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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 ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Spectacular tribute!
This is of a tribute to Jackie Gleason more than anything else. Although much of the disc focuses on the the Honeymooners, and some rarely seen gems, you also get some insight into some of Mr. Gleason's other great characters.The Ralph Kramden character was simple, yet brilliant. Gleason incorporated much of his own self into the loud mouthed,but sensitive Ralph. After watching this, it feels like you've watched something very, very special, and it left me smiling for hours.

ANNOYING NARRATION
WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A FOUR-STAR PRODUCT WAS REGULARLY INTERRUPTED BY A NARRATOR WHO THOUGHT HE WAS A COMEDIAN. HE WASN'T. THE FUNNY STUFF SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT TO THE PROS WHO DIDN'T NEED ANY HELP.

Classic TV Nostalgia
These episodes are complete Classic works of art. They were new and inventive when they first came out. If you watch these episodes and try and compare them to the shows today they might seem 2 dimensional but, the opposite is the truth. When these shows came out they were controvertial and hilarious, as they are today. I happen to be a Gen x'er Iam 24 years old, and I love these episodes. It is sad that some mental patients out there have some problems with small details about this show like the phrase hmina but, thats their issue. In closing watch these episodes and keep that feeling of Nostalgia alive, These shows are what its all about. HAVING FUN. TO THE MOON !

The Very Best of the Honeymooners
It is a shame that the Generation X kids of today, truly
do not understand the genius of the Honeymooners, as the
reveiws before this one would indicate. This DVD is a
treasure to have, and the show will live on, revival after
revival. The quality is as expected, for the time made,
but still packs plenty of laughs, and some clips you may
never have seen before.

A Good Start For A Classic To Come To DVD
When I first got my DVD, I knew I just had to have this! I've been a fan of "The Honeymooners" for as long as I can remember (I'm currently 22) and I knew I would enjoy this DVD very much! And I really do. It's something that a fan of Jackie Gleason and "The Honeymooners" should have in their collection. My problem with the DVD lies in the fact that two of the programs on here, "Funniest Moments Vol. 1 and Vol. 2" have already been released on video, and infact are in my video collection. These are nice programs to see if you're interested in not just "Honeymooners" clips, but also clips of Reggie Van Gleason, Joe the Bartender, and other classic Jackie Gleason characters. The third program is one that I had not seen before, "The Wit and Wisdom of Ed Norton," which is a salute to our favorite sewer worker. Again, a very nice program with some pretty good clips. The final program is "Letter To The Boss," which is an entire "Honeymooners" skit from November 14, 1953. This is one of the first "long" skits featuring these characters, and while this is a nice one to feature, there probably are better skits to use. However, the quality is nice and clear (for a kinescope) but why just present the skit? Would it have hurt MPI to release the entire "Jackie Gleason Show" from that week with the June Taylor Dancers and Gleason's monologue included, as well as credits and commercials? That would have made this an automatic 5 stars! I think this is worth having, but like my title says, a good start to introducing a classic to the digital age.

Before I close, I would just like to mention that there are several "still lost" episodes in the vaults. These include the original "Honeymooners Trip To Europe" shows performed live in 1957, and the performed again in 1966 from Miami. These 1957 shows feature Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph (while the laters would have Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean) and these have not been seen since their original airing in 1957. If MPI wants to release a really great, valuable DVD set, then let's suggest releasing these lost gems! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

CAUTION: This is a repackaging of volumes 3 & 4
For those collecting the Honeymooners DVDs take note that this is just a re-packaging of individual Volumes 3 & 4 or the second half of the Boxed Set Collection #1.

You will only duplcate what you already have.

I give it 5 stars because the episodes are classic live TV mastered from the original kinescopes. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Jackie Gleason fans will get a bang-zoom out of this collection of three rarely seen (as opposed to "the classic 39," which true brother Raccoons can recite chapter and verse) Honeymooners episodes that aired in 1953 as part of The Jackie Gleason Show. "Letter to the Boss," "Suspense," and "Dinner Guest" were among the so-called "lost episodes" that had not been seen since their original broadcast until their discovery in Gleason's personal archives in the 1980s. While technically crude, they offer a funny and fascinating early glimpse at a classic sitcom and these beloved characters.Bus driver Ralph Kramden, Gleason's signature role, is even more of a volcanic blowhard than in the series. In one shocking, pre-PC moment in"Suspense," he bellows to Audrey Meadows's long-suffering but devoted Alice,"For the first time in our marriage, I'm going to beat you up." One longs for the tender romance of "One of these days, Alice, pow, right in the kisser."The misunderstanding, a time-honored sitcom plot device, fuels the two best episodes. In "Letter," Ralph thinks he has been fired from the bus company after nine years, and he writes a scathing missive to his boss ("You dirty bum").When he learns he's actually been promoted, he frantically tries to retrieve the letter. In "Suspense," he believes Alice is going to kill him after he overhears her rehearsing for a play. Art Carney's Ed Norton, one of the great TV buddies, shines in the otherwise routine "Dinner Guest" as he demonstrates how to mambo, while Ralph clumsily tries to curry favor with his boss. This DVD also contains a bonus compilation segment, "Ralph Kramden's Greatest Schemes." --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great concept, disappointingly executed
THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW was a very successful variety show in the 1950s, and its finest moments were occasional skits known as "The Honeymooners," relating the tragicomic misadventures of a frustrated blue-collar worker, Ralph Kramden, his wife Alice, and their similarly downscale neighbors, Ed and Trixie Norton. Having run these wildly popular skits for years, THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW was "officially" discontinued for one year in the late '50s so that "The Honeymooners" could be filmed as a sitcom. Most of us draw our memories of "The Honeymooners" from reruns of that short-lived (39-episode) sitcom.

