Frank Gannucci
11-17-2017, 09:00 AM
Honeymooners Episode Reviews: "Funny Money" & "The Golfer":
Episode #111 (Syndicated Episode #2)
TV: Half-hour.
VCR: Attached to "Ralph Kramden, Hero At Large" (aka "Trapped.") On some tapes, it is attached to “The Golfer”, “Better Living Through TV”, “Young At Heart” & “ Oh My Aching Back.” On some tapes, it’s attached to “TV or Not TV” & “The Golfer.”
DVD: Attached to the other first eight classic 39 episodes. On the Fan Favorites: Best of The Honeymooners, it is attached to “Funny Money”, “The Golfer”, “The Sleepwalker”, “Better Living Through TV”, “The Man From Space”, “$99,000 Answer” & “Young At Heart.”
Air Date: Sat. 10/8/55
To see the script, click here: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=the-honeymooners-1955&episode=s04e02
A bunch of crooks in their hideout are shown. One of them lost the groups counterfeit money on a bus. The head of the group gets information that if the person, who lost the money, doesn't claim it in 30 days doesn't get the money from the person who found it but if they do claim it, the person who found the money has to give it to them. The head man says that they will get the money back.
Alice is home and Alice's mother visits. She says that every time she visits, something else in this house is broken. Ralph comes home with a briefcase. Alice's mom: "What is that, your lunch box?" Ralph and Alice's mom immediately start up their traditional argument He found it on the bus and since nobody claimed it in 30 days, it is his. Ralph: "It can't be of any value or they would have claimed it." Alice's mom: "It can't be of any value or you would have not found it." Ralph: "One of these days, you are going to push me too far." Alice's mom: "The only thing that can push you is a bulldozer." Ralph kicks her out. She leaves. Ralph asks money so he can pay his dues at the lodge. (He used up all his money.) Alice says no because she wants to buy furniture. Ralph: "We got furniture." They argue some more. She goes into the bedroom.
Ed Norton comes in and Ralph explains everything about the briefcase to him. He opens it up and finds the counterfeit money. He thinks it is real money. Ralph and Ed can't believe what they see. Alice spots the money and says this whole thing is fishy." Ralph: "Alice, you are complaining about when my ship is going to come in. Well, here it is: 'The Queen Mary!'"
In the next scene, there are a whole lot of new conveniences in the apartment, including a stove, a TV set and a new phone. I think this is the furniture that is used for the Nortons apartment set. Ed is now a limo driver for Ralph. Ralph comes in with a loud jacket on. On the cover of the tape that has this episode, you can see an artist's drawing of Ralph with the loud jacket on along with Ed in his limo driver's outfit. He calls his boss to tell him that he quit and calls him a bum. Gee, that was so not nice. Alice walks in and can't believe what Ralph has done. She thinks that Ralph should have never done what he did now. Alice's mother comes in. She asks for money for her husband. Ralph obliges. She asks for money to go to Florida. Ralph says no but changes his mind when she says that she will stay here instead if she can't go. Alice's mom: "Sonny Boy (Ralph) knows what he is doing." Ralph: "She is not a bad crow at that. I'll say that."
Ralph makes a call. He wants a new boat with three propellers. Alice comes in with the news that since Ralph lent one of his friends some of his new money; he went to jail when he used it to pay something, so the money is counterfeit. Ralph can't believe it. Ed Norton comes in and hears the news. The group from scene one knock on the door. Thinking it is the police, Ralph and Ed hide the money. They hide it in the stove. The group comes in and knows that Ralph and Ed think that they are policemen. They give their names which Ed says that they are a group which he heard of: 'Marilyn, Linch, Pierce, Vinner and Ziggy.' The real cops come in with Alice's mother. (She found out that the money Ralph gave her was counterfeit.) She says that Ralph is the leader of this evil group. The police send the whole entourage to the police station. Ed (to Alice's mother): "Fine way to treat your son-in-law."
