Let's pretend for a second that Shemp never left the act.. never had a solo career.. and Curly never come on board as the third Stooge. It's just Moe, Larry, and Shemp until his untimely death in the 50s. Would the Boys have been as successful? I know it's hard to argue something like this, but I'm just curious as to your opinion. Would Shemp have "worked" well in the Curly-era shorts? I mean can we imagine him going nuts to Pop Goes the Weasel?
I've always been more of a Shemp-man moreso than Curly. I was exposed to more Shemp shorts when I wasn't even able to talk or walk, and as a result I've always had a different kind of fondness for the Shemp-era than Curly (the network that used to air them syndicated in the 1980s, WNYB, tended to air [in an hour] Curly-Shemp-Shemp and Shemp-Shemp-Joe instead of just all 3 shorts being Curly). Not to say I don't love all 190 shorts, but Shemp has something that's different. His brand of comedy is obviously not Curly's, but he's just hysterical. With that in mind, it's just really hard for me to think that the Boys would have had as much success.. I mean let's face it, when you ask any "general" Stooges fan (save for us on the Board, and those not obsessed), the consesus is everybody's favorite is Curly. He appeals to almost everyone, and damn it if it's not hard to love him. Even "back then" I'm sure Curly was everyone's favorite Stooge to impersonate.
What would the Stooges era shorts have been like with "Meep meep meep" instead of "Nyuk nyuk nyuk"? What's your opinion?