Frank Gannucci
06-09-2017, 07:49 AM
Honeymooners Episode Reviews: "Honeymooners XMas Party" ('53) & "New Year's Eve Party":
Episode #66
TV: Attached to “Santa & The Bookies” (’53 version) This episode was part of the TV version of “Seasons Greetings From The Honeymooners” that is different than the home video version.
VCR: Attached to "Forgot To Register."
DVD: Attached to "Forgot To Register" & "Income Tax." On the Lost Episodes DVD Box Set it is attached to “Finger Man”, “Honeymooners Xmas Party” (’53 version), “New Year’s Eve Party”, “This Is Your Life” & “Cottage For Sale.”
Air Date: 12/19/53
I will also point out that when this episode was released on VHS, MPI decided to put most of the video package in red. For the video that has "New Year's Eve Party", they put that video package in green. I guess they did that since that they are holiday episodes, the might as will decorate the packages with holiday colors. I like that. They didn't do the same thing with the DVDs though.
I find it strange that there were two Christmas specials done in the same year.
The episode opens up with Alice decorating the Christmas tree. Ralph comes home with potato salad from DeVitos. She says that he should get it from Krauss'. Ralph explains that at DeVitos that Reginald Van Gleason as running a party and that a lot of people are there including people who came from Connecticut. Ralph, disgustedly, leaves to get potato salad from Krauss'.
Trixie comes in and she reveals that Ed gave her an orange juice squeezer. You squeeze the oranges on top of Napoleon’s head and the juice squirts out of his ears. Same gift that he would give her in "'Twas The Night Before Christmas." A guy knocks on the door and Trixie answers it and within a second she knows his name: Fenwick Babbit. Either Trixie saw him before or he gave her his name very softly and quickly. Fenwick is played by Jackie Gleason. After pacing his beer barrel in the apartment, he begins to cut the ice. He hits his finger and yells in Ralph Kramden fashion. Now I wonder why Alice and Trixie don't come up with the thought that Ralph and he look alike. When Trixie goes upstairs to get something for Fenwick, Fenwick asks: "Does she live nearby?" The crowd laughs. When Trixie comes back, Fenwick realizes that he is in the wrong apartment and leaves. But not before he says to Alice: "You are a nice lady."
Ed comes in and says that he has come with, Frances Langford. The crowd applauds for the guest star. She sings "Great Day" and "I Love Paris" for Alice, Ed, and Trixie, and dances with Ed. Joe The Bartender comes in (also played by Gleason). Of course after hearing Joe speak, Alice, Ed and Trixie don't come up with the thought that he and Ralph look alike. Joe The Bartender reveals something that just happened a few minutes ago at Krauss'. This poor soul comes in and takes the last bit of steak and gives it to a kitten that he bought in from the cold. Fatso Fogarty sees this and becomes mad. He sets up a nasty practical joke in which he tells him he had "won" a diamond and then handed him a cheap rhinestone. What made the hoax particularly pathetic was that the poor soul, totally taken in, cherished his prize. Alice, moved by the tale, tells Joe to send the poor soul up, and she'll give him a real present. Joe & Frances leave.
The poor soul comes up (played by Jackie Gleason in pantomime) comes up and Alice gives him a real present. Once again, Alice and Trixie don't even think that he and Ralph look alike. He gives her the "diamond" and leaves. Trix: “Now that Ed is gone, let’s relax.”
Trixie says that they are showing some Christmas Specials on TV, so she asks Alice if they can watch it on Alice's TV (which probably looks terrible). Alice says that the TV is on the brink. Gee, in "TV or Not TV", Alice says that the Kramdens never got a TV. Also, it was mentioned in the intro to “TV Game of The Week”, that the Kramdens never owned a TV before. Rudy the Repairman comes by to fix it. Rudy is played by Jackie Gleason and once again by looking and hearing Rudy speak, Alice and Trixie don't think that Ralph and he look alike. Alice explains all the trouble she is having with some of the channels. Some of the channels that I think she talks about: 4, 5, 7, 11, and 13. Now, since I used to live in North Jersey and about an hour away from New York, I can tell you that those channels in real life do exist. And do you know what? The channel 11 that Alice is talking about would start to carry reruns of the Honeymooners four years later and has carried them for the better part of 50 years. Rudy, after hearing Alice's strange problems, brings in Whitey. Whitey talks to Ralph in language that is not real English. But Rudy understands him anyway. Great comedy. Rudy makes a pass at Alice and Trixie & sees the set destroyed. He said that a pair of shorts caused the problem and he and Whitey depart with the shorts. Alice tells Trixie that it doesn't really matter, since she just had the set on trial.
