Honeymooners Episode Reviews: “New Year’s Eve Party” & “The Man From Space.”:

[Frank Gannucci]

Honeymooners Episode Reviews: “New Year’s Eve Party” & “The Man From Space.”:

With New Year's upon us, I thought I would post these reviews.

"New Year's Eve Party":

Episode #66
TV: In 2019, Decades channel started showing this episode in one half hour format with the musical numbers at the end edited out. In the mid 1980s, this was part of the TV version of the special called "Season's Greetings From The Honeymooners" where it is attached to "Santa & The Bookies" ('53 version) & "Honeymooners XMas Party" ('53 version.)
VCR: Attached to "Two-Family Car." On the Readers Digest VHS tapes, it is attached to “Letter To The Boss” (’53), “Norton Moves In” & “Pickles.” On the home video version of "Season's Greetings From The Honeymooners", it is attached to "Santa & The Bookies" ('53 version) & "Honeymooners XMas Party" ('53 version.) On one of the Readers Digest tapes, it is attached to “Letter To The Boss” (‘53 version) & “Norton Moves In.”
DVD: Attached to "Champagne and Caviar", "Finger Man", "Two-Family Car" & "My Man Norton." On the Restored Lost Episodes DVD Box Set, it is attached to "Game Called On Account of Marriage", "Brother-in-Law" & "Peacemaker." On the Lost Episodes DVD Box Set it is attached to “Finger Man”, “Honeymooners Xmas Party” (’53 version), “This Is Your Life”, “Santa & The Bookies” (’53 version) & “Cottage For Sale.” On the home video version of "Season's Greetings From The Honeymooners", it is attached to "Santa & The Bookies" ('53 version) & "Honeymooners XMas Party" ('53 version.)
Air Date: Sat. 12/26/53

According to John K’s Book “To The Moon”, this episode is entitled: “New Year’s Eve Party with The Dorseys.”

I do remember in the 1997 or so, searching through an online TV guide and finding out that the WPIX was going to air this episode right before New Years Eve 1997 in two parts. I would understand it if WPIX didn't air it considerating that the last part of this episode is nothing but musical numbers and they cost $$$ to get the rights to air them. But like I said, in 2019, Decades channel started showing this episode in one half hour format with the musical numbers at the end edited out.

I will also point out that when Honeymooners XMas Party" ('53 version) was released on VHS where it is attached to "Forgot To Register", MPI decided to put most of the video package in red. For the video that has "New Year's Eve Party" where it is attached to "Two-Family Car", they put that video package in green. I guess they did that since that they are holiday episodes, the might as well decorate the packages with holiday colors. I like that. They didn't do the same thing with the DVDs though.

Alice is home after exchanging Christmas gifts. Trixie comes by and she doesn't know what gift she exchanged that she got from Ed. It was wrapped in a newspaper. Alice explains to Trixie that she found a briefcase filled with music and the music is the Dorsey brothers. She explains that last year Ralph supposedly brought those brothers back together after their sibling rivalry. She called the Hotel Statler (where the brothers were playing) and they were told that one of their managers or somebody was going to come by to pick it up.

Trixie then tells Alice that they haven't made any New Year's Eve plans. Trixie: "What did you wear for New Year's last year?" Alice: "Slacks. We painted the kitchen." Gee, that's a GREAT way to spend New Year's Eve. Ralph and Ed come home and Ralph says that he doesn't know how long he can go on driving a bus. Ralph: "I think I will quit my job and write a book." Oh boy! Ralph tells a story on how a man came on board the bus and just revealed that he just became a father so he handed out cigars to every passenger. He said to one guy, can't you see the "No smoking" sign. He says with all the smoke, who can see the sign. Ha! Alice and Trixie go upstairs and Ralph immediately thinks they are starting with that New Year's Eve business. Ralph complains that wasting one week's pay on one night's entertainment. Ralph: "One year, she insisted on only the best. The most expensive nightclubs, riding all night in a taxicab." Ed: "How much did it cost you?" Ralph: "I don't know. I didn't take her." What a great husband, huh? Ralph and Ed will think of a plan to aggravate the wives so much that they won't take them out on New Year's Eve. Ed: "That's fine. Soon, I will bring Trixie down and we can have an Australian Tag Team Match." Ralph says that Alice will use his paycheck money and make it up by costing some of Ralph's lunch. Ralph: "You know what's going to happen Norton? One afternoon, I will get a fainting spell and I will have to be sent to the hospital and Alice won't even visit me." Alice comes in. Ralph: "One of these days Alice, one of these days, pow right in the kisser. That is for not visiting me at the hospital." Ed leaves.

