The Stooges used their share of stock footage in many shorts. That whole deja vu thing keeps you thinking "I know I've seen this before." But they're not the only ones who have done this. My wife's favorite show is Friends. The long-running sitcom from NBC. They have several episodes which were called "clip shows" that use much stock footage from earlier episodes. I thought that was weird. However, I wonder if they got the idea from watching later episodes of The Three Stooges. I guess that, under the right circumstances, they could have used fake Rosses, Chandlers and Joeys. Or even Fake Monicas, Rachels and Phoebes.
It's funny you should mention
Friends. At one time, the "flashback episode" seemed to be pretty common on television, with shows such as
The Jeffersons,
The Cosby Show,
Family Ties and
Golden Girls all producing one or more of them. In most cases, these "flashbacks" were little more than clip shows. In the case of
Friends, most of the "flashbacks episodes" were original. They were excuses to show the characters back in their high school/college days. The producers especially loved to feature "Fat Monica," with Courteney Cox in a fat suit. That said, the show did include some clip episodes, especially during the lead-up to Ross's London wedding in season four. The only thing more common in television than a "flashback episode," is the obligatory "amnesia episode." BTW,
The Jeffersons had one, and it was Louise who suffered from it.
As for the Stooges, my guess as to the most re-used clip has to be from
Half-Wits' Holiday. I'm referring of course, to the scene in which Moe throws a pie in the air and it sticks to the ceiling, eventually hitting Symona Boniface in the face. I've lost count as to how many times I've seen that clip.