Ralph talks to Alice back home. He has nothing to be ashamed of, according to him. He has been a millionaire for a couple of days and that is more than anyone else in this building can say. Ralph: "And that is the way I would be if I had it. Easy come! Easy go!" Alice brings up the fact that Ralph lost his job and that all of the rest of things that Ralph bought needs to go back except the jacket (the tailor can take those back since he doesn't know of any person that big.) She goes into the bedroom. Ralph gets on the phone with the operator and asks if anyone can disconnect the phone and with that the episode ends.
Episode #112. (Syndicated Episode #3)
TV: Half-hour.
VCR: Attached to "Brother Ralph." On some tapes, it is attached to “Funny Money”, “Better Living Through TV”, “Young At Heart” & “ Oh My Aching Back. Also, it can be found on a release that has the I Love Lucy episode entitled: “The Golf Game.” On some tapes, it’s attached to “TV or Not TV” & “Funny Money.”
DVD: Attached to the other first eight classic 39 episodes in the first DVD of the classic 39 episodes box set. The HD Blu-Ray set I believe has the exact same episodes and may include some bonus material. On the Fan Favorites: Best of The Honeymooners, it is attached to “Funny Money”, “TV or Not TV”, “The Sleepwalker”, “Better Living Through TV”, “The Man From Space”, “$99,000 Answer” & “Young At Heart.” On The Honeymooners Christmas Laughter DVD, it is attached to "'Twas The Night Before XMas", "TV or Not TV", "Better Living Through TV", "The Man From Space" & "The $99,000 Answer":
Air Date: Sat. 10/15/55
To see the script, click here: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=the-honeymooners-1955&episode=s04e03
Ralph thinks that he has just been promoted to assistant traffic manager, so he tells all the boys in the depot locker room not to tell Norton. Sure enough, when Ed comes in, Ralph tells him. Ed congratulates him. But then word gets around that Ralph didn't get the promotion and that burns him up. Ralph: "I deserve that promotion, Norton." Ralph then says if you don't have any connections as far as a job goes you are dead. Ed disagrees. After all, he didn't need any to get his sewer job. Ralph says when the boss comes in; he will try to influence him. He read a book on how to influence people and one of the things it said in the book was to not talk about you. The boss comes in and Ralph tries to talk to him. The boss asks Ralph if he wants to play golf. Ralph, not knowing the game, says yes. But, the boss then says that he can't make the appointment until a month from now. By that time, Ralph would have gotten so friendly with Mr. Marshall that he would get the promotion and we will say that he got another engagement at the same time that Mr. Marshall asks him to play golf. Ralph is happy.
Here's a link from WFLD TV taken from the 70s before the show was digitally remastered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSGQo...eature=channel
At home, Ralph tells Alice the good news. Alice is delighted. The happiness doesn't last long in the household. Ralph gets word that his boss has rescheduled their golf game two days from now. D'oh! Ralph is screwed unless he learns the game in two days.
In 1997, this episode was elected by TV Guide as one of the best TV episodes ever made by any TV show. The following is the scene that made it stand out and it's not hard to understand why.
Ralph practices golf with Ed Norton. Ralph's outfit is loud to say the least but Ed thinks that it is "Diiiiiiiiiiiivine!" Ed mentions that Ralph’s clubs and clothes that he has on are all borrowed. Ed tries to put a pin cushion on the ground. Ralph gets it. Ralph (yells): "OWWWWWWWWW! IT HAS PINS IN IT." Ed: "What did you expect, chicken noodles?" Ed takes the pins out. Ralph tries to swing with the golf club. Every time he does, some background noise is heard. Ed reads the book that tells people how to play golf. At first, he starts to read EVERY word that is on the page he is reading, so Ralph yells at him to stop. Ed then reads what the book says which includes, put the ball down, stand up, plant your feet firmly and address the ball. Ed does the first three instructions and guess what he does as far as addressing the ball goes. He says: "Hello Ball!" When I saw this episode for the first time in 1995 (not knowing anything about this episode), I pretty much guessed that Ed was going to say: "Hello Ball!" That quote was funny. Ralph gets upset. Ed gives more instructions from the book to Ralph. Ralph follows the instructions and hits him in the neck with the golf club. After that, Ed demonstrates what he thinks is the right