The Color Honeymooners (The Jackie Gleason Show) - Collection 1 DVD Review

[TJ]

The Jackie Gleason show kicked off its 1966-1967 season by re-introducing "The Honeymooners." But it wasn't your typical "Honeymooners." The show was now in color and musical performances were added. Art Carney rejoined Jackie Gleason, but Sheila McRae took over as Alice and Jane Kean took over as Trixie. The Color Honeymooners Set 1 includes nine of the one hour "Jacking Gleason Show" re-mastered and unedited.

Read our review:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/thecolorhoneymoonerscollection1dvdreview.html

Post any questions or comments about this set.

[VIDEOWACK]

hmmmm, each episode runs 48-49 mins? That worries me. I would think an uncut episode (from that TV era, anyway) should be closer to 53-54 mins. Commercials were only 60 seconds each, and I believe there were 6 spots in each show.

[TeeVeeCloset]

I'm afraid the real mooners fans were hoping for a much more complete and extensive review regarding the length and content of these episodes....do they have the original "miami beach" opens or the newly created generic "color honeymooners" openings?, are the complete june taylor song and dance numbers included? Are Jackie's closing monologues complete? This is the stuff we want to hear!

[VIDEOWACK]

I'm afraid the real mooners fans were hoping for a much more complete and extensive review regarding the length and content of these episodes....do they have the original "miami beach" opens or the newly created generic "color honeymooners" openings?, are the complete june taylor song and dance numbers included? Are Jackie's closing monologues complete? This is the stuff we want to hear!

Exactly! According to what was mentioned in that post and in the TVShowsonDVD.com announcement (link enclosed here) they are supposed to be unedited. But that 48-49 minute running time has me concerned. If these turn out to be nothing more than the exact copies that were produced for Goodlife, there will be alot of unhappy campers......including myself!

http://tvshowsondvd.com/releaseinfo.cfm?ReleaseID=5799

[W.B.]

hmmmm, each episode runs 48-49 mins? That worries me. I would think an uncut episode (from that TV era, anyway) should be closer to 53-54 mins. Commercials were only 60 seconds each, and I believe there were 6 spots in each show.
Actually . . . sans the two-minute commercials in-between one program and the next, make that 58 minutes in an hour, then subtract another two minutes for local commercial breaks in-between the show, that's 56 minutes . . . take off six additional spots, you then have 50 minutes. Theoretically.

If these shows are "intact," I suppose they'd take off the bumpers of Glea Girls indicating "Stay tuned for the second half of The Jackie Gleason Show . . ." and "Welcome back to the second half(?) of The Jackie Gleason Show." That probably accounts for 30 seconds tops - total. And then there are, up to the 1967-1968 season, plugs for the sponsors at the start and the end of each show. So that all might explain the "48-49 minute" estimate mentioned.

[VIDEOWACK]

Well, we'll find out 2 weeks from tomorrow

:wave:

[Pavan]

The reviewer will be answering questions here shortly. Thanks for the comments and interest.

[T-Greg]

Now we know what Gleason Express featurette is included as the bonus (Gee... a full 9 minutes' worth...isn't that just super). If Gleason was alive today, I'm sure he would not allow such a stingy release.

Special Features:

* The Great Gleason Express (approx. 9 minutes)

A fantastic bonus feature! It details Jackie Gleason deciding to move his show to Miami Beach, Florida, and how he rented a train - yes, a train - to transport himself, the cast and crew to Miami Beach. It includes still photographs as well as video of the trip. It's an awesome feature and I'm so glad it was included!

[TVJunkie101]

Sorry, folks. I'm not a mind reader and didn't really think to include a lot of that stuff you are asking about, because, frankly, I wasn't alive when the show was originally on.

I didn't see the original Color Honeymooners, but the main title is "The Jackie Gleason Show" and it has four girls introducing the cast (the orchestra, etc.). The dance numbers appear complete and there is a brief monolgue by Jackie at the end of most episodes.

And yes, each episode runs between 46 and 49 minutes in length. I can go through each episode and list the run-times if you're all interested.

