Topic: The first short you saw?

[FineBari3]

The first short I saw was "Fiddler's Three". I was about 8, and it was a saturday in 1978. The local UHF crap station, WPTT 22, was showing them. The used to show them Sat and Sunday, and daily for an hour at 7am, and also at 4pm!  I would get ready for school with them on and then come back and watch them!!!

WPTT! That was Captain Jim who always said "And now it's time for our three nutty friends"

I thought he was called Captain Pitt, and just asked my boyfriend and he said the same.  He was in the control room of a tugboat with a crappy superimposed movie of a river going on behind him. 

Wow, WPTT sure was a crummy station. It is a UPN station now!

[Dagurasu]

We didn't have television until about 1958. That was about when the first local channel started. (Wyoming was really behind the times!) However the local theater owner had some special cartoon and stooge shows for the local school system(circa 1955 or 1956). I can remember the whole elementary school walking down to the theater-about 3 blocks.  I believe that the first stooge short I saw there was "The Ghost Talks" (with Shemp) along with some Droopy cartoons. I was only 7 years old so the memory is a little hazy. In 1958 there was a local afternoon children's show(baby boomer's heaven!) which showed Stooges and Oswald Rabbit! cartoons between 'peanut gallery' chats-every afternoon!

[Dagurasu]

Talking about age! I saw Have Rocket Will Travel  and Snow White and the Three Stooges when they were first released to the movie theaters! How do you think that makes me feel? However my father, who is 81, still watches the Stooges occasionally on cable. I feel young again! 

[wallawalla]

The first short I saw was "Fiddler's Three". I was about 8, and it was a saturday in 1978. The local UHF crap station, WPTT 22, was showing them. The used to show them Sat and Sunday, and daily for an hour at 7am, and also at 4pm!  I would get ready for school with them on and then come back and watch them!!!

WPTT! That was Captain Jim who always said "And now it's time for our three nutty friends"

I thought he was called Captain Pitt, and just asked my boyfriend and he said the same.  He was in the control room of a tugboat with a crappy superimposed movie of a river going on behind him. 

Wow, WPTT sure was a crummy station. It is a UPN station now!

You're right! That was Captain Pitt. Captain Jim was on the other UHF station WPGH. Thanks for the correction.

[Pilsner Panther]

The first short I saw was "Fiddler's Three". I was about 8, and it was a saturday in 1978. The local UHF crap station, WPTT 22, was showing them. The used to show them Sat and Sunday, and daily for an hour at 7am, and also at 4pm!  I would get ready for school with them on and then come back and watch them!!!

WPTT! That was Captain Jim who always said "And now it's time for our three nutty friends"

I thought he was called Captain Pitt, and just asked my boyfriend and he said the same.  He was in the control room of a tugboat with a crappy superimposed movie of a river going on behind him. 

Wow, WPTT sure was a crummy station. It is a UPN station now!

In other words, then, nothing's changed!

 

[Pilsner Panther]

We didn't have television until about 1958. That was about when the first local channel started. (Wyoming was really behind the times!) However the local theater owner had some special cartoon and stooge shows for the local school system(circa 1955 or 1956). I can remember the whole elementary school walking down to the theater-about 3 blocks.  I believe that the first stooge short I saw there was "The Ghost Talks" (with Shemp) along with some Droopy cartoons. I was only 7 years old so the memory is a little hazy. In 1958 there was a local afternoon children's show(baby boomer's heaven!) which showed Stooges and Oswald Rabbit! cartoons between 'peanut gallery' chats-every afternoon!

That's interesting stuff, Dagurasu, and by the way, welcome aboard. You realize, of course, that in these "politically correct" times, a school group would never be taken to see the Stooges— or a Droopy cartoon— at a theater. "Too violent!"

The period you describe was definitely before this inane "PC" era that we live in now. Late in his life, Tex Avery (the creator of Droopy) complained about people calling his cartoons "violent." Tex said, "Sure, we'd take a guy's head off, but it would be right back on again in the next scene!" He was genuinely puzzled as to why certain too-sensitive types would find his gags objectionable.

If you ask me (not that you did), children are generally a lot more perceptive than they're given credit for. When I was as young as six or seven, I could certainly tell the difference between cartoon and Stooges slapstick and genuine violence. Maybe it was the parents who were the real dullards, not the kids!

BTW, what does "Dagurasu" mean? It's not "stooge" in Japanese, is it?

[Dagurasu]

Thanks a lot for the welcome, PilsnerPanther. Dagurasu is a romanization of the phonetization of my middle name, Douglas, in katakana. Katakana is part of the writing system used in Japanese and is often used to add words of foreign origin to Japanese. (Pardon the complicated explanation.) I'm a U. S. citizen and I've been working in Japan for a number of years.

Recently I was talking with a Japanese friend and he mentioned that he had loved watching "San Baka Taisho" (3 Idiot Generals) alias The Three Stooges (dubbed into Japanese) when he was a child. Suddenly I had this enormous urge to revisit Stoogedom. I couldn't find any Stooges at the local rental shop and there weren't any on any of the local or satellite TV channels.

