I've been re-watching a lot of Stooges shorts lately, and got to wondering if there were any fans here on the forums. My father is a big fan, so needless to say, I grew up watching them as well. Looking back though, it amazes me how far ahead of the times they were. Sure, the slapstick is absolutely absurd, but they managed to work a lot of issues into their comedy, whether intentional or not. So, are you a fan? If so, who's your favorite Stooge, and what's your favorite short?

Also, please bear in mind that some of their material may cross the line of some restricted topics here, so please keep those links and comments to yourself.

I grew up watching their short films in the 1960s and early 70s -- it used to be even more common to show them than it is now. They're classic. You will find that liking them is a guy thing -- a lot of women don't like their slapstick humor. Once in the 1970s, I was watching the Mike Douglas talkshow when Jon Voight was the guest (if I recall correctly) and Moe Howard stood up in the audience, saying "What happened to the Three Stooges?" and combed his hair forward into his trademark bangs. It was a great moment, and he was invited up to the stage.
As I read once, the Three Stooges were extremely popular with movie audiences during the Great Depression. They were paid something like $ 20,000 a year, which in those days would have been the earnings equivalent of at least 20 men. In other words, they were well off but not in the stratosphere of pay for Hollywood.

One of my favorites was when they were trying to fix the plumbing in a mansion and wrecked the place -- water flowing from electrical fixtures and vice versa. The one in Arabia was good too, probably the short named "Malice in the Palace".

~Ditto~

I suppose Curly is my favorite. "Disorder in the Court" is pretty funny...so is "Malice in the Palace"; and so many of the others were hilarious.

I didn't really like Shemp that much, but he had some funny facial gestures, and I liked Joe better than Shemp....those two of course were the other two that played the part of Curly...if I could put it that way. Moe and Larry were the two constant characters in the act. I don't know the actual history, but I remember when I saw the skits with Joe, as a kid, it felt like a rare treat.

Those Classics will be funny well into the next century and beyond.

[edit] I had a foreman named Larry once, and it cracked everybody up when someone called him "Porcupine" to his face one day. ....."OK...Porcupine" :rofl:

Although I've always preferred Laurel and Hardy, I like the Three Stooges as well. Started watching them in the early 70's back when I was just a little squirt. Curly, of course, is the best, but IMO Shemp seems to get the raw end of it. I don't get why so many people I know can't stand him, I still think he's funny.

Shemp was funny, just not as funny, I guess. The most memorable thing he did was the "jeeb, jeeb, jeeb, jeeb" thing.

I'm actually opposite of you Aquan, I prefer Shemp over Joe. I just feel that Shemp had a bit more raw talent than Joe, and his presentation doesn't feel as "forced." But that's neither here nor there, it's just a matter of opinion. If I had to pick, I'd say that Curly is my favorite, and my favorite short, right now at least, is "Pardon My Scotch" or "Playin' the Ponies." A couple of you cited "Disorder in the Court." To this day, whenever I hear the word vernacular, I instantly think: "That's not a vernacular, that's a derby!" Just one of those things that always stuck with me.

I watched them as a kid. Loved the show.

You know, I'm going to take that back. Shemp was funnier than Joe, it just seemed because of the few episodes I saw with Joe made it different and special....Curly was the funniest, it seems everybody can agree on that.
Naturally I had to Google to get the history, and Curly actually replaced Shemp, then Shemp returned later after Curly had a stroke in 1946. There were two Joes that came later in the late '50's. One was called Joe and the other Curly Joe..I don't don't really remember Curly Joe at all. The act began in 1925 as "Ted Healy and His Stooges", and I've never seen anything from that combination.

Its odd that this thread was brought up as I was watching a few episodes this morning on AMC.

Something I didn't realize for years was that like the Marx Brothers, the original Stooges, including Shemp, were brothers and Jewish. Larry was the only one non-relative until the later replacements for Curly. I've seen a clip from when they were in Ted Healy's act, and it turns out they could sing well. I read once that, like Abbott and Costello, the Stooges came from the burlesque tradition with its slapstick. The Marx Brothers were from the vaudeville tradition AFAIK.

Another skit that was classic was the hospital one. I remember the paging system with its "Calling Dr Howard, Dr Fine, Dr Howard".

Who could forget that one !

Another line I've been musing on since yesterday was... Curly: "Hey Moe, look, a Pie Annie!" (piano)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk1o8fdmres

For who ever mentioned never seeing his contributions to the trio.

I like the part where they poke each other's eyeballs.

:hehe: