The New 3 Stooges: Difference between revisions

The New Three Stooges is a syndicated television program that ran from 1965-1966 starring the Three Stooges. The show follows the trio's antics both in live-action and animated segments. The cast consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly-Joe DeRita, with actor and close friend Emil Sitka co-starring, as well as Margaret Kerry. This was also the only Three Stooges series that was aired on television. The first attempt was 1949's Jerks of All Trades with Shemp Howard, and the third attempt was Kook's Tour with Curly-Joe in late 1969 and early 1970. Jerks of All Trades and Kook's Tour are currently in the public domain and available on video.

Forty-one live action sequences were executively produced by cartoonist Norman Maurer, Moe's son-in-law, who was their film agent at this time. Edward Bernds, who had directed the Three Stooges when they were making their ever-popular shorts from 1945–1952, was also hired to write and direct the series. Emil Sitka, who had appeared in many of the Stooges comedies over the years, was slated to appear in these wraparounds as straightman or stooge to the Stooges.^[1]

Cambria Studios produced 156 short Stooge cartoons under the supervision of Lee Orgel. Four cartoons were produced to correspond thematically with forty of the live-action Stooge opening and closing sequences, so that one live-action sequence could serve as a wraparound for four different cartoons. Joe DeRita later commented that this presented something of a problem for viewers:

There were 156 cartoons and we made only 40 live-action segments. So after they ran the whole 40, they'd just start over by using these same introductions on new cartoons. This turned out to be misleading because viewers would say, 'Oh, I've seen this one before.' and they'd turn off the television. They didn't know it was a new cartoon.^[1]

The pilot cartoon, "That Little Old Bomb Maker," featured a unique live-action wrap around that was not reused on other cartoons.

Many fans dismissed The New Three Stooges as a disappointment. The animation was limited and of low quality, somewhat reminiscent of Rocky and Bullwinkle, although still not as limited in animation as Cambria Studios' three previous Syncro-Vox series, Clutch Cargo, Space Angel, and Captain Fathom. This was one of the few Cambria productions that did not use the Syncro-Vox technique. The boys were visibly aging during this time (Moe was 68, and Larry was 63), so the slapstick was subdued in the live action segments. In an interview on Rhino Entertainment's first volume of these shows, Lee Orgel also states that the Stooges' penchant for slapstick violence was kept to a minimum due to the concerns of parental groups.^[1] In addition, Larry's motor skills had begun to slow, resulting in many lines of dialogue being slurred. This resulted in much of the comedy being divided between Moe and Curly Joe, with Larry only chiming in when necessary.^[2]

The color television series did last successfully from 1965-1966. Although the show was last aired in syndication on WGN in the mid-1990s, it has on rare occasion been seen on Boomerang and Cartoon Network since. Some episodes are currently available on VHS and DVD (often in cheap "dollar packages") because the majority of the series fell into the public domain.

The New Three Stooges became the only regularly scheduled television show in history for the Stooges. Unlike other films shorts that aired on TV like the Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, and Popeye, the film shorts of the Stooges never had a regularly scheduled national television program to air in, neither on network nor syndicated. When Columbia/Screen Gems licensed the film library to television, the shorts aired in any fashion the local stations chose (examples: late-night "filler" material between the end of the late movie and the channel's sign-off time; in "marathon" sessions running shorts back-to-back for one, one-and-a-half, or two hours; etc.) Rhino issued a restored version of the majority of the series (using the original 16mm master film) in 2002.^[3]

The series proved to be a financial headache for the Stooges. In accordance with their contract, Cambria Studios' distributor was supposed to forward quarterly statements to the trio to keep them abreast of the show's profits. Norman Maurer recalled receiving only one or two statements over a five-year period, ultimately leading to a lawsuit. Ironically, the judge presiding over the case knew little about the film or television industry and ruled in favor of Cambria. The Stooges would appeal the decision in 1975, leading to a victory in their favor. However, it changed nothing in regard to the distributor's failure to provide the necessary profit statements to Normandy Productions, and by the time the case was decided, both Larry and Moe had died.^[1]

• List of New Three Stooges episodes (Includes full program credits)

• The New Three Stooges at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com