Before I prepare for my annual Christmas Eve screening of the Classic 39's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, I want to write a few words about the 1978 hourlong special I saw for the first time this month. MPI released it on DVD years ago, but I hesitated to buy it because the price was a little steep for one episode...plus I'm cheap.
I also confess that I didn't know if I truly wanted to see the main cast (well, except poor Joyce Randolph, who is replaced as Trixie by Jane Kean) in 1978. The "Color Honeymooners" of the 1960s are enjoyable but a step down from the 1950s episodes, and even though it's my favorite show of all time...I don;t know, is seeing them as seniors something I want?
What a fool I was. The 1978 Xmas show is a delight, one of the better post-1950s episodes I've seen. There are a few "modern" references that seem a little self-conscious, but the script by longtome Gleason scribe Walter Stone with Robert Hilliards very funny. The story is worthy of being included in 'Mooners canon. And, yes, the actors are older and a little bigger (except Jackie Gleason, now practically smaller than Art Carney), but it's not painful to watch them. After all, they're seasoned pros who have the characters down. I can even get past Ralph's pencil mustache!
The best thing I can say about it is that it feels like The Honeymooners in a way that many of those color episodes with Sheila McRae as Alice did not. I think it goes beyond the casting, though; I like that it's a "fresh" story (how many times did they redo The Adoption).
This one premiered December 10, 1978. Ralph unveils yet another get-rich scheme, this time collecting as much money as he can get his mitts on and spending it on lottery tickets. It's hard to get a lot of info about this one. The Official Honeymooners Treasury covers only the Classic 39. Even The Honeymooners Lost Episodes by Donna McCrohan and Peter Crescenti has only a plot synopsis and airdate. It was written in 1986 before the 4 hourlong 1970s specials were in circulation, and so they are thrown into the "Still Lost" section.
This reminds me that one of the big things I have yet to see (and now really want to) is the previous year's Christmas special. In that one, Ralph stars in a Raccoon Lodge production of A Christmas Carol. It's in circulation--folks have seen it at the Paley Center and even on YouTube--but MPI never released it on DVD, nor is it on Prime Video, though it is out there in collector circles. So we have 3 of the 4, but not this one, which sounds like a regular riot. Hey, Santa, if you want to bring me a surprise tomorrow, how about a nice complete copy of the 1977 special?
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