Ed Norton comes in with little Eddie Hodges who is going to sing at Krauss'. "He is not going to drink", says Ed. Eddie had to be a kid. Ed sings: "Welcome My Baby Back Home." It's interesting that Jackie allowed this kid to sing on his show when you think about the fact that he didn't want kids to appear on his show because he thought that kids may not be able to act on cue. Both Eds leave. Alice says that Ed is always looking to help someone. Trixie says that after a wedding he drove a couple of family members home. The only problem was that it was their wedding. Oh boy!
Ed comes back in and Reginald Van Gleason comes in (played by Jackie Gleason). He brings in gifts for Ed, Trixie, and Alice. He also brings in his band and June Taylor Dancers, with Alice's permission. The band plays a song VERY loudly and Gleason dances with the dancers. Try doing what Reggie is doing in an ordinary apartment at night in real life and you will probably get a TON of complaints (and maybe get kicked out too.) Anyway, at one point Reggie dances too far to the left and you can see the stage curtain. Another thing that wasn't in the script. Once again, Alice, Ed and Trixie don't come up with the conclusion that Reggie and Ralph look and probably sound alike (maybe except for Reggie's mustache). Reggie and his whole entourage leave. Ed: "Reggie is okay in my book." Ed says that in Reggie's limo, he watches wrestling. Not on TV, he watches wrestlers wrestling each other in the limo in a pro wrestling match. Oh God! Trixie is afraid to leave because another star may drop by. Alice says that she wonders where Ralph is. Ed says to Trixie that he will give her what every woman wants on her hand, that being rubber gloves. Ha!
Ed and Trixie leave. Ralph comes by with a policeman. Alice explains the whole situation to the policeman and leaves. Ralph reveals what happened. After he returned the original potato salad, he had to walk two LONG blocks to Krauss only to find out that Krauss was asleep. He kicked so hard on his door that he knocked out the window and got in trouble with the police. Anyway, Alice and Ralph exchange gifts. Ralph opens his gift first and finds out that Alice gave him rubber-lined gloves. Alice gets an orange juice squeezer from Ralph. The same gift that Ralph will giver again in "'Twas The Night Before Christmas." Ralph says that after 14 years of marriage, every Christmas gets better and better. 24 years later in an ABC Special, Ralph and Alice say that they are celebrating 25 years of marriage (the writers thought that that would be appropriate since that show marked the 25th anniversary of the show.) The hug and kiss.
I lot of people probably don't like this episode since it's a great departure from traditional episodes. I liked it because it's a great X-Mas episode and it offers a change of pace. Jackie Gleason must have had to do some quick costume changes in this episode since this episode (like all the other ones in the 50's) were done live.
Episode #67
VCR: Attached to "Two-Family Car." On the Readers Digest VHS tapes, it is attached to “Letter To The Boss” (’53), “Norton Moves In” & “Pickles”
DVD: Attached to "Champagne and Caviar", "Finger Man", "Two-Family Car" & "My Man Norton." On the Restored Lost Episodes DVD Box Set, it is attached to "Game Called On Account of Marriage", "Brother-in-Law" & "Peacemaker." On the Lost Episodes DVD Box Set it is attached to “Finger Man”, “Honeymooners Xmas Party” (’53 version), “This Is Your Life”, “Santa & The Bookies” (’53 version) & “Cottage For Sale.”
