Frank Gannucci
03-23-2018, 08:51 AM
Honeymooners Box Set Extra Reviews: Promos, Best Buick Yet & Jackie Gleason Profile 60 Minutes
Promos:
On the Blu Ray set, these promos are attached to the first eight Classic 39 episodes (along with an extra version of "The Golfer" with the original sponsor materials). These promos obviously haven't been digitally remastered. The first one is from "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" where Alice sees Ralph walk out of the bedroom to get his present under the ice box. He gets caught redhanded and when that happens, the words "THE HONEYMOONERS" appears on screen.
The second one is from "The Safety Award" when Ed is giving his "Tides of Life" speech to Ralph. At the end, the words "THE HONEYMOONERS" appears on the screen. That is it.
Does anyone know if these promos were used when the show was in syndication? If they were, I would imagine the TV station announcer would say "Weekdays/weekends/every day at (time) on (station's name)" when the words "THE HONEYMOONERS" appeared on screen.
DVD: On the HD Blu Ray set, it is attached to episodes #8-16 of the Classic 39 as well as sponsor material version of "Hello Mom." It is not on the original box sets.
For the longest time, only a few people knew that this footage existed. It is a slide show with audio as the narrator, Joyce, Audrey and Jackie talk out of character while Art talks in character about the '56 Buick. Why they have Art doing this, besides the fact that many people think he was the funniest on the show, I have no idea. Buick was one of the sponsors of the show. During the slide show, you see all sorts of images of the '56 Buick as well as parts of the '56 Buick. The appropriate photos come on during the times that a person is talking about a feature of the car.
Jackie says that the four of them are glad to be part of the Buick team. Jackie says that he knows about the '56 Buick and he says that he thinks it will be the best Buick yet. He talks about the planning and designing. He says that the people think they know what the people want in the Buick which are more comfort, greater convenience and outstanding beauty. He calls this Buick America's Most Wanted Car. Jackie says that he will let a person point out all the technical details. He calls for some traveling music. Traveling music is heard.
The male narrator (whose name, we don't know) thanks Jackie. He talks about the V-Cofile (sp?) front end. He says that it is stylish. He talks about the front end some more like mentioning the fenders. "The lower hood and higher front fender give a sports car appearance." He talks about the front end some more before talking about the back end that is built in such a way that the car is safe to be in. He talks about the back end some more by mentioning the grill. "Buick '56 styling is great for people who enjoy zestful living."
Jackie: "Besides eye appeal, variety is another thing. This Buick offers variety to suit every taste. The narrator says that the Buick offers 200 various color combos. That had to be amazing back then. The narrator also says that the car also has body styling. "15 models in 4 series." Because of this, the car could be custom-built for their desires. We are shown a two door sedan in red & white in a color drawing. The narrator talks about the sedan some more and he says that it is at a price that EVERYONE could afford. Quite the contrast compared to today where cars can go for about $20,000 plus. The narrator talks about other different types of Buick cars for '56 one of them is the Roadmaster. He talks about how different the Roadmaster is like a bombside on each fender etc. He talks about the Buick some more before Jackie says "Hold it! Let's get the ladies point of view. Let's start with Audrey Meadows, also known as Mrs. Ralph Kramden." When Jack says this, both Jack and Audrey each have an arm around each other.
Audrey talks about Buick's internal appointments. Audrey says that they offer luxury. Audrey: "People like luxury in their living rooms. The kind of luxury that me and Ralph can't get." Ha! Audrey says that the backseat of the Roadmaster can come in four different colors. She talks about the front part of the Roadmaster a little bit before throwing it to Trixie Norton. Audrey: "Also known as Joyce Randolph. She is sold on the new Buicks."
Joyce talks about the "new" instrument panel. Joyce: "It is very functional in it's design. I appreciate having controls that you can reach and stay behind the wheel. The convience is one of the reasons why I think that the '56 Buick is the best Buick yet." She talks about the red liner speedometer with Audrey chiming in. Audrey talks about the heating. Audrey: "I am going to let the narrator talk to you about cross heating."