I apologize for the shortness in the set, but frankly, it was difficult to find out what to talk about for a 9-episode 3-disc set. I wasn't aware of all of the fans concerns... I try my best.

[TVJunkie101]

[quote]I'm afraid the real mooners fans were hoping for a much more complete and extensive review regarding the length and content of these episodes....do they have the original "miami beach" opens or the newly created generic "color honeymooners" openings?, are the complete june taylor song and dance numbers included? Are Jackie's closing monologues complete? This is the stuff we want to hear![quote]

And again, I apologize for the shortness, but frankly, I didn't even think to include some of the stuff :( ... Like I said, I wasn't around for the original Honeymooners. But yes, I believe all of what you asked for is intact. I'm not sure about Jackie's monologues, they appear quite short, he comes out, says a few words, introduces the cast for the episode and that's it. I'm guessing they are complete but I can't say for sure.

[VIDEOWACK]

Sorry, folks. I'm not a mind reader and didn't really think to include a lot of that stuff you are asking about, because, frankly, I wasn't alive when the show was originally on.

I didn't see the original Color Honeymooners, but the main title is "The Jackie Gleason Show" and it has four girls introducing the cast (the orchestra, etc.). The dance numbers appear complete and there is a brief monolgue by Jackie at the end of most episodes.

And yes, each episode runs between 46 and 49 minutes in length. I can go through each episode and list the run-times if you're all interested.

I apologize for the shortness in the set, but frankly, it was difficult to find out what to talk about for a 9-episode 3-disc set. I wasn't aware of all of the fans concerns... I try my best.

OK, here's a direct question that (if answered yes) will sort of calm our fears of cut episodes: Do these shows have the Glea Girls at the beginning announcing who the stars are in each particular episode? If they do, then we can assume (although, that's a dangerous word) that these are the original versions.

[three 14]

the only way i will buy the dvd is if they are uncut because i have the color honymooners that they have on the goodlife channel.

[TVJunkie101]

OK, here's a direct question that (if answered yes) will sort of calm our fears of cut episodes: Do these shows have the Glea Girls at the beginning announcing who the stars are in each particular episode? If they do, then we can assume (although, that's a dangerous word) that these are the original versions.

I answered this already, but yes.

[VIDEOWACK]

I answered this already, but yes.

Yes, you did and I noticed that after I typed my question. I attempted to delete it, but I guess this site has flaws in it as do other sites. Thanks for the response.

[VIDEOWACK]

If these shows are "intact," I suppose they'd take off the bumpers of Glea Girls indicating "Stay tuned for the second half of The Jackie Gleason Show . . ." and "Welcome back to the second half(?) of The Jackie Gleason Show." That probably accounts for 30 seconds tops - total. And then there are, up to the 1967-1968 season, plugs for the sponsors at the start and the end of each show. So that all might explain the "48-49 minute" estimate mentioned.

Yes, and those mid-show bumpers were quite lengthy as I now recall. Later on they would shorten them, but in the early stages of that new format the camera would slowly zoom in on a Glea Girl who would say what she had to, then the camera would slowly zoom back to a full shot. The same would happen after station I.D. Put that time together and you could easily be talking of a minute, which is alot of air time. I think they later realized they were using up too much time and the zooms were eliminated...made it much shorter.

[W.B.]

Another thing I noticed about much of the "Trip to Europe" shows is that they had 1968 copyright dates, rather than 1966; I.I.N.M., this dated from the early 1968 repeats of these shows, and they remained in the episodes in question forever after. One factor besides the year as to whether the end credits were futzed around with or whether they were original (1966) is this: Under which name was one of the main Glea Girls credited? The Glea Girl in question, known at the time of original airing as Greta Randall, became known as Greta von Hagge after 1967, and the shows with 1968 copyright dates credit her in the end credits under the later name. I.I.N.M., she was the tall, dark-haired one who, on the variety shows, handed Gleason his "coffee" cup of "boo-o-oze." I also recall she was probably on the show from American Scene Magazine days in 1962, and the only one to remain at the time of the 1970 cancellation. I noticed at the time Gleason "went color" in 1966, there were five Glea Girls, her included; after the 1968-69 season, they were whittled down to two, with one of them replaced in the final season (Lanita Kent departed, and was replaced by Jackie Lynn Bowen).

