I just had the kind of thought you used to put on social media in the olden times, and thought, “as usual, my thoughts would be wasted on me and my human experience.” But then I remembered this thread.
The order displayed makes this a little more confusing, but let’s list them as they appeared and disappeared:
Moe Howard: The first of the two of the Three Stooges. A slapstick actor whose first appearance on film was as an extra, sitting on a diving board while exchanging slaps on the face back and forth with…
Shemp Howard: Moe’s older brother. After failing at vaudeville, the Howard Brothers signed up with a shitty agent who got them shitty contracts, but pretty quickly paired them with…
Larry Fine: A talented violinist who was also a master at comedy, but struggled as a solo act. Never the real instigator, Larry fit in perfectly.
Shemp exits for a personal career
Curly Howard: Jerome “Curly” Howard was the younger brother of Shemp and Moe. Dude was an off-the-walls comedian on set, and a horrible, abusive drunk at home. His excessive drinking eventually lead to a stroke.
Curly exits for health reasons. He makes a cameo later as a passenger sleeping on a train, doing his iconic snore
Shemp returns
Shemp has a stroke
Joe Besser: Already a well-established comedian, and still under contract, the production studio rejected Moe’s proposal to continue as the Two Stooges. They saddled the Stooges with Joe Besser, who refused to fully assimilate into the act. He continued playing his established character, and negotiated a “no excessive hitting” clause in his contract, which was significantly higher than Moe’s or Larry’s. This was a very polarizing choice for Stooges fans, but love him or hate him, Joe was the only way that the Three Stooges were going to continue filming shorts.
Shorts stop being popular, so the production studio drops them
Moe tries to go back on tour
Joe Besser exits after his wife has a heart attack
“Curly” Joe Derita: An established burlesque comedian who was excited to join the Stooges. Originally, he had long hair similar to Shemp’s, and then the Three Stooges with Curly was suddenly popular again. They shave Joe Derita’s hair, but he looks a little too much like Joe Besser or Curly Howard. They renamed him “Curly Joe” to differentiate while cashing in on Curly’s popularity.
Larry Fine exits after a paralyzing stroke
Emil Sitka (not pictured): Named to replace Larry, but never got to perform.
Moe exits the Three Stooges because he was tired of the production studio taking advantage of him and all of his friends and family were sick or dead
Curly Joe tries to form a new Three Stooges, but nearly goes blind from diabetes
Here, find and watch this ABC made-for-tv biopic. It’ll make you feel bad and condenses some of its info too much, but it’s pretty revealing for a 90-minute TV film.
Leslie Nielsen’s N.Y.U.K. was also a legitimately entertaining and informative way to watch and learn about the Three Stooges.
Pretty indicative of success at the time for upcoming talent who weren’t related to established entertainers. Or now even. The many amazing abuses of Hollywood, y’know.
Harvey Weinstein didn’t come out of a vacuum. So many songs about it, too, like Hotel California (more about the music industry, but same thing pretty much), Lost in Hollywood (more about those that don’t make it or only kinda make it, but same shit different outcome), Celebrity Skin (focuses on the extra exploitation women face, but that doesn’t mean men like the Stooges don’t get chewed up and spit out when they aren’t respected, too). And those are just three off the top of my head in a genre I like.
From what I understand, a genuine gentleman. I was so confused when Shawn Hayes was cast to play him in the incredibly confusing project that turned out to be a movie. To my surprise and delight, he paid a very impressive and respectful homage to Larry Fine. It felt like he picked up the role like a Stradivarius: gently and with intentions of entertainment.
It was a 2012 film that lived in production hell for literal decades. Name a famous actor between 1995-2012, and they were probably rumored to have been attached to the film. At one point, Jim Carrey gained 40lbs to play Curly, but then bowed out when he realized he’d have to gain another 40lbs and became concerned for his health.
Ultimately, they settled on Chris Diamotopolis, the guy who played the boom operator that ruined The Office. His previous notable credits included playing Robin Williams in the Mork and Mindy TV behind the scenes drama thingy.
Shawn Hayes, who played Jack on Will and Grace, played Larry. And Will Sasso, from MadTV and Vine, played Curly.
Overall, the movie mostly works. The story is very Stoogie, with some very peculiar pop references. It’s a three-act story shot like shorts from the original Three Stooges days. All of the actors playing the Stooges are very careful and loving with their portrayals. The movie just didn’t get the attention that it deserved due to being rumored for so long.
Anyway, definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan or even just interested.
The Three Stooges
Larger version I found:
I just had the kind of thought you used to put on social media in the olden times, and thought, “as usual, my thoughts would be wasted on me and my human experience.” But then I remembered this thread.
Nermal is the Shemp of Garfield.
Who are the last two?!
