Reviews: "Honeybloopers" (aka "Funniest Moments") Vol. 2/"Wit & Wisdom of Ed Norton":

[Frank Gannucci]

Reviews: "Honeybloopers" (aka "Funniest Moments") Vol. 2 & "Wit & Wisdom of Ed Norton".

VHS: Not attached to anything.
DVD: Attached to "Cupid" & "Vacation At Fred's Landing" (1954 version.) On The Very Best of The Honeymooners DVD, it is attached to "Honeybloopers" (aka "Funniest Moments") Volume 1, "Wit & Wisdom of Ed Norton" & "Letter To The Boss" (1953 version).

The Very Best DVD calls this "Funniest Moments Vol. 2" while the other DVD says "Honeybloopers Vol. 2."

The clip fest starts off with a scene between Ralph & Alice's Mom. The announcer says that some of the funniest Honeymooners moments were the ones that were ad-libbed on they fly. For whatever reason, they show Ralph & Alice arguing about Ralph going to the baseball game rather than going to a wedding from "Game Called On Account of Marriage." The announcer mentions that even when things go as planned, there could be trouble like people slipping and sliding during a Rum Dum sketch where Rum Dum was throwing pies. I bet the people had some fun there. Another slip up clip is when Ralph slipped on eggs during "Game Called On Account of Marriage" and he covers for it by saying to Alice: "You and your slippery eggs" as well as Art slipping on paint during the painting scene during "My Fair Landlord." They show a clip where Ralph dressed up as either Fenwick Babbit or the Poor Soul moving things around. During this time, the announcer mentions the time Jackie ran offstage at the end of a sketch fell and fractured his leg. Yet, weeks later, he was back on the air on crutches. Then they show a clip in which Jackie does a time-filler where he tries to complete a dance that has a flip in the end and after two tries, he does the flip unsuccessfully. Another time-filler was when Jackie does impersonations like Peter Lorre when he asks for information and Humphrey Bogart. He also does a dance at the end to the crowd's approval. He tells jokes between dancing. The announcer mentions that Gleason was a good staller and he worked this into Honeymooners sketches. Clips of Ralph stalling to talk are shown like times when Ralph is apologizing to Alice.

The announcer mentions that other Gleason sketches required some quick-thinking. Like the time when Gleason plugged Mother-Fletcher's All-Purpose Glue. Gleason broke a plate earlier in the show and glued it together with Mother-Fletcher's All Purpose Glue. The full clip is not on the DVD versions, but it can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGrbwDR0dbc. Considerating that the beginning of the video clip is from Vol. 1, I think that this clip was originally from Vol. 1 and not 2. Why? I don't know. Anyway, he tests the strength of the glue by bringing out real horses that walk around a bit. Jackie has men tying both of their tails to opposite ends of the plate via pieces of rope and when the horses leave, rope slips off of one horse while a tail somehow falls off the other one. The announcer says that the more props and scenery you have to deal with, the greater your chances for trouble like a door all of a sudden opening during a Poor Soul sketch that forces a stage hand to close it as well as the great moment during "The Next Champ" where Dynamite Moran slams the Kramden door so hard, that the Kramden walls separate. Announcer: "We knew that their place was falling apart, but..." Props were another problem because they occasionally broke in pieces. Like the time during a Rudy sketch, where a big mallet broke when he tried to make a hole in wall. Rudy covered for it by saying: "Very cheap equipment." During that same scene, Rudy now has a cat that decided not to follow the script and go through the same hole that Rudy made. The announcer mentions that props would attack the performers like when Jackie accidentally hit his head on a piece of wood that acted like a slide for the lemon machine where the Kramdens were rehearsing to go on "Beat The Clock" during "Teamwork Beats The Clock." Yes, that same sketch from Vol. 1 was shown again. They show another clip in which either the Poor Soul or Fenwick Babbit was moving things around. Announcer: "As head of production, Jackie had a million things on his mind at once. Backstage, he would shout: 'Everyman for himself.' That worked for Jackie because he would make the most out of any embarrassing situation and always in character. That was one of the reasons why the Honeymooners still hold up. They were always played with dead seriousness no matter what happened." They show a clip from "Move Uptown" where Zelma Cunningham accidentally bumps into Gleason which Ralph, as Jackie, replies: "Did you get a license for that tank yet." Yes, that same clip from Vol. 1 was played again. They also play a Reggie clip where Reggie misses the golf ball which causes him to say: "Pretty bad." The announcer says that Gleason kept his composure no matter what was going around him and sometimes, that was frustrating like during one Joe segment, he directs the segment on-camera by telling an off-screen stagehand to remove an unneeded prop in song. The words? "Pull it off my boy, take it all. Thank you." Only problem. The stagehand removed one prop too many which causes Gleason to say in song to him what he did. The words? "Years rolled on; you took two off instead of one." To the unseen Mr. Denahy: "You got crazy people coming to this joint. They walk out with tables, chairs." The announcer mentions that sometimes Jackie had to cover for people behind the camera. One time the writers were working on the final touches for a sketch that was already ON THE AIR. Talk about writing on the fly. Jackie padded for time by doing the Reggie dance. Announcer: "Because Jackie was the boss and it was live TV, he was able to push some material past the sensors." They showed a clip from "Game Called On Account of Marriage" where Ralph asks: "Why would a guy need $2 right away down in the sewer?" Ed: "Today is pay day and the fellows got die going on around there...well, you might call it a floating crap game." Because the show was live, it had a lot of drawbacks that required Jackie editing on his feet as well as doing other people's lines. They showed a great Reggie sketch where because the show was running into a time problem, Jackie had to skip dialog as well as do other people's lines. The clip? Reggie telling people to go to the punch bowl and then back to the dinner seats. All the people follow him each time. At the end of that sketch, Jackie, still dressed as Reggie, says with a smile that indicates that he is laughing: "Boy, when they tell us to do a scene fast, we do." The announcer says that the wildest, most improvised Honeymooners still around is "Teamwork Beats The Clock." They show a clip where Ralph gets a face full of foam (Alice had to spray a ball with foam in a can. The ball had to go in a net that Ralph had in his teeth.) The next clip is a scene that had the most confusion and fast thinking remedies. The scene: The climax from "Game Called On Account of Marriage." Jackie had to tell the actress that played Sally his sketch (Patti Pope Petrie) in character not to come down the ladder because the ladder was not safe and it was already leaning on a jittery flat that was far from steady. That moment almost caused that actress to almost quit acting. This whole scene was shown in front of 80 million viewers. Pattie Pope Petrie coincidentally in real-life was married to George Petrie, who played her fiancé Stanley in this sketch. That is the end.