[TVJunkie101]

As you guy's have assumed, there AREN'T any mid-show bumpers.

As for the Glea Girl, her name in the credits is Greta Von Hagge AND Greta Randall.

I also rewatched one of the episodes and from what I personally can tell, Jackie's end-of-the-show monologues are in-tact. I'll have some video captures up in a few minutes.

[TVJunkie101]

Menu
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/menu.png

Opening Credits
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/miamibeach.pnghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/jackiegleasonshow.png

The Glea Girls
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleagirl1.pnghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleagirl2.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleagirl3.pnghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleagirl4.png

A Dance Number
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/dancenumber.png

A Gleason Monologue
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleason.png

The End Credits ... Randall or Von Hagge?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gretavonhagge.pnghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gretarandall.png

[TeeVeeCloset]

Wow.....simply wonderful......us hard core mooners fans can now relax and look forward to the june 27 release date......looks like everything was done right!

[W.B.]

Of those Glea Girls, which of them was Judy Jordan? (I know she later appeared on The Beverly Hillbillies, most notably as "Patricia Switzer.") And would any of you know what the other two credited Glea Girls, Elaine Richards and Pat Sandy, looked like?

And as to those end credits, evidently the one crediting Greta Randall was a 1966 original, while the one listing Greta von Hagge was copyrighted 1968.

* EDIT: I spotted a website about Ms. Jordan. Apparently, IMDb's entry on her has some wrong info, claiming she'd died in 2001. Based on this link, she's been married nearly 36 years (to date) to former Elvis "Memphis Mafioso" Sonny West. Click here (http://www.polarblairsden.com/beautiesjudyjordan.html) to see. *

[TV Knowledge Fan]

....DIDN'T see the CBS Color logo before the show's opening {"CBS presents this program in COLOR!!"}, either. That bumper was shown before EVERY CBS program between the fall of 1965 and the summer of 1970. I don't believe it was on Gleason's master tapes. Oddly enough, they were included in the black & white kinescope film copies the network used, to send their videotaped series to local stations that had no videotape units at the time. And those were also retained for legal purposes for a while, then discarded...or fell into the hands of a network employee or collector!

[W.B.]

....DIDN'T see the CBS Color logo before the show's opening {"CBS presents this program in COLOR!!"}, either. That bumper was shown before EVERY CBS program between the fall of 1965 and the summer of 1970. I don't believe it was on Gleason's master tapes. Oddly enough, they were included in the black & white kinescope film copies the network used, to send their videotaped series to local stations that had no videotape units at the time. And those were also retained for legal purposes for a while, then discarded...or fell into the hands of a network employee or collector!
Though the visual and music were the same, the announcer differed depending on the season. When this color bumper was first introduced in 1965, Hal Simms was the announcer; but by the time the 1966-67 season rolled around, Bob Hite (better known as announcer for the CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite in the 1970's) took that job over. Some shows alternated between the Simms- and Hite-announced bumper.

[C Ingram]

I am delighted to hear that these shows feature the original "Jackie Gleason Show" opening credits with the Glea-Girls, and also (apparently) the uncut June Taylor Dancers routines.

And I have finally found this board, now that the one at honeymooners.net seems to be good and dead. Hello, (b)all! :)

[VIDEOWACK]

And I have finally found this board, now that the one at honeymooners.net seems to be good and dead. Hello, (b)all! :)

We're better off here. Since you have to register to use this board there's a lesser chance that spammers can/will come in here. I'm not saying you'll never see any, but it won't be like the other board.

:wave:

[T-Greg]

I am delighted to hear that these shows feature the original "Jackie Gleason Show" opening credits with the Glea-Girls, and also (apparently) the uncut June Taylor Dancers routines.

