Vanity, My Dad and I used to watch Jackie Gleason

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj_6usGtx_I&list=PL7441D8E6392D4F8A ^

[shineon]

My Dad and I used to watch the Jackie Gleason Show. Dad turned 90 last June, but his memory is not so good and I don't have anybody to share these memories with anymore. So I thought someone on free republic might have some.

[353FMG]

Sigh, sniff, America, why did you change?

[fella]

The “June Taylor Dancers” had some great routines.

[kalee]

His program was my brother’s favorite. He was a devoted watcher and even wrote a fan letter. He was maybe 8 at the time. lol

[mass55th]

Yep...we watched The Real McCoys too. We didn’t have that many channels back then, but there was always something good to watch. My mother liked Combat and Gunsmoke. And we used to watch The Liberace Show.

[21twelve]

Good luck to you and your dad. A friend of ours mother has Alzhiemers. Can’t recognize her own daughter, but the daughter will play hymns on the piano and the mom belts them out from memory with a wonderful voice (was a singer back in the day).

I hope that you might get to watch the Honeymooners on youtube with your dad for some enjoyment together.

[Fiji Hill]

A different country. A better country. And we were better people.

I loved to watch the Jackie Gleason show on Saturday nights in the fall of 1963. From the perspective of 2015, it seems like that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

[Impala64ssa]

One thing that I found strange was Alice and Ralph’s apartment being so drab. No pix on the wall, no curtain at t window, etc.
Their address on the Homeymooners was 328 Chauncy St. in Brooklyn, as Ed Norton once called it "the garden spot of th' woild" The one innaccuracy in that show was that the address was Bensonhurst, it's actually in Bushwick, about a block away from the H. Fox & Company, I used to deliver food flavorings to their plant. They make Fox's U-Bet, the ONLY chocolate syrup to be used to make a REAL eggcream ;)

[shineon]

You Betcha

[Impala64ssa]

I’ll probably get firebombed, but I have a complete collection of “Amos and Andy.” I watched that show when I was a kid.
Actually, every Black person I know would bust out in hysterical laughter at the mere mention of that show. About 35 yrs ago, there was very well-made ducumentary "Amos n Andy, anatomy of a controversy"narrated by George Kirby. He interviewed Jesse Jackson, and incredibly, Jackon said that he never had a problem with those shows because it reminds him of some of the people he grew up around in Chicago, and if nothing else, that show opened doors for Sidney Potier, Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Cosby (before he screwed up), Diann Caroll, etc. During Jackie Gleason's last TV appearance he said that Amos n Andy is what gave him the inspiration for the Honeymooners.

[shineon]

True dat

[shineon]

Thanks

[FredZarguna]

Ha.

A typical English grammatical ambiguity. The show was indeed on Saturday night, but my father and I were just talking about it two nights ago, on Thursday.

[hoosiermama]

Just got through reading the thread. Such good memories. Lost daddy a year ago at 94. He lived with me 10 years It’s difficult loosing a parent at any age. You’ll never regret the minutes you spend sharing time. Thanks For The Memories!

[Rummyfan]

My father loved Jackie Gleason. Even traveled to New York to see his show when Gleason still did it there.

[driftless2]

One of the fun things about watching old tv westerns (or other old tv shows) is seeing established stars when they were basically starting out or just breaking into television. More than a few times I've viewed an old Gunsmoke for example and said to myself "hey there's whatshisname."

Plus, I've made it my hobby to try and identify old character actors many of whom appeared in hundreds of westerns or other shows from that period.

[driftless2]

The best part of the show for me and my siblings was when Crazy Guggenheim came out and did his thing. That sketch had me laughing again watching Gleason’s facial twitches.

[driftless2]

Sewer workers made more money than bus drivers. Probably a better union.

[driftless2]

"cuz' Audrey Meadows was so ... you know! "

You mean she was va va voom!!!?

[MarDav]

How about “the Poor Soul” and “Reginald van Gleason III”? Those were characters on his show when he had the variety format. His Poor Soul would always make me laugh and cry during the same skit.

Eventually, he switched it to all Honeymooners all the time. Used to introduce the cast at the end and give them each a curtain call. Art Carney used to get a huge ovation without fail.

Jackie Gleason was an amazing talent.

[Buttons12]

One of the innumerable advantages of being homeschooled, I got to watch classic tv on vhs.
Best moments of the Honeymooners? Norton setting down to some procedure, doing his warmup exercise, loosening his hands, until Ralph finally explodes with impatience.
Fast forward to my teens and driving lessons. We’d get in the car, I’d put on my clip-on sunglasses, put my paperwork in the visor, find my keys, adjust the mirrors, all in my usual deliberate way...and there’s mom, an impatient boomer, mocking me by doing the Norton hula.