So I blew a lot of hard-earned yen on the Columbia $98.00 12 DVD box from the U. S. site for Amazon. Considering what you would pay buying them individually it was truly a bargain. I chose the cheaper shipping. It cost $5.98 and got to Japan in 5 days. But Columbia didn't lose any money either. I only hope that the some of it went to the Fine and Howard families but that's probably hoping for too much.   

Interestingly the theater was the Acme Theater.(Shades of Road Runner!) No, there was no 'politically correct' entertainment in those days. I've seen thousands of murders and maimings. I'm probably permanently 'warped', as a result, along with a whole generation.  (At least I'm not alone!) Seriously, the more politically correct entertainment gets the more violent society seems to become.

Like everyone else I'm waiting for that UNCENSORED collection of Tex Avery on DVD. A year or two ago I even preordered a copy of the Tex Avery Collection from the French Amazon site but cancelled it when I found out that "Uncle Tom's Cabana" along with some P. Incorrect others were missing.
I'm also waiting for more Stooges. However, since I bought the big box Columbia will probably release a complete box at half the price. So it goes.

[Dagurasu]

I'm still a porcupine but I thought I would add a little more on the subject of Political Correctness. I believe that we have to know where we came from in order not to repeat mistakes of the past. The portrayal of African Americans and other minorities in old movies and cartoons should be shown to help us realize how far we've come. I certainly wouldn't object to a Leonard Maltin-type introduction (a la Disney Treasures) to racist material. But to censor it completely is to excise a part of our past. We have to know! Instead of Maltin how about a prominent African American (Don Bogle/Spike Lee) to give an introduction?

 

[Dunrobin]

No, there was no 'politically correct' entertainment in those days. I've seen thousands of murders and maimings. I'm probably permanently 'warped', as a result, along with a whole generation.  (At least I'm not alone!) Seriously, the more politically correct entertainment gets the more violent society seems to become.

You know, now that I think about it, maybe that's what's wrong with the humorless "politically correct" crowd that's been ruining everything here these days - they probably weren't allowed to watch the Stooges and Tex Avery cartoons, etc., when they were kids themselves!

 

[Dagurasu]

No, there was no 'politically correct' entertainment in those days. I've seen thousands of murders and maimings. I'm probably permanently 'warped', as a result, along with a whole generation.  (At least I'm not alone!) Seriously, the more politically correct entertainment gets the more violent society seems to become.

You know, now that I think about it, maybe that's what's wrong with the humorless "politically correct" crowd that's been ruining everything here these days - they probably weren't allowed to watch the Stooges and Tex Avery cartoons, etc., when they were kids themselves!

 

I agree. I believe that the purpose of humor is to let off steam. We're all basically animals anyway. (Speak for yourself, rodent!) With no way to relieve stress we tend to go postal. Real humor has an edge with something to insult everybody and has at least some cruelty. Political correctness cuts off the balls of that humor and removes its ability to let off steam. Today's children's humor has no edge to it with the exception of the Simpsons, King of the Hill, South Park, etc. And usually 'caring' parents don't want their kids to watch THAT anyway.

[shemps#1]

Even though they are animated, I would hardly call any of those (South Park and Simpsons in particular) "childrens" humor. Those shows are aimed at an adult audience.

[Pilsner Panther]

Even though they are animated, I would hardly call any of those (South Park and Simpsons in particular) "childrens" humor. Those shows are aimed at an adult audience.

Very true, Jim, but so were the Stooges (at least up until the two-Joes era), Laurel & Hardy, and the Warner Brothers, Fleischer, and MGM cartoons. They were all made for theatrical release, and only wound up on TV in the 50's and 60's because that new medium was hungry for material at the same time that the Hollywood studios wanted to unload their vaults full of older productions in exchange for some quick cash.

There are some very "adult" gags in all of them, like this one from "Termites of 1938:"

Wife to (apparently cheating) husband, who says he's going on a fishing trip: "I hope you catch something, and I don't mean fish!"

The VD reference is pretty obvious, and I don't know how they got that past the censors! Then you have Bugs Bunny and Stan Laurel repeatedly dressing up in drag, the overt sexuality of Avery's "Red Hot Riding Hood" cartoons, and so on.

Not kiddie fodder, no indeed...

 

[Dunrobin]

Even though they are animated, I would hardly call any of those (South Park and Simpsons in particular) "childrens" humor. Those shows are aimed at an adult audience.

I consider The Simpsons to be suitable for the kids, but they've only seen one or two episodes of South Park.  I consider that more suitable for 15 or so, depending on the kid.  I'm actually looking forward to sharing South Park with the kids, when they're old enough to understand it; the show teaches a lot of lessons and principles that I want them to learn.

Voco in dubium regnum

[jrvass]

But it was intelligent humor.

As children we saw the Stooges, Bugs Bunny et. al., or Rocky & Bullwinkle for the slapstick comedy. As we aged, we appreciated the dialogue humor.

