Honeymooners Episode Reviews: Radio versions of “Letter To The Boss” & “Love Letter”: - Sitcoms Online Message Boards (2025)

Honeymooners Episode Reviews: Radio versions of “Letter To The Boss” & “Love Letter”:

Episode #1
DVD: Attached to “Love Letter” (radio), “The Norton Interviews”, “Additional Sketches & Commercials”, “New Featurettes”, “Scripts For Missing Episodes” & “Promos.”
Scheduled Air Date: Tue. 5/18/54

For the longest time, a lot of people didn’t know that these radio episodes were made until Robert Bader (producer of the box set) dug them up. I believe that they were made to promote the Honeymooners on the Jackie Gleason Show. They never aired. Counting the radio versions, “Letter To The Boss” & ‘Love Letter” were made four times.

One of the complaints about the DVD that has these episodes that they can’t be rewound and fast-forwarded. That is true.

When you play this episode on the DVD a colored version of The Honeymooners city background with the episode title and the air date (5/18/54) while “Love Letter” has a black background.

Generic music is played. Announcer: “CBS presents the Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows and Art Carney. All fairy tales end with: ‘And they live happily ever after. Is the Kramdens life a fairy tale? Let’s take a look at our ‘Prince Charming’ and his damsel in distress and see for ourselves. It’s 5:30 and Alice is waiting for Ralph to come home from work.” Ralph: Prince Charming? Ha!

Alice is home and Trixie stops by to borrow a bottle of milk. The announcer neglected to mention Joyce Randolph. What a surprise. Alice is taking out the right sleeves in Ralph's underwear. His right arm gets hot in the bus. His left one doesn't, because that's the arm he puts out the window. After Alice and Trixie make plans, Ralph comes home and Trixie leaves. Ralph says that he's not hungry because he's just been fired from the bus company after thirteen years. Ralph complains about all the inconveniences he had to put up with as a driver like drunks trying to get on the bus without paying, old women yelling at him etc. Alice: "Don't worry Ralph. You'll get another job." Ralph: "Sure, I will but not a good one like this one." Ha! He also brings up some job ads listed in the paper, but they are all for women. Ralph: ‘We will just have to live off of our savings.” Alice: "Swell. That will take care for tonight, but what about the morning?" Ha! Ralph says that they will have to change their style of living and move out of here into a cheaper apartment and sell this furniture and get some second-hand stuff. Ha!

Ralph mentions that they should live with Alice's parents for the time being but Alice nixes that idea. Ralph mentions that he only quit school during the sixth grade. It would have been worse if he continued his schooling because it would be embarrassing if he, as a college graduate, being fired from a bus company. Ed Norton comes down, expecting to go bowling. Ralph says that he lost his job. Ed tries to cheer Ralph up, but only makes Ralph feel worse. Ralph hits on the idea that he will write a nasty letter to Mr. J.J. Marshall. Alice objects but her opinion falls on deaf ears. Ralph tells Norton to write what Ralph says. Here is the letter:

"Dear Mr. Marshall:

You dirty bum! After giving you the best years of my life, you fired me you miserable low-life. You ought to turn in your membership card to the human race. After what you did to me, I can truthfully say that you are the world's meanest man. You dirty bum!"

In regards to the lost episode version, MPI Video says that this is a classic Kramden letter. Honeymooners.net said that the line of: "You dirty bum!" is delivered with such conviction that it looks like Ralph invented the insult for the occasion. This should to be shown to every getting a job-related class under the heading: "What not to write to your boss after you get fired." Both claims are probably correct. Ralph: "Sign it!’ Respectfully yours: Etc. Etc.'"

Ralph gives him the address which is J.J. Marshall Gotham Bus Company 225 River Street in New York. Gleason accidentally says Gofham instead of Gotham at first but he corrects himself. Ed goes out to mail the letter and says that he could get Ralph a job in the sewer. All he has to do is pass the floating test. Ha! Ed leaves. Ralph says to Alice that he knows what he is doing in regards to writing a letter to his boss in regards to being fired. Ralph says that he used to get little kids on the bus and that he would let them pretend that they are driving the bus as well as doing things like make change. Isn’t doing that wrong? Ralph: "Wait a minute! It's probably one of those brats that is taking my job." Freddie Muller comes by and says that Ralph hasn't been fired, but promoted. Ralph leaves to go get Ed before he mails the letter.