way to hit the ball which include wiggle your hips and then swing. Ralph tries to swing the same way that Ed did. Ralph thinks that that shot was perfect. Ed says that now is time for hard shots like shooting uphill. Ed gives Ralph a book to put his left foot on so he can practice that he is swinging uphill. Ralph swings the same way as he did before. Ralph doesn’t see the difference. Ed then says that now is the time to practice swinging on a bigger hill. So, he gets a bucket for Ralph to put his left foot on. Ralph swings the same way as he did before. Ralph once again doesn’t see the difference so he practices swinging at the ball on even ground. Alice comes in just as Ralph is wiggling his hips. Ralph: “I was practicing playing golf.” Alice: “Oh is that what it is. I thought it was football the way your backfield was in motion. I am sorry that I went to the movies. I could have seen a better show here.” Alice says that Ralph can’t learn to be a good golfer in one night. Ralph objects. He said so far in this session, he has "hit" the ball correctly in a lot of directions. Alice goes into the bedroom. Ed: “You got to relax.” Ralph (yells): “WELL, I AM RELAXED.” Between Ed’s line and Ralph’s, it looks like a permanent edit job was done. Ed gives instructions from the book to Ralph. Ed: "Make your approach, plant your feet firmly on the ground, head down keep your eye on the ball, relax,…” Ralph now tries to wiggle his hips. Ed continues: “…left arm straight, right arm straight, lower your right shoulder," (yells): "NOWWWWWWWW!" With that, not only does Ralph miss the ball, he manages to hit some other objects in the kitchen with his golf club and in the process accidentally breaks the golf club. I heard that the golf club breaking wasn’t supposed to happen but I think it made the scene funnier.
Sitting down, Ralph admits that he has a big mouth. Ralph (yells): "I HAVE A BIIIIIIG MOUTH!" He should have declined his boss' invitation for a golf game. So when he gets word that his golf game with his boss is now off, he is happy. But, his boss replaces himself with someone else. That makes Ralph upset.
Credit I think goes to (the original) Bill's 'Mooners Archives, eBay.com, tv.com, Honeymooners Lost Episodes Book, tvguide.com, honeymooners.net, Honeymooners Lost Episodes DVD booklet, Wikipedia.org, Yahoo Groups You're A Riot! & Amazon.com.
Episode #111 (Syndicated Episode #2)
TV: Half-hour.
VCR: Attached to "Ralph Kramden, Hero At Large" (aka "Trapped.") On some tapes, it is attached to “The Golfer”, “Better Living Through TV”, “Young At Heart” & “ Oh My Aching Back.” On some tapes, it’s attached to “TV or Not TV” & “The Golfer.”
DVD: Attached to the other first eight classic 39 episodes. On the Fan Favorites: Best of The Honeymooners, it is attached to “Funny Money”, “The Golfer”, “The Sleepwalker”, “Better Living Through TV”, “The Man From Space”, “$99,000 Answer” & “Young At Heart.”
Air Date: Sat. 10/8/55
To see the script, click here: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=the-honeymooners-1955&episode=s04e02
A bunch of crooks in their hideout are shown. One of them lost the groups counterfeit money on a bus. The head of the group gets information that if the person, who lost the money, doesn't claim it in 30 days doesn't get the money from the person who found it but if they do claim it, the person who found the money has to give it to them. The head man says that they will get the money back.
Alice is home and Alice's mother visits. She says that every time she visits, something else in this house is broken. Ralph comes home with a briefcase. Alice's mom: "What is that, your lunch box?" Ralph and Alice's mom immediately start up their traditional argument He found it on the bus and since nobody claimed it in 30 days, it is his. Ralph: "It can't be of any value or they would have claimed it." Alice's mom: "It can't be of any value or you would have not found it." Ralph: "One of these days, you are going to push me too far." Alice's mom: "The only thing that can push you is a bulldozer." Ralph kicks her out. She leaves. Ralph asks money so he can pay his dues at the lodge. (He used up all his money.) Alice says no because she wants to buy furniture. Ralph: "We got furniture." They argue some more. She goes into the bedroom.
Ed Norton comes in and Ralph explains everything about the briefcase to him. He opens it up and finds the counterfeit money. He thinks it is real money. Ralph and Ed can't believe what they see. Alice spots the money and says this whole thing is fishy." Ralph: "Alice, you are complaining about when my ship is going to come in. Well, here it is: 'The Queen Mary!'"