VHS: Not attached to anything.
DVD Attached to "Manager of The Baseball Team" ('53 version and not the '57 version like it says on the box), "Teamwork Beats The Clock" & "Quiz Show" (1952 version). On The Very Best of The Honeymooners DVD, it is attached to "Honeybloopers" (aka "Funniest Moments") Vol. 1 & 2 & "Letter To The Boss" (1953 version).

The subtitle to this is: "Diary of A Full-Grown Nut." This should not be confused with the 1970s rumored-to-be-made TV sketch entitled: "Incredible World of Ed Norton."

The first clip they show is from the first few minutes of "A Little Man Who Wasn't There." Announcer: "Ladies and gentlemen, meet Edward L. Norton. A man described by Ralph as a mental case, a space cadet and a full-grown nut. Ralph is right of course but that is why Ed Norton is so loved. In a world filled with smart people, don't we need a man whose mind works sideways?" They show a clip from the Hypnotist in which Ralph and Ed need to use a phone booth but a lady (who unbeknownst to them is Alice) is in there. They need to get her out. Ed suggests going next door; calling this lady by saying she needs to come home ASAP. She leaves and they come back here to use the booth. Another clip is from "Expectant Dad" where Ed says if he gets a son, he will send him off to college and then get him a sewer job because the sewer accepts college grads. Other clips that show Ed Norton's stupidity are shown.

Announcer: "Ralph is convinced that their is a straight-jacked with Ed's name on it. If so, it better be water-proofed and vulcanized. Ed Norton is smart. Sure, his brain might be water-logged from working in the sewer too long but he is a regular subterranean Socrates. Clips are shown like him singing "Rag Mopp" while cleaning from "Battle of The Sexes." Ralph sings and dances to that song too. Announcer: "It won't show up on an IQ score, but when it comes to dealing with Ralph, Ed is a genius. Though Ralph can con Ed into one scheme after another, Ed does it out of loyalty and not stupidity. While Ralph gets Ed's money, he gets other things that he didn't bargain for. Like wisecracks that shatter his bloated ego and shut his big mouth." The clip where Ed runs away when Ralph tries to fight him by climbing onto a doctor's desk from "A Little Man Who Wasn't There" is shown. Announcer: "It takes a man with a sharp tongue and wit to cut a man like Ralph down to size. Norton is a master at it. A clip from "Brother-In-Law is played where Ralph & Ed are in the broken-down hotel. Ralph: "When the girls get in here, I want them to get a good impression. So, keep your mouth shut." Ed: "If you want them to get a good impression, keep the door shut." Other clips in which Ed makes wisecracks to Ralph (like making fun of Ralph's weight) are shown. Other clips that showed Ed's stupidity are shown after this.

Announcer: "It is only a theory mind you, but remembers Samson the great biblical hero who got his strength from his long hair? Maybe Ed's wisdom can be traced to his diet which includes all the major food groups as well as the minor ones too. Alice has got it all wrong. It isn't Ralph who is eating them out of house and home. It is Ed." Various clips that showed Ed's big appetite and stupidity are shown as well as a clip from "Battle of The Sexes" where Ed says that Ralph is wasting away to a blimp. Another clip is where Ed takes either an apple or an orange from the Kramden's ice box is shown.