THE HONEYMOONERS--THE LOST EPISODES is the first of a long DVD series collecting "Honeymooners" skits from THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW before "The Honeymooners" became a sitcom.

These "Honeymooners" skits are necessarily cruder than the later sitcom most of us know so well. They were produced for live television, so no scenes could be reshot if anything went wrong. They were just part of an hour-long show, so they lacked the sitcom's rehearsal time. And Jackie Gleason & co. were just discovering how to make "The Honeymooners" work best -- its best trademark conventions hadn't set in yet.

Moreover, unlike the later sitcom, these skits weren't filmed at all, because this was live television. Instead, they were recorded in a crude precursor of videotape.

So THE LOST EPISODES don't look nearly as good and aren't written or acted as well as "the classic 39" sitcom. But they're STILL brilliant, and offer much insight as to how the mature HONEYMOONERS came to be.

Unfortunately, the makers didn't put together this DVD well. They don't even bother to explain that these "episodes" are skits from live television, which would help viewers understand why they're so crude. The menu is confusing, there's little rhyme or reason to the sequencing, and only about half as many minutes of programming is included as a one-sided DVD will hold.

Nonetheless, true HONEYMOONERS fans will want to see this. Oh, didn't I mention?: THE HONEYMOONERS remains probably the best American sitcom EVER. And THE LOST EPISODES are inspired too -- even if they're only presented as scraps.

quality not quantity
I have all the dvd's released to date. I love them all. Laugh out loud funny. I am disappointed in the quality of the dvd. It's similar to an old 10mm reel.
True Honeymooner fan that i am, I must own them, there is still nothing funnier.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF MPI VIDEO MESSING UP A CLASSIC
I was anticipating MPI's first DVD release of the Honeymooners with much trepidation, having suffered through their completely botched releases of the lost episodes on VHS. And to no one's surprise, their first DVD release is just as bad.
Instead of taking the time and effort to do a quality box set of say, 20 hours of lost episodes, which is now the preferred way to release television series on DVD, a la the X-Files, MPI apparently is going to release these episodes in drips and drabs. The whole point of DVD is the ability to put 3 - 4 hours of material on one disc, not the 90 - 120 minutes that MPI is doing with these classic episodes. And what is the meaning of the so-called "Bonus Episode" on the disc?? Are we to believe that MPI is actually giving us something? The menus are completely confusing, and the video quality is no better than the VHS releases were.
It will also be interesting to see if they will repeat their horrible mistake of the VHS releases by putting the Baseball Manager episode on two different discs, as they did with the VHS releases, instead of releasing the alternate version of the same episode, which is what they claimed they did on the VHS.
Unfortunately, since MPI has exclusive rights to the Honeymooners, these problems will never be corrected. And MPI has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are to DVD what Goodtimes Video was to VHS.

Preserving The Classics
I have many of the Honeymooners episodes recorded from TV. It is great that I have them on DVD. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Unseen since their original broadcast in 1953 and 1955, these episodes from Jackie Gleason's own collection have all the ingredients that madeThe Honeymooners such a hit.

In "Songs and Witty Sayings" Ralph and Ed have their eyes on the $200 prize at a talent show. Unfortunately their mind-reading act can't hold a candle to Alice and Trixie's hula dance. "Norton Moves In" finds Ed and Trixie sleeping over at the Kramdens'. When the boys have to sleep on a cot in the kitchen, Ralph's short fuse starts to burn. The disc closes with "Income Tax," in which Ralph has to decide between the IRS and a new bowling ball.

The Honeymooners might be dated, but the razor-sharp script and perfect timing still feel fresh. The endless battle between Ralph and Alice crackles with energy, and Art Carney's laconic Ed Norton remains one of TV's greatest characters. This classic show can still give many modern sitcoms a run for their money. --Simon Leake ... Read more

Amazon.com

Unseen since their original broadcast in 1953 and 1955, these episodes from Jackie Gleason's own collection have all the ingredients that madeThe Honeymooners such a hit.

In "Songs and Witty Sayings" Ralph and Ed have their eyes on the $200 prize at a talent show. Unfortunately their mind-reading act can't hold a candle to Alice and Trixie's hula dance. "Norton Moves In" finds Ed and Trixie sleeping over at the Kramdens'. When the boys have to sleep on a cot in the kitchen, Ralph's short fuse starts to burn. The disc closes with "Income Tax," in which Ralph has to decide between the IRS and a new bowling ball.

The Honeymooners might be dated, but the razor-sharp script and perfect timing still feel fresh. The endless battle between Ralph and Alice crackles with energy, and Art Carney's laconic Ed Norton remains one of TV's greatest characters. This classic show can still give many modern sitcoms a run for their money. --Simon Leake ... Read more