Narrator: "Perrimeter heating is a new concept in automotive heating." He talks about the heating in the car some more and how it benefits people in the winter and summer. After that, he talks about how great the air conditioning system is. He also talks about how you can customize the seat position for maximum comfort. "Buick's million dollar ride is worth more than ever." He than explains why.
Jackie: "There are more reasons why this Buick is the best Buick yet like the features. He turns it over to the narrator. The narrator talks about the 255 horsepower of the Buick which was 35 more than the '55 Buick. He also talks about the car's performance as well. He mentions the dynaflow which was standard equipment on Super and Century series and Roadmaster series. He is going to talk about the engineering advances when Ed Norton interrupts by saying that that is his department. Ed: "I have to come out for fresh air in my job every now and than but when I stick my head out of a manhole, I get a different viewpoint than most folks sort of worm's eye view you might say. I don't get a good look at many Buicks because they go by so fast. But I have seen enough to come up with a professional report. Sure they got power. But what counts is how much power they get on the road." He talks about the dynaflow and how they added a second stator. Jackie: "Sorry Art, I mean Ed but don't you think you better get back on the job. Ed: "I will be back. You can't keep a good man down you know." Jackie: "I hated to do that but I think Norton wandered to far from the sewers. I will let the narrator take over again."
Narrator: "Here is more big news. Buick's new exhaust manifold is called a double-wide manifold and it is designed for a V8 engine." He talks about it some more. He talks about the intake manifold. Narrator: "Ed better be careful when coming out of a manhole because Buicks are so quiet, you can't hear them coming." Again, quite the contrast compared to today. The narrator than talks about the muffler. He also mentions the power steering feature. I never knew that power steering existed back than. Wow! Back to the dynaflow. He mentions that the dynaflow is quieter than ever. Now, it's onto the rear axle of the car. Narrator: "Ed talks about how Buick's hug the pavement. Rough roads or smooth, Buick takes them all with ease." We see a photo of the car with a license plate that reads: "AH-49-99." Times have changed. He talks about the rear end design before talking about rear axle again. Time to talk about the steering geometry. Again, he talks about the power steering. Narrator: "We will really appreciate this power unit behind the front wheel of a Buick." He than talks about the brake system and how it had improved. Now, he talks about the toothless tires as standard equipment. Narrator: "You don't see many Buick owners using a jack."
Jackie: "In TV and automobiles, it takes new ideas to make a winner." He and the narrator recount all that was mentioned and the windshield which was not talked about. He says that the '56 Buick is the best Buick yet. Jackie agrees. Jackie: "Don't you agree Norton, my down-low friend?" Ed: "Engineering-wise, it can't be beat." Audrey: "What a beauty. Inside and out." Joyce: "And how right the price." Jackie: "You have been a grand, grand bunch. You got a great Buick to sell. 1956 is Buick's year. A little traveling music please." No music plays. Jackie: "That Buick makes great traveling music and away we go with the best Buick yet." Now, music plays to end the bonus feature.
The only complaint that I have is that the narrator bounced around a lot. He talked some features more than once. I think it would have been better if he talked all that he wanted to talk about a particular feature in one part rather than in more than one.
60 Minutes' Jackie Gleason Profile (Sun. 10/28/84)
DVD: On the Blu-ray release, it is attached to #16-#24 of the Classic 39 (including two versions of "$99,000 Answer", "A Dog's Life", "Here Comes The Bride" & "Please Leave The Premises" in which one of the episodes has the original ads) & 60 Minutes' Profile Outtakes.
This begins with Morley Safer introducing us to Jackie Gleason. He said that he was the most watched man on TV. He then says he will show us who Jackie is. I should point out that all the Honeymooners clips here were not digitally remastered since this feature is included the was it was when it was first shown.
We see Jackie in his home playing pool with the Honeymooners theme in the background. Then misc clips of Jackie is shown with Morley Safer saying that he rolled over networks and film studios to get what he wanted. Other clips are shown like Jackie leading his orchestra as well as him playing golf. Morley (via VO) claims that Jackie never rehearsed or practiced and he winged it all his life which is not completely true since he did rehearse for things like the Honeymooners XMas Party episodes because they required quick extensive costume changes as well as some other episodes. He needed to rehearse for the XMas Party episodes for those for the sake of the actors and actresses. Morley than says that 50 (now 80) years ago, Jackie wasn't even remotely famous.