In the next scene, there are a whole lot of new conveniences in the apartment, including a stove, a TV set and a new phone. I think this is the furniture that is used for the Nortons apartment set. Ed is now a limo driver for Ralph. Ralph comes in with a loud jacket on. On the cover of the tape that has this episode, you can see an artist's drawing of Ralph with the loud jacket on along with Ed in his limo driver's outfit. He calls his boss to tell him that he quit and calls him a bum. Gee, that was so not nice. Alice walks in and can't believe what Ralph has done. She thinks that Ralph should have never done what he did now. Alice's mother comes in. She asks for money for her husband. Ralph obliges. She asks for money to go to Florida. Ralph says no but changes his mind when she says that she will stay here instead if she can't go. Alice's mom: "Sonny Boy (Ralph) knows what he is doing." Ralph: "She is not a bad crow at that. I'll say that."
Ralph makes a call. He wants a new boat with three propellers. Alice comes in with the news that since Ralph lent one of his friends some of his new money; he went to jail when he used it to pay something, so the money is counterfeit. Ralph can't believe it. Ed Norton comes in and hears the news. The group from scene one knock on the door. Thinking it is the police, Ralph and Ed hide the money. They hide it in the stove. The group comes in and knows that Ralph and Ed think that they are policemen. They give their names which Ed says that they are a group which he heard of: 'Marilyn, Linch, Pierce, Vinner and Ziggy.' The real cops come in with Alice's mother. (She found out that the money Ralph gave her was counterfeit.) She says that Ralph is the leader of this evil group. The police send the whole entourage to the police station. Ed (to Alice's mother): "Fine way to treat your son-in-law."
Ralph talks to Alice back home. He has nothing to be ashamed of, according to him. He has been a millionaire for a couple of days and that is more than anyone else in this building can say. Ralph: "And that is the way I would be if I had it. Easy come! Easy go!" Alice brings up the fact that Ralph lost his job and that all of the rest of things that Ralph bought needs to go back except the jacket (the tailor can take those back since he doesn't know of any person that big.) She goes into the bedroom. Ralph gets on the phone with the operator and asks if anyone can disconnect the phone and with that the episode ends.
Episode #112. (Syndicated Episode #3)
TV: Half-hour.
VCR: Attached to "Brother Ralph." On some tapes, it is attached to “Funny Money”, “Better Living Through TV”, “Young At Heart” & “ Oh My Aching Back. Also, it can be found on a release that has the I Love Lucy episode entitled: “The Golf Game.” On some tapes, it’s attached to “TV or Not TV” & “Funny Money.”
DVD: Attached to the other first eight classic 39 episodes in the first DVD of the classic 39 episodes box set. The HD Blu-Ray set I believe has the exact same episodes and may include some bonus material. On the Fan Favorites: Best of The Honeymooners, it is attached to “Funny Money”, “TV or Not TV”, “The Sleepwalker”, “Better Living Through TV”, “The Man From Space”, “$99,000 Answer” & “Young At Heart.” On The Honeymooners Christmas Laughter DVD, it is attached to "'Twas The Night Before XMas", "TV or Not TV", "Better Living Through TV", "The Man From Space" & "The $99,000 Answer":
Air Date: Sat. 10/15/55
To see the script, click here: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=the-honeymooners-1955&episode=s04e03
Ralph thinks that he has just been promoted to assistant traffic manager, so he tells all the boys in the depot locker room not to tell Norton. Sure enough, when Ed comes in, Ralph tells him. Ed congratulates him. But then word gets around that Ralph didn't get the promotion and that burns him up. Ralph: "I deserve that promotion, Norton." Ralph then says if you don't have any connections as far as a job goes you are dead. Ed disagrees. After all, he didn't need any to get his sewer job. Ralph says when the boss comes in; he will try to influence him. He read a book on how to influence people and one of the things it said in the book was to not talk about you. The boss comes in and Ralph tries to talk to him. The boss asks Ralph if he wants to play golf. Ralph, not knowing the game, says yes. But, the boss then says that he can't make the appointment until a month from now. By that time, Ralph would have gotten so friendly with Mr. Marshall that he would get the promotion and we will say that he got another engagement at the same time that Mr. Marshall asks him to play golf. Ralph is happy.