Air Date: 12/26/53
I do remember in the 1997 or so, searching through an on line TV guide and finding out that WPIX was going to air this episode right before Christmas 1997 in two parts. I would understand it if WPIX didn't air it considering that the last part of this episode is nothing but musical numbers and they cost $$$ to get the rights to air them.
I will also point out that when this episode was released on VHS, MPI decided to put most of the video package in red. For the video that has "New Year's Eve Party", they put that video package in green. I guess they did that since that they are holiday episodes, the might as well decorate the packages with holiday colors. I like that. They didn't do the same thing with the DVDs though.
Alice is home after exchanging Christmas gifts. Trixie comes by and she doesn't know what gift she exchanged that she got from Ed. It was wrapped in a newspaper. Alice explains to Trixie that she found a briefcase filled with music and the music is the Dorsey brothers. She explains that last year Ralph supposedly brought those brothers back together after their sibling rivalry. She called the Hotel Statler (where the brothers were playing) and they were told that one of their managers or somebody was going to come by to pick it up.
Trixie then tells Alice that they haven't made any New Year's Eve plans. Trixie: "What did you wear for New Year's last year?" Alice: "Slacks. We painted the kitchen." Gee, that's a GREAT way to spend New Year's Eve. Ralph and Ed come home and Ralph says that he doesn't know how long he can go on driving a bus. Ralph: "I think I will quit my job and write a book." Oh boy! Ralph tells a story on how a man came on board the bus and just revealed that he just became a father so he handed out cigars to every passenger. He said to one guy, can't you see the "No smoking" sign. He says with all the smoke, who can see the sign. Ha! Alice and Trixie go upstairs and Ralph immediately thinks they are starting with that New Year's Eve business. Ralph complains that wasting one week's pay on one night's entertainment. Ralph: "One year, she insisted on only the best. The most expensive nightclubs, riding all night in a taxicab." Ed: "How much did it cost you?" Ralph: "I don't know. I didn't take her." What a great husband, huh? Ralph and Ed will think of a plan to aggravate the wives so much that they won't take them out on New Year's Eve. Ed: "That's fine. Soon, I will bring Trixie down and we can have an Australian Tag Team Match." Ralph says that Alice will use his paycheck money and make it up by costing some of Ralph's lunch. Ralph: "You know what's going to happen Norton? One afternoon, I will get a fainting spell and I will have to be sent to the hospital and Alice won't even visit me." Alice comes in. Ralph: "One of these days Alice, one of these days, pow right in the kisser. That is for not visiting me at the hospital." Ed leaves.
Ralph tries everything to aggravate Alice but to no avail. He says that they are not going out for New Year's. Alice says that they should. Ralph goes into the bedroom. A knock on the door is heard and it's Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. The audience applauds for the two guest stars. They said that they didn't have trouble finding the place because all they had to do was follow the sound of Ralph's voice. Ha! Alice gets Ralph to come in. Ralph comes out and continues to yell at Alice until he sees the brothers and acts all nice. Ed comes in and says that Trixie won, they are going out for New Year's. Trixie hit Ed on the head to win the argument. The brothers invite every one for New Year's. Ralph likes it, especially when it's free. The brothers leave and Alice said that she thought that Ralph couldn't stand the smoke and the loud noises of night clubs. Ralph says that he didn't but he didn't want to upset their feelings. Freddie Muller comes in and says that Ralph has to work on New Year's. Ed: "Don't be upset. If you work on New Year's, you are bound to get Saint Valentine's Day off." Boy that makes A LOT of sense.
The next day at the office, Ralph comes by and Mr. Marshall says he got sixth calls asking for a night off. One of the workers actually worked on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Boy, what a team player. They can't have a night off unless they are pretty sick. Ralph feigns an illness. His back is hurting him. Mr. Marshall believes Ralph and asks him to take the night off. Ralph leaves and Mr. Marshall calls his secretary and says he and his wife are going to the Hotel Statler to see the Dorseys. Oh no!
