Episode Reviews: "Vacation At Fred's Landing"/"Love Letter" ('54 versions for each):

[Frank Gannucci]

Episode #63
TV: Half-hour (edited.)
VCR: Attached to "Teamwork Beats The Clock."
DVD: Attached to "Cupid" & Jackie Gleason's Honeybloopers Volume 2.

Alice comes home and Trixie follows her home. Alice says she had a rough day. She couldn't get the key to her apartment so she put down the groceries that she had in her hand and went down to the landlord and landlady. She complained about how her husband doesn't pick up the garbage that she usually puts by her front door. The landlord who just came in says: "What are you talking about? I picked up your garbage (Alice's groceries) right now." Alice had to run down to the garbage truck to get her groceries. What humiliation!

Alice and Trixie talk about the fun time they are going to have in Atlantic City and what things that they are going to do. Ralph comes home with stuff for the trip. Trixie leaves just as Ralph reveals his new fishing attire. Why? Because Ralph reveals that they are going to Fred's Landing. A place that is right near Lake Pookamoonshine (sp?). Alice wants to go to Atlantic City. Ralph: "Atlantic City? What type of place is that for a vacation?" Let's see. Atlantic City is a very popular and great place in southern New Jersey where there are a lot of hotels, casinos and beaches. A place where people can have a whole lot of fun. Fred's Landing is a place where people camp and fish and that's it. If I was a fisherman or not, I would go to Atlantic City not Fred's Landing. Ralph reveals the "great romantic story" that Fred's Laniding is attached to. A boy and a woman loved each other but they were on enemy teams. They both got killed and got buried with their arms around each other.

Alice wants to go to Atlantic City. She says she has had enough hard work to do around the house (cooking, cleaning etc.) She needs a vacation. Ralph says he has worked hard in his life too. He drives a bus all day and sees things like Central Park every day. He needs a vacation.

Ed Norton comes down in his sewer attire and says he is ready for the trip. Ralph says that he is ready for wading in the water. Ed says that he does that every day in the sewer so it won't be new to him. He reveals a very funny story about one time when he went fishing but he couldn't catch anything because since it was dark out, he didn't know he was fishing in a place that didn't even have water and fish. Ha! Ed plans on telling Trixie that they are going to Fred's Landing because he will say that Atlantic City is closed for the summer. Oh boy! Can you imagine how much money Atlantic City would lose if they closed for the summer. What a dumb move that would be. Ed leaves. Alice says that she doesn't want to go to Fred's Landing. Ralph: "All right. Stay home." Alice: "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction!"

On Vacation Day 1, Ralph and Ed have to push the car because the car is having engine trouble. The background in this scene is so not real. You can tell it's a fake background. Ralph and Ed try to fix the car by Ed getting behind the driver seat while Ralph fumbles with the engine. This is a funny scence as Ed accidently "electricutes" Ralph. After a number of mishaps, Ralph starts yelling at Ed. Ralph: "You were just trying to help me? You almost eletircuted me. Why don't you help me out some more? Why don't yo run me over with the car?" Ed: "The car won't start." Ha! Everyone thinks that they are lost. Ed says no. Ed: "You see this balck dot here? That's New York City. That is where we started from. Then we go through the Lincoln Tunnel. This black dot here is Jersey City. This black dot is Bayoone." Ralph: "Bayoone is moving and that's an ant." Ed: "Well, let's follow the ant. He looks like he knows where he is going." They eventually met a man who helps out by fixing the car. He fixes the engine. Then he leaves. Ralph and Ed go back in the car to start up the engine. The engine isn't fixed at all. Ralph and E wind up having to push the car again as Ed starts to sing: "Give me the road to..." Ralph (yells to Ed): "SHUT UP!"

