From Amazon.com
A busload of material featuring Ralph Kramden, the hefty bus driver from Brooklyn immortalized by Jackie Gleason in
The Honeymooners, appears on this DVD, though the title is somewhat misleading. This production is more of a tribute to Gleason himself and his fellow performers, especially perennial sidekick Art Carney. A constant theme throughout is Gleason's remarkable ability to ad-lib when things went wrong on live television. Short clips of bloopers and improvisations involving characters such as the drunken playboy "Reginald Van Gleason" or the eternal sad sack "Poor Soul" appear frequently, along with monologue bits from Gleason's hour-long variety shows. In fact, the material featuring characters from
The Honeymooners that appears is taken from sketches performed as part of the variety show, and include such classic bits as Ralph and Alice Kramden preparing to be contestants on
Beat the Clock, Ralph trying to help his wife's sister to elope, and a full-length sketch in which Ralph thinks he's been fired and writes an ill-conceived letter to his boss. Art Carney takes a starring role in a bonus program entitled
The Wit and Wisdom of Ed Norton.
--Robert J. McNamara
Video Details
Jackie Gleason's ingenious portrayal of bus driver Ralph Kramden, his endearing wife Alice, and their wacky friends, Ed and Trixie Norton, first appeared as a sketch on the "Cavalcade of Stars (1951), then on "The Jackie Gleason Show (1952-1955), and finally as the first spin-off series in television history (1955-56). Rediscover the classic comedy through three side-splitting compilation programs ("The Honeymooners: Funniest Moments Volume 1 and 2" and "The Wit and Wisdom of Ed Norton") and the hilarious full-length episode "Letter to the Boss" which originally aired on 11/14/1953. Still funny after all these years!