'Mooners vs. Lucy

[jax77]

Which sitcom do you think is better: I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners?

I obviously chose The Honeymooners, and these are my reasons:

- The Honeymooners is a much funnier show

-While some say I Love Lucy was ahead of its time (e.g. creating the traditional sitcom format), The Honeymooners did start as a skit before I Love Lucy was made. (ILL was pioneering in its live studio filming, recording on film - it was a pioneer, don't get me wrong)

- The Honeymooners was done live (while being recorded))......Lucy was filmed in front of a live audience....the big difference of course being the mistakes/bloopers

- speaking of the bloopers, it was not only funny to watch Gleason and the cast mess up, but how brilliantly/funny they corrected/covered up the mistake....you have to remember this was live, no editing could be done

- Gleason didn't like to rehearse......knowing that the show was live, the fact that he didn't like to rehearse (i think they did once a week, but even that was a quick reading) shows why he is called the Great One - the show ran smoothly under all of the conditions b/c of the genius that was Gleason and the rest of the cast for that matter

- The Honeymooners as a tv show had only 39 episodes (C39)
the Lost ones are just as great, but every marathon plays the C39 of the Honeymooners.........these classic 39 do more for me than Lucy's 100+ episodes (i don't know how many Lucy has) and with only 39 shows to Lucy's......alot more, the C39 is still considered a classic

Vote for your favorite and tell the board why it's your favorite.

[damin mance]

honeymooners!

[w6xrl4]

Although both shows are worthy of praise and are unquestionably classics, I think the Honeymooners are better because of Jackie Gleason. There is just a quality about him that it believable to the audience. Gleason was asked in one of his final interviews why the Honeymooners are still so loved all these years later, he simply responded: “because their funny.” Can’t argue with the Great One!
Geat website I'd like to share.
http://www.haminahamina.com/

[C_TV]

Yeah, this is a hard choice, BOTH shows are GREAT, GREAT, but for me, the HoneyMooners, win my vote.. but again it was hard, to selcet from the two shows.

[anaïsFANxx]

The Honeymooners I even enjoy it. And i'm just 12, lol

[CBSrulz]

For me, "I Love Lucy", dont get me wrong the Mooners are a great show, its just every time i watch it i feel like i am watching the "Flintstones"! So for me "I LOVE LUCY"!!!!!!!!

[dandelion wine]

Obviously I Love Lucy is a wonderful show -- there's no denying that it's a classic and one of the funniest and most memorable ever.. But I really have to say that I prefer The Honeymooners.

I got into it when I was maybe 8 years old, and from the moment I saw Jackie Gleason, I knew I was hooked. He was so damn funny, and I always got a big kick out of watching him and Art Carney together. He and the rest of the cast were perfect together.

[haminahamina]

I love the Honeymooners best!



PS
Thanks "w6xrl4" for recommending my website. Glad you enjoyed it.

Ceal

[Brian Damage]

The Honeymooners

[Tweety]

Originally posted by jax77
Which sitcom do you think is better: I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners?

... The Honeymooners as a tv show had only 39 episodes (C39)
the Lost ones are just as great, but every marathon plays the C39 of the Honeymooners.........these classic 39 do more for me than Lucy's 100+ episodes (i don't know how many Lucy has) and with only 39 shows to Lucy's......alot more, the C39 is still considered a classic

Vote for your favorite and tell the board why it's your favorite.

I love both shows...

In my opinion, the C 39 of the Honeymooners was the single greatest season any TV show has ever had, at any time...just absolutely incredible comedy in those C 39...

However, I Love Lucy was great for five years, the Honeymooners was great for one year...I would have to disagree about the lost episodes, I don't think they're nearly as good as the C 39 episodes...and FYI, I Love Lucy made 179 episodes... and IMHO, any episode of I Love Lucy is better than any of the LOST episodes of the Mooners...but any of the classic 39 is as good as anything I Love Lucy ever did...

I think that one of the reasons Jackie Gleason called it quits after the C 39 was that he felt that he could never top that season...and I think he was right...he never did...

I think that, overall the cast on I Love Lucy was slightly better too...even though Gleason, Carney and Meadows were great in their roles, Joyce Randolph was not a good actress at all...whereas Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel were each absolutely perfect in their parts...