At the Hotel Statler, the Marshalls come in. Mrs. Marshall goes to the bathroom. Mr. Marshall reads a newspaper. The Kramdens and Nortons arrive and the girls go to the bathroom to put on their lipstick. Ralph thinks it's dumb because he and Ed will want to kiss the girls at midnight and then the girls will say: "You will smear my lipstick." Ralph says what the hotel will be without all of these fancy things." Ed: "Your apartment." Ha!
The boys go to read a newspaper. Ralph is on the left and Ed is on the right of Mr. Marshall. Ed asks Mr. Marshall questions and asks Ralph questions too. Question: How could Mr. Marshall NOT recognize Ralph's voice and how could Ralph NOT recognize his boss' voice especially since they WORK together. When Ralph hears that Mr. Marshall is sitting next to him, he gets really nervous. Mr. Marshall spots him and knows that he was lying to get off work tonight, so he is fired, or is he? The girls come back and they have Mrs. Marshall with them. Ralph says that he was fired. Mr. Marshall explains that he was fired because Ralph lied to get off work. Mrs. Marshall then says that Mr. Marshall lied to her mom because they can see the Dorseys. Mr. Marshall says he was a bit hasty in firing Ralph, so he reversed Ralph's firing. Ed: "Why don't you two liars shake hands and make up?" They do that and they go into the night club to hear the Dorsey's music.
This is the boring part of the episode for me because I am not a fan of this music. Songs like: "Isn't she sweet" & "Puddle Wump” play. I like the former song though. After all the music plays, one of the brothers say: "It's 12am." "Alud Sang" plays and every husband kisses their wives just as a banner says: "1954" is unveiled. I heard that this performance was supposed to be the Dorsey brothers auditioning for Gleason. When I saw this episode for the first time during the 1997 holiday season, I found the "1954" banner being revealed at the end of this show to be strange considering at that point, this episode was shown 44 years ago. (This holiday season, this episode will be 64 years old.)
Credit I believe goes to tv.com, Honeymooners Lost Episodes Book, tvguide.com, honeymooners.net, Honeymooners Box Set booklet Honeymooners Lost Episodes DVD booklet, Wikipedia.org, Yahoo! Groups You're A Riot! & Amazon.com.
Episode #66
TV: Attached to “Santa & The Bookies” (’53 version) This episode was part of the TV version of “Seasons Greetings From The Honeymooners” that is different than the home video version.
VCR: Attached to "Forgot To Register."
DVD: Attached to "Forgot To Register" & "Income Tax." On the Lost Episodes DVD Box Set it is attached to “Finger Man”, “Honeymooners Xmas Party” (’53 version), “New Year’s Eve Party”, “This Is Your Life” & “Cottage For Sale.”
Air Date: 12/19/53
I will also point out that when this episode was released on VHS, MPI decided to put most of the video package in red. For the video that has "New Year's Eve Party", they put that video package in green. I guess they did that since that they are holiday episodes, the might as will decorate the packages with holiday colors. I like that. They didn't do the same thing with the DVDs though.
I find it strange that there were two Christmas specials done in the same year.
The episode opens up with Alice decorating the Christmas tree. Ralph comes home with potato salad from DeVitos. She says that he should get it from Krauss'. Ralph explains that at DeVitos that Reginald Van Gleason as running a party and that a lot of people are there including people who came from Connecticut. Ralph, disgustedly, leaves to get potato salad from Krauss'.
Trixie comes in and she reveals that Ed gave her an orange juice squeezer. You squeeze the oranges on top of Napoleon’s head and the juice squirts out of his ears. Same gift that he would give her in "'Twas The Night Before Christmas." A guy knocks on the door and Trixie answers it and within a second she knows his name: Fenwick Babbit. Either Trixie saw him before or he gave her his name very softly and quickly. Fenwick is played by Jackie Gleason. After pacing his beer barrel in the apartment, he begins to cut the ice. He hits his finger and yells in Ralph Kramden fashion. Now I wonder why Alice and Trixie don't come up with the thought that Ralph and he look alike. When Trixie goes upstairs to get something for Fenwick, Fenwick asks: "Does she live nearby?" The crowd laughs. When Trixie comes back, Fenwick realizes that he is in the wrong apartment and leaves. But not before he says to Alice: "You are a nice lady."
