The Honeymooners (1955)
A bus driver and his sewer worker friend struggle to strike it rich while their wives look on with weary patience. One of the most influential situation comedy television series in American history.
Seasons & Episode
Alice is so tired of Ralph's complaining about the housework not getting done that she decides to hire themselves a maid while she goes off to get a job herself.
When Ralph thinks he's dying and sells the story to a magazine, he discovers it was a dog who was sick instead.
When Norton's sleepwalking through Ralph's apartment disturbs Ralph one time too many, Ralph decides to get to the root of Norton's trouble.
Ralph's newest get-rich-quick scheme is to sell an all-purpose kitchen gadget. With Norton's assistance, Ralph plans to demonstrate it during a live TV commercial, in order to reach more potential buyers. But Ralph's last-minute stage fright may ruin the commercial.
A ring that was intended for Norton's new supervisor in the sewer, but that instead gets stuck on Ralph's finger accidentally, is all it takes to jeopardize Ralph's friendship with Norton - until an explosion in the sewer brings Ralph to his senses.
Because of a suggestion he made, Ralph gets laid off. While they're trying to figure out how to cope with the bills, Alice decides to go back to work over Ralph's objections. The real trouble starts when Ralph finds out who has to do the house work, and when Alice's boss comes to the apartment to pick her up.
Ralph buys Alice a vacuum while there is a Raccoon election going on for convention manager, and it's up to Norton to be the deciding vote.
The Raccoons are planning for an annual Raccoon Fishing Trip, and this time, the Raccoons vote not to take their wives. But Alice and Trixie will not stand for being left behind.
Ralph hocks his bowling ball to get Alice a present when someone else gets her the same thing he did.
Ralph is determined to win a prize of $50 at the Raccoon Lodge costume. When he competes with Norton in the contest and Alice will have nothing to do with loaning her husband any money to rent a costume, Ralph is forced to make a homemade costume.
Ralph throws Alice's mother out of the apartment, but Alice soon walks out on him, too. In a last ditch effort to save their marriage, Ralph cuts a record to apologize to Alice - and also, reluctantly, to her mother.
Ralph injures his back after a bowling tournament a day before his physical examination.
When Alice has a telephone installed, Ralph feels threatened both by her newfound freedom and the prospect of another bill to pay. Alice is baby-sitting to pay for the phone but Ralph thinks she's two-timing him.
Ralph's out to prove himself to Alice, his neighborhood, and the world when he becomes a contestant on a hit television game show with the category of popular songs. He practices all week, spending a lot of money, only to miss on the first question!
Norton invests in Ralph's stock when Ralph wants twenty dollars. When Ralph thinks he is named in a millionaire's will, arguments arise. It turns out Ralph was simply left a pet bird named Fortune, and much of the money was left to the butler and maid.
After a visit from some teenagers, Alice feels that she and Ralph are starting to get old. She wants Ralph to take her out for some youthful activities, starting with roller-skating. But Ralph thinks the idea is ridiculous, and at first, resists it.
Ralph's lodge brother, Stanley, is about to marry Alice's sister, Agnes. At the Raccoons' bachelor party for Stanley, Ralph warns the young man not to move in with Agnes's parents after the wedding. But this advice backfires when Agnes shows up at the Kramdens' after the wedding reception, sobbing that her new husband has changed into a "beast". Can Ralph get Stanley and Agnes back together without Alice knowing that he was the one who gave Stanley the advice?
A new neighbor moves next door to the Kramdens. This neighbor is a dance instructor and teaches the wives to do the mambo, at their husbands' collective expense.
Outraged when he gets a notice from his landlord, Mr. Johnson, that his rent is being raised, Ralph--over Alice's objections--goes on a rent strike to "teach that Johnson a lesson". Unfortunately it's the middle of winter, and when the landlord turns off the heat, water and electricity, it looks like that the only one being taught "a lesson" is Ralph.
Ralph's birthday is coming up, and he finds out that Alice is planning a surprise party for him. On that day, however, no party materializes and Ralph is, to say the least, disappointed. He's even more disappointed when he finds a man's glove that's not his hidden in a dresser drawer and gets suspicious when Alice seems in a hurry to get him out of the house that night.
After Alice finds Ralph's old coronet in the bedroom closet. Ralph remembers lost career chances, and feels discouraged. But after a visit from a kindly, elderly millionaire couple who used to live in the apartment. They help Ralph see that he is still young enough to pursue new opportunities. With Norton's help, Ralph makes a list of all his strong and weak points so that he can correct his faults and become a success.
Ralph tells a newspaper that he's head of the house and then has to prove it to a co-worker.
Ralph goes into a panic when he gets a letter from the Internal Revenue Service ordering that he appear at their office the next morning, fearing that the IRS is investigating him for income tax evasion. He then discovers he just forgot to sign his name)
Ralph happens to be standing outside a bank when a pair of bank robbers run out and, seeing him, fire a shot at him, knocking his hat off. Afraid that the robbers might find out where he lives, he refuses to tell the police what he saw. The robbers, however, find out anyway and plan a visit to make sure he never tells.
A few days before the ceremonies announcing the selection of the Raccoon of the Year, the Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler of the Racoons tells Ralph that he will be sitting on the dais that night and to be prepared to say a few words. Ralph, of course, takes this to mean that he is to be the Raccoon of the Year, and begins to write his "humbling" acceptance speech.
Ralph is about to receive an award as the city's safest bus driver. This honor includes a feature story in a major magazine; and a ceremony at City Hall, where Ralph, Alice, and the Nortons will meet the Mayor. But on the way to the ceremony, Ralph gets into an accident, which is actually the other driver's fault. Will the truth come out so that Ralph can accept his award?
Norton loses his job after following Ralph's advice and starts selling steam ironsn door to door. When Ed lies about how much money he's making so that the Kramdens don't feel bad, Ralph himself considers selling steam irons door to door.
Alice and Trixie feel that their husbands don't notice them any longer. And it doesn't help when they see Ralph and Norton being attentive to the glamorous new wife of Ralph's boss. Alice then decides to imitate her in order to regain Ralph's attention.
While Ralph and Norton are playing a game at the pool hall, Ralph gets into an argument with a mousy little guy who threatens to "tell my friend Harvey on you". Ralph, figuring anybody named Harvey who's a friend of this guy must be as wimpy as him, tells the guy to "bring on Harvey" and brags that he'll beat up the both of them. Harvey turns out to be a tough, hulking bruiser, and challenges Ralph to a fight at the local gym. Ralph frantically looks for a way to get out of it.
After several janitors have quit working in his building, Ralph decides to take on the job himself. But he finds it a lot tougher and more complicated than he thought it would be.
Ralph meets an old boyfriend of Alice's, who tells Ralph what a great success he now is. Ralph doesn't want to admit that he's only a bus driver, so he pretends he's the head of the bus company. But his pretense may backfire, when Alice's former boyfriend and his wife invite Ralph and Alice to dinner at an expensive restaurant -- a place Ralph cannot afford.