And I have finally found this board, now that the one at honeymooners.net seems to be good and dead. Hello, (b)all! :)


Hi Clark. I was wondering why it was taking people from the old board so long to get here. Welcome back. I know of at least 4 or 5 of us that post here now.

[three 14]

i never knew about this board till someone told me about i enjoy it very much i like the trade board it's great.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...the "CBS Color" bumper with Hite's voice-over is the one I remember the most. Yet, I still believe it ISN'T on Gleason's video copies of his shows now "relaxing" in that Florida vault...I could be wrong. I KNOW they aren't on that DVD package...with the sponsor i.d.'s and the Olsen transitions in the middle omitted as well. This I'm sure of....Jackie's original tapes DO have the commericals that aired with each show!

Bob Hite, eh? And today, Wendell "Windy" Craig is the announcer on "THE CBS EVENING NEWS"--has been for over 10 years now.
{this bit of information is for those of you who didn't know this!}

:tv:

[W.B.]

. . . also I.I.N.M., in that display of the Glea Girls, Lanita Kent would've been the one at top left, she was with the show until 1969.

[TeeVeeCloset]

Just one correction to the sitcoms online review of the color honeymooners, under final comments the reviewer writes that no where on the set are the episodes and airdates listed for each disc....that is incorrect, complete episode titles and airdates for each disc can be found on the inside front cover underneath the 2005 (yes 2005) MPI catalog. Happy viewing everyone!

[VIDEOWACK]

Another thing I noticed about much of the "Trip to Europe" shows is that they had 1968 copyright dates, rather than 1966; I.I.N.M., this dated from the early 1968 repeats of these shows, and they remained in the episodes in question forever after. One factor besides the year as to whether the end credits were futzed around with or whether they were original (1966) is this: Under which name was one of the main Glea Girls credited? The Glea Girl in question, known at the time of original airing as Greta Randall, became known as Greta von Hagge after 1967, and the shows with 1968 copyright dates credit her in the end credits under the later name. I.I.N.M., she was the tall, dark-haired one who, on the variety shows, handed Gleason his "coffee" cup of "boo-o-oze." I also recall she was probably on the show from American Scene Magazine days in 1962, and the only one to remain at the time of the 1970 cancellation. I noticed at the time Gleason "went color" in 1966, there were five Glea Girls, her included; after the 1968-69 season, they were whittled down to two, with one of them replaced in the final season (Lanita Kent departed, and was replaced by Jackie Lynn Bowen).

Well, I have just scanned thru the "Color Honeymooners" DVD's and I noted the following:

All episodes with the exception of "Poor People Of Paris" and "We Spy", have copyright dates of 1968. The 2 mentioned are 1966. The use of the 1968 tapes may or may not account for the following:

"In 25 Words Or Less": Gleason's curtain call is missing his thanking of the audience and stating what a pleasure it is to start their 3rd season in Miami Beach. The cut is noticeable. This also explains Johnny Olsen's voice-over during the credits, "Tune in next week for The Honeymooners". The 2nd show in 1966 was not a Honeymooners, but a book musical titled "The Passing Politician".

"Ship Of Fools": Entire curtain call is missing. Final scene fades out and fade in to credits. This is how it was when syndicated in 1977 and again later on Goodlife.

"Confusion, Italian Style": Opening production number is cut by 1 minute. It's a very clever edit and most viewers would not pick it up. I wouldn't have either except that I have a kinescope of this same show and uncut the number runs 2:30, here it runs 1:30. Again, the same recording used in 1977 and on Goodlife.

"You're In The Picture" and "Petticoat Jungle": On both, Jackie's curtain call is faded into in progress, his entrance thru the curtain and any brief remarks ("How Sweet It Is", etc.) clipped. These too, were how they were seen in 1977 and on Goodlife.

I am assuming that once the original 1966 tapes were edited for re-broadcast in 1968, they were trimmed at that point for time, or some other reason and that unless you view a kinescope of the original 1966 tapes, it's possible that any color tape of what was clipped out may be gone forever.