They are now sitting at Jackie's bar. During this whole interview, Jackie is smoking. Jackie says that he went to Tiny Chateau, and he had this stale act of bad impersonations and bad jokes. He said that he was the first show and the crowd was all miners in boots. He was almost booed off and "Tiny" who Jackie claims was seven feet tall said: "Come here." He directed Jackie to a pay phone. Tiny called New York and he got Solly Shore on the phone and said: "How can you send me a BUM like this?" Tiny did this in front of the crowd. After that, Tiny and Jackie had 15 drinks. Now, it was time for the second show. He came out and he killed the crowd and did somersaults, told jokes that he never heard etc. The next night for the next show, he tried to remember what he had done. So he went to the bar and had 15 drinks and it would come to him.
Jackie than recounts that he went to Hollywood and earned $250 a week playing Gangster pictures. That pales in comparison to the money that the stars make today. He then recounts how he started on Calvacade of Stars and said that he didn't think he had a future in TV. Clips of the Poor Soul, Reggie Van Gleason III and Honeymooners are shown. Morley says that the Honeymooners was played for laughs and the comedy was rooted, if not in tragedy then in poverty. Jackie says that the Kramden apartment was fashioned like his old childhood home and that his mother had to work hard because Jackie's dad had left him when he was 8. She couldn't take care of the house well but she was a good mother. Jackie says that in the neighborhood that he lived in, almost everyone was a Kramden. He says that Ralph had schemes that fail and after that he would apologize. Morley asks why is the show as popular now as it was the first time around considerating that there were only (at the time) 39 episodes. Jackie: "I could give you, uh, 20 academic answers for that." Jackie says that it is funny. The golf clip from "The Golfer" is shown. Jackie says that Ed Norton is responsible for 90 percent of the show's success.
Morley says that Jackie wanted to do his show in Miami. Jackie says that he had a two-year contract. After the first year, he said that he didn't want to do it, and they didn't believe him. They thought he had a job somewhere else. So, Jackie talked them into getting him a big train and having it go down to Florida since he played golf down there and liked it so he thought he might as well do the show in Florida. He talked them into doing the show in Florida. The train was called "The Great Gleason Express." Various rare clips from that train ride are shown. He said that there were nice girls on the train but nothing happened. I don't think I have to say what he meant by that. Morley: "Was there a bar on that train?" Jackie: "The train was a bar." He mentioned that his show was in the Top 3 as far as ratings go. Clips of Jackie being welcomed to Miami are shown. Morley mentioned that Jackie had a 15 million dollar contract which pales in comparison to the money the stars make today. Jackie responds by saying that the first contract that he had with the CBS Head at the time, Mr. Paley, it was for $11 million. After that, he had a hangover and he was at the table with all the agents and they had lunch in Paley's room and he fell asleep. Paley said that iif that is his attitude, give it to him. The hangover worked according to Jackie. Jackie says that people should have two fortunes. One to live it up and one for security. He says that in TV, they used to do this. They would get you to paint yourself into a corner of luxury. Then, they would start to dictate. Because they knew that you feared losing that money. You would give up your independence and go along with them. It threatened your security and kudos to your ego. He learned all of this when he was a kid. Jackie: "And I knew when they were telling me, how great I was that they had something coming up next that they wanted, or wanted me to do."
Then they talk about "You're In The Picture." Jackie jokingly calls this show a beauty. A clip from that trainwreck of a show is shown. When Morley asks what possessed him to do it, Jackie says that there were perhaps 30 executives in CBS who thought it was the funniest thing that they seen in their life and Jackie agreed. Oh boy. Jackie: "We did it and crash." Jackie says that he wanted to apologize for that show. The network said no. Apparently, Jack didn't take no for an answer and a clip of him apologizing is shown. I wonder if the five fans of that show were upset at that moment since they weren't getting that show on that day. Back iin those days, they were no onscreen TV Guides that mentioned last minute changes. In this clip, Jack says that "You're In The Picture" laid without a doubt the biggest BOMB in the history of TV. Jackie mentioned that the critics hailed the apology. When asked how some show like that gets approved, Jackie responds by saying that CBS has talent in which when they say "yes" it sounds like "no" and "no" that sounds like "yes."