I will also grant you that Norton was unquestionably the greatest 2nd banana in the history of television, by far....

So, to sum it all up:

Classic 39 - best season ever, for any show
I Love Lucy - best show ever, from start to finish...never a really, really bad episode
Cast of the Honeymooners - (3 excellent members, one poor one, kind of like the Beatles BEFORE Ringo)
Cast of I Love Lucy = The best foursome ever (much like the Beatles AFTER Ringo)...

In fact, I would rate, in terms of total overall acting talent, the greatest foursome casts ever as:

1) I Love Lucy
2) Seinfeld
3) The Honeymooners (because Randolph was so weak)

[dlemond]

I do like them both.

But I like I Love Lucy better.

To be fair, this should be under General Sitcoms not The Honeymooners board.

[Sady]

I LOVE both the shows but if I have to choose, I`ll go with The Honeymooners!

[Tweety]

If you mean any C39 Honeymooners episode tops I Love Lucy, I can't argue with that...as I said, the C39 is the single greatest sitcom season ever, for any show (imho).... However, just about any episode of I.L.Lucy is better than any of the lost episodes of the HMs.

And actually, regarding J.Randolph's acting talent...It always seemed to me that she was just glad to make it through a scene and remember all of her lines, and she didn't worry so much about delivery...considering that they only got to rehearse each show one time, she must have been a nervous wreck with every performance...Alice, on the other hand, did a great job delivering her lines...she was much better than Randolph...(btw, is it possible that the reason J Randolph "never really had a big part in any episode so she didn't have much to do" is BECAUSE she really wasn't that good to begin with? Just a thought...


Also, I don't think that it's such a disgrace to consider Seinfeld to be better, overall, than the Mooners...the writing and acting on the best Seinfeld episodes were darn near perfect...and Seinfeld had some of the greatest "guest stars" (even though they weren't necessarily 'stars') of any show ever... The extras in the Honeymooners couldn't act their way out of a paper bag...Gleason, Carney and Meadows are the only ones who had any acting talent at all...most of the other people were terrible... (Ralph's boss, Mr. and Mrs. Manacotti, Alice's mother, Ralph's buddies, other than Norton...imo were terrible actors)
An average Seinfeld episode is better than any Lost Episode of the Mooners...

Finally, to state that there wouldn't be shows like Seinfeld if it wasn't for the Honeymooners...that may or may not be true, but even if it were true, it doesn't make the Mooners "better" than Seinfeld...there probably wouldn't have been a "Beatles" if it weren't for Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, etc...but that doesn't mean that any of those guys were actually BETTER than the Beatles, just because they came along first and influenced them...

Anyway, once again, nothing against the Mooners, Seinfeld, Lucy or anyone else...The C39 is the best season ever, for any show (and always will be, considering the state of sitcoms today)...but the Lost Episodes are simply over rated, imo...I remember when the lost episodes were first aired on Showtime, about 1985 or 1986...I taped a bunch of them, but was disappointed with the quality, having grown up on the C39...so imo, the Mooners were great for one season, I.L. Lucy for five, Seinfeld for nine (although not every Seinfeld is a classic, it had enough instant classics to rank up there with Lucy & the Mooners).



dlemond was right, this should be a topic for the general discussions board...

Hope every one out there has a great day today

[VIDEOWACK]

There is NO way in this world I would even consider putting SEINFELD in the same paragraph as The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy. The only reason you will see the two listed here is so I can make this comment. Oh, I know there are a huge number of Seinfeld fans out there and I'm not saying it wasn't a funny show, but to even list it with classic 50's gems like Honeymooners and Lucy.....forget about it! Jerry's in one class and the others (thank heaven) are in another class all by themselves. Besides, shows like Lucy, Honeymooners, and others of that class, will still be around 20, 30 or who knows how many years from now. I will stack their longevity up against Seinfeld, Raymond, or any of the others from recent years. They're from a part of television history that will never be again, and will be endeared for generations to come. Ok, ok.....I'll get off my soap-box now! :-)

[musicradio77]

I voted for "The Honeymooners" but this is an old thread from the last couple of months.