Overall, a good job was done by MPI. Video quality is quite good and the audio for the most part is crisp and remastered well. Oh, one other thing MPI did in "Poor People Of Paris": watch the scene where they are singing "We're gonna buy, buy, buy, we'll buy out Paree"....when Gleason sings the line "Alice if you're able, buy alot of sable, you'll need a different coat for every night in the week". The original tape had a video glitch just when he starts the line and the picture broke up considerably. MPI edited that out by cutting back to the full shot of the 4 of them singing a previous line while naturally keeping Ralph's line intact over the edit. You can see that when they cut JG's obviously singing something else, until they cut back to close-up. That was done very well and I'm glad MPI got rid of that glitch.

[Bill S.]

Seems like they put a lot of time into this release as opposed to just throwing some episodes on a DVD. I wonder if they'll do the same with the Lost Episodes, when it comes to editing glitches and things of that nature. For example, in "One Big Happy Family," when there's that big white line running down the right side of the screen, it'd be interesting to see how they'd go about touching that up.

[W.B.]

Which reminds me: I can see what else would be edited out of the episodes on MPI's Color Honeymooners collection - brief video clips of the coming week's shows, whatever they were. Those probably were a minute or thereabouts.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

....those "Trip To Europe" episodes were repeated (in sequence) in the spring of 1968, just before the show went off for the summer {"THE PRISONER" was Jackie's summer replacement, instead of the Dom DeLuise summer show Gleason produced in Miami, which became Jonathan Winters' replacement on Wednesdays that summer}. And they're probably the rebroadcast videotapes that WERE in Jackie's air-conditioned vault. The fade-outs during Gleason's closing remarks tells me that OTHER shows (including the 'book' show "The Passing Politician") were scheduled for "next week", as the "Trip To Europe" episodes were NOT presented every week---and you certainly would NOT have heard Jackie discussing the beginning of the "3rd season in Miami Beach"
in a 1968 repeat! Or what Gleason alerted you as to "next week's show" during the end of "Ship Of Fools" as well...

I do remember seeing the original 1955 edition of "One Big Happy Family" in the syndicated VIACOM "Honeymooners" package, 'Bill S", and they got around that white line "scratch" on the kinnie by simply "blowing up" the picture so that you COULDN'T see it....and almost half of the action on the right side of the original frame disappeared as well!


:tv:

[VIDEOWACK]

Which reminds me: I can see what else would be edited out of the episodes on MPI's Color Honeymooners collection - brief video clips of the coming week's shows, whatever they were. Those probably were a minute or thereabouts.

Very true....those seconds here and there add up very fast.

[VIDEOWACK]

Seems like they put a lot of time into this release as opposed to just throwing some episodes on a DVD. I wonder if they'll do the same with the Lost Episodes, when it comes to editing glitches and things of that nature. For example, in "One Big Happy Family," when there's that big white line running down the right side of the screen, it'd be interesting to see how they'd go about touching that up.

Yes, that line appears quite prominently on and off during that episode. It would be nice if MPI can digitally eliminate it altogether instead of "cropping" or "enlarging" the scenes where it shows, as was done for commercial syndication. I guess it all depends on MPI's technical resources, and I would imagine cost would play into it too.

[Bill S.]

I do remember seeing the original 1955 edition of "One Big Happy Family" in the syndicated VIACOM "Honeymooners" package, 'Bill S", and they got around that white line "scratch" on the kinnie by simply "blowing up" the picture so that you COULDN'T see it....and almost half of the action on the right side of the original frame disappeared as well!
Wow, I didn't know they actually attempted to fix that before. It must've looked pretty odd when the picture just suddenly got bigger out of nowhere. I'll have to watch that episode again to refresh my memory of what was happening on the right side while the white line was visible. As far as I can remember, that line was pretty close to the right side of the screen, so it couldn't have cut off too much important footage. Then again, the line did kinda develop a mind of it's own at one point, as if it couldn't decide how much space it wanted to take up. :lol:

Yes, that line appears quite prominently on and off during that episode. It would be nice if MPI can digitally eliminate it altogether instead of "cropping" or "enlarging" the scenes where it shows, as was done for commercial syndication. I guess it all depends on MPI's technical resources, and I would imagine cost would play into it too.
I don't know how possible it is to just "eliminate" that sort of thing but who knows these days. There are scenes where the white line doesn't appear, so they could always use stills of those scenes, find the particular areas that the white line is in the way of in the other scenes, and just paste that over the line. I don't know if that's what you meant by "cropping" but I think that'd be a little better than just enlarging the picture. Maybe it's things like this that are making the Lost Episodes re-release such a "long and painstaking" process.