Morley says that he was the most successful man ever on TV and maybe even now you're past that but he then says that he still may be the most successful man on TV but he got no TV awards. Jackie: "II won the Tony on Broadway. I was nominated for an Oscar and nominated for an Emmy once. Jackie says that the business that he endeavors himself too shouldn't be some award. Jackie: "Everyone got an Emmy but me."
A rare clip presumably from the 80s is shown of Jackie and Marilyn on the golf cart. Morley (via VO): "Ralph never got out of Brooklyn but Jackie Gleason took his revenge by living very well by truly being the king of his castle." We then see Jackie back in his home. Jackie: "In the other room, the game room, we have a crap table from Vegas." Morley (via VO): "Jackie and Marilyn are rebuilding their home in Florida that was almost destroyed by a fire in '83." II should mention that Marilyn Gleason moved out of that house in 2002 and recently that house was put on the market. Back to the bar interview, Jackie says that if he was broke tomorrow, it would hurt for a while, but he would going back to the way he used to live. A clip of Jackie playing pool is shown. While playing pool, Morley asks him where did the nickname "The Great One" come from. Jackie: "Orson Welles called me that first and than Lucille Ball called me that. I'm really not that offended by it." Morley: "Did you ever believe it?" Jackie: "You saw me play pool, did you?" That's the end.
I was somewhat disappointed by this. I remember seeing other clips from this same interview that were not in the feature but featured in the 35th & 50th Anniversary specials. But, those same clips are in the flowing review so it's all good. Also, if you watched that horribly inaccurate Jackie Gleason bio film entitled "Gleason", the ending of that film plays homage to Morley and Gleason playing pool where the female interviewer takes Morley's place (even though Morley was alive and active) and Gleason was played by Brad Garrett. I guess Morley was too busy to be in this film.
Credit for all my reviews goes to Yahoo! Groups You’re A Riot, honeymooners.net, the Lost Episodes DVD Booklet, John K’s Book To The Moon & tvshowsondvd.com & Bill's Mooners Archives.
Promos:
On the Blu Ray set, these promos are attached to the first eight Classic 39 episodes (along with an extra version of "The Golfer" with the original sponsor materials). These promos obviously haven't been digitally remastered. The first one is from "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" where Alice sees Ralph walk out of the bedroom to get his present under the ice box. He gets caught redhanded and when that happens, the words "THE HONEYMOONERS" appears on screen.
The second one is from "The Safety Award" when Ed is giving his "Tides of Life" speech to Ralph. At the end, the words "THE HONEYMOONERS" appears on the screen. That is it.
Does anyone know if these promos were used when the show was in syndication? If they were, I would imagine the TV station announcer would say "Weekdays/weekends/every day at (time) on (station's name)" when the words "THE HONEYMOONERS" appeared on screen.
DVD: On the HD Blu Ray set, it is attached to episodes #8-16 of the Classic 39 as well as sponsor material version of "Hello Mom." It is not on the original box sets.
For the longest time, only a few people knew that this footage existed. It is a slide show with audio as the narrator, Joyce, Audrey and Jackie talk out of character while Art talks in character about the '56 Buick. Why they have Art doing this, besides the fact that many people think he was the funniest on the show, I have no idea. Buick was one of the sponsors of the show. During the slide show, you see all sorts of images of the '56 Buick as well as parts of the '56 Buick. The appropriate photos come on during the times that a person is talking about a feature of the car.
Jackie says that the four of them are glad to be part of the Buick team. Jackie says that he knows about the '56 Buick and he says that he thinks it will be the best Buick yet. He talks about the planning and designing. He says that the people think they know what the people want in the Buick which are more comfort, greater convenience and outstanding beauty. He calls this Buick America's Most Wanted Car. Jackie says that he will let a person point out all the technical details. He calls for some traveling music. Traveling music is heard.