In the "Politically Corrapt" world we live in now, sophisticated humor is a dying breed.  

James

[Dagurasu]

A lot of humor in the shorts and cartoons was designed for a general, i.e. family audience. They were originally shown before the main feature at a theater or between two feature films. Kids wouldn't understand the dialogue but could enjoy the slapstick. Adults would enjoy both. I don't know how many families watch television together today. For one thing, most households have 2 or 3 sets. At the beginning there was only one. So in old commercials Fred Flintstone is advertising One-a-day Vitamins and Winston Cigarettes. Before Mickey Mouse became a corporate image you could even find him smoking and drinking beer(in the early Ub Iwerks days). The audience is divided today. Watching something as a family is a different experience from watching with your little brother. When you see your dad and mom laughing you tend to laugh too even if you don't understand the humor.  That environment is a casualty of nonviolent politically correct entertainment. Parents don't want to watch their kids stuff. Therefore kids don't get to laugh with their parents. 

[porcupinefan87]

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.

[JazzBill]

I don't remember which short was my first, but I do remember falling off my dinosaur from laughing so hard.

[ProfessorStooge]

My first short was Men in Black. I saw it back in 1996 when the Family Channel (now called ABC Family) ran their President's Day marathon that led to the Stooge TV block the station had for two years. I was 14 years old then and have been a Stoogephile ever since.

[Justin T]

I dont remember exactly which short I watched first. It was either "Disorder in the Court" or "You Natzi Spy!" when it aired one mourning before I went to school. It was sometime 1992, and I was about 15 at the time. I had heard about the Stooges but had never seen them before.

I got interested in them after that and then I really became a Stooge maniac after TBS aired a Halloween Marathon of spooky themed shorts in 1992 I think, which included "Spook Louder", "We Want Our Mummy", "If a Body Meets a Body." "Dopey Dicks" "Three Pets in a Mess." and a few others I cant remember. The more I watched the more I fell in love with them. I taped it and after that I started to set my VCR to tape the Stooges in the early AM hours when they were aired on TBS. And the rest is history.

I really loved it when TBS aired an all night Curly Shorts Marathon in celebration of Curly's birthday in 1993. I was so happy to get so many of them on tape! LOL

Ahh, those were the days.....

[porcupinefan87]

Oh I remember "Stooge TV"!!!! I have some tapes with that. It sort of annoyed me though because they'd do commercials in between shorts, so you'd only have two shorts in an hour.

The best for TV with the Stooges for me was back when AMC did "Nyuk University" with Leslie Neilson. That was great. No commercials in the middle of shorts, and he'd have great facts and commentary.

[2reelers]

The earliest short I can remember seeing, that stuck with me, was either THE HOT SCOTS or SCOTCHED IN SCOTLAND. Not sure which one. This was back in the mid-to-late 1970's, when WFLD in Chicago was airing the Stooges in the early morning, again in the afternoon (paired with The Little Rascals), and even later in the evening around 11 or so.

I'm sure I watched others before this, but I don't have any specific memories of those shorts. All I know is that mask with the big teeth in HOT SCOTS kinda spooked me, so if it was 1977, I was 5.

[porcupinefan87]

Ha ha..."The Hot Scots" is such a kick ass short. My little sister has loved it since we were young and I recently found a tape of it and we were in hysterics. Oh yeah..."The Big Teeth Guy" as they call him makes trouble. It's hillarious when Shemp thinks Larry is in the bed, but the Big Teeth Guy stole him, and Shemp's all going "look what you did to the covers!" . He feels the guy and he's like "You should see a dentist!". Great short. I also love when he finally rescues Larry then realizes the bed is gone and Shemp goes "Somebody stole our bed!!!" It's a great Shemp short. 

[JazzBill]

No wonder you guy's can remember the first short you saw. Some of you saw them in the 90's. Hell,I got shoes that have been in my closet longer than that.
I have some of the shorts on AMC on tape. I even have some with Anna Nicole Smith in them.

[nyukster]

I noticed on the "on this date in history" that Paul Shannon passed away 17 years ago today.  I would be remiss if I didn't post a comment about him today.  It was with Paul Shannon that I had my first taste of the comedy of the Stooges in the late 1950's.  He hosted "Paul Shannon's Adventure Time" on WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, Pa.  Paul's show and the Holiday House in nearby Monroeville played a huge role in the Stooges amazing comeback in the late 50's.  They had just come off a rather dismal performance in Bakersfield, Calif, when they were booked by the "HH" initially for one week, with an option for a second.  The Stooges made several appearances on Shannon's show to promote the event, and the rest, as they say, is history.  The Stooges would end up playing for 6 consecutive weeks at the HH with capacity crowds at every performance.  The owner would try to book them even longer, but other offers began pouring in from all over the country.  RIP Mr. Shannon, and thanks for some fabulous memories!

[Curley91]

My first short was "Spook Louder."  I really liked it, especially the 'Curly vs. the balloon' bit. 

It was on the tape with "Men in Black" and "If a Body Meets a Body."