[VIDEOWACK]

There are scenes where the white line doesn't appear, so they could always use stills of those scenes, find the particular areas that the white line is in the way of in the other scenes, and just paste that over the line. I don't know if that's what you meant by "cropping" but I think that'd be a little better than just enlarging the picture. Maybe it's things like this that are making the Lost Episodes re-release such a "long and painstaking" process.

Oh yes, "painting" over a video glitch can be done, but they'd have to match the background of the scene taking place. It's a very involved process and I'm not sure if it would be worth the cost involved when translated to overall sales. Oh, and by "cropping" I meant something along the lines of "pan and scanning" like they do when releasing non-widescreen versions of widescreen films.

[W.B.]

I noticed quite a few of the episodes had the same opening sequence, with the same Glea Girls dressed the same way. Based on seeing those - and the few exceptions - I could glean the following:
- The "Starring Jackie Gleason . . . " etc., was alternated apparently between Greta Randall / von Hagge and Lanita Kent;
- Two of the Glea Girls (I'm not sure which one was Elaine Richards and which was Pat Sandy; if any of you out there know, I'd much appreciate it) did the next two intros, "with Sheila MacRae . . . " etc. and "The June Taylor Dancers . . . " et al.
- Again divided between Greta and Lanita, when one did the "Starring Jackie Gleason . . . ", the other (cut out of the shows as on this set) had the "Brought to you by ___________" (co-sponsor[s]).
- And based on what I've read and seen on the web, it was Judy Jordan who spake, "And away we go!" (She had the same dark colored hair as Greta, albeit shorter; plus her subsequent appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies.)
- That, plus the colored marble backgrounds being red, magenta, violet-purple, blue and green.

And I don't have access to vidcap equipment at the moment, but I hope to add Greta's pic to the itinerary one of these days . . . one of these days . . . ;)

[VIDEOWACK]

I noticed quite a few of the episodes had the same opening sequence, with the same Glea Girls dressed the same way. Based on seeing those - and the few exceptions - I could glean the following:
- The "Starring Jackie Gleason . . . " etc., was alternated apparently between Greta Randall / von Hagge and Lanita Kent;
- Two of the Glea Girls (I'm not sure which one was Elaine Richards and which was Pat Sandy; if any of you out there know, I'd much appreciate it) did the next two intros, "with Sheila MacRae . . . " etc. and "The June Taylor Dancers . . . " et al.
- Again divided between Greta and Lanita, when one did the "Starring Jackie Gleason . . . ", the other (cut out of the shows as on this set) had the "Brought to you by ___________" (co-sponsor[s]).
- And based on what I've read and seen on the web, it was Judy Jordan who spake, "And away we go!" (She had the same dark colored hair as Greta, albeit shorter; plus her subsequent appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies.)
- That, plus the colored marble backgrounds being red, magenta, violet-purple, blue and green.

Yes, the opening sequences on several are identical.....obviously re-recorded for the re-broadcasts (repeats) of these shows. I have a kinescope of "Ship Of Fools" and the Glea Girls at the beginning are different.....that is, they are in a different order and style of dress. A much slower opening sequence was used in 1966. They sped it up for re-broadcasts and later for the 1977 syndication.

[C Ingram]

Oh yes, "painting" over a video glitch can be done, but they'd have to match the background of the scene taking place. It's a very involved process and I'm not sure if it would be worth the cost involved when translated to overall sales. Oh, and by "cropping" I meant something along the lines of "pan and scanning" like they do when releasing non-widescreen versions of widescreen films.