The male narrator (whose name, we don't know) thanks Jackie. He talks about the V-Cofile (sp?) front end. He says that it is stylish. He talks about the front end some more like mentioning the fenders. "The lower hood and higher front fender give a sports car appearance." He talks about the front end some more before talking about the back end that is built in such a way that the car is safe to be in. He talks about the back end some more by mentioning the grill. "Buick '56 styling is great for people who enjoy zestful living."
Jackie: "Besides eye appeal, variety is another thing. This Buick offers variety to suit every taste. The narrator says that the Buick offers 200 various color combos. That had to be amazing back then. The narrator also says that the car also has body styling. "15 models in 4 series." Because of this, the car could be custom-built for their desires. We are shown a two door sedan in red & white in a color drawing. The narrator talks about the sedan some more and he says that it is at a price that EVERYONE could afford. Quite the contrast compared to today where cars can go for about $20,000 plus. The narrator talks about other different types of Buick cars for '56 one of them is the Roadmaster. He talks about how different the Roadmaster is like a bombside on each fender etc. He talks about the Buick some more before Jackie says "Hold it! Let's get the ladies point of view. Let's start with Audrey Meadows, also known as Mrs. Ralph Kramden." When Jack says this, both Jack and Audrey each have an arm around each other.
Audrey talks about Buick's internal appointments. Audrey says that they offer luxury. Audrey: "People like luxury in their living rooms. The kind of luxury that me and Ralph can't get." Ha! Audrey says that the backseat of the Roadmaster can come in four different colors. She talks about the front part of the Roadmaster a little bit before throwing it to Trixie Norton. Audrey: "Also known as Joyce Randolph. She is sold on the new Buicks."
Joyce talks about the "new" instrument panel. Joyce: "It is very functional in it's design. I appreciate having controls that you can reach and stay behind the wheel. The convience is one of the reasons why I think that the '56 Buick is the best Buick yet." She talks about the red liner speedometer with Audrey chiming in. Audrey talks about the heating. Audrey: "I am going to let the narrator talk to you about cross heating."
Narrator: "Perrimeter heating is a new concept in automotive heating." He talks about the heating in the car some more and how it benefits people in the winter and summer. After that, he talks about how great the air conditioning system is. He also talks about how you can customize the seat position for maximum comfort. "Buick's million dollar ride is worth more than ever." He than explains why.
Jackie: "There are more reasons why this Buick is the best Buick yet like the features. He turns it over to the narrator. The narrator talks about the 255 horsepower of the Buick which was 35 more than the '55 Buick. He also talks about the car's performance as well. He mentions the dynaflow which was standard equipment on Super and Century series and Roadmaster series. He is going to talk about the engineering advances when Ed Norton interrupts by saying that that is his department. Ed: "I have to come out for fresh air in my job every now and than but when I stick my head out of a manhole, I get a different viewpoint than most folks sort of worm's eye view you might say. I don't get a good look at many Buicks because they go by so fast. But I have seen enough to come up with a professional report. Sure they got power. But what counts is how much power they get on the road." He talks about the dynaflow and how they added a second stator. Jackie: "Sorry Art, I mean Ed but don't you think you better get back on the job. Ed: "I will be back. You can't keep a good man down you know." Jackie: "I hated to do that but I think Norton wandered to far from the sewers. I will let the narrator take over again."
Narrator: "Here is more big news. Buick's new exhaust manifold is called a double-wide manifold and it is designed for a V8 engine." He talks about it some more. He talks about the intake manifold. Narrator: "Ed better be careful when coming out of a manhole because Buicks are so quiet, you can't hear them coming." Again, quite the contrast compared to today. The narrator than talks about the muffler. He also mentions the power steering feature. I never knew that power steering existed back than. Wow! Back to the dynaflow. He mentions that the dynaflow is quieter than ever. Now, it's onto the rear axle of the car. Narrator: "Ed talks about how Buick's hug the pavement. Rough roads or smooth, Buick takes them all with ease." We see a photo of the car with a license plate that reads: "AH-49-99." Times have changed. He talks about the rear end design before talking about rear axle again. Time to talk about the steering geometry. Again, he talks about the power steering. Narrator: "We will really appreciate this power unit behind the front wheel of a Buick." He than talks about the brake system and how it had improved. Now, he talks about the toothless tires as standard equipment. Narrator: "You don't see many Buick owners using a jack."
