As with everything else I get really into, how I got into the Stooges is some half ass saga haha.
I was 8 or 9 years old and we were going to visit my Grandparents. During the long car ride, I remember my mom telling my dad "yeah there's some Three Stooges marathon on". I think it may have been during the Memorial Day weekend or something. My dad was like "Oh yeah...great". Once we got up there though, I remember I had some pre-disposed dislike of the Stooges. I think as a kid I liked to be contrary to things my dad liked, then I'd end up liking them anyway haha. So for some reason, I didn't want to watch them. I remember that I knew all the names though...well at least Moe, Larry, and Curly.
Names have to do with how I chose a favorite stooge before I even saw them in action. At that time I was very much into the show "Perfect Strangers", which has the duo of "Cousin" Larry and his long lost foreign relative Balki haha. "Cousin" was my favorite character, and since his name was Larry, I decided Larry would be my favorite stooge. My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go in and take a look at what they were watching...
The first short I ever saw was "Don't Throw That Knife", ironically...a Shemp short. I came into it right near the end though, so it was years before I actually realized which short was the first one I'd seen. Luckily I vividly remembered the scene in which Larry hides behind the tv, pretending to be a commercial for safe driving, then pokes the guy in the butt and sort of saves Moe and Shemp. I remember that's when I knew my choice was correct. I'll bet though if Larry hadn't been so cool in that short, I may have changed my mind haha. I also remembered their get-a-way on scooters at the end.
Even now I love watching it because it's the first one I saw. And the beginning of it is pretty funny too. Shemp has that great line to Moe about how "Money shrinks!!!" Oh so true.
When we returned home, I found this tape that my dad had probably from the '80's when they'd do New Years marathons. Too bad that tape broke. I remember it had almost all of their really great ones. Even now I remember which shorts were on the tape for the most part. So after "Don't Throw That Knife", some of the other first ones I remember seeing are "Dizzy Detectives", "Punch Drunks", "Men In Black" (how I learned what their last names were), "Three Little Beers" (an early favorite), "Loco Boy Makes Good", "Tassles In The Air", "Half-Wits Holiday", etc etc....
Long-winded, but a story I enjoy telling haha.