I seem to recall that, in one of the two "found" episodes that aired on a CBS special some years ago (the titles of the two episodes escape me), they digitally "blurred" a white scratch line down the left hand side of the screen that would have been a lot more annoying if they hadn't.

[Bill S.]

I seem to recall that, in one of the two "found" episodes that aired on a CBS special some years ago (the titles of the two episodes escape me), they digitally "blurred" a white scratch line down the left hand side of the screen that would have been a lot more annoying if they hadn't.
Hmm...I'm pretty curious about what episodes you're referring to. Do you remember what either of them were about or what special they were aired on?

[C Ingram]

I think it was the 1990 special where CBS aired "Lost Baby" and "Quiz Show." I'd have to check my original videotape to be sure (and don't ask me where THAT is).

[VIDEOWACK]

- Two of the Glea Girls (I'm not sure which one was Elaine Richards and which was Pat Sandy; if any of you out there know, I'd much appreciate it) did the next two intros, "with Sheila MacRae . . . " etc. and "The June Taylor Dancers . . . " et al.

Not sure who was who, but after browsing the internet and IMDB I learned that Elaine Richards died on 6/26/84 in Florida at the very young age of 41. The cause of her death was not listed.

[C Ingram]

I got my DVD set last week and finally got around to watching it last night.

It's nice to see the "Jackie Gleason Show" openings, the Glea-Girls, the "fade to blue" video effects, and the musical numbers Good Life/American Life had cut out. (I had always suspected that the "Gaylord Farquhar Show" musical number and Louis Nye's monologue had been edited, and sure enough, they were.)

The picture looks as good as I expect from the old 2" VTRs of those days; it's better than my copies from Good Life/American Life. The sound is crisp and clear.

A little pricey, but I'm happy with my purchase.

[W.B.]

The Glea Girls
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleagirl1.pnghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleagirl2.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleagirl3.pnghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/kryptonman429/gleagirl4.png

And for those interested, here's a screencap of Greta Randall (a.k.a. Greta von Hagge):

[FosseGal]

Not sure who was who, but after browsing the internet and IMDB I learned that Elaine Richards died on 6/26/84 in Florida at the very young age of 41. The cause of her death was not listed.
Elaine Richards was my best friend. She died of breast cancer after fighting it for 11 years. She is the one pictured in the bottom left of the Glea girl display. Pat Sandy is pictured in the top right. I met Pat once when she came to visit Elaine. Elaine was an accomplished dancer and post Gleason we spent many years in the ballroom business together and many a night on the town dancing. She was Miss Indiana and 2nd runner up in Miss USA. In fact, that is where the Gleason people first saw her and summond her to audition for the show when it moved to Miami.

Now I have a question. I have since heard of another Glea Girl that I can find no record of. Apparently she joined the show at age 17 and currently goes by the name of Kim St. Leon. Perhaps she went by another name while on the show?

[W.B.]

Elaine Richards was my best friend. She died of breast cancer after fighting it for 11 years. She is the one pictured in the bottom left of the Glea girl display. Pat Sandy is pictured in the top right. I met Pat once when she came to visit Elaine. Elaine was an accomplished dancer and post Gleason we spent many years in the ballroom business together and many a night on the town dancing. She was Miss Indiana and 2nd runner up in Miss USA. In fact, that is where the Gleason people first saw her and summond her to audition for the show when it moved to Miami.

Now I have a question. I have since heard of another Glea Girl that I can find no record of. Apparently she joined the show at age 17 and currently goes by the name of Kim St. Leon. Perhaps she went by another name while on the show?
Perhaps. In the final (1969-70) season of The Jackie Gleason Show, there were only two Glea Girls: Greta von Hagge and Jackie Lynn Bowen. (Whom I hope to put up a pic one of these days . . . one of these days . . . ;) - from what I could tell, this new Glea Girl was a redhead. I'll have to compare screen shots of this final-season Glea Girl to recent pics of Ms. St. Leon to see.) Apparently, Lanita Kent left after the 1968-69 season ended.

Unless the Gleason show this lady did was his 1973 television special.

And thanks for advising of who was who in those pics. Most appreciated.