The order displayed makes this a little more confusing, but let’s list them as they appeared and disappeared:
Moe Howard: The first of the two of the Three Stooges. A slapstick actor whose first appearance on film was as an extra, sitting on a diving board while exchanging slaps on the face back and forth with…
Shemp Howard: Moe’s older brother. After failing at vaudeville, the Howard Brothers signed up with a shitty agent who got them shitty contracts, but pretty quickly paired them with…
Larry Fine: A talented violinist who was also a master at comedy, but struggled as a solo act. Never the real instigator, Larry fit in perfectly.
Shemp exits for a personal career
Curly Howard: Jerome “Curly” Howard was the younger brother of Shemp and Moe. Dude was an off-the-walls comedian on set, and a horrible, abusive drunk at home. His excessive drinking eventually lead to a stroke.
Curly exits for health reasons. He makes a cameo later as a passenger sleeping on a train, doing his iconic snore
Shemp returns
Shemp has a stroke
Joe Besser: Already a well-established comedian, and still under contract, the production studio rejected Moe’s proposal to continue as the Two Stooges. They saddled the Stooges with Joe Besser, who refused to fully assimilate into the act. He continued playing his established character, and negotiated a “no excessive hitting” clause in his contract, which was significantly higher than Moe’s or Larry’s. This was a very polarizing choice for Stooges fans, but love him or hate him, Joe was the only way that the Three Stooges were going to continue filming shorts.
Shorts stop being popular, so the production studio drops them
Moe tries to go back on tour
Joe Besser exits after his wife has a heart attack
“Curly” Joe Derita: An established burlesque comedian who was excited to join the Stooges. Originally, he had long hair similar to Shemp’s, and then the Three Stooges with Curly was suddenly popular again. They shave Joe Derita’s hair, but he looks a little too much like Joe Besser or Curly Howard. They renamed him “Curly Joe” to differentiate while cashing in on Curly’s popularity.
Larry Fine exits after a paralyzing stroke
Emil Sitka (not pictured): Named to replace Larry, but never got to perform.
Moe exits the Three Stooges because he was tired of the production studio taking advantage of him and all of his friends and family were sick or dead
Curly Joe tries to form a new Three Stooges, but nearly goes blind from diabetes
deleted by creator
Here, find and watch this ABC made-for-tv biopic. It’ll make you feel bad and condenses some of its info too much, but it’s pretty revealing for a 90-minute TV film.
Leslie Nielsen’s N.Y.U.K. was also a legitimately entertaining and informative way to watch and learn about the Three Stooges.
Sounds miserable.
Pretty indicative of success at the time for upcoming talent who weren’t related to established entertainers. Or now even. The many amazing abuses of Hollywood, y’know.
Harvey Weinstein didn’t come out of a vacuum. So many songs about it, too, like Hotel California (more about the music industry, but same thing pretty much), Lost in Hollywood (more about those that don’t make it or only kinda make it, but same shit different outcome), Celebrity Skin (focuses on the extra exploitation women face, but that doesn’t mean men like the Stooges don’t get chewed up and spit out when they aren’t respected, too). And those are just three off the top of my head in a genre I like.
Man, barely any of them got away in good health it seems.
According to Emil Sitka’s wiki-page he never got starred as a Stooge because Moe got a heart attack.
I can’t believe that this man managed to stick with it for that long; literally until the day he died.
I love Larry Fine so goddamn much. Always been my favorite Stooge, he’s just so funny.
From what I understand, a genuine gentleman. I was so confused when Shawn Hayes was cast to play him in the incredibly confusing project that turned out to be a movie. To my surprise and delight, he paid a very impressive and respectful homage to Larry Fine. It felt like he picked up the role like a Stradivarius: gently and with intentions of entertainment.
I’ll have to check that out! I’m unfamiliar with any Shawn Hayes and Three Stooges movie with them played by someone else.
It was a 2012 film that lived in production hell for literal decades. Name a famous actor between 1995-2012, and they were probably rumored to have been attached to the film. At one point, Jim Carrey gained 40lbs to play Curly, but then bowed out when he realized he’d have to gain another 40lbs and became concerned for his health.
Ultimately, they settled on Chris Diamotopolis, the guy who played the boom operator that ruined The Office. His previous notable credits included playing Robin Williams in the Mork and Mindy TV behind the scenes drama thingy.
Shawn Hayes, who played Jack on Will and Grace, played Larry. And Will Sasso, from MadTV and Vine, played Curly.
Overall, the movie mostly works. The story is very Stoogie, with some very peculiar pop references. It’s a three-act story shot like shorts from the original Three Stooges days. All of the actors playing the Stooges are very careful and loving with their portrayals. The movie just didn’t get the attention that it deserved due to being rumored for so long.
Anyway, definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan or even just interested.
I never knew their last names. This explains the “Paging Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard” call n the hospital scenes.
I feel like such a Stooge right now.
This gif immediately made me think of the NES Three Stooges game
or the three Marx brothers, THERE ARE 5 OF EM but not all of them are actors, in the movies there are 4 of them