At Fred's Landing, Trixie and Alice are very tired of having to cook and do all the other things that Ralph and Ed tell them to do while they go out fishing. I would love to see a fishing scene with Ralph and Ed. Ralph and Ed come back with this "big" catch that Ralph had a tug-of-war with. The "big" fish is very small. Ralph: "He lost weight during the fight." Sure Ralph. Ralph and Ed want to get some sleep before dinner. Ralph (to the girls): "You don't know how hard it is to fish. That's work. You two are lucky to have nothing to do around here." Ralph and Ed go into their respective tents which are very small. Alice (to Ralph): "One of these days, pow right in the kisser." Ralph: "What did you say Alice?" Alice: "Nothing." Question: How could Ralph not hear Alice when Alice is a few feet from him? Alice and Trixie cook up a plan to get Ralph and Ed to leave here. Anohter question: How could Ralph an Ed not hear of Alice and Trixie's plan when they are a few feet from them? Ralph and Ed must go to sleep very fast. Alice blows smoke in Ralph's tent. Ralph wakes up. Alice says to Ralph that she is cooking. Ralph: "Watch out! I'm not on the menu." Alice "falls" over Ralph's feet and in the process pours water over Ralph's legs. That doesn't work. Alice: "Look out Trixie! There's a snake!" Ralph wakes up. Alice: "You msut of scared the snake away. They would make another reference to Fred's Landing and a snake being in a tent in "The Worry Wart." Ralph: "First you try to drown me, then cook me, now you want me to go back in there with a snake?" Boy, Ralph is overeacting. Alice: "We ae living like the Indians did." Ralph: "Well, if this is how the Indians lived, now wonder they are the vanishing race." Ha!

Alice and Trixie leave as Ralph and Ed say they are miserable here too. Ed: "Let's leave before the girls get back." Ralphy concoct a plan to get them to leave here. There is a bear skin rug in the lodge that Ralph will use to scare the girls into leaving.

A "bear" comes near Ed and Ed thinks that it is Ralph. It is so obvious that the "bear" is not a real one. Ralph is behind Ed and sees the bear. Ralph tells Ed that he is not the bear that is in front of him. Ed is afraid. The girls see the "bear" and get scared. Ralph says that they are leaving and apologizes to Alice for dragging her here. Alice says: "We still have a lot of time to see Atlantic City!" They hug and kiss.

Episode #66
TV: This episode has not been seen in syndication but TV Land aired it two or three times in 2004 just after it was discovered by Georgia University.
DVD: MPI "plans" on releasing this episode in the future.

A lot of people didn't know that this episode had actually existed before Georgia University discovered the Jackie Gleason Show episode that this episode was a part of. A few people, like John K. did know because his book "To The Moon" was written in 2003. This was the only lost episode that was truly lost for 50 years until it was discovered by the University of Georgia in 2004. This lost episode skit was then shown in it's entirity on TV Land in October of 2004 along with the Jackie Gelason Show episode that it
was "attached" to. The first time TV Land aired it was on 10/16/04. Fifty eyars to the day the episode was first shown on TV. The channel made sure that the skit was shown in it's entirity but a lot of things had to be edited out not only for time but also for other things. A message by someone on this message board that was written in 2004 said this:

"perhaps someone can answer this question-what is it with TV Land? this is the 2nd time in recent memory (or not so recent) that the opening credits to a tv show have been butchered or altered. Yeah, back in the 50's, a cigarette company sponsored the show. Big friggin deal. and then to have some "clown" who supposedly represents TV Land come out before the show and give some lame a$$ reasons why they did not show it the way it was 50 years ago was ludicris (sorry about the spelling). So it was a cigarette company....oh yeah, wait, that is not politically correct in the 21st century. Why would you want to rip up a piece of history. I guess I ask the same question about the lost episode of the honeymooners. Didnt Oldsmobile sponsor the show way back when? Somehow i suspect that those opening credits still exist. Would it have killed TV Land to show it with everything intact and uncut. Once again, that would have been a real piece of history."