Ralph tries everything to aggravate Alice but to no avail. He says that they are not going out for New Year's. Alice says that they should. Ralph goes into the bedroom. A knock on the door is heard and it's Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. The audience applauds for the two guest stars. They said that they didn't have trouble finding the place because all they had to do was follow the sound of Ralph's voice. Ha! Alice gets Ralph to come in. Ralph comes out and continues to yell at Alice until he sees the brothers and acts all nice. Ed comes in and says that Trixie won, they are going out for New Year's. Trixie hit Ed on the head to win the argument. The brothers invite every one for New Year's. Ralph likes it, especially when it's free. The brothers leave and Alice said that she thought that Ralph couldn't stand the smoke and the loud noises of night clubs. Ralph says that he didn't but he didn't want to upset their feelings. Freddie Muller comes in and says that Ralph has to work on New Year's. Ed: "Don't be upset. If you work on New Year's, you are bound to get Saint Valentine's Day off." Boy that makes A LOT of sense.

The next day at the office, Ralph comes by and Mr. Marshall says he got sixth calls asking for a night off. One of the workers actually worked on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Boy, what a team player. They can't have a night off unless they are pretty sick. Ralph feigns an illness. His back is hurting him. Mr. Marshall believes Ralph and asks him to take the night off. Ralph leaves and Mr. Marshall calls his secretary and says he and his wife are going to the Hotel Statler to see the Dorseys. Oh no!

At the Hotel Statler, the Marshalls come in. Mrs. Marshall goes to the bathroom. Mr. Marshall reads a newspaper. The Kramdens and Nortons arrive and the girls go to the bathroom to put on their lipstick. Ralph thinks it's dumb because he and Ed will want to kiss the girls at midnight and then the girls will say: "You will smear my lipstick." Ralph says what will the hotel be without all of these fancy things." Ed: "Your apartment." Ha!

The boys go to read a newspaper. Ralph is on the left and Ed is on the right of Mr. Marshall. Ed asks Mr. Marshall questions and asks Ralph questions too. Question: How could Mr. Marshall NOT recognize Ralph's voice and how could Ralph NOT recognize his boss' voice especially since they WORK together. When Ralph hears that Mr. Marshall is sitting next to him, he gets really nervous. Mr. Marshall spots him and knows that he was lying to get off work tonight, so he is fired, or is he? The girls come back and they have Mrs. Marshall with them. Ralph says that he was fired. Mr. Marshall explains that he was fired because Ralph lied to get off work. Mrs. Marshall then says that Mr. Marshall lied to her mom because they can see the Dorseys. Mr. Marshall says he was a bit hasty in firing Ralph, so he reversed Ralph's firing. Ed: "Why don't you two liars shake hands and make up?" They do that and they go into the night club to hear the Dorsey's music.

This is the boring part of the episode for me because I am not a fan of this music. Songs like: "Isn't she sweet" & "Puddle Wump” play. I like the former song though. After all the music plays, one of the brothers say: "It's 12:00." "Alud Sang" plays and every husband kisses their wives just as a banner says: "1954" is unveiled. When I saw this episode for the first time during the 1997 holiday season, I found the "1954" banner being revealed at the end of this show to be strange considering at that point, this episode was shown 44 years ago. (This New Year's, this episode will be 72 years old.)