Ed comes in and says that he has come with, Frances Langford. The crowd applauds for the guest star. She sings "Great Day" and "I Love Paris" for Alice, Ed, and Trixie, and dances with Ed. Joe The Bartender comes in (also played by Gleason). Of course after hearing Joe speak, Alice, Ed and Trixie don't come up with the thought that he and Ralph look alike. Joe The Bartender reveals something that just happened a few minutes ago at Krauss'. This poor soul comes in and takes the last bit of steak and gives it to a kitten that he bought in from the cold. Fatso Fogarty sees this and becomes mad. He sets up a nasty practical joke in which he tells him he had "won" a diamond and then handed him a cheap rhinestone. What made the hoax particularly pathetic was that the poor soul, totally taken in, cherished his prize. Alice, moved by the tale, tells Joe to send the poor soul up, and she'll give him a real present. Joe & Frances leave.
The poor soul comes up (played by Jackie Gleason in pantomime) comes up and Alice gives him a real present. Once again, Alice and Trixie don't even think that he and Ralph look alike. He gives her the "diamond" and leaves. Trix: “Now that Ed is gone, let’s relax.”
Trixie says that they are showing some Christmas Specials on TV, so she asks Alice if they can watch it on Alice's TV (which probably looks terrible). Alice says that the TV is on the brink. Gee, in "TV or Not TV", Alice says that the Kramdens never got a TV. Also, it was mentioned in the intro to “TV Game of The Week”, that the Kramdens never owned a TV before. Rudy the Repairman comes by to fix it. Rudy is played by Jackie Gleason and once again by looking and hearing Rudy speak, Alice and Trixie don't think that Ralph and he look alike. Alice explains all the trouble she is having with some of the channels. Some of the channels that I think she talks about: 4, 5, 7, 11, and 13. Now, since I used to live in North Jersey and about an hour away from New York, I can tell you that those channels in real life do exist. And do you know what? The channel 11 that Alice is talking about would start to carry reruns of the Honeymooners four years later and has carried them for the better part of 50 years. Rudy, after hearing Alice's strange problems, brings in Whitey. Whitey talks to Ralph in language that is not real English. But Rudy understands him anyway. Great comedy. Rudy makes a pass at Alice and Trixie & sees the set destroyed. He said that a pair of shorts caused the problem and he and Whitey depart with the shorts. Alice tells Trixie that it doesn't really matter, since she just had the set on trial.
Ed Norton comes in with little Eddie Hodges who is going to sing at Krauss'. "He is not going to drink", says Ed. Eddie had to be a kid. Ed sings: "Welcome My Baby Back Home." It's interesting that Jackie allowed this kid to sing on his show when you think about the fact that he didn't want kids to appear on his show because he thought that kids may not be able to act on cue. Both Eds leave. Alice says that Ed is always looking to help someone. Trixie says that after a wedding he drove a couple of family members home. The only problem was that it was their wedding. Oh boy!
Ed comes back in and Reginald Van Gleason comes in (played by Jackie Gleason). He brings in gifts for Ed, Trixie, and Alice. He also brings in his band and June Taylor Dancers, with Alice's permission. The band plays a song VERY loudly and Gleason dances with the dancers. Try doing what Reggie is doing in an ordinary apartment at night in real life and you will probably get a TON of complaints (and maybe get kicked out too.) Anyway, at one point Reggie dances too far to the left and you can see the stage curtain. Another thing that wasn't in the script. Once again, Alice, Ed and Trixie don't come up with the conclusion that Reggie and Ralph look and probably sound alike (maybe except for Reggie's mustache). Reggie and his whole entourage leave. Ed: "Reggie is okay in my book." Ed says that in Reggie's limo, he watches wrestling. Not on TV, he watches wrestlers wrestling each other in the limo in a pro wrestling match. Oh God! Trixie is afraid to leave because another star may drop by. Alice says that she wonders where Ralph is. Ed says to Trixie that he will give her what every woman wants on her hand, that being rubber gloves. Ha!
