The Honeymooners Specials: A Christmas Carol – to impress his boss (Gale Gordon), Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) puts on the company Christmas play – with lots of product endorsements!
The Honeymooners Specials: A Christmas Carol (1977) starring Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows
First of all, The Honeymooners Specials: A Christmas Carol is very funny, with blowhard Ralph Kramden (Gale Gordon) trying to impress his new boss (Gale Gordon). The boss’ wife is putting on a version of Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, for charity. So Ralph volunteers his “expertise”. And so he puts on the show with his friends. The rehearsals with the pompous Ralph are funny. But the final show is hilarious!
Ralph has sold numerous product endorsements, which he inserts willy nilly at every conceivable point — and some inconceivable ones! And he has poor Ed Norton appearing in two different roles, as both Scrooge and Tiny Tim. And getting them mixed up, walking with a limp a Scrooge, etc.
It all ends happily, with the boss and his wife delighted by the “comedic” take. And the wife’s charity is for dogs. And she gives one to the allergic Ralph as a thank you!
Product Description
In 1977, Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney and Jane Kean reunited for the second of four hour-long specials representing the final performances of their classic Honeymooners characters. Ralph enlists Alice, Ed and Trixie to perform with him on stage after he agrees to supervise and star in the annual office holiday fund-raiser for a charity chosen by his boss’ wife. Ralph ends up rewriting and reimagining Charles Dickens’ dramatic classic A Christmas Carol with comedic results when Ed serves as the inexperienced director.
Special Features:
Trixie’s Honeymooners Memories featurette with Jane Kean, The Honeymooners’ Women’s Lib skit from 1973.
Runtime with special features: 97 minutes
Quotes
Mr. Marshall (Gale Gordon): [asking about Norton] Does he work here?
Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason): Oh, no, Mr. Marshall.
Mr. Marshall (Gale Gordon): Oh, good. I once had a secretary very like him. Her name was Lucy. A real screwball!
Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason): Mae Busch would never have asked that question!
Cast of characters
- Jackie Gleason (Gigot, Requiem for a Heavyweight) … Ralph Kramden
- Art Carney (Izzy and Moe, Harry and Tonto) … Ed Norton
- Audrey Meadows (The Honeymooners Specials: The Christmas Special) … Alice Kramden
- Jane Kean (The Color Honeymooners – Collection 1) … Trixie Norton
- Gale Gordon (Here’s Lucy, The Lucy Show) … Mr. Marshall, Ralph’s boss