'Mooners Monday #28: Young Man with a Horn

I'd like to bring 'Mooners Monday back with a bang, but this episode is one of the...well, let's call it one of the least great of the Classic 39 episodes. I don't have a whole lot to say, so we'll bring this weekly feature back with a toot.



Did one of the boys in Ray Bloch's orchestra slip the boss something?

Maybe the best thing about this one is the repeated sight of Ralph going bug-eyed while trying to hit that high note on the old cornet Alice finds in the closet. By the way, where does Alice get all that stuff? Is there some kind of huge walk-in closet in the bedroom? I just find it amusing that you could find enough stuff to get rid of going through that place.

Other than that, it's an unexceptional outing, though I do like the idea of Ralph making a list of his good points and bad points after being charmed by the old couple who used to live in the Kramdens' Chauncey Street residence.

The old man has made a success of himself, and he gives Ralph his patented key to success: writing down your flaws and trying to correct them. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but I guess you have to watch his PBS special and pay $39.95 for his DVD/book combo.

 

This screencap from the DVD doesn't do justice to how clear the list is on the Blu-Ray. Heck, it's pretty good on the DVD, too, easily readable if you pause it.

Unfortunately, you don't get any good in-jokes. I always enjoy seeing lists of names on chalkboards at, say, a Raccoon meeting to see Gleason insiders like Jack Philbin included. Here, the funniest thing is the repetition of items like "Too fat." For some reason, I like the last item under "Good Points": "Basically honest when pinned down."

Ralph tries to improve himself, and his quest to hit that high note on multiple levels is endearing. Yet it never really goes anywhere.  It's The Honeymooners, so I am not ripping it, but this would be in my bottom tier of the 39. Even The Official Honeymooners Treasury, the bible to which I keep referring, has little to add. We have a string of true classics (and eventually a string of poloponies) on the way, though!