The $99,000 Answer

Another Jackie Gleason classic, written by Leonard Stern, best known for GET SMART, who got his start writing for ABBOTT AND COSTELLO and the BOWERY BOYS.

Ralph gets the green light to go on the tv show, the $99,000 Dollar Answer, a wild take-off on the top rated $64,000 Question at the time, and a variation of Name That Tune. Take your pick. It's actually revealed that Ralph has a fantastic memory for music and naturally could win big bucks on a game show. The problem is his ego, growing by leaps and bounds, and Norton who is a frightmare to rehearse with. Jackie truly shows what a great comedian he was in scenes like this.

Ralph flirting with fame on a national tv show, what could be better, and with some similarities to his other famous tv appearance as the "Chef of the Future."

And just who was the composer of Swanee River?

SEASON 1 EPISODE 18. Classic dvd box set. The original 39 episodes remastered.

Ralph finds himself participating in a popular national quiz show based on "The 64,000 Dollar Question." He chooses popular music as his topic, but has to wait a week because of time constraints. He uses that time to work with Norton to sharpen his skills. And he is awesome. He knows everything about every genre. But Norton starts each piano piece with a quick phrase from "Swanee River." Well, Ralph goes from a panicky neophyte to a cocky blowhard. His personality changes because he thinks he can lick the world. We know from watching this show that it ain't gonna happen. Getting there turns out to be a hoot. Don't miss this one. It's one of the gems of the series.

While these quiz/game shows were so popular this was a hilarious episode for Jackie Gleason. Acting the part of a nervous introverted type on stage, when you know he's one of the most confident entertainers of all time, is funny. One of the more expensive Honeymooners budgets - they actually to find a piano and a stage... !!!

JACKIE GLEASON'S series within a series never fails to bring us so many laughs in just about every episode. No matter how many times we see them, we can always find the time to watch again. This is particularly true of that one season's output of 1955-56; where each episode seemingly was as good as or better than the next.

IN regards to this we present today's 'sacrificial lamb' in THE HONEYMOONERS: The $99,000 Answer.

ONCE again this is a comedy that we could watch over and over, laughing just bas heartily as we did when we first saw it as a segment of THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW; which occupied an hour on CBS TV's Saturday evening schedule (1952-57).

THIS of course is a tribute to the talents and comic genius that was Jackie Gleason and his production company. In complement to the "Great One's" singularly splendid abilities, he did so with the aid of a most talented and appropriate of a supporting cast. That would be Miss Joyce Randolph, Miss Audrey Meadows and the inimitable Mr. Art Carney.

ART CARNEY has been called the king of the second bananas; a title that Mr. Jackie Gleason, himself, has decried. Gleason always gave the credit that Carney truly deserved and was truly appreciative of Art's special talents in both verbal and physical comedy. It would seem in another earlier, by-gone era that the Ed Norton man could have had a long and fruitful career as a silent film funnyman; being remembered along with guys like Chaplin, Turpin, Keaton, Chase, Lloyd and Langdon.

AS for this particular Honeymooner's installment, we see a reference to Television History; as the popular game show on CBS then was THE $64,000 QUESTION. This was while the quiz shows were on top and before somebody spilled the beans on both CBS and NBC for its answer to the genre in TWENTY-ONE.

IN viewing this Honeymooner's episode this evening over WMEE TV, Channel 23 here in Chicago, we did so with the idea of seeing it for the first time. We also looked at the show with the view of a critic; trying to both reflect and dissect just what made it tick.

OUR conclusion was that it was a real tribute to Gleason and his entire company as what we found it to be was essentially a one-gag outing. That's not to say that it is any the less funny or worthy of our praise; for it certainly is that. It is a gem of a comedy and its singular final laugh may well be sort of seen as obvious from early on, yet the careful way in which Gleason nurtures and builds it up renders it a joyful masterpiece!

Schultz gives is *****, that's 5 stars out of 4; but,we figure its worth it!

POODLE SCHNITZ!!

Gleason was such a fine actor. Catch his initial appearance on the game show. His stage fright and garbled words are hilarious. His second appearance, however, and he's all polished self-confidence. The quiz show The $64,000 Dollar Question took TV by storm in the summer of '55. Game shows to that point offered comparatively meager amounts, while prize money here seemed like a fortune. Apparently the producers didn't have much confidence, scheduling it as they did as a mere summer replacement. Boy, were they wrong. Also, the word "antidisestablishmentarianisms" is the longest word in the dictionary, and was spelled by an adolescent girl contestant, creating quite a popular stir, as indicated here.

Anyway, Ralph gets to act the big shot with his TV appearance, while Norton shows his piano playing skills following silly warm-ups. Alice has less to do than usual, except hope Ralph quits at the lowly but realistic $600 level. All in all, it's a laugh-filled reflection of the time.