Um, I think the reason why they got rid of the sponsor plugs was because that they didn't want to get in trouble by the FCC (highly unlikely that they would have because this episode was done in the 50s) as well as their was a chance that the common fan would get confused if they saw no commercial that mentioned the sponsor.

The show opens up with a fireworks display, but then immediately cuts to Jackie Gleason talking. He introduces Ray Bloch. Jackie: "I am glad to have your noodle with us this week. It's Marcaroni Week. That is the new crew harcut he has. Only trouble is that the crew bailed out." Jackie then mentions how they shouldn't make fun of Ray. According to Jackie, Ray did a lot of things for his wife who was pregnant with their first kid. Jackie: "Finally, when they got to the hospital, he said: 'You sure you want to go through with this?'" Jackie mentions how one of the band members just got married to a beautiful wife that was 400 pounds. (She wasn't fat. Just very tall.) Jackie: "How about some traveling music Ray?" Ray plays traveling music as Jackie dances to the other side of the stage just in time for TV Land to go to commercial with a commercial bumper made just for this special episode.

Jack Lescoulie comes on and says that now is the time for the audience to see Ralph & Alice Kramden. Jack: "When the Kramdens got married, they swore that they would count to ten before they got angry. The Kramdens have now been married for 14 years and so far they have counted up to 8,460,320." With that, the episode begins.

Alice borrows a cookbook from Trixie and in it finds a love letter that Ed once wrote to Trixie. Alice leaves it on the icebox and Ralph later comes in. Trixie is hiding Ralph's birthday present behind his back. She leaves. Ralph asks Alice if she kenw anything about it. Alice says that it is nothing. Ralph: "Alice you don't hold nothing behind your back. You hold it out front so everyone can see it." Alice tells Ralph it's his birthday present and later tricks her into
saying the present, which is a belt. Wait a minute. This episode 10/16/54. The remake was shown on Nov. 24, 1956 and "Pardon My Glove" was shown on Mar. 17, 1956. In both episodes, Alice prepares for Ralph's birthday.
Also, in "Battle of The Sexes", Ralph is a Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan.
20) & in "Stars Over Flatbush", Ralph is a Taurus (April 21-May 21). In two fo the Color episodes, Ralph's birthday is in October. Wow! Ralph: "Pretty small gift." Alice: "Not with what you have to wrap it around." Ralph finds the letter. Ralph (reading it): "'I love you! I love you! Signed: Your lover. P.S.: I love you!'" Naturally Ralph thinks that Alice is seeing another man. Ed comes in and Ralph reads the letter to him. Ed: "That is sweet Ralph. Who are you going to send it too?" Ralph: "I am not sending it to anybody." Ed: "Oh, somebody sent it to you." Ralph tells Ed the whole situation and Ed tries to find out who wrote it (he doesn't know that he himself wrote it) Ed tries to think about it but says he will think better when he eats. He eats what is on Ralph's table. Ralph then thinks that since Alice is seeing another man and giving him what he wants for dinner, she must be poising him. Ed: "The joke is on her because you're not eating the food. I am." Ed then worries that he would die of the poison so Ralph tells him to relax. Alice leaves and Ralph questions where she is going. She says to the store and leaves. Ed volutneers to follow her. Ed: "I will be a regualr human blood hound. I will follow her to the ends of the earth." Ed leaves and comes back a few seconds late saying he lost her on the stairs. Oh gee.

Jack Loscoulie welcomes KWTV-TV in Oklahoma City for joining CBS. He recaps what we saw so far. He introduces the next scene. Strange music plays.

