Topic: When Will AMC's Horrid Handling of the Shorts Come to an End?

[locoboymakesgood]

I think it's time AMC gave up their rights to air the shorts and gave it to another network that will do a better job of handling it. It was alright in the beginning with The Stooges Playhouse then N.Y.U.K. on weeknights, now we get them twice a year?? What the hell is that about?? How much longer is their contract to them? They aren't even the network to air them, they show modern films. And when they do show them, it's all Curly! What about us Shemp and Joe fans??

Anyway, enough of my rambling. When can we finally expect a network that will treat the boys with respect to air them?

[kinderscenen]

I dunno...has there ever been many stations or networks that have treated the fellows with respect?  Whether it's an ungodly hour (3-5 am, anyone?), or with massive cuts (Family Channel, I'm looking your way!), I haven't seen the shorts shown in a decent manner in at least 20 years. Granted, they were old, scratchy, ancient prints, but still...

[TankStoner]

I think it's time AMC gave up their rights to air the shorts and gave it to another network that will do a better job of handling it. It was alright in the beginning with The Stooges Playhouse then N.Y.U.K. on weeknights, now we get them twice a year?? What the hell is that about?? How much longer is their contract to them? They aren't even the network to air them, they show modern films. And when they do show them, it's all Curly! What about us Shemp and Joe fans??

Anyway, enough of my rambling. When can we finally expect a network that will treat the boys with respect to air them?

No network will ever treat the shorts with respect so the best thing to do would be to go to either a Best Buy or a Wal-Mart and find the 3 Stooges on VHS or DVD this way you get to see the shorts uncut and unedited. My ex-girlfriend was upset that Spaceship Sappy got edited.

[kinderscenen]

I've complained a LOT about the fact that the Stooges aren't aired anymore, and then I remembered what they were like by viewing my 20-plus year old tapes.  Scratchy film, far too many jumps (not due to editing), and until 1986, no Joe.  And of course, they were moved from a decent hour (11 pm) to an ungodly hour (3 am) during my many years of watching.  But until I saw what the Family Channel had done--well, that can't be excused.  "Flying Saucer Daffy" was just cut to pieces--some of the funniest scenes, in fact, the entire 1st half was deleted, leaving us to wonder why Joe was being so shabbily treated by his family (well, if you hadn't seen it).

That leaves me to wonder: other than cable stations, are there any local stations that still air the shorts?  In St. Louis, the last time they were aired regularly was around 1999 or so--close to the time they switched "formats" and decided to pad out the shorts with "trivia".

The fellows have been getting pretty shoddy treatment for far too long.  When will we see airings/DVD releases that are worthy of their longevity, talent, and popularity? How many customers must those who make these decisions tick off?

Sunday

[Genius In the Lamp]

That leaves me to wonder: other than cable stations, are there any local stations that still air the shorts?

They run on Channel 26 in Chicago on Saturday nights at 7:00 (Stooge-A-Palooza) and Sunday mornings at 10:00 (Sunday Stooges).  The shorts are largely uncut and presented in a reasonable manner; the only drawbacks, at least as far as STOOGE-A-PALOOZA is concerned, are the very long commercial breaks (mostly for Chia-Pets, cut-rate insurance companies, payday loan sharks, and the ubiquitous Pool-A-Rama).

STOOGE-A-PALOOZA also runs in Milwaukee, at a station also owned by Weigel Broadcasting.

[xraffle]

I have to agree with all of you on the Family Channel. They edited the shorts like crazy. From what I remembered, I thought "All Gummed Up" was edited the craziest. They cut out a part where Shemp eats the Fountain of Youth with the Jumping Beans and they also cut out the entire bubble gum bit. After the young Mr. Flint cries after he falls, the short ends. They might as well not show the short at all. It's rediculous. The Family Channel showed all the shorts, with the exception of "The Yokes On Me". It's too bad they cared more about commercial time and cared less about Stooge fans.

AMC will be the perfect channel to air the Stooge shorts if they would only show all 190 shorts.

[Watts Dee Matter]

Ahh yes its not just me, the family channel was horrid and terrible, chopping up all the good ol stooges shorts, I think they should create a 24/7 Stooge network...   (AMC sucks, american movie classics, shmlassics) nyuk nyuk

[shemps#1]

Don't hold your breath....