At the bowling alley, Ed runs into a man who says that he better be good tonight. A person named Sam ran up a 228 score. Ed goes into the locker room. He says that since he forgot to mail the letter and asks Harry the custodian to mail it. The custodian leaves. Ralph comes in and finds out that his letter has been mailed and is worried that he will be really fired. He tries to go outside and get the letter but is unsuccessful. He comes back in the locker room and explains that he wasn’t fired but promoted. Ed: "If he fires, you, send him another nasty letter." Ha! Ralph hatches a plan to get the letter out of the mailbox. Ed: "What do I get in return?" Ralph: "That's a very selfish thing to say after what I did for you. Remember that race last year? You needed money to bet on that horse." Ed: "You didn't give me the money?" Ralph: "Yeah, the horse lost didn't he?" They both go out to get the letter.

Outside, Ralph tells Ed to keep a look out in case someone comes by. Ed: "If you are worried about people seeing you getting a letter out of there, how do you think they will react when they see you climbing into it?" Ralph tries to get the letter out, but Ed says that someone is coming and scars Ralph Ed says that he was just practicing. Ralph (yells): “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?” Ralph reaches for the letter but his arm gets stuck. Ed: “A man is looking at us. We better run.” Ralph: “But my hand is stuck.” Ed: “Mine ain’t.” The man comes by. So Ralph & Ed act nonchalant. Ed: “Nice night out. Say Ralph, do you know that you can get three years for tampering with a mailbox?” Ralph is upset. Ed: “I got an idea. It’s dynamite.” Ralph: “What is it?” Ed: “It’s dynamite.” Wouldn’t that kill Ralph? Ed puts his arms around Ralph’s waist to pull the arm out but all they are doing is pulling the mailbox around. I guess that that mailbox wasn’t nailed to the ground. Ed: “Why don’t we drag it out into the street and you get hit by a car. That way the box will detach itself from you.” It would? Ralph: “If I ever get my hand out of here, look out.” Ed: “I won’t help you.” Ed holds the mailbox while Ralph pulls his hand out. He does and falls down. He got the hand out. Now he resumes trying to get the letter out. Ed: “Maybe if you stick your hand…” Ralph: “Oh, shut up!” They try to pick up the mailbox and shake it. A mailman comes by. Ralph tries to cover it up by saying it was upside-down and they were trying to put it right-side up. The mailman thinks that they were tampering with the mail. Mailman: “You can go to jail for three years or a $1,000 fine.” Ed: “How about that Ralph? We got a choice.” Ralph tells the mailman that there is a nasty letter to his boss in there and he wants it out and not mailed. Ralph lies when he says: “I support my mom. Me, my wife and my mom will be out on the street. We will starve.” Ed: “Boy that tugs on the heartstrings.” The mailman says no. He asks them to beat it and is he sees them here again, he will call a cop. They leave. Harry the custodian (who was apparently hiding from Ed [who he called the skinny guy] & Ralph) comes by and gives the mailman the letter.

Ralph & Alice are apparently trying to go to sleep. Ralph is too upset to sleep. Alice blames Ralph. Ralph: “It was your advice that got me into this. Thirteen years ago, you advised me to take the job with the bus company.” Ralph hatches a plan. He will go into Mr. Marshall’s office to try to get the letter before he reads it. He plans to get dressed and get there even though its 3am and the mail doesn’t get delivered until 8a. I guess that the mail travels fast in The Honeymooners. Ralph says that someone with iron nerves will only be able to sleep in a situation like this but minutes later, he is fast asleep.