Episode #123 (Syndicated episode #14)
TV: Half-hour.
VCR: Attached to "The Sleepwalker." On some tapes, it is attached to "A Matter of Record." On some tapes, it is attached to episodes #13-18 of the Classic 39.
Laserdisc: Attached to “TV or Not TV”, “Funny Money”, “The Golfer”, “Better Living Through TV”, “Brother Ralph”, “Pal O’ Mine”, “A Woman’s Work Is Never Done”, “The Deciding Vote”, “The Worry Wart”, “The Sleepwalker”, “Hello Mom”, “’Twas The Night Before Xmas” & “Something Fishy.”
DVD: Attached to episodes #9-16 of the classic 39. The HD Blu-Ray set has the exact same episodes (including two versions of "Hello Mom." in which one has the original ads) and includes Best Buick Yet presentation. On Fan Favorites: The Best of The Honeymooners DVD, it is attached to "TV or Not TV", "Funny Money", "The Golfer", "The Sleepwalker", "Better Living Through TV", "$99,000 Answer" & "Young At Heart." On the Honeymooners Christmas Laughter DVD, it is attached to "TV or Not TV", "Funny Money", "The Golfer", "Better Living Through TV", "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" & "The $99,000 Answer."
Air Date: Sat. 12/31/55

"Man From Space":

In 2018, I acquired the real first draft of this script. It was given to me by a son of the writer of the show. The writer's name is Herb Finn. To see the posting where I announced that I have it, click here:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...d.php?t=378371

To see the finished script for this episode, click here: http://www.springfieldspringfield.co...episode=s04e14

In 2023 & 2024, this episode was colorized on YouTube. It’s one of the episodes in this link from 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phZuD-uCCdc&t=1858s That link has now been taken down but here’s the 2024 link https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AqDHEKtxfvk

Considering that this episode was shown on New Year's Eve in '55 and has a party element, I thought I would repost this one too.

Ralph greets Ed during lunch hour. They talk about the costume contest at the Raccoon lodge dance. Ralph: "I know how to win the grand prize which is $50." Ed: "So do I. By having the best costume. Ha ha ha." Ralph: "Surely that's the answer but only we know that." They only know that? Wow. Ralph says he has the perfect idea. He's going to go out and buy a costume where all the other people at the dance are going to be wearing homemade costumes. Ed: "You think just like me." Ed says he did the exact same thing. Ralph, being Ralph, accuses Ed of stealing his idea. That's impossible but of course, Ralph doesn't think so. Ralph and Ed get into a fight. Ralph wants nothing to do with him. Ralph: "If you see me walking down the street, get on the other side." Ed: "When you walk down the street, there AIN'T no other side." Ha!

At home, Ralph greets Alice. He says he's going to make a reasonable request. He needs $10. Alice says no. Ralph: "For $5, I can go get a Billy The Kid." Alice: "I'll tell you what I will do. I'll give you a can and you can be Billy The Goat." Ha! Ralph isn't amused and is further aggravated when he finds out that the Nortons are coming for dinner. Alice says that why doesn't Ralph use his brain to make a costume. Ralph: "Because I want to win." Ed comes down in his costume which he is going as Pierre Francois de la Briosche. Ed says that Pierre was his hero and he designed and built the sewers of Paris. Gee, how surprising that Ed would go disguised as a famous sewer man By the way, the person who designed and built the sewers of Paris was made by another person. Ralph says that the costume is ridiculous. He's going to make his own costume now. When Ed puts two black things in his nose and sneezes because of the black things, Ralph says: "Bellevue is calling." Ralph starts making the costume by taking the door of the ice box. Alice: "Now all the food is going to get spoiled." Ralph: "Just get Ed down. He will eat it." Ralph also takes knobs from the dresser." Ralph: "I need knobs and there's nothing in there that can wait until tomorrow. Where's the flashlight?" Alice: "It's in the thing that can wait until tomorrow." Ralph says that his costume will make fun of Ed's costume and he insults the person that Ed is impersonating. Ed: "You can call me anything you want, but when you insult my hero, you insult the honor of France." Ed slaps Ralph's face with a glove. Ralph kicks him out.

