Topical References on LITB

[stevea]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Saunders

After this nasty prank, I think that Eddie would have been about as “welcome” at the Cleaver home as Martin Bormann or Osama bin Laden would have been.

Or, as Eddie (approx.) said in an episode from around that time: I think he'd (Ward would) be happier to see Khrushchev standing there (at the door).

[Sgt. Saunders]

We should start a thread on the many topical references on LITB. I heard that on “The Honeymooners,” Jackie Gleason and the show’s writers refrained from using topical references to help prevent the show from being associated with one specific time period.

Some topical references on LITB:

Wally and Eddie told Ward that they were going to see “Spartacus” at the movies. (I wonder if the voluptuous Marlene Holmes was working at the ticket booth when the guys went to see that terrific Stanley Kubrick film?)

Beaver mentioned he would regularly watch “Men of Annapolis” on tv. (I had never heard of this late 1950s tv show until Jerry Mathers recited that line on the show. You can see all thirty-plus episodes of that show on YouTube, which features many familiar actors, very early in their acting careers.)

Eddie mention heavyweight contender Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali).

[stevea]

Wally says Lumpy heard about Cuba listening to a (transistor?) radio.

[cd637299]

Angela Valentine with the Jackie Kennedy wig

Ward brings home Chinese food from the grocery store that nobody cared for, but it was on sale. He said something like, “Well if Chiang Kei-Shek drops by…”

Larry and Beaver spy on Larry’s sister’s belongings and see a photo of Kookie “from that TV show,” referring to 77 Sunset Strip

Beaver telling Mom that God may be occupied “with the Russians and all” (maybe someone can correct me on this)

With Beaver not appearing on TV live, Gilbert said he may be in The Twilight Zone.

Eddie, I forget to whom he was talking: “Which one are you, Dickens or Fenster?” (reference to the short lived sitcom “I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster”)

Wally telling Beaver how Beaver gets seasick just watching “McHale’s Navy”

Beaver, after being turned down TWICE for a date: “It’ll be just me and Ben Casey.”

Cannot think of many others right now.

cd

[stevea]

The "Russians and all" comment is correct; I think it was in the episode where Beaver starts embellishing his life in his diary.

Another one: Wally makes reference to Bennett Cerf crying, which he must have done or came close to on the game show What's My Line?"

[stevea]

By the way, the Gilbert remark about Angela Valentine and the Jackie Kennedy wig was censored for many years; it's amazing they were able to reconstruct the full episode.

[cd637299]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Saunders

We should start a thread on the many topical references on LITB. I heard that on “The Honeymooners,” Jackie Gleason and the show’s writers refrained from using topical references to help prevent the show from being associated with one specific time period.

OT, but one episode of the Honeymooners “classic 39” had Norton’s response to Ralph’s correct assumption (maybe about Alice? not sure): “You have just reached the first plateau!”

That got a hoot out of the audience, but as a kid I guess I wondered why.

That was a reference to the popular quiz show at the time, “The $64,000 Question.” Plateaus were certain steps along the way.

Of course, “Question” was also parodied in the classic Honeymooners episode “The $99,000 Answer.”

cd

[cd637299]

Originally Posted by stevea

The "Russians and all" comment is correct; I think it was in the episode where Beaver starts embellishing his life in his diary.

Another one: Wally makes reference to Bennett Cerf crying, which he must have done or came close to on the game show What's My Line?"

Wow, Bennett Cerf crying….don’t remember that one!

cd

[stevea]

Originally Posted by cd637299

OT, but one episode of the Honeymooners “classic 39” had Norton’s response to Ralph’s correct assumption (maybe about Alice? not sure): “You have just reached the first plateau!”

That got a hoot out of the audience, but as a kid I guess I wondered why.

That was a reference to the popular quiz show at the time, “The $64,000 Question.” Plateaus were certain steps along the way.

Of course, “Question” was also parodied in the classic Honeymooners episode “The $99,000 Answer.”

cd

I'm not overly familiar with 1950s pop culture, but the "Captain Video" reference in the first of the classic 39 Honeymooners was probably applicable to the time, right?

[cd637299]

Originally Posted by stevea

I'm not overly familiar with 1950s pop culture, but the "Captain Video" reference in the first of the classic 39 Honeymooners was probably applicable to the time, right?

Most indubitably!

cd

[stevea]

Originally Posted by cd637299

Wow, Bennett Cerf crying….don’t remember that one!

cd

I also never saw it; either it didn't happen or it's in a missing episode.

[cd637299]

And of course Lumpy’s favorite TV show was Captain Kangaroo.

cd

[stevea]

At the end of the fifth season Wally describes a gift the class of '62 is giving the school--something like a water fountain. Not really descriptive of a famous event of the time, but still dating the show. Also, it implies, but never states, Wally is in that class.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by cd637299

And of course Lumpy’s favorite TV show was Captain Kangaroo.

cd

A funny Fred line would have been: "Ward, I really like the Dick Van Dyke Show. That Mel Cooley guy cracks me up!"

[Sgt. Saunders]

I think that Eddie may have mentioned the Berlin Wall and Wally may have possibly mentioned something about the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember that one of my friends’ fathers started to clear out the basement in their home just in case the Russians did attack the United States in a nuclear strike during that extremely tense crisis. Of course, with us living about five miles from New York City, we weren’t very likely to survive an A-bomb blast on The Big Apple if World War III had actually started!

And, in the infamous “Box Office Attraction” episode on LITB, Ward and June might have discussed the ramifications of The Kinsey Report after meeting the alluring Marlene Holmes, Wally’s fetching date and aspiring interior decorator.