Announcer: "When you consider some of the dumb things that Ed has done, you have to wonder if Bensonhurst, Trixie, the Kramdens, the Raccoon Lodge and the New York Sewer System might be better off if someone chained Ed to an ice box to keep him out of trouble." A clip from "Two Tickets To The Fight" is shown where Ralph shows how Carmine ducks when someone tries to him by asking Ed to punch him (Ralph). Ed "hits" Ralph which knocks Ralph down. You can tell that Ed didn't hit Ralph. Other clips that cause Ralph pain are shown like Ed taking his time making his bed in the Kramden kitchen from "Peacemaker" are shown as well as Ed & Ralph making notes during their feud in "Kramden Vs. Norton." Another clip is from "Move Uptown" where Ed wants to make a toast to Ralph by using Ralph's wine and when they make the toast, Ed says: "Down the hatch." Another clip is from "A Weighty Problem" where Ed says during a Raccoon meeting for cutting the Raccoon deficit by cutting the dues that no one pays from $2 a month to a $1 a month. Ed: "It will be cutting the deficit in half." Another clip is from "Hair-Raising Tale" where Ed & Ralph try making their hair-restoring formula. They mispronounce the names on the bottles but only Ed mispronounces Olive oil as oliveoil. Ralph corrects him. Another clip is from "Two Tickets To The Fight" where Ed mentioned that he was in the Golden Gloves. He mentions his training regimen. Ed did so bad that he was the only fighter ever carried INTO the ring. Another funny clip from "One Big Happy Family" where Ed accidentally "electrocutes" Ralph by asking Ralph to put his hand on a knife that is attached to a screw inside the toaster while Ed plugs it in.

Announcer: "No doubt Ed's vivid imagination and corkscrew logic have been fine-tuned on the job. When getting hit on the head by a manhole is an occupational hazard and your work day consists of fighting high-tides on Madison Avenue and sending messages to your co-workers in bottles and fixing leaks under the Tunnel of Love in Coney Island, you are bound to develop a subterranean way of thinking. A clip from "Peacemaker" is shown where Ed says he can't sleep in the sewer due Ordinance 420, Section 5, Paragraph B which says that the sewer can't be used for personal pleasure. (I guess that that law got repealed because in "Songs & Witty Sayings", Ralph says that every time he tries to meet Ed for lunch at Ed's manhole, he hears a party down there.) They showed a clip from "Teamwork Beats The Clock" where Ed mentions that his father and grandfather have been working in the sewers. Ed: "I guess there has been a Norton underground ever since there have been sewers. Another clip from "Songwriters" where they have to stay up late to make a song despite the fact that they have jobs in the morning. Ralph: "If I fall asleep, I will run into something." Ed: "If I fall asleep, I will drown."

Announcer: "Norton may save his best zingers for Ralph, but Trixie is usually next in the line of fire. Ed loves her of course but every once and a while, he can't resist taking a page out of Ralph's playbook and play King of The Castle." A clip from "Cottage For Sale" is shown where Ralph says: "I didn't talk Ed into marrying you, did I?" Trixie: "Ed, did you hear what he said?" Ed: "He got us there. He didn't." Another clip from "Peacemaker" is shown where the Nortons are fighting. Ed says that he could have married Cora Brendsetter. Ed: "Her father is a PRETTY big man down town. If I married her, he would have transferred me from the sewers and I would have been driving my own garbage truck." A clip from "The Hypnotist" is shown where Ralph tries to butter up Alice to letting him have the money to go on the Raccoon Convention. Ralph: "Do you know what a fool I am being out all hours of the night, when I have a beautiful wife like this at home." Ed: "At least, I got a good excuse."

As Ed Norton is playing pinball from "Finders Keepers" is shown, the announcer says: "Ed knows that fun and relaxation are essential for good mental health and a great way to get away from the wife too. That is why activities, like the Mambo, are an essential part of Ed's life. A clip from "Goodbye Aunt Ethel" is shown where Ed replaces Fred and Ethel's romantic music on the record player with loud big band music. A clip where Ed watched the Mickey Mouse Club in "My Fair Landlord" is shown. Another clip where a drowsy Ralph & Ed refuse to go home when their wives say they have to because of how tired they (the men) by putting money in the jukebox and expecting the wives to dance with them. They are so drowsy that Ralph & Ed dance together. The wives don't. The audience applauds.

Announcer: "There is no doubt about it. For once in his life, Ralph is right about one thing. Ed is a mental case, a space cadet and a full-grown nut. He is also the best pal a guy ever had, a great neighbor, a loyal Raccoon, a pretty good bowler and the finest man to ever work in the sewer. What could we be missing except maybe?" Ed (looking in a mirror): "Norton, you are a doll." They show the credits. The credits begin with: "Dedicated to Art Carney. Thanks for the laughs." On top of the credits, they play a scene from "Battle of The Sexes" where Ralph & Ed sing and dance to "Ragg Mopp" that ends with Ed getting the dust out of the mop by putting the mop outside the window and shaking it which causes the dust to fly and Ralph to cough. The credits say that this special was made in 1992. When the people who bought the 2002 DVD that has this clip fest, I wonder if they knew if this clip fest was released 10 years prior. The credits also say that Maljack Productions Incorporated made this.