'Mooners Monday #31: Follow-up to last week's post

Maybe I should call this #30.5. Apologies for the short installment, but there is a lot going on here at the new Cultureshark Tower. I do want to follow up on last week's post, in which I reported on the brand-new Time Life release of the 1960s The Jackie Gleason Show. The DVD set has made its way to some of my sources--OK, posters on message boards--and we can confirm several things.

1) Many episodes are edited, with musical numbers and June Taylor Dancers segments apparently getting the ax. Not a shocker, but a disappointment considering it's Time Life and they have a rep for coming through on stuff like this.

2) The Incredible World of Ed Norton backdoor pilot that aired as part of the Gleason show is not included and remains one of the tantalizing still-"lost" pieces of 'Mooners material out there.

3) There are several uncut, complete episodes in the collection.

Many thanks to the posters at the Sitcoms Online Honeymooners message board. Some of these folks really know their stuff, and their reports are invaluable for anyone looking into this box set. The early consensus seems to be that while it's far from peak 'Mooners and much of the content is monologue- and guest-star-centric, it's worthwhile for Gleason fans, though it does leave one wanting more.

Personally, I think it's a shame the June Taylor Dancers, such a key part of the overall Gleason Show experience, are absent. Also, one poster reports there is a color Joe the Bartender sketch with Crazy Guggenheim, but the song is edited out!

Still, Gleason is the Great One, and any DVD release is welcome. The idea of Jackie alongside the likes of Phil Silvers automatically makes this a candidate for my collection.

This might be the best we get of the full Jackie Gleason Show, but I hold out hope that this sells well and encourages Time Life--or anyone--to do some work and release more uncut episodes or even better, as I mentioned last week, black-and-white 1950s installments or even American Scene.

Meanwhile, I'm still on the lookout for the 30-minute infomercial. The one time I want to see one of these things...