The Color Honeymooners - Collection 1 (1966)

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. July 4, 2008

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! May 10, 2008

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! March 14, 2007

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! December 24, 2006

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!


November 3, 2006

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