Jackie: "In TV and automobiles, it takes new ideas to make a winner." He and the narrator recount all that was mentioned and the windshield which was not talked about. He says that the '56 Buick is the best Buick yet. Jackie agrees. Jackie: "Don't you agree Norton, my down-low friend?" Ed: "Engineering-wise, it can't be beat." Audrey: "What a beauty. Inside and out." Joyce: "And how right the price." Jackie: "You have been a grand, grand bunch. You got a great Buick to sell. 1956 is Buick's year. A little traveling music please." No music plays. Jackie: "That Buick makes great traveling music and away we go with the best Buick yet." Now, music plays to end the bonus feature.
The only complaint that I have is that the narrator bounced around a lot. He talked some features more than once. I think it would have been better if he talked all that he wanted to talk about a particular feature in one part rather than in more than one.
60 Minutes' Jackie Gleason Profile (Sun. 10/28/84)
DVD: On the Blu-ray release, it is attached to #16-#24 of the Classic 39 (including two versions of "$99,000 Answer", "A Dog's Life", "Here Comes The Bride" & "Please Leave The Premises" in which one of the episodes has the original ads) & 60 Minutes' Profile Outtakes.
This begins with Morley Safer introducing us to Jackie Gleason. He said that he was the most watched man on TV. He then says he will show us who Jackie is. I should point out that all the Honeymooners clips here were not digitally remastered since this feature is included the was it was when it was first shown.
We see Jackie in his home playing pool with the Honeymooners theme in the background. Then misc clips of Jackie is shown with Morley Safer saying that he rolled over networks and film studios to get what he wanted. Other clips are shown like Jackie leading his orchestra as well as him playing golf. Morley (via VO) claims that Jackie never rehearsed or practiced and he winged it all his life which is not completely true since he did rehearse for things like the Honeymooners XMas Party episodes because they required quick extensive costume changes as well as some other episodes. He needed to rehearse for the XMas Party episodes for those for the sake of the actors and actresses. Morley than says that 50 (now 80) years ago, Jackie wasn't even remotely famous.
They are now sitting at Jackie's bar. During this whole interview, Jackie is smoking. Jackie says that he went to Tiny Chateau, and he had this stale act of bad impersonations and bad jokes. He said that he was the first show and the crowd was all miners in boots. He was almost booed off and "Tiny" who Jackie claims was seven feet tall said: "Come here." He directed Jackie to a pay phone. Tiny called New York and he got Solly Shore on the phone and said: "How can you send me a BUM like this?" Tiny did this in front of the crowd. After that, Tiny and Jackie had 15 drinks. Now, it was time for the second show. He came out and he killed the crowd and did somersaults, told jokes that he never heard etc. The next night for the next show, he tried to remember what he had done. So he went to the bar and had 15 drinks and it would come to him.
Jackie than recounts that he went to Hollywood and earned $250 a week playing Gangster pictures. That pales in comparison to the money that the stars make today. He then recounts how he started on Calvacade of Stars and said that he didn't think he had a future in TV. Clips of the Poor Soul, Reggie Van Gleason III and Honeymooners are shown. Morley says that the Honeymooners was played for laughs and the comedy was rooted, if not in tragedy then in poverty. Jackie says that the Kramden apartment was fashioned like his old childhood home and that his mother had to work hard because Jackie's dad had left him when he was 8. She couldn't take care of the house well but she was a good mother. Jackie says that in the neighborhood that he lived in, almost everyone was a Kramden. He says that Ralph had schemes that fail and after that he would apologize. Morley asks why is the show as popular now as it was the first time around considerating that there were only (at the time) 39 episodes. Jackie: "I could give you, uh, 20 academic answers for that." Jackie says that it is funny. The golf clip from "The Golfer" is shown. Jackie says that Ed Norton is responsible for 90 percent of the show's success.
