REVISED Episode Review: "Honeymooners Christmas Party" ('52 version) - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Frank Gannucci · 03-16-2007, 02:39 PM

I originally did this review a few weeks ago, only to find out that it was somewhat inaccurate. "The audio for this entire show is available on record and features appearances from Patricia Morrison, Phil Napoleon and His Memphis 5, and Frankie Avalon." (Credit to www.angelfire.com/ny5/honeymooners/Stillost.html.)

Episode #18
DVD: MPI may release this episode in 2007.

This episode is the second version of the "Honeymooners XMas Party." I haven't seen it but I have seen the '53 version, so I assuming that it's the same only with different guest stars. I am only assuming that the order in which they made an appearance is correct.

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 Napoloean'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 him 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 relizes 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, Patricia Morrison.The
crowd applauds for the guest star. She sings some songs. Joe The
Bartender comes in (also played by Gleason). Of course after hearing
Joe speak, Alice, Ed and Trixie don't come up with tht thought that
him 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 an dbecomes 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, Pat and Ed
leaves. Trixie: "Now that Ed is gone, we can relax."

The poor soul comes up (played by Jackie Gleason in panotime) comes
up and Alice gives him a real present. Once again, Alice and Trixie
don't even think that him and Ralph look alike. He gives her
the "diamond" and leaves.

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 n the birnk. Gee, in "TV
or Not TV", Alice says that the Kramdens never got a TV. 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 him 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 taling about would start to carry reruns of
the Honeymooners four years later and hascarried 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, destroys the television set, and departs.
Alice tells Trixie that it doesn't really matter, since she just had
the set on trial.

Ed Norton comes in and brings in Frankie Avalon. He sings some songs. After that both Ed and Frank go down to Krauss' to sing. 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 Phil Napoleon and His Memphis 5 come in. Phil gives everyone gifts. After that, Phil and his band VERY LOUDLY play a song. Try doing that in real life in an apartment, and you will probably get a TON of complaints (and maybe get kicked out too.) After that, Franklie and his band leave. 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
kocked 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 ornage 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 tis episode since this
episode (like all the other ones in the 50's) were done live.

Credit also goes to Yahoo! Groups You're A Riot!

03-16-2007, 02:39 PM	#1
Frank Gannucci Member Forum Star Join Date: Mar 05, 2007 Posts: 16,068	REVISED Episode Review: "Honeymooners Christmas Party" ('52 version) I originally did this review a few weeks ago, only to find out that it was somewhat inaccurate. "The audio for this entire show is available on record and features appearances from Patricia Morrison, Phil Napoleon and His Memphis 5, and Frankie Avalon." (Credit to www.angelfire.com/ny5/honeymooners/Stillost.html.) Episode #18 DVD: MPI may release this episode in 2007. This episode is the second version of the "Honeymooners XMas Party." I haven't seen it but I have seen the '53 version, so I assuming that it's the same only with different guest stars. I am only assuming that the order in which they made an appearance is correct. 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 Napoloean'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 him 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 relizes 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, Patricia Morrison.The crowd applauds for the guest star. She sings some songs. Joe The Bartender comes in (also played by Gleason). Of course after hearing Joe speak, Alice, Ed and Trixie don't come up with tht thought that him 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 an dbecomes 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, Pat and Ed leaves. Trixie: "Now that Ed is gone, we can relax." The poor soul comes up (played by Jackie Gleason in panotime) comes up and Alice gives him a real present. Once again, Alice and Trixie don't even think that him and Ralph look alike. He gives her the "diamond" and leaves. 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 n the birnk. Gee, in "TV or Not TV", Alice says that the Kramdens never got a TV. 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 him 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 taling about would start to carry reruns of the Honeymooners four years later and hascarried 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, destroys the television set, and departs. Alice tells Trixie that it doesn't really matter, since she just had the set on trial. Ed Norton comes in and brings in Frankie Avalon. He sings some songs. After that both Ed and Frank go down to Krauss' to sing. 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 Phil Napoleon and His Memphis 5 come in. Phil gives everyone gifts. After that, Phil and his band VERY LOUDLY play a song. Try doing that in real life in an apartment, and you will probably get a TON of complaints (and maybe get kicked out too.) After that, Franklie and his band leave. 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 kocked 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 ornage 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 tis episode since this episode (like all the other ones in the 50's) were done live. Credit also goes to Yahoo! Groups You're A Riot!