Here's a link from WFLD TV taken from the 70s before the show was digitally remastered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSGQo...eature=channel
At home, Ralph tells Alice the good news. Alice is delighted. The happiness doesn't last long in the household. Ralph gets word that his boss has rescheduled their golf game two days from now. D'oh! Ralph is screwed unless he learns the game in two days.
In 1997, this episode was elected by TV Guide as one of the best TV episodes ever made by any TV show. The following is the scene that made it stand out and it's not hard to understand why.
Ralph practices golf with Ed Norton. Ralph's outfit is loud to say the least but Ed thinks that it is "Diiiiiiiiiiiivine!" Ed mentions that Ralph’s clubs and clothes that he has on are all borrowed. Ed tries to put a pin cushion on the ground. Ralph gets it. Ralph (yells): "OWWWWWWWWW! IT HAS PINS IN IT." Ed: "What did you expect, chicken noodles?" Ed takes the pins out. Ralph tries to swing with the golf club. Every time he does, some background noise is heard. Ed reads the book that tells people how to play golf. At first, he starts to read EVERY word that is on the page he is reading, so Ralph yells at him to stop. Ed then reads what the book says which includes, put the ball down, stand up, plant your feet firmly and address the ball. Ed does the first three instructions and guess what he does as far as addressing the ball goes. He says: "Hello Ball!" When I saw this episode for the first time in 1995 (not knowing anything about this episode), I pretty much guessed that Ed was going to say: "Hello Ball!" That quote was funny. Ralph gets upset. Ed gives more instructions from the book to Ralph. Ralph follows the instructions and hits him in the neck with the golf club. After that, Ed demonstrates what he thinks is the right way to hit the ball which include wiggle your hips and then swing. Ralph tries to swing the same way that Ed did. Ralph thinks that that shot was perfect. Ed says that now is time for hard shots like shooting uphill. Ed gives Ralph a book to put his left foot on so he can practice that he is swinging uphill. Ralph swings the same way as he did before. Ralph doesn’t see the difference. Ed then says that now is the time to practice swinging on a bigger hill. So, he gets a bucket for Ralph to put his left foot on. Ralph swings the same way as he did before. Ralph once again doesn’t see the difference so he practices swinging at the ball on even ground. Alice comes in just as Ralph is wiggling his hips. Ralph: “I was practicing playing golf.” Alice: “Oh is that what it is. I thought it was football the way your backfield was in motion. I am sorry that I went to the movies. I could have seen a better show here.” Alice says that Ralph can’t learn to be a good golfer in one night. Ralph objects. He said so far in this session, he has "hit" the ball correctly in a lot of directions. Alice goes into the bedroom. Ed: “You got to relax.” Ralph (yells): “WELL, I AM RELAXED.” Between Ed’s line and Ralph’s, it looks like a permanent edit job was done. Ed gives instructions from the book to Ralph. Ed: "Make your approach, plant your feet firmly on the ground, head down keep your eye on the ball, relax,…” Ralph now tries to wiggle his hips. Ed continues: “…left arm straight, right arm straight, lower your right shoulder," (yells): "NOWWWWWWWW!" With that, not only does Ralph miss the ball, he manages to hit some other objects in the kitchen with his golf club and in the process accidentally breaks the golf club. I heard that the golf club breaking wasn’t supposed to happen but I think it made the scene funnier.
Sitting down, Ralph admits that he has a big mouth. Ralph (yells): "I HAVE A BIIIIIIG MOUTH!" He should have declined his boss' invitation for a golf game. So when he gets word that his golf game with his boss is now off, he is happy. But, his boss replaces himself with someone else. That makes Ralph upset.
Credit I think goes to (the original) Bill's 'Mooners Archives, eBay.com, tv.com, Honeymooners Lost Episodes Book, tvguide.com, honeymooners.net, Honeymooners Lost Episodes DVD booklet, Wikipedia.org, Yahoo Groups You're A Riot! & Amazon.com.