THE HONEYMOONERS
"Two Tickets to the Fight"
Due Sunday 29 March 2009
1. What is Alice cooking at the beginning of the program?"Two Tickets to the Fight"
Due Sunday 29 March 2009
The Honeymooners began as short (ten-minute) segments of host, Jackie Gleason's variety show, Cavalcade of Stars (renamed the Jackie Gleason Show). Those sketches became popular and a series was named after them.
The Honeymooners, as an independent series, lasted one year (1955-56), airing 39 episodes, now called "the classic 39." But in the TV ratings war, even good shows get canceled. The Honeymooners could not compete against the even more popular Perry Como show, which aired in the same time slot.
Despite its short life on television, The Honeymooners, is now considered one of the finest situation comedies television has ever produced. Since its initial run it has been in constant syndication (shown on local television stations) and has become a part of American culture, like Superman or (another classic TV program) The Twilight Zone.
The Honeymooners revolved around a married couple, Ralph and Alice Kramden ("the Kramdens"), played by the show's creator, Jackie Gleason, with Audrey Meadows as his wife. Their neighbors were Ed and Trixie Norton ("the Nortons").
Norton was played by Art Carney, who later won an Oscar, though he is most famous for his role in The Honeymooners. To his credit, Gleason gave Norton some of the show's funniest lines and Carney won several Emmy awards for his role as Ed Norton during the run of the show.
The Honeymooners became one of the most parodied and referenced shows in television history (the cartoon, The Flintstones was modeled on it) and produced some of the most famous lines in television history, including "You're going to the moon, Alice," "Gee, what a grouch," "Pow, zoom, up to the moon," "I've got a big mouth," and others.
Unlike today's sitcoms, taped in a studio with a laugh track added to make it sound funnier than it is, The Honeymooners was filmed live. The laughter is real.
The Honeymooners was the first TV program to show ordinary middle-class folk. They lived in Brooklyn, New York. Ralph was a bus driver, Ed worked in the New York sewers. The wives were typical housewives living in low-rent apartments.
The characters were well-defined. Ralph was a bully and a loud mouth, always hatching silly business schemes that his wife disapproved of. Despite their quarrels and his frequent threats to "send her to the moon," he never laid a hand on her. At the end of each show, they realized how much they loved each other, hugging at the end, usually to Ralph's famous line, "Baby, you're the greatest!"
Ed Norton was the fastidious neighbor, usually bullied by Ralph but willingly collaborating in his schemes. A running gag was Ed's start-up ritual whenever he performed any important task, measuring his hands carefully, shaking them in preparation, etc. until Ralph lost his patience and shouted, "Come on!"
Alice was silent but firm and balanced Ralph's erratic temper with her dignity and patience until Ralph realized he was wrong. Trixie (Ed's wife) was less defined as a character.
"Two Tickets to the Fight" is not one of the "classic 39" episodes, but one of the ten-minute segments of the larger variety hour in which The Honeymooners first aired. Besides the ESL practice, the show will also introduce ESL students to one of the classic American television programs, showing what life was like for an average middle-class family in 1950s America.
For interested students, "the classic 39" are available on youtube (usually in three parts). One of my favorites is "The Bensonhurst Bomber," which we studied in last year's ESL class to the delight of students.
Because of the length of the show (about ten minutes), I cannot send the video this week. It may be too large for your server to handle and it'll be returned, in which case you may not even get the email. So you should view it on youtube here.
The Honeymooners, as an independent series, lasted one year (1955-56), airing 39 episodes, now called "the classic 39." But in the TV ratings war, even good shows get canceled. The Honeymooners could not compete against the even more popular Perry Como show, which aired in the same time slot.
Despite its short life on television, The Honeymooners, is now considered one of the finest situation comedies television has ever produced. Since its initial run it has been in constant syndication (shown on local television stations) and has become a part of American culture, like Superman or (another classic TV program) The Twilight Zone.
The Honeymooners revolved around a married couple, Ralph and Alice Kramden ("the Kramdens"), played by the show's creator, Jackie Gleason, with Audrey Meadows as his wife. Their neighbors were Ed and Trixie Norton ("the Nortons").
Norton was played by Art Carney, who later won an Oscar, though he is most famous for his role in The Honeymooners. To his credit, Gleason gave Norton some of the show's funniest lines and Carney won several Emmy awards for his role as Ed Norton during the run of the show.
The Honeymooners became one of the most parodied and referenced shows in television history (the cartoon, The Flintstones was modeled on it) and produced some of the most famous lines in television history, including "You're going to the moon, Alice," "Gee, what a grouch," "Pow, zoom, up to the moon," "I've got a big mouth," and others.
Unlike today's sitcoms, taped in a studio with a laugh track added to make it sound funnier than it is, The Honeymooners was filmed live. The laughter is real.
The Honeymooners was the first TV program to show ordinary middle-class folk. They lived in Brooklyn, New York. Ralph was a bus driver, Ed worked in the New York sewers. The wives were typical housewives living in low-rent apartments.
The characters were well-defined. Ralph was a bully and a loud mouth, always hatching silly business schemes that his wife disapproved of. Despite their quarrels and his frequent threats to "send her to the moon," he never laid a hand on her. At the end of each show, they realized how much they loved each other, hugging at the end, usually to Ralph's famous line, "Baby, you're the greatest!"
Ed Norton was the fastidious neighbor, usually bullied by Ralph but willingly collaborating in his schemes. A running gag was Ed's start-up ritual whenever he performed any important task, measuring his hands carefully, shaking them in preparation, etc. until Ralph lost his patience and shouted, "Come on!"
Alice was silent but firm and balanced Ralph's erratic temper with her dignity and patience until Ralph realized he was wrong. Trixie (Ed's wife) was less defined as a character.
"Two Tickets to the Fight" is not one of the "classic 39" episodes, but one of the ten-minute segments of the larger variety hour in which The Honeymooners first aired. Besides the ESL practice, the show will also introduce ESL students to one of the classic American television programs, showing what life was like for an average middle-class family in 1950s America.
For interested students, "the classic 39" are available on youtube (usually in three parts). One of my favorites is "The Bensonhurst Bomber," which we studied in last year's ESL class to the delight of students.
Because of the length of the show (about ten minutes), I cannot send the video this week. It may be too large for your server to handle and it'll be returned, in which case you may not even get the email. So you should view it on youtube here.
2. Who is Alice expecting for dinner?
3. What does Trixie borrow for her husband, Ed?
4. When does the first bout on the fight program start?
5. In which row will Ralph and Ed be sitting?
6. What hour in the morning did Ed say he got up while training in the Golden Gloves?
7. Why does Ed want to bring binoculars to the fight?
8. How long does Ralph say he'll have to wait to see another fight like the one he has tickets for?
9. How many quarts of beer did Ralph say he drank that caused him to like Uncle George?
10. Where does George come from?
11. How many times a week does Alice say Ralph's family members come to the house?
12. Name 3 gifts Uncle George gave the Kramdens (Ralph and Alice)?
13. What does Alice say will happen if Ralph walks out the door?
14. Where does Alice say George should go to wash up?
15. What does Ralph tell George is acting up again?
16. What does Ed notice in Ralph's eye?
17. What does Alice offer Ralph to eat at the end of the show?
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