The Honeymooners Specials: The Christmas Special

The Honeymooners Christmas Special (1977) starring Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney, Jane Kean

In The Honeymooners Christmas Special, Ralph Kramden is borrowing every penny he can get his hands on, for his latest get rick quick scheme. In order to provide his wife Alice with all the things she’s ever dreamed of …

Review

The Honeymooners Specials: The Christmas Special Special is simply a delight. The cast works together like a well-oiled machine. The interactions between the cast are comedy gold. If there’s any negative, it’s that there’s been no change for the characters in the decades since they originally aired. Ralph’s still a bus driver for the same company, Ed’s had no promotion, and the Kramden’s have no children. In fact, that becomes a comedy point later on, when Alice’s mother comes to visit. Alice is feeling sick, and her mother’s hoping (and praying) that it’s morning sickness!

Ralph has yet another get-rich-quick scheme. It’s so brilliant, he can’t tell anybody about it — at first. But, when he sees that Norton’s overtime and bonus check, he’s willing to let him in on it …. But he still won’t tell him what it is! He tries to fool him into thinking that he’s always thought of him as his little brother …. Until Norton won’t give him the money! Although later on, Norton relents and gives him the money. For which, Trixie throws him out!

She got me out there on a very clever ruse. She says, “Ed, go out there on the fire escape and water the petunias.” After I get out there, I realize you don’t water petunias in the wintertime. Second of all, I realized we don’t have no petunias.
Ed Norton (Art Carney)

So, he comes to sleep with the Kramden’s. Where Alice has thrown Ralph out of the bedroom as well. So there’s a very funny comedy bit, as Norton can’t fall to sleep. So Ralph’s rubbing his back, and singing “The Last Time I Saw Paris” as a lullaby. As his mother-in-law walks in on them! “Just as I thought. I’m calling Anita Bryant the first thing in the morning.”

The big secret

Finally, the secret to Ralph’s latest get-rich-quick scheme is revealed: lottery tickets! He’s taken his paycheck, Norton’s bonus, the Kramden’s life savings, and his mother-in-law’s Social Security check, all to buy lottery tickets. Alice is about to leave with her mother, and may not return, when the lottery drawing is about to be announced on the radio. Ralph’s radio isn’t working, so Norton clownishly tries to fix it. And it’s now totally dead, of course. So Norton has his wife Trixie bring down his special cat-shaped radio downstairs.

Ralph Kramden: [Looking at a radio that is shaped like a female cat] How do you turn her on?
Ed Norton: I usually bite her ear.
Ralph Kramden: Not Trixie. The cat!

And announcer Johnny Olson comes on, to announce the winners. First prize of 1 million dollars goes to Ralph … hard to read that last name …. Not Kramden, however. And so it goes for the second and third prize. Everyone thinks Ralph is a loser, including Ralph. Until Norton dashes back in! Ralph did win a lesser prize! To celebrate, Ralph is going to take everyone out to eat:

Ralph Kramden: Well, the party’s on me. I’m taking everybody to the Hong Kong Gardens for Chinese food.
Ed Norton: Can I order from column A and column B?
Ralph Kramden: You can have anything you want.
Ed Norton: [holding the cat radio] Beautiful. All right, Trixie. Let’s go home. I’ll get a little romantic music on the cat, we’ll sip some champagne, and who knows what may develop before we reach the dark at the top of the stairs.

But, level-headed Alice has done the math in her head. Subtracting his costs from his winnings, Ralph has won …. Twelve cents. And he’s appropriately deflated. But, as with all of his get-rich-quick schemes, it was all done for Alice. She knows, and she stays with the man who loves her.

“Baby, you’re the greatest.”

Cast

Ed Norton's bonus check - Alice and Trixie react, while Ralph Kramden plots

Jackie Gleason (The Hustler, Gigot) … Ralph Kramden
Art Carney (Harry and Tonto, Going in Style) … Ed Norton
Audrey Meadows (That Touch of Mink) … Alice Kramden
Jane Kean (Pete’s Dragon) … Trixie Norton
Eileen Heckart (The Bad Seed) … Mrs. Gibson – Alice’s Mother

Editorial review of The Honeymooners Specials: The Christmas Special courtesy of Amazon.com

The Honeymooners Return To Celebrate Christmas For The Last Time – In Color! In 1978, Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney and Jane Kean reunited for the fourth of four hour-long specials representing the final performances of their classic Honeymooners characters. As Christmas approaches, Ralph Kramden’s latest get-rich scheme risks his and Alice’s life savings — and trusting pal Ed Norton’s holiday bonus — on the lottery. The gamble also places Alice’s mother’s Social Security check in jeopardy.