Morley says that Jackie wanted to do his show in Miami. Jackie says that he had a two-year contract. After the first year, he said that he didn't want to do it, and they didn't believe him. They thought he had a job somewhere else. So, Jackie talked them into getting him a big train and having it go down to Florida since he played golf down there and liked it so he thought he might as well do the show in Florida. He talked them into doing the show in Florida. The train was called "The Great Gleason Express." Various rare clips from that train ride are shown. He said that there were nice girls on the train but nothing happened. I don't think I have to say what he meant by that. Morley: "Was there a bar on that train?" Jackie: "The train was a bar." He mentioned that his show was in the Top 3 as far as ratings go. Clips of Jackie being welcomed to Miami are shown. Morley mentioned that Jackie had a 15 million dollar contract which pales in comparison to the money the stars make today. Jackie responds by saying that the first contract that he had with the CBS Head at the time, Mr. Paley, it was for $11 million. After that, he had a hangover and he was at the table with all the agents and they had lunch in Paley's room and he fell asleep. Paley said that iif that is his attitude, give it to him. The hangover worked according to Jackie. Jackie says that people should have two fortunes. One to live it up and one for security. He says that in TV, they used to do this. They would get you to paint yourself into a corner of luxury. Then, they would start to dictate. Because they knew that you feared losing that money. You would give up your independence and go along with them. It threatened your security and kudos to your ego. He learned all of this when he was a kid. Jackie: "And I knew when they were telling me, how great I was that they had something coming up next that they wanted, or wanted me to do."
Then they talk about "You're In The Picture." Jackie jokingly calls this show a beauty. A clip from that trainwreck of a show is shown. When Morley asks what possessed him to do it, Jackie says that there were perhaps 30 executives in CBS who thought it was the funniest thing that they seen in their life and Jackie agreed. Oh boy. Jackie: "We did it and crash." Jackie says that he wanted to apologize for that show. The network said no. Apparently, Jack didn't take no for an answer and a clip of him apologizing is shown. I wonder if the five fans of that show were upset at that moment since they weren't getting that show on that day. Back iin those days, they were no onscreen TV Guides that mentioned last minute changes. In this clip, Jack says that "You're In The Picture" laid without a doubt the biggest BOMB in the history of TV. Jackie mentioned that the critics hailed the apology. When asked how some show like that gets approved, Jackie responds by saying that CBS has talent in which when they say "yes" it sounds like "no" and "no" that sounds like "yes."
Morley says that he was the most successful man ever on TV and maybe even now you're past that but he then says that he still may be the most successful man on TV but he got no TV awards. Jackie: "II won the Tony on Broadway. I was nominated for an Oscar and nominated for an Emmy once. Jackie says that the business that he endeavors himself too shouldn't be some award. Jackie: "Everyone got an Emmy but me."
A rare clip presumably from the 80s is shown of Jackie and Marilyn on the golf cart. Morley (via VO): "Ralph never got out of Brooklyn but Jackie Gleason took his revenge by living very well by truly being the king of his castle." We then see Jackie back in his home. Jackie: "In the other room, the game room, we have a crap table from Vegas." Morley (via VO): "Jackie and Marilyn are rebuilding their home in Florida that was almost destroyed by a fire in '83." II should mention that Marilyn Gleason moved out of that house in 2002 and recently that house was put on the market. Back to the bar interview, Jackie says that if he was broke tomorrow, it would hurt for a while, but he would going back to the way he used to live. A clip of Jackie playing pool is shown. While playing pool, Morley asks him where did the nickname "The Great One" come from. Jackie: "Orson Welles called me that first and than Lucille Ball called me that. I'm really not that offended by it." Morley: "Did you ever believe it?" Jackie: "You saw me play pool, did you?" That's the end.
I was somewhat disappointed by this. I remember seeing other clips from this same interview that were not in the feature but featured in the 35th & 50th Anniversary specials. But, those same clips are in the flowing review so it's all good. Also, if you watched that horribly inaccurate Jackie Gleason bio film entitled "Gleason", the ending of that film plays homage to Morley and Gleason playing pool where the female interviewer takes Morley's place (even though Morley was alive and active) and Gleason was played by Brad Garrett. I guess Morley was too busy to be in this film.
Credit for all my reviews goes to Yahoo! Groups You’re A Riot, honeymooners.net, the Lost Episodes DVD Booklet, John K’s Book To The Moon & tvshowsondvd.com & Bill's Mooners Archives.