The next day Ralph and Mr. Marshall’s secretary, Ms. Wilson, talk about Ralph’s new position. Ms. Wilson: “Mr. Marshall has said some nice things about you.” Ralph: “I said some nice things about him too.” Ha! The secretary leaves when she thinks that there is someone on the phone. Ralph tries to get the letter before his boss reads it. He fails and the boss reads Ralph's letter. He doesn't mind the insults because he always gets them but becomes “mad” when the author didn't sign his name. Ralph happily faints. I put mad in quotes because I don’t think the actor sounded mad when he found out that the author didn’t sign his name. The part about Mr. Marshall being mad about the author not signing his name was written in the description of the 1953 version. Ralph faints. Doesn’t the Postal Service forbid people from not putting their names and addresses on outgoing mail?

At home, Ralph bought Chinese food and explains Alice the good news. Ed comes down. Ralph: “If you Ed were any prettier, I would kiss you.” Ed explains the fact that he went down and said Ralph didn't mean all of those insults that he wrote in the letter. Ralph faints.

The announcer says: “Join us next week. Same time. Same network.” Then we get to hear what the full-length version of one of the Honeymooners theme songs that air when the episode title appears on the screen and in syndication. Ironically, the next surviving Honeymooners Radio show took place in December where this one took place in May.

Episode #2?
DVD: Attached to “Letter To The Boss” (radio), “The Norton Interviews”, “Additional Sketches & Commercials”, “New Featurettes”, “Scripts For Missing Episodes” & “Promos.”
Scheduled Air Date: Wed. 12/8/54

There might have been more Honeymooners radio shows that took place during the time frame that “Letter To The Boss” was made until “Love Letter.”

When you play this episode on the DVD, the background is black. While “Letter To The Boss” had a colored version of The Honeymooners city background with the episode title and the air date (5/18/54).

The beginning is unique in that is similar to the opening of the 1957 Trip To Europe episode where one Glea Girl says: “The Jackie Gleason Show.” Another one says: “With Audrey Meadows and Art Carney.” Another one says: “Starring Jackie Gleason.” Another one says: “And away we go.” The episode starts.

Jack Lescoulie comes on and says that now is the time for the audience to see Ralph & Alice Kramden. Jack: "When the Kramdens got married, they swore that they would count to ten before they got angry. The Kramdens have now been married for 14 years and so far they have counted up to 8,460,320." With that, the episode begins.

Alice is cooking. Trixie comes and shows the birthday present that she wants to give Ralph. It is a belt. Alice borrowed a cookbook from Trixie and in it finds a love letter that Ed once wrote to Trixie. Joyce Randolph again was not mentioned. What a surprise. Alice leaves it on the icebox and Ralph later comes in. Trixie is hiding Ralph's birthday present behind his back. She leaves. Ralph asks Alice if she knew anything about it. Alice says that it is nothing. Ralph: "Alice you don't hold nothing behind your back. You hold it out front so everyone can see it." Alice tells Ralph it's his birthday present and later tricks her into saying the present, which is a belt. Wait a minute. This episode was made 12/8/54. The previous version was made on 10/16/54. The remake was shown on Nov. 24, 1956 and "Pardon My Glove" was shown on Mar. 17, 1956. The color remake was made 10/12/68. In all episodes, Alice prepares for Ralph's birthday. Also, in "Battle of The Sexes", Ralph is a Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) & in "Stars Over Flatbush", Ralph is a Taurus (April 21-May 21). In two of the Color episodes, Ralph's birthday is in October. Wow! Ralph: "A belt is a pretty small gift." Alice: "Not with what you have to wrap it around." Alice goes into the bedroom to change. Ralph finds the letter. Ralph (reading it): "'I love you! I love you! Signed: Your lover. P.S.: I love you!'" Naturally Ralph thinks that Alice is seeing another man. Ed comes in and Ralph reads the letter to him. Ed: "That is sweet Ralph. Who are you going to send it too?" Ralph: "I am not sending it to anybody." Ed: "Oh, somebody sent it to you." Ralph tells Ed the whole situation. Ed tells Ralph to relax and eat. He doesn’t want to. Ed goes to eat the food. Ralph then thinks that since Alice is seeing another man and giving him what he wants for dinner, she must be poising him. Ed: "The joke is on her because you're not eating the food. I am." Ed then worries that he would die of the poison so Ralph tells him to relax. Ed tries to find out who wrote it (he doesn't know that he himself wrote it). He says that he can’t figure out who wrote the letter. Alice leaves and Ralph questions where she is going. She says to the store and leaves. Ed volunteers to follow her. Ed: "I will be a regular human blood hound. I will follow her all over the city." Ed leaves and comes back a few seconds late saying he lost her on the stairs. Oh gee.

Jack Lescoulie recaps what we saw so far. He says that Ralph and Ed went to a hand-writing analyst. He introduces the next scene.

Alice is home Trixie comes by. She wants to know what bowling ball to give Ralph. Trixie worries that she is going overboard with a bowling ball and a party at the Hong Kong Gardens. Alice disagrees. Ed comes by and said that Trixie’s mom is on the phone. Trixie leaves. Alice asks Ed to help her pick out a bowling ball for his birthday present. Ed says that Ralph likes the three-finger one. Ed says that Ralph will be bowling every night but Alice says that he won’t. Ralph comes home and they try to keep everything a secret. Ralph said that he had the worst day of his life. Alice goes to the bedroom. Ed gets in Alice’s way. Alice: “Excuse me honey.” Ralph: “Who are you calling honey?” Alice: “Norton, who else?” Oh boy! It is revealed that Ralph & Ed went to a Mrs. Paterson (a letter analyst). Ed tries to say that there is no other guy that Alice loves. Ralph doesn’t believe him. Ed leaves. Ralph is pacing. Ralph: "Mrs. Paterson made a mistake. How could I even accuse my best friend? Norton, my buddy. One of the finest creatures that was ever put on this earth and besides how could Alice go for a bum like him." Alice comes out. Ralph explains that he was mumbling to himself. Alice: “You must have had a worse day than she thought. Ralph: “Today was one of the finest days of my life. Everyday is one of the finest days of my life.” How can his day turn around like that in a few seconds? The audience laughs when Ralph comes out. Why are they laughing, I really don’t know. Maybe Ralph slipped into his apparently rather loud PJs? Ralph wants to have a night alone just the two of them. Alice has other plans. She wants to go out shopping. She leaves. Ralph is all upset. I think he tries to leave and follow her.

Jack recaps some of what we saw so far and introduces us to the next scene.

We can hear the audience laugh already for whatever reason. Maybe they were probably laughing at how ridiculous the curtains in the Norton apartment looks. (Obviously, we couldn't see the real colors of the curtains. Ralph talks to Trixie upstairs and says that he is upset. So Ralph turns the radio on for him. A song: “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” plays which gets Ralph more upset. He explains the letter. She naturally doesn't believe it. Ralph reads it to her. Ed & Alice come in just as Ralph says the "I love you" part of the letter to Trixie. Ed assumes that Ralph is seeing his wife and vice-versa. Ralph challenges Ed to a fight and Ralph "punches" Ed. It is so obvious that Ralph didn't punch Ed. Alice explains to Ralph that Ed helped her pick out Ralph's birthday gift. Trixie & Alice explain the whole truth about the love letter. Ralph apologizes. Ralph & Alice kiss as the traditional music that accompanies the kiss plays. It continues playing as the show ends. This is one of those rare times we get to hear the full version of that song. Jackie: "That is the first kiss that I got from Mrs. Meadows this season. She hasn't lost her stroke. Ummm...BOY!” Why did Jackie say this? Read on. Jackie introduces the whole cast. I think he accidentally calls Zamah Cunningham (apparently the person who played Mrs. Paterson). Jackie says goodnight. The Jackie Gleason Show theme song plays as they go off stage.

As far as the handwriting scene goes (and the whole episode in general), ChrisTV of the honeymooners section of sitcomsonline.com says:

"The "Love Letter" program is just edited audio from the October 16, 1954 "Love Letter" sketch from the Jackie Gleason Show. The major part that is edited from this radio program from the actual episode is the scene where Ralph & Ed go to the handwriting expert."

Credit I think goes to (the original) Bill's 'Mooners Archives, eBay.com, tv.com, Honeymooners Lost Episodes Book, tvguide.com, honeymooners.net, Honeymooners Lost Episodes DVD booklet, Wikipedia.org, Yahoo Groups You're A Riot! & Amazon.com.