The New 3 Stooges | |
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![]() Title card | |
Genre | Comedy Slapstick |
Created by | Norman Maurer Dick Brown |
Directed by | Edward Bernds |
Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Joe DeRita Emil Sitka Jeff Maurer Peggy Brown Margaret Kerry Tiny Brauer Paul Frees Hal Smith |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 156 individual cartoons |
Production | |
Producers | Norman Maurer Lee Orgel |
Running time | 5 minutes |
Production companies | Normandy Productions Cambria Studios Heritage Productions |
Release | |
Original network | Syndicated |
Original release | October 1965 – September 1966 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | The Three Stooges (1934-1959) |
Followed by | The Robonic Stooges (1977-1978) |
The New 3 Stooges is an American animated television series that ran during the 1965-66 television season 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 Joe DeRita (as Curly-Joe), with actor and close friend Emil Sitka co-starring, as well as Margaret Kerry. [1] The stories took place in varied settings, including a California beach and sailing as buccaneers on the Spanish Main. [2]
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 team at Columbia Pictures from 1945 to 1952 during most of the Shemp era, 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 to the Stooges. [3]
Cambria Studios produced 156 short Stooge cartoons under the supervision of Lee Orgel. Four cartoons were produced to correspond thematically with 40 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. [3]
Most of the cartoons ended up with the trio running into the horizon after accidentally causing havoc at their current jobs and for getting into trouble. The cartoons were unusual for Cambria in that they did not use Syncro-Vox, Cambria's patented technique which used filmed footage of the voice actors' mouths over top of still frames. The pilot cartoon, "That Little Old Bomb Maker", featured a unique live-action wrap around that was not reused on other cartoons.
Some of the cartoons featured a recurring character named Badman, a jerky supervillain with a Batman get-up who is actually a 5-year-old boy that is nice and kind. The boy can only transform to Badman if he ever hears or says the word "bad", and for Badman, vice versa for "good". In the episode "Badman of the Briny", the two finally find out that they are the same person in several scenes. Another recurring character was a western outlaw named Getoutoftownbysundown Brown.
To avoid any potential licensing problems, Cambria did not use any of the past Three Stooges theme songs, including "Three Blind Mice", or "Listen to the Mockingbird", even though both had lapsed into the public domain at the time (likewise, the on-screen title used a numeral "3" to avoid infringing on any trademark Columbia Pictures might have held on the name "The Three Stooges"). Several of the musical pieces used on the show were also used for the series Bozo's Big Top .[ citation needed ]
The New 3 Stooges was not the first attempt at an animated version of the team. During the late 1950s, Norman Maurer attempted to sell Stooge Time, a live action/rotoscope animation mix half-hour series to television. In 1960, Maurer and the Stooges filmed a pilot for a half-hour series The Three Stooges Scrapbook , which featured a five-minute Stooge cartoon. The Stooges would later return to animated form for Hanna-Barbera (for whom they recorded the audio-only Yogi Bear and the Three Stooges Meet the Mad, Mad, Mad Dr. No-No just as The New 3 Stooges was ending) in two episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Movies and in the series The Robonic Stooges (the latter being produced after the death of both Moe Howard and Larry Fine).
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. The judge presiding over the case knew little about the film or television industry and ruled in favor of Cambria. The Stooges appealed 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. [3]
List of live-action wraparounds and cartoons for The New 3 Stooges television series (1965-1966):
Several episodes are currently available on VHS and DVD (often in cheap "dollar packages" with the cartoons and live action sequences being in poor quality) as the majority of the series fell into the public domain.
Using the original 16mm acetates, Rhino Entertainment issued a restored version in 2002 of 28 live action segments, and 32 of the cartoons over two volumes. Each volume contains a Spanish audio option, and Volume one has a near 7 minute retrospective interview with Lee Orgel. During it, he mentions only 39 live action segments being produced which adds confusion to some claims of there being 40 or 41. Of the many DVD releases of the show, these Rhino Volumes have many reviews stating they are of the best quality available of the series. [4] In 2004, EastWest DVD released a slim case volume of episodes. In 2007 and 2008, Mill Creek Entertainment released a number of episodes as part of their Ultimate 150 Cartoon Festival, their Giant 600 Cartoon Collection and their 200 Classic Cartoons – Collector's Edition Label formats. On October 15, 2013, Image Madacy Entertainment released The New 3 Stooges: Complete Cartoon Collection on DVD in Region 1 making it the first time for a complete set to be released. The five-disc set features all 156 cartoons and 39 live action sequences on four discs, with the bonus disc being an audio CD by the Stooges which combines tracks from two of their albums (one of them being their 1959, The Nonsense Songbook).
In 2022, Mill Creek Entertainment released all 156 cartoons on a DVD called The Big Box of Nyuks.[ citation needed ]
The New 3 Stooges was well received upon initial airings, despite the use of limited animation. However, the Stooges were visibly aging during this time (Moe was 68 and Larry was 63), so the team's patented slapstick routines were subdued in the live action segments. Orgel later stated that the Stooges' penchant for violence was kept to a minimum due to the concerns of parental groups. [3] [4] In addition, Larry's motor skills had become somewhat sluggish, resulting in occasional slurred dialogue. To compensate, most of the comedy being divided between Moe and Curly-Joe, with Larry only chiming in when necessary. In retrospect, this altered comedy dynamic was a throwback to the Stooges' prime years in the 1930s when Curly Howard dominated the team's films and Larry was relegated to an occasional line of dialogue. [5]
The New 3 Stooges lasted for a single season. Although animated portions of the show were last aired in syndication on WGN-TV in the Chicago area in the early 1980s and 1990s, repackaged, redubbed and distributed at the time by DIC Animation City and Jeffrey Scott Productions, [6] it is occasionally seen on Me-TV. It also aired in Japan on TV Tokyo.
The New 3 Stooges became the only regularly scheduled television series in the Stooges' history. Unlike other film shorts that aired on television like Looney Tunes , Tom and Jerry and Popeye the Sailor , the Stooges' short films never had a regularly scheduled national television program to air in, neither on network nor syndicated; the film shorts, at roughly 20 minutes apiece, were of ideal size to be run as a stand-alone television series in and of themselves. When Columbia/Screen Gems licensed the film library to television beginning in 1958, local stations aired the shorts when they saw fit, either as late-night "filler" or marathon sessions.
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared over the act's run : Moe Howard and Larry Fine were mainstays throughout the ensemble's nearly 50-year run and the pivotal "third stooge" was played by Shemp Howard, Curly Howard, Shemp Howard again, Joe Besser, and "Curly Joe" DeRita.
The Skatebirds is an American live-action/animated package program produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on CBS from September 10, 1977, to January 21, 1978.
Moses Harry Horwitz, known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades. That group initially started out as Ted Healy and His Stooges, an act that toured the vaudeville circuit. Moe's distinctive hairstyle came about when he was a boy and cut off his curls with a pair of scissors, producing an irregular shape approximating a bowl cut.
Louis Feinberg, known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian, actor and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges.
Jerome Lester Horwitz, known professionally as Curly Howard, was an American vaudevillian comedian and actor. He was best known as a member of the American comedy team the Three Stooges, which also featured his elder brothers Moe and Shemp Howard and actor Larry Fine. In early shorts, he was billed as Curley. Curly Howard was generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges. He was well known for his high-pitched voice and vocal expressions, as well as his physical comedy, improvisations, and athleticism. An untrained actor, Curly borrowed the "woob woob" from "nervous" and soft-spoken comedian Hugh Herbert. Curly's unique version of "woob-woob-woob" was firmly established by the time of the Stooges' second Columbia film, Punch Drunks (1934).
Joseph Wardell, known professionally as Joe DeRita, was an American actor and comedian, who is best known for his stint as a member of The Three Stooges in the persona of Curly Joe DeRita.
Joe Besser was an American actor, comedian and musician, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957–59. He is also remembered for his television roles: Stinky, the bratty man-child in The Abbott and Costello Show, and Jillson, the maintenance man in The Joey Bishop Show.
Have Rocket, Will Travel is a 1959 American science fiction comedy film starring The Three Stooges. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and new "third Stooge" Joe DeRita. Released by Columbia Pictures, the feature was produced to capitalize on the comedy trio's late 1950s resurgence in popularity. The picture's supporting cast features Anna-Lisa and Robert Colbert.
Kook's Tour is an American comedy film produced in late 1969 and early 1970. It was the final film to star the Three Stooges and was originally intended as the pilot for a television series. However, on January 9, 1970, before filming was completed, Larry Fine suffered a severe stroke, paralyzing the left side of his body. When it became clear that Fine was not expected to recover fully from the stroke, production of the series was cancelled and the Kook's Tour pilot film was shelved.
Norman Albert Maurer was a comic book artist and writer, and a director and producer of films and television shows.
The Three Stooges In Orbit is a 1962 American comedy science fiction film directed by Edward Bernds. It is the fourth feature film to star the Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita. Released by Columbia Pictures and produced by Normandy Productions, The Three Stooges In Orbit was directed by long-time Stooge director Edward Bernds, whom Moe later cited as the team's finest director.
The Outlaws Is Coming is the sixth and final theatrical comedy starring The Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita. Like its predecessor, The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze, the film was co-written, produced and directed by Moe's son-in-law, Norman Maurer. The supporting cast features Adam West, Nancy Kovack, and Emil Sitka, the latter in three roles.
A Plumbing We Will Go is a 1940 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 46th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
The Robonic Stooges is a Saturday morning animated series featuring the characters of The Three Stooges in new roles as clumsy crime-fighting cyborg superheroes. It was developed by Norman Maurer and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 10, 1977, to March 18, 1978, on CBS and contained two segments: The Robonic Stooges and Woofer & Wimper, Dog Detectives.
Sappy Bull Fighters is a 1959 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 190th and final entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians between 1934 and 1959.
Idiots Deluxe is a 1945 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 85th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
Space Ship Sappy is a 1957 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 178th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
Three Little Pirates is a 1946 short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 96th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
Three Stooges Scrapbook is an unaired 1960 television pilot starring The Three Stooges. In the opening title and Hollywood trade ads, the show's title is spelled without "The," including a promotional photograph of the Stooges holding an oversized scrapbook. The pilot featured the slapstick trio getting evicted from a rooming house for cooking in their apartment, looking for a new place to live, finding refuge in the home of a mad inventor, and presenting an animated short called The Spain Mutiny that imagines the funnymen as part of Christopher Columbus’ crew.
Yogi Bear and the Three Stooges Meet the Mad, Mad, Mad Dr. No-No is a 1966 comedy album produced and released by Hanna-Barbera Records. The album presents the Three Stooges as inept park rangers who are called upon to rescue Yogi Bear after he is kidnapped by Dr. No-No, a nefarious scientist who invented a machine that turns people into animals. This was the final album recorded by the Three Stooges.