28:44thought it had done uh it's best and that it would be compromised if it went any further

28:49we were running out of ideas and i like the honeymoons i like doing yeah and i didn't want

28:56to denigrate them by you know forcing scenes that didn't mean anything right so i wanted to quit and

29:03they didn't believe and they thought i had another job someplace yeah but i didn't and i'm glad i did stop

29:10that he said that they thought they were beginning to repeat themselves but that's not quite in the

29:17material it's strange that jackie gleason cut off the honeymooners after 39 episodes because he

29:23actually had a deal to do at least one more season i think the ratings weren't what he wanted

29:27and i think gleason always wanted to be on top but for whatever reason it stops after the big 39

29:35jackie recognized that there was only so many times ralph could have his expectations and his

29:45ambitions and some sort of failure or some sort of calamity so he wanted to go back and provide

29:52the audiences with one hour of performances one hour of guest stars of the june taylor dancers

29:58and that's why the second year of that two-year contract was a return to the one hour jackie

30:05gleason show yeah well the show's over the curtain came down and the audience is filing out

30:09you know it's really hard to know exactly why jackie gleason decided to only do 39 filmed episodes

30:25but for cbs he went back to the variety show and the honeymooners filmed episodes end in september he

30:33immediately does live honeymooners in october so it's as if he's going back to where he was

30:39oh sweet it is the classic 39 were first rerun on cbs and then they were syndicated to local

30:53stations throughout the country especially here in new york city one station wpax ran the honeymooners

31:02for many many decades it was always on somewhere in the reruns but it didn't become

31:09popular again until they went into that 11 o'clock time slot on wpix channel channel 11 in new york

31:15where we watched it on just started watching it friends started watching it friends and then we

31:21started talking about i have a big ball now we're doing our podcast so many times we run scenes back

31:29four or five times

31:31we're just to catch a line and those 39 live on and they would come on after the yankee games so in the

31:44summertime i'd ask to stay up and i remember watching the baseball games with my dad and then the

31:49honeymooners would come on so baseball and the honeymooners were part of the way that i bonded with

31:55my dad mr cramden do you think you could cover second base my boy you are looking at a man that

32:01could cover the infield the outfield and four sections of the preacher nick at night became a

32:06phenomenon that really introduced the young generation to classics people developed a new

32:12appreciation for ralph and company and that made perfect timing almost suspicious timing when

32:18additional episodes of the honeymooners were then unearthed in cbs's vaults people had

32:24rediscovered the honeymooners those 39 episodes it was doing huge on independent tv stations people my

32:31age were watching those black and white repeats late at night on their local independent tv station

32:35the honeymooners had a renaissance of sorts just let it flow thank you and especially once cable

32:42started where there was this huge appetite for stuff there were only 39 episodes we wanted more

32:47well i got one more thing to say well there were more and there's more where i came from

32:53these weren't traditional episodes though these were sketches that were on the jackie gleason show

33:06just a while ago so i did as much research as possible just seeing when these live sketches might have

33:14aired then i worked very closely with the engineers at cbs we went into the vaults where they preserved

33:21the live jackie gleason shows and we were able to find four it was just a revelation finally you can

33:30see some new honeymooters all is lost so some smart folks decided to put those episodes and those those

33:38sketches together and turn them into the quote unquote lost episodes well they weren't really

33:44episodes sketches often were not produced in the same way and in the same quality as the classic

33:5039 and that's because of the way tv was shot particularly in the early days there was no way

33:55to take something that was being broadcast live from a camera over the airwaves and also have it

33:59committed to a strip of film so when things were broadcast for later time zones they used something

34:04called a kinescope and that was not a very good quality they just thought it was disposable and

34:11that's why other shows of the 50s that weren't cataloged and weren't archived are lost to time

34:17the lost honeymooners were met with quite fanfare how about you and me taking a second honeymoon

34:22finding a treasure trove of those sketches and episodes was unbelievable for people who loved the

34:29honeymooners they love it jackie was surprised these kinescopes were really all but forgotten

34:35other than the monthly and annual uh charges for storage from his chair there was no value in them

34:41so those lost honeymooners have taken on a life of their own beautiful just like it is with all

34:46newlyweds you know finding all of that gave us all insight into the development of early american

34:52television uh this is a history making occasion i'd like to pull all right i'll put this on and you

34:58can apply to hot towel and you saw how television evolved with the way programs were shot and character