With only a few hours before the contest, Ralph finally unveils his costume. Ralph: "Get ready! I'm coming out!" Ralph comes out as "The Man From Space." What Ralph uses as his costume is BEYOND ridiculous. Trust me, when you see this costume for the first time, you will laugh. Here are the things that Ralph uses as his costume:

It consists of a saucepan, which he is using as a hat, the handle protruding from the back of his neck. On top of the saucepan is a light bulb which is going on and off. The icebox door is strapped around his neck and chest like a shield. It's studded with knobs he took off the bureau and three small flashlight bulbs, which also keep going on and off. Also on the icebox door is the kitchen faucet, which is attached up high with the spout facing Ralph's chin. Beneath all of this paraphernalia he wears a sweatshirt with a turtle neck collar. For pants he wears the bottoms of a pair of striped pajamas. These are tucked into shin–high galoshes. On his hands he wears a pair of thick gardening gloves. In his right hand he carries a homemade ray gun, which consists of a funnel attached to a handle of a compass saw. Over his eyes he has a huge pair of dark goggles. Ralph has a wide motorcycle rider's belt around his waist, from which flares a knee-length tunic made out of a plastic shower curtain.

With all of those details, on paper, the costume is already silly looking. Ralph: "You didn't think I could do it. Can you see the faces on them, down there when I walk in with this? What do you think?" Alice: "I think you're nuts." A piece of Ralph's costume comes off. That wasn't in the script so Jackie covers it by saying: "That's my denaturizer." Ralph: "I don't care about the money now. I just want to teach Ed a lesson." Alice goes into the bedroom. Ed comes in, takes one look at Ralph, gets scared and heads for the hills. That is a priceless moment, isn't it? I knew that I laughed. Ralph says that it's him and he says to Alice that Ed didn't know that he was the "Man From Space." Ed: "'Man From Space'? I thought we were being invaded by Sherman Tanks." Alice comes out with her costume. She's wearing a dress, licking a big lollipop. She's disguised as a cute 12-year-old girl. Ralph: "Where's the rest of the costume. You're knees are showing." Alice: "A 12-year-old girl's knees are supposed show." Ralph: "Not any 12-year-old girl that's married to me." Ed says that he is depressed. That Pierre guy didn't make the sewers, he condemned them. Trixie comes down with some bad news. Ed has to work tonight or he will lose his job. Ed is all upset now. The Nortons leave. Ralph tries to put black things in his nose and almost gets the urge to sneeze but doesn't. He eventually pays the price for putting them in his nose. Those kind of black things Ed put in his nose earlier (not the same black things though.)

At the Raccoon dance, the place is "packed." It has...eight people? Wow! What a dance, huh? Ralph steals the scene by doing his dancing. As a matter of fact, Ralph does a dance 2x because the editors stopped the video and showed the exact dance from a different angle. The music stops and the judges are ready to award the $50 prize for the best costume. The first runner-up is Ralph. Ralph: "I had no idea." Judge (aka "Head Raccoon"): "We choose Ralph for his costume of a pinball machine." Ralph is surprised. The second runner-up is someone else that I don't remember. His costume is a playboy of the roaring 20s. Ralph: "Nice rented costume." Just before the $50 is about to be rewarded. Ed comes in with his sewer gear. Ed: "Am I too late for the eats?" Head Raccoon: "You may be too late for the eats but not for the prize. $50 goes to Ed Norton for him being disguised as the 'Man From Space.'" Ralph is upset at Ed but calms down and enjoys himself for the rest of the night.

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.

[Frank Gannucci]

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[Frank Gannucci]

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[Frank Gannucci]

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