Topic: Reaction to Besser shorts at the time?

[Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum]

Pardon my continued fascination with the Besser era... you have to remember that I first checked out the Stooges primarily to see what the deal was with this "awful" Stooge that people had such strong opinions about... Anyway:

Does anyone know how the Besser shorts were reacted to when they were new? Did people think they were bad pretty much from the get-go, or was the overall negative reaction something that mainly came later (like maybe after people got to see old Curly shorts on TV)?

[JazzBill]

Here's how it worked for me. I was about 8 or 9 years old when the Stooges started popping up on TV. I was one of those kids that would run home after school to catch the Stooges on WGN TV, in Chicago. Even at a young age I could tell that Besser just didn't cut it. If I got home and they were showing Curly shorts, that was a great day. If they were showing Shemp shorts, it was OK. But if something else came along, I might do it.  But if I saw a Besser short was coming on ( you didn't have to see it, you just had to hear, HELLO-HELLOO-HELLOOO ) the TV got turned off and I went outside to find something else to do.

[Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum]

Yeah, but that doesn't really answer my question because you got to see Curly on TV from the beginning. I'm thinking in terms of people who saw the Joe shorts in the theatre in the pre-Stooges-on-TV days -- and maybe even had their first Stooge exposure that way (or at least with later Shemp shorts).

[JazzBill]

Yeah, but that doesn't really answer my question because you got to see Curly on TV from the beginning. I'm thinking in terms of people who saw the Joe shorts in the theatre in the pre-Stooges-on-TV days -- and maybe even had their first Stooge exposure that way (or at least with later Shemp shorts).

Gee, I'm sorry I'm not a little older.

[Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum]

Gee, I'm sorry I'm not a little older.

Know what you mean... I'm not old enough to have seen any Stooge thing when it was new.

[metaldams]

My theory, and it's only a theory, is that not many people saw the Besser shorts in the theater.  By the time Besser was a Stooge, the two-reeler was pretty much a dead format and most studios quit making them.  So I would imagine there were no strong opinions either way, just indifference.  Again, my theory.

[JazzBill]

That could be. My earliest memories of going to the movies date back to the late 50's or early 60's. I remember seeing cartoons, or dancing hotdogs making their way to the concession-stand on the screen, before and in between the shows. Now all you see are previews and advertisement. Give me back the cartoons and dancing hotdogs.

[FineBari3]

Well, this doesn't answer your question, either....but my Mother grew up watching the Stooges in the 1940's every Saturday or however often they showed them.

No one believes me when she said that people would boo when their title card would come on. This wasn't a tough neighborhood, either; this was a small town outside of Pittsburgh.

BTW, as soon as I heard the "Hello, hello, hello" begining of a Joe short when I was a kid, a loud "AWWWW" was emitted, but it was better than watching soap operas.

[Moron4392]

Ladies and Genlemen:

I would like to say I am not a Besser shorts fan either.  To me he was too much of a woose muffin to be a Stooge.  To me ladies and gentlemen the Shemp era was my favorite time.

Thank you sirs and mames for letting make my statement. 

I do have to say one thing to Jazz Bill, sir you are marking my age, I also remember going to the drive-in theatres in the 50's and 60's seeing cartoons and dancing hot dogs, popcorn boxes, so on and so forth.  (That was the good ole times).

Please ladies and gentlemen may your week be a great one.

Diane Elizabeth Hoekstra
Moron4392

[locoboymakesgood]

I liked the Besser shorts because most of them had the Stooges just as everyday guys. I grew up watching Besser's on Saturday morning, so I have a soft-spot for them. They're not Shemp, and they're not Curly, but they're funny. We did used to always joke when I was kid and say the best part of them was the opening credits.. which I agree. I love the "Hello, Hello, Hello...". I'm indifferent. I guess I'm just too much of a fan to specifically hate anything the Stooges ever did, so meh.

[curlysdame]

Well, this doesn't answer your question, either....but my Mother grew up watching the Stooges in the 1940's every Saturday or however often they showed them.

No one believes me when she said that people would boo when their title card would come on. This wasn't a tough neighborhood, either; this was a small town outside of Pittsburgh.

This is getting a little off the subject, but I just had to comment...  People would really boo the Stooges?  ...In the 40s?  I can't believe it!   

[Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum]

This is getting a little off the subject, but I just had to comment...  People would really boo the Stooges?  ...In the 40s?  I can't believe it!   

No kidding!

As for Besser: I can't defend the shorts from that era, and for the most part I can't defend the quality of his Stooging; but it does bother me when people criticize him. I'd say that's because (1) I think I would have liked Besser the actual person; plus he was modest about his Stooges contribution. It's as if he considered the honor of being associated with them as being worth the hit his reputation took from it. (If he was never a Stooge he would be less known today but more highly thought of.) (2) For the most part I don't object to his Stooge character as much as others do (although if he was always as annoying as he was in, say, "Horsing Around," I might feel differently!). (3) If he failed, then he failed where no one could have succeeded. Whoever had replaced Shemp (especially with the low budgets & recycled scripts) would surely be subject to much criticism today.

BTW, when I see Joe in, say, "A Merry Mix-Up," I don't see a guy who "didn't cut it." I see a guy who's not Curly or Shemp, but was still a good Stooge. Unfortunately few of Joe's shorts made good use of him. And even Moe & Larry had a hard time making the best of crap like "Sweet & Hot"; Joe didn't have a chance.

And this has been my 2 cents' worth.

[jrvass]

"Woose muffin"? 

Love it! Joe was the gayest & worst stooge. Not being a Moe, even I would have slapped him silly.

James

[FineBari3]

This is getting a little off the subject, but I just had to comment...  People would really boo the Stooges?  ...In the 40s?  I can't believe it!   

Honest truth. At least that is what my Mom says, and she a helluva lady!

I told you nobody believes me from the fan club either.

Maybe I'll get a statement from her this week.

[Moe Hailstone]

I wasn't old enough to watch them in the theater, but whenever the Stooges were on TV I would watch them.

Usually the channel that played them would air three shorts in a row (with commercials it lasted one hour).  If the first short had Joe in it, I would let out a long sigh and pray to the Stooge Gods that the second and third short was Joe-free.  If the middle short had Joe, then at least it started out Joe-free and could also end with a non-Joe short.  If the third and final short had Joe in it, then I'd either change the channel or do something else...unless it was a short with UFO's in it.  Then I could tolerate Joe.   

[Skeeb Wilcox]

To me ladies and gentlemen the Shemp era was my favorite time.

 

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

I can add to FineBari's recollection ... I have first hand knowledge of "False Alarms" from my mother who saw it FIRST RUN in 1936 ... she recounts rolling in the aisles over Curly naming the cut-up fire hoses after the quintuplets in Canada.

(Oooohh ... look at the little baby hoses!)

[FineBari3]

I can add to FineBari's recollection ... I have first hand knowledge of "False Alarms" from my mother who saw it FIRST RUN in 1936 ... she recounts rolling in the aisles over Curly naming the cut-up fire hoses after the quintuplets in Canada.

(Oooohh ... look at the little baby hoses!)

My Mother was born in 1939, so she just remembers Seeing 'Shemps'. I'm sure the people enjoyed them in the 1930s.

[locoboymakesgood]

My Mother was born in 1939, so she just remembers Seeing 'Shemps'. I'm sure the people enjoyed them in the 1930s.

If Shemp's were so unpopular, then how did the shorts get produced up to 1957? And their newfound popularity on TV?

Did the audiences of the '40s just not have the humor for it?