Sony (owners of the shorts) apparently doesn't think very highly of the Three Stooges or their dwindling fan base. They will most likely let the contract w/AMC expire, then they might even renew it unless another station pops up and shows some serious interest. As for a Three Stooges Channel, never gonna happen. Even if they did create one it would get old very fast.

[stoogesarepimp]

The Stooges will always be treated badely, but compared to Spiketv now AMC treated them pretty well.

[Robbie883]

To be honest, I don't have a huge problem with "Spike Tv's Three Stooges Slap Happy Hour." I mean yeah, there are too many commercials between the shorts, but I find some of those commercials about the stooges entertaining. Like Curly the Vampire Slayer . Anyways what I'm getting at is, at least there on TV now! And not at 3am but at 9am. Thats a nice thing to watch while eating breakfast or just waking up. By thats my opinion, whatever thats worth.

[stoogesarepimp]

Thats true, Spiketv stooges are better that no stooges and some of the commercials are entertaining.  But AMC was better than Spiketv.

[stoogerascalfan62]

I wouldn't be surprised if, when AMC/IFC's current deal expires, Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) acquired the rights to the Stooges and ran them as part of a two-hour block of classic comedy shorts back-to-back with Hal Roach-era Little Rascals shorts on weekend mornings.

[Possum Puss]

The worst part of AMC is the speeding up of the shorts. (Besides in some cases editing a one reeler down to 3 minutes.) They speed them up digitally but keep the pitch of the voices at normal. You can tell at the opening credits, with the theme unnaturally racing along. Then, watch the movies, and listen to the phrasing of the dialogue: insanely fast. Screw AMC.

[Larrys#1]

The worst part of AMC is the speeding up of the shorts. (Besides in some cases editing a one reeler down to 3 minutes.) They speed them up digitally but keep the pitch of the voices at normal. You can tell at the opening credits, with the theme unnaturally racing along. Then, watch the movies, and listen to the phrasing of the dialogue: insanely fast. Screw AMC.

That's time compression. Pretty much all rerun shows are time compressed now. Gives the networks more room for commercial. More commercials = more $$$$

[Possum Puss]

It's over-the-top compression. You can hardly understand the dialogue, and at times it looks like undercrank. I can't watch it.

[Larrys#1]

I just find it really ridiculous how cable costs have gotten to be so high now and the amount of commercials we have to put up with is increasing. It's just crazy when you think about it.

[Possum Puss]

I know a lot of people that have gone strictly to a divi antenna and Netflix. You can watch older shows, movies, and get your locals for news. Not a bad idea.

[Larrys#1]

Netflix streaming sucks. My friend has it. The movie selection is terrible. The only movies available to stream are older movies that most of us have already seen. You can't even stream any Three stooges shorts or anything. Lame.

[Shemp]

One more thing about Stooge shorts on AMC that I've not seen anyone talk about I think.  I've had many shorts recorded that were only 6 minutes long.  They chopped out endless parts and made them into very short versions of the 16 - 18 minute originals.  What's the story behind this?  Has anyone else noticed this?  Really ticks me off...

[Umbrella Sam]

One more thing about Stooge shorts on AMC that I've not seen anyone talk about I think.  I've had many shorts recorded that were only 6 minutes long.  They chopped out endless parts and made them into very short versions of the 16 - 18 minute originals.  What's the story behind this?  Has anyone else noticed this?  Really ticks me off...

Yeah, I’ve seen this. They’ve been doing it for at least a few years (the first time I saw INCOME TAX SAPPY was actually through one of these truncated versions). Regarding the decision to do this, it most likely has to do with advertising and scheduling. Most of the Stooges shorts are too short to fill a 30-minute block on their own without really heavy advertising during the commercial breaks, and generally cable networks want their shows and movies to start at times like 11:00 rather than 11:07, so these shorter versions are added to fill the 30-minute block and keep AMC on schedule. It sucks, but there doesn’t appear to be any other solution at the moment.

[GreenCanaries]

Were these 5-minute cutdowns the Crackle "Minisodes"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Minisode_Network