When I was a little kid, I loved watching The Three Stooges shorts on television. I was the perfect age for their slapstick antics. At the time, I thought it would be cool to view every Three Stooges Short ever made. Who knew that 6 decades later I’d finally complete the mission.
During the past year (and maybe a little longer), I watched all 190 Three Stooges’ shorts. Mission accomplished. Every Stooges’ short is now Z-Viewed and posted. My viewing resulted in some trivia…
Years with the most Stooges’ shorts released:
1943 – 10 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
1940 – 9 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
1946 – 9 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
1948 – 9 starring Moe, Larry & Shemp
1950 – 9 starring Moe, Larry & Shemp
1953 – 9 starring Moe, Larry & Shemp
Years with the fewest Stooges’ shorts released:
1959 – 2 starring Moe, Larry & Joe
1933 – 4 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
1945 – 5 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
Years that I rated the most 5 stars to Stooges’ shorts:
1938 – 5 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
1943 – 5 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
1940 – 4 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
Highest Average Rating for Stooges’ shorts released
1938 – 4.5 out of 5 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
1943 – 4.4 out of 5 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
1940 – 4.3 out of 5 starring Moe, Larry & Curly
Lowest Average Rating for Stooges’ shorts released
1958 – 2.67 starring Moe, Larry & Joe
1957 – 2,75 starring Moe, Larry & Joe
1959 – 3.0 starring Moe, Larry & Joe
From my ratings it becomes clear that my favorites were the shorts featuring Curly. It could be because Moe, Larry and Curly were the trio of knuckleheads that I first discovered. It could also be because Curly was my favorite Stooge for years.
Still is.
But I also enjoy Shemp’s antics. He was a fine addition to the team when Curly had to leave because of health issues. When I was younger, I didn’t like Joe at all. I found him to be irritating and not funny. As an adult, I appreciate Joe bringing his own brand of humor to the team. And I do find him funny now. There’s no argument that Joe’s years on the team were the worst. But, it would be wrong to blame it on him. At the point he came on board, Columbia was the only studio making shorts. The slashed the budgets on the final Stooges’ two-reelers and used a lot of stock footage from earlier Stooges outings. This was no fault of Joe’s.
It’s too bad that studios don’t make two-reelers any more. They might help get folks back into theaters. Heck, maybe just release some of the best Stooges shorts. It’s time for a new generation to discover them.
