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N.Y.U.K.

Air Date/Released Saturday, April 1, 2000
Station/Studio American Movie Classics

AMC began airing the Three Stooges Columbia shorts (130 of 190) in December 1999. Four months later, the airings were combined with a series of hosting segments titled N.Y.U.K., aka New Yuk University of Knuckleheads. Film and television veteran Leslie Nielsen appeared as “himself,” N.Y.U.K.’s Professor of Stoogeology who lectures on the Stooges to a classroom of knucklehead students and introduces the films. The main title sequence features him touring the campus on his bicycle, racing the track team, ogling a cheerleader, and crashing the bike in front of the lecture hall; some segments used the entire sequence, some an edited-down version, while others did not use it at all. Many introductions were specific to one film, while others were generic and run before any film. Only a handful of closing segments were produced, with many films not using them at all. Other segments featured guest lecturers, including Dan Lauria (THE WONDER YEARS) as Coach Hamstrung.

Hosting segments for the Stooges’ shorts is nothing new over the past 50+ years, but AMC’s effort is listed here due to it being part of a national cable program, and that well-known celebrities were hired to host. Not complete, here is a list of most of the NYUK bumpers...

Introductory segments with Leslie Nielsen:
• WOMAN HATERS (1934) and its unique points
• Larry’s talent with the violin opens for PUNCH DRUNKS (1934)
• The class walks out when announced that MEN IN BLACK (1934) is not the Tommy Lee Jones movie
• ANTS IN THE PANTRY (1936) illustrated with a deadly beetle, loose in the classroom
• The team’s prolific output of films over 24 years inspires MOVIE MANIACS (1936)
• The legal facts of DISORDER IN THE COURT (1936)
• The importance of Joe Henrie’s sound effects, introducing THREE MISSING LINKS (1938)
• Common plumber tools and A PLUMBING WE WILL GO (1940)
• The mythology of Icarus and the history of aviation introduce DIZZY PILOTS (1943)
• NO DOUGH BOYS (1944) as part of the Stooges’ propaganda machine
• Trouble with a classroom microphone starts off MICRO-PHONIES (1945)
• The mathematics of the Stooges adds up to THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS (1946)
• Instead of formula, babysitter Nielsen feeds a baby a can of 48 oil for THREE LOAN WOLVES (1946)
• FRIGHT NIGHT (1947) is discussed as Shemp’s return to the act
• HOLD THAT LION! (1947) and Curly’s final film appearance in a cameo
• A bubblegum cake is prepared for ALL GUMMED UP (1947)
• The story behind JERKS OF ALL TRADES (1949)
• The Stooges invented day care for BABY SITTERS JITTERS (1951)
• Demonstrating a parrot in a turkey to start THREE DARK HORSES (1952)
• The topic of the late ‘50s race for space introduces OUTER SPACE JITTERS (1957)
• Watching an adult home movie, before introducing Moe’s home movies of FAMILY ALBUM (1998)
• The Stooges’ comedy formula and Moe’s theory of comedy
• The role of television in killing the shorts, and how the Stooges achieved new fame when the films were released to TV
• The production of a Three Stooges short subject
• Did the Three Stooges appear in PULP FICTION (1994)?
• Three Stooges poetry reading
• History of The Three Stooges’ lineup; a picture of DeRita is erroneously credited as Besser
• The legacy and influence of the Stooges on current films and TV shows
• How Larry joined the Stooges
• The Stooges in the World Book Encyclopedia, and the definition of comedy
• Moe has classified over 100 types of idiots
• The story of Jerome Horwitz
• The story of Shemp Howard introduces a Shemp short
• The Stooges in tabloid papers
• More on Shemp Howard and his love of boxing, for a Shemp short

Introductory segments with Dan Lauria (‘Coach Hamstrung’):
• Introducing RESTLESS KNIGHTS (1935) with a talk on the history of wrestling, and Walter Brennan
• The sport of bullfighting and WHAT’S THE MATADOR? (1942)

Introductory segments with Anna Nicole Smith (‘Dr. Anita Hugg’):
• Reading Stooge poetry to introduce Curly’s winning jingle in HEALTHY, WEALTHY AND DUMB (1938)
• Introducing SOME MORE OF SAMOA (1941) with a discussion on cannibalism
• Solving the world’s problems by looking to the future and children introduces ALL THE WORLD’S A STOOGE (1941)

Introductory segments with Carrot Top (‘Dr. Eugene Splicer’):
• Demonstrating the chemistry of grain alcohol for PARDON MY SCOTCH (1935)
• Amateur dentistry and I CAN HARDLY WAIT (1943); Lew Davis is erroneously credited as Dick Curtis
• Anesthesia and its use in A GEM OF A JAM (1943)
• The science of brain transference and A BIRD IN THE HEAD (1946)
• Electricity and its role in MONKEY BUSINESSMEN (1946)
• HOKUS POKUS (1949) and the art of hypnotism
• Hair styling, and no better way to introduce THE TOOTH WILL OUT (1951) (?)

Closing segments with Leslie Nielsen:
• Prof. Nielsen misses his cue and is caught telemarketing, then tells the class there will be a test on the film later
• Nielsen cries over the film, and when the camera pulls out we see he’s slicing onions
• “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye… or, was that after someone loses an eye, or both eyes?”
• “Grade B, grade C, grade B, grade D... ah-ha, Grade A!;” viewers are treated to Nielsen with a carton of eggs
• “Keep your eyes on your own paper”... Nielsen places both eyes on his papers
• Trouble with a piñata, as we break for a recess
• The professor reads Dummies For Dummies


Cast: Leslie Nielsen (Himself), Dan Lauria (Coach Hamstrung), Anna Nicole Smith (Dr. Anita Hugg), Scott ‘Carrot Top’ Thompson (Dr. Eugene Splicer), Byron Browne (Johnson), Tasha Dixon (Student)

Crew: George Bloom (Director), Joseph Lee (Writer), Peter Greene (Producer), Marc Juris, Nancy McKenna, Erik Press (Executive Producers)
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