"Head of the House" is an episode from the classic Honeymooners series that aired as half-hour shows in 1956. The series starred Jackie Gleason as a bus driver, Ralph Kramden, with Audrey Meadows as his wife, Alice. Art Carney co-starred as Ralph's neighbor, Ed Norton. Less prominent in the series was Joyce Meadows as Ed's wife, Trixie.
In "Head," Ralph characteristically tells a news reporter he's the boss in his house. To back it up, he bets a coworker he can order Alice to cook a meal on short notice.
When Alice refuses, Ralph and Ed scheme to cook a dinner before the coworker arrives, pretending Alice has cooked it. Predictably the cooking ends in disaster.
When Alice arrives home she helps Ralph save face, telling the coworker she didn't have time to cook. In typical Honeymooners style Ralph embraces Alice, having learned another lesson in spousal respect.
Comic routines include Ralph trying to prevent Alice from seeing the newspaper interview where he's quoted as saying he's head of the house and Ralph and Ed trying to cook dinner, with Ralph accidentally sewing the chicken to his blouse.
But, as in the best Honeymooners episodes, the finest comedy is in the predictable behavior of the characters, including Ralph's boasting and Alice stoically standing her ground.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment