I know that Jackie Gleason reprised this bit on his network show years later, with two different women playing the wives. The Kramdens and the Nortons win a jingle contest from a cereal company and are sent on an around-the-world trip. This episode puts them on board an ocean liner, heading for France. Ralph and Ed, dressed in the most ridiculous outfits, get into one conflict after another, including going overboard on a lifeboat and getting drunk on a bottle of booze they found. Why that was there is a question for other interpreters. The byplay is precious. I can see why they decided to get away from the tired format of that apartment. This gives these gifted comedians a chance to spread their wings as the ugly Americans. Norton, as is often the case with the dumb guy on comedy pairs, is downright dangerous and Ralph follows him down the garden path. This is such fun.
2 Reviews
Ship of Fools
Hitchcoc5 January 2018
It was probably high time for the Kramdens and the Nortons to get out of the same setting so these comic geniuses could spread their wings. Gleason reprised this bit when he had his Saturday night show in the early sixties. The two families have won and around-the-world trip by writing jingles for a cereal company, and find themselves on an ocean liner, headed for Paris. Of course, Ralph and Ed waste no time getting into all kinds of trouble, including sitting in a lifeboat because Norton pulled a rope. They are truly the ugly Americans, wearing outlandish clothing and offending all those around them. I'm looking forward to their further episodes unfettered by New York streets.
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