Ed and Trixie leave. Ralph comes by with a policeman. Alice explains the whole situation to the policeman and leaves. Ralph reveals what happened. After he returned the original potato salad, he had to walk two LONG blocks to Krauss only to find out that Krauss was asleep. He kicked so hard on his door that he knocked out the window and got in trouble with the police. Anyway, Alice and Ralph exchange gifts. Ralph opens his gift first and finds out that Alice gave him rubber-lined gloves. Alice gets an orange juice squeezer from Ralph. The same gift that Ralph will giver again in "'Twas The Night Before Christmas." Ralph says that after 14 years of marriage, every Christmas gets better and better. 24 years later in an ABC Special, Ralph and Alice say that they are celebrating 25 years of marriage (the writers thought that that would be appropriate since that show marked the 25th anniversary of the show.) The hug and kiss.
I lot of people probably don't like this episode since it's a great departure from traditional episodes. I liked it because it's a great X-Mas episode and it offers a change of pace. Jackie Gleason must have had to do some quick costume changes in this episode since this episode (like all the other ones in the 50's) were done live.
Episode #67
VCR: Attached to "Two-Family Car." On the Readers Digest VHS tapes, it is attached to “Letter To The Boss” (’53), “Norton Moves In” & “Pickles”
DVD: Attached to "Champagne and Caviar", "Finger Man", "Two-Family Car" & "My Man Norton." On the Restored Lost Episodes DVD Box Set, it is attached to "Game Called On Account of Marriage", "Brother-in-Law" & "Peacemaker." On the Lost Episodes DVD Box Set it is attached to “Finger Man”, “Honeymooners Xmas Party” (’53 version), “This Is Your Life”, “Santa & The Bookies” (’53 version) & “Cottage For Sale.”
Air Date: 12/26/53
I do remember in the 1997 or so, searching through an on line TV guide and finding out that WPIX was going to air this episode right before Christmas 1997 in two parts. I would understand it if WPIX didn't air it considering that the last part of this episode is nothing but musical numbers and they cost $$$ to get the rights to air them.
I will also point out that when this episode was released on VHS, MPI decided to put most of the video package in red. For the video that has "New Year's Eve Party", they put that video package in green. I guess they did that since that they are holiday episodes, the might as well decorate the packages with holiday colors. I like that. They didn't do the same thing with the DVDs though.
Alice is home after exchanging Christmas gifts. Trixie comes by and she doesn't know what gift she exchanged that she got from Ed. It was wrapped in a newspaper. Alice explains to Trixie that she found a briefcase filled with music and the music is the Dorsey brothers. She explains that last year Ralph supposedly brought those brothers back together after their sibling rivalry. She called the Hotel Statler (where the brothers were playing) and they were told that one of their managers or somebody was going to come by to pick it up.
Trixie then tells Alice that they haven't made any New Year's Eve plans. Trixie: "What did you wear for New Year's last year?" Alice: "Slacks. We painted the kitchen." Gee, that's a GREAT way to spend New Year's Eve. Ralph and Ed come home and Ralph says that he doesn't know how long he can go on driving a bus. Ralph: "I think I will quit my job and write a book." Oh boy! Ralph tells a story on how a man came on board the bus and just revealed that he just became a father so he handed out cigars to every passenger. He said to one guy, can't you see the "No smoking" sign. He says with all the smoke, who can see the sign. Ha! Alice and Trixie go upstairs and Ralph immediately thinks they are starting with that New Year's Eve business. Ralph complains that wasting one week's pay on one night's entertainment. Ralph: "One year, she insisted on only the best. The most expensive nightclubs, riding all night in a taxicab." Ed: "How much did it cost you?" Ralph: "I don't know. I didn't take her." What a great husband, huh? Ralph and Ed will think of a plan to aggravate the wives so much that they won't take them out on New Year's Eve. Ed: "That's fine. Soon, I will bring Trixie down and we can have an Australian Tag Team Match." Ralph says that Alice will use his paycheck money and make it up by costing some of Ralph's lunch. Ralph: "You know what's going to happen Norton? One afternoon, I will get a fainting spell and I will have to be sent to the hospital and Alice won't even visit me." Alice comes in. Ralph: "One of these days Alice, one of these days, pow right in the kisser. That is for not visiting me at the hospital." Ed leaves.
