User Reviews

This is one of the funniest of the episodes, and yet it packs a wallop if you look at it closely. It's the classic plot where a letter is misinterpreted and causes great consternation. Alice has taken her mother's dog to the vet with an undisclosed illness. It turns out the dog has no more that six months to live. Meanwhile, Ralph intercepts the letter with the diagnosis and since he was recently at a doctor, believes it is he who has the death sentence. The touching thing is that he goes to a magazine to sell his story after realizing that he has nothing to leave Alice. Of course, when the first installment is published some very interesting things take place. This is genius writing, beautifully done.

Marvin Marks wrote this outrageous episode, long a writer for Jackie Gleason and also a producer for JOEY BISHOP.

It's all a big mixup. Alice is taking care of her mom's sick dog and the vet's note gets into Ralphs hands, who thinks he's only got six months to live! Schemer Ralph naturally sees some money in it and goes to a popular magazine that does human interest stories.

Why not? Actually, there is a bit of truth to this episode as there are many tabloids that track life and death situations, and pay families lots of cash.

In this case Ralph is guaranteed 5000 dollars, provided that he DOES drop dead! In today's market, that would amount to about 50 grand! Not a bad haul. The ugly truth eventually comes out and to get out of the mess, Ralph employs bearded Doctor Norton?? In a way, the scene is reminiscent of the kind of routines Laurel and Hardy would use.

One curious thing... When Ralph gives the doctor's note to the magazine editor, didn't he take a close enough look and see the doctor was a vet????

Norton thinking Ralph is dead is a scene to see.

SEASON 1 EPISODE 4 remastered dvd box set.

Due to a mix-up in a veterinarian's report, Ralph thinks he's only got six months to live. His uppermost concern is what he will leave for Alice to live on. Since it's practically nothing, he concocts a moneymaking scheme whereby he sells his six- month story to a publisher. But since he's not really going to die, he's involved himself in fraud, a criminal offense. So how does he get out of this.

This is really kind of dark subject matter that could easily go awry. Fortunately, the comedic overplaying keeps us glued to the comedy set-ups. Note that when Norton finds Ralph prone on the floor and thinks he's expired, he gets all blubbery and silly. That's a tricky set-up, finessed in usual Honeymooner fashion. I love it when Ralph gets the dim-witted Norton to impersonate a doctor, of all things. All in all, it's a pretty funny entry, despite the dark premise.