Ralph & Ed go to a Mrs. Paterson (a letter analyst at a newspaper). Mrs. Paterson enters to applause. Ralph tries to explain the whole situation but twists his facts. He says that his friend's wife and not his wife is going out with some other guy and when his friend catches the two, he is going to fracture the traitor's skull. The analyst sees the letter and says that the writer is rude, going through life in a sloppy manner and not to bright. The things she notices are that he dotted a T, didn't close his O's and he crossed a L. Ralph: "We know that he is stupid, rude and sloppy. Ed says he knows a guy but when he gives him more thought, he finds out that he can't write. the analyst says she is busy and will analyze the letter later and mail it to Ralph. Ed volunteers to wirte down the address. D'oh! Big surprise coming for Ralph. Ed starts to write down the address but he does his usual warming up which causes Ralph to slap him on the back and yell: "COME ON!" Yeah, Ralph just embarrassed Ed in front of Mrs. Paterson. Ed writes down the address. Ralph & Ed leave. Mrs. Paterson sees the handwriting of the address and the letter and knows it was Norton who wrote the letter. She brings in Ralph and tells him the whole story. Ralph doesn't believe it and says he will open Ed's head. Mrs. Paterson says that Alice may not care for Ed and give her the benefit of a doubt. Ralph: "If they do like each other, they are going to have a lot of fun on the moon." Ralph leaves.

A camera zooms in on a Glea Girl. She says: "Now welcome back to the second half of the Jackie Gleason Show and away we go." Jack Lescoulie comes on and recaps what we saw in the last scene. He introduces us to the next scene.

At home, Ralph is pacing. Ralph: "Mrs. Paterson is nuts. She is nuts. How could I even accuse my best friend. Norton, my buddy. One of the finest creatures that was ever put on this earth and besides how could Alice go for a bum like him." Alice comes out and Ralph slips into his rather loud PJs. Ralph wants to have a night alone just the two of them. Alice has other plans. She wants to go out shopping. She leaves. Ralph: "She ain't getting away with it. Ralph puts on his cap and leaves but realizes he still has his PJs on so he goes back in to change and while still in his PJs, rips his uniform's pants.

Jack Lescoulie mentions the Park Sheraton Hotel. Jack: "Jackie told me to tell you of an important date. Nov. 15. The Department of Defense says that Christmas packages must be mailed to Service people overseas by Nov. 15. Don't forget. Mail them early." Jack recaps some of what we saw so far and introduces us to the next scene.

We can hear the audience laugh already. They were probably laughing at how ridiculous the curtains in the Norton apartment looks. (Obviously, we couldn't see the real colors of the curtains). This was also on of the first times the "living/dining room" area of the Norton apartment was shown.
Ralph talks to Trixie upstairs and explains the letter. She naturally doesn't believe it. Ralph reads it to her. Ed & Alice come in just as Ralph says the "I love you, I love you, I love you" part of the letter to Trixie. Ed assumes that Ralph is seeing his wife and vice-versa. Ed challenges Ralph to a fight and Ralph "punches" Ed. It is so obvious that Ralph didn't punch Ed. Alice explaines to Ralph that Ed helped her pick out Ralph's birthday gift. Trixie & Alice explain the whole truth about the love letter. Ralph apolgizes to everyone. Ralph & Alice kiss as the traditonal music that accompanies the kiss plays. It continues playing as the curtain closes and Jackie comes out. This is one of those rare times we get to hear the full version of that song. Jackie: "That is the first kiss that I got from Mrs. Meadows this season. She hasn't lost her stroke. Ummm BOY!" Jackie introduces the whole cast. I think he accidentally calls Zamah Cunningham (the person who played Mrs. Paterson) Donna McCunningham. The Jackie Gleason Show theme song plays as they go off stage. The credits roll. If you listen to the theme song music as the cast goes off stage and when the credits roll, there is a jump in the audio. Obviously, something was edited out. As the credit rolls along, the Gleason girls walk to the camera separately. The announcer then reads EVERYTHING on the credit roll but also adds the lines I think (since his voice was hard to hear): "Trixie was played by Joyce Randolph. Gowns by Harvey Barry. Flowers by the Lexington Flower Shop. Furs by Writhers. Gloves by Wairright. Jewelry by Charles Rose. (unintelliigable) by Judy Bye."

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