Ralph tries everything to aggravate Alice but to no avail. He says that they are not going out for New Year's. Alice says that they should. Ralph goes into the bedroom. A knock on the door is heard and it's Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. The audience applauds for the two guest stars. They said that they didn't have trouble finding the place because all they had to do was follow the sound of Ralph's voice. Ha! Alice gets Ralph to come in. Ralph comes out and continues to yell at Alice until he sees the brothers and acts all nice. Ed comes in and says that Trixie won, they are going out for New Year's. Trixie hit Ed on the head to win the argument. The brothers invite every one for New Year's. Ralph likes it, especially when it's free. The brothers leave and Alice said that she thought that Ralph couldn't stand the smoke and the loud noises of night clubs. Ralph says that he didn't but he didn't want to upset their feelings. Freddie Muller comes in and says that Ralph has to work on New Year's. Ed: "Don't be upset. If you work on New Year's, you are bound to get Saint Valentine's Day off." Boy that makes A LOT of sense.
The next day at the office, Ralph comes by and Mr. Marshall says he got sixth calls asking for a night off. One of the workers actually worked on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Boy, what a team player. They can't have a night off unless they are pretty sick. Ralph feigns an illness. His back is hurting him. Mr. Marshall believes Ralph and asks him to take the night off. Ralph leaves and Mr. Marshall calls his secretary and says he and his wife are going to the Hotel Statler to see the Dorseys. Oh no!
At the Hotel Statler, the Marshalls come in. Mrs. Marshall goes to the bathroom. Mr. Marshall reads a newspaper. The Kramdens and Nortons arrive and the girls go to the bathroom to put on their lipstick. Ralph thinks it's dumb because he and Ed will want to kiss the girls at midnight and then the girls will say: "You will smear my lipstick." Ralph says what the hotel will be without all of these fancy things." Ed: "Your apartment." Ha!
The boys go to read a newspaper. Ralph is on the left and Ed is on the right of Mr. Marshall. Ed asks Mr. Marshall questions and asks Ralph questions too. Question: How could Mr. Marshall NOT recognize Ralph's voice and how could Ralph NOT recognize his boss' voice especially since they WORK together. When Ralph hears that Mr. Marshall is sitting next to him, he gets really nervous. Mr. Marshall spots him and knows that he was lying to get off work tonight, so he is fired, or is he? The girls come back and they have Mrs. Marshall with them. Ralph says that he was fired. Mr. Marshall explains that he was fired because Ralph lied to get off work. Mrs. Marshall then says that Mr. Marshall lied to her mom because they can see the Dorseys. Mr. Marshall says he was a bit hasty in firing Ralph, so he reversed Ralph's firing. Ed: "Why don't you two liars shake hands and make up?" They do that and they go into the night club to hear the Dorsey's music.
This is the boring part of the episode for me because I am not a fan of this music. Songs like: "Isn't she sweet" & "Puddle Wump” play. I like the former song though. After all the music plays, one of the brothers say: "It's 12am." "Alud Sang" plays and every husband kisses their wives just as a banner says: "1954" is unveiled. I heard that this performance was supposed to be the Dorsey brothers auditioning for Gleason. When I saw this episode for the first time during the 1997 holiday season, I found the "1954" banner being revealed at the end of this show to be strange considering at that point, this episode was shown 44 years ago. (This holiday season, this episode will be 64 years old.)
Credit I believe goes to tv.com, Honeymooners Lost Episodes Book, tvguide.com, honeymooners.net, Honeymooners Box Set booklet Honeymooners Lost Episodes DVD booklet, Wikipedia.org, Yahoo! Groups You're A Riot! & Amazon.com.