There are one-shots I remember from when I was a kid and I’ve been wondering what they might be.
The first was a one-shot comedy of what I assume was either a stage play or teleplay. I don’t remember much; it may have been on PBS, during the late 50s or early 60s. It was set in a single living room. One of the characters has a high fever and sits on the couch with everyone worrying about him/her. The resolution is that he/she had a large chicken bone caught in her throat. I also remember one line where one of the woman said the line, “Men think my breasts are some kind of control panel.”
The second is easier: it was an episode of the Jackie Gleason Show. The show that week was a mini-musical, with Carney and Gleason as two old time machine politicians. They sang a song whose chorus ended:
“Give a little, take a little
That’s what’s friends are for
Give a little, take a little
But take a little bit more.”
Maybe, only it wasn’t a Honeymooners episode. Gleason and Carney were playing the political bosses.
I’m only guessing and, on further thought, it probably wasn’t PBS or NET. It would have had to have been on CBS or ABC, the only two channels we got at the time.
Except for the breast line, the first sounds like it could be an episode of The Jack Benny Program. I remember one where Jack was flat on his back on the living room sofa while Mary et al. tried to nurse him back to health. Many TJBP episodes are on YouTube.
It seems to me you’ve already answered the second part yourself. In the early '60s, Gleason had a CBS musical variety show anchored in Miami Beach, “The Sun and Fun Capital of the World.” I remember watching it now and then, and it was quite funny, even for a second or third grader; unfortunately, it was also on opposite The Gallant Men on ABC, which (along with Combat! and McHale’s Navy) was one of my weekly fixes at the time. This was well after The Honeymooners had run its course, but it’s entirely possible that Carney was an occasional guest star on TJGS.
Addition to the above: Honeymooner sketches were later featured on TJGS, with Sheila MacRae playing the part of Alice. It was not, however, a revival of the old series, and I don’t remember if Carney reprised the role of Ed Norton, though this too is certainly possible.
OK, it does look like Wendell Wagner’s link is right – I saw the picture of the Honeymooners and a search listed it as being the Honeymooners. But the character names are different, so that’s probably it. I just have to try to track down the song. One down.
(BTW, Carney did play Ed Norton in the revived Honeymooner’s episodes; he joined as a regular on Gleason’s show about that time).
As for the play, what I remember most about it was the line about the breasts, since it was surprising to hear it mentioned on TV. It would have fit into NBC’s Experiment of Television, but I think it may have been before that.
I do remember now one episode where Ralph got his fingers stuck in a bowling ball (I think it was), and Ed told him to stick it in the fridge or freezer because “Everybody knows that cold expands, heat contracts.”
When Sheila as Alice found out what they were doing, she said “Ed, I don’t remember much from my high school science course, but…”
Yes… I totally remember this! Can’t find it anywhere.
Give a little
Take a little
That’s what pals are for.
One hand washes the other
When you’re in there minding the store.
Give a little
Take a little
Be fair to the core.
Give a little
Take a little…
But take a little bit more.
I remember because the refrain got repeated after every example given to prove the philosophy. Then ther was at least one encore… perhaps more. Glad I’m not the only one to remember this!
