The Honeymooners (1955)

Genres - Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Domestic Comedy, Sitcom [TV]  |   Run Time - 30 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

On the occasion of Ed Norton's birthday, Ralph takes the Nortons and his own wife Alice out for an "economical" evening at the movies (the main attraction is The Desert Hawk, a 1950 epic that featured Jackie Gleason in a minor role!). The theater is holding a drawing for a new TV set, and as luck would have it, Norton holds the winning ticket. A jealous Ralph argues that, since he bought the ticket for Norton, the TV rightfully belongs to him. Thus begins a battle royal between Ralph and Ed, culminating in a tearful (albeit hilarious) reconciliation before a night-court judge. Originally aired as a 34-minute sketch on the January 5, 1955, edition of The Jackie Gleason Show, "Kramden vs. Norton" contains some excellent bits, notably Alice and Trixie's misadventures at the local pool hall, and a wonderful bit of pantomime as Norton spends several minutes writing a letter to Ralph (they aren't speaking), then tears it up before handing it over, declaring "Now you'll never know!" (Alas, this routine is missing from the abbreviated version of the episode in the syndicated Honeymooners TV package). The sketch was repeated on January 14, 1967, with songs and in color, as an episode of Gleason's Miami-based variety series.