35:07development and two of the greatest characters on american television ralph crampton and lucy ricardo

35:16were seen on television within 10 days of each other we first experienced ralph crampton

35:21on october 5th 1951 and 10 days later i love lucy debuts so it's amazing that ralph crampton and lucy

35:31came to us almost the same time

35:34and it would just continue as gleason went into his vault other people found more programs

35:42i was contacted by the daughter of one of gleason's writers snagware and the daughter wendy had in her

35:52basement kinescopes of the very first episode my finger's so swollen i can't get it out it's stuck

35:59ralph why don't you put some butter on it i don't want to eat it i want to get it off and wendy told me

36:05that her father traded bourbon to jackie gleason for the kinescopes we've got this whole generation

36:12of people raving about the the honeymooners hopefuls vying for the top prize in the honeymooners

36:16look-alike contest will mimic ralph crampton and ed norton that was a frame of reference with a lot

36:21of these guys if you didn't understand what that was what planet did you live on you don't know all

36:26this stuff from the honeymooners it's definitely cultish there's definitely a cultish thing about it

36:32to where we almost feel like we're a special group of people that literally have seen each episode at

36:38least 500 times you know kind of goes to our mental illness but it also goes to how much we really

36:45appreciate the show i appreciate that well now maybe you realize that i'm all for you

36:50why don't you wear one of your regular white shirts what's the difference anyway what's the

37:00legacy of the honeymooners was this was a really early example of relationship comedy and of a

37:07couple and uh how you could do a show that was about relationships was about adult relationships

37:14put on there purposely they say hurricane anyone who wonders why the honeymooners still hold a place

37:21in our heart if they are curious get married all right miss dorothy dix fixer of marriage problems

37:27it's just a lot of that well ralph can't you sleep on something out here sure i can sure bring

37:34the bed from in there put it out here and i'll sleep out here i think it holds up because it's

37:39incredibly relatable the reality is it's just a guy with big dreams that almost never come true

37:45who loves his wife even though they fight and bicker all the time it's just relatable all these years

37:50later and you know what else it's funny yeah i could sleep in a sink if you want me it was incredibly

37:57funny but there was pathos there it wasn't written so much into the script in words spoken

38:04it was just felt it was hysterically funny and it could also be touching

38:10many modern sitcoms borrow from the blueprint of the honeymooners certainly the flintstones was

38:19directly inspired by it it wasn't enough that wilma her delivery was exactly like

38:25audrey meadows delivery on the honeymooners where do you want it fred i'll just send it down

38:32where i can reach it and remember if you sink don't let my best dishes go down with the ship

38:38and they'd even ripped off ralph and norton i'm gonna pack a spear fishing don't point that thing

38:46at me it's loaded oops no use wasting the lunch so the flintstones clearly are a takeoff

39:00of the cramdens and jackie was was well aware of it but he didn't want to be the man that was

39:07going to sue the flintstones what else can happen yogi bear you ever see yogi bear he's got the hat

39:15with the front pushed up and he goes hey boo boo see what i mean boo boo

39:21that was a ripoff of uh ed norton

39:25i do think that many shows owe a debt of gratitude to the honeymooners i would say roseanne

39:34i remember her working in the plastic cutlery factory

39:38and from there king of queens with the play on the relationship between alice and ralph

39:45obviously kevin james and lee rummany are pretty close comparisons in that kevin

39:52was a very physical actor

40:02and played dumber you ate my cake was that yours than jackie gleason's character we should go on a diet

40:09together so i could take some of this off wait i feel bloated you know very disgusting right now

40:16and i just really feel if we went on a diet that's really do the trick and is there a reason you keep

40:25saying we yeah it's it's just like we but i almost find that there's more repetition of character

40:34between leah's character and audrey meadows all right all right this is stupid you don't need to

40:39lose weight you're fine the way you are no no no i'm doing this here let me give you some spaghetti

40:44no please would you just leave me alone but if you do any type of frustration where you begin

40:50to yell at your family and your life stop with a diet book that draws a direct parallel to the

40:57honeymooners and you take a look at archie bunker john goodman in roseanne homer simpson marge i never

41:06put my foot down about anything but i am severely tempted to do it over this marge i'm sorry a foot

41:15is spoken all of these characters have the same frustrations of ralph crampton it seems audiences

41:22related to the honeymooners very easily i think because there were a lot of people that lived

41:27like them and talked like them and dressed like them i mean they can relate to it

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