Homok Harcos I wondered about that too, why Shemp suddenly got a Columbia series about the time that Curly's health took a turn for the worse. Moe claims that he fought hard for Shemp, which makes perfect sense, and Columbia's worries about Shemp returning as the third stooge ( ie he looked too much like Moe, which he doesn't, really ) were obviously eliminated by Shemp's performances in the solo shorts. Shemp's solo shorts may have been done at Moe's bidding ( or pleading, perhaps depending on the state of Curly's health at any given time ) and Shemp's return to the live act certainly figures in there somewhere, and Curly maybe hung on a year or so longer than expected, at least by Moe, who, as was his wont, was trying his best to keep the stooges act viable, until Curly's big stroke called in all the chips. Boom, call Shemp. ( I never believed that Mantan Moreland bullshit, no disrespect to Mantan, who was great, I just find it odd that Moe never mentioned considering anyone besides Mantan, and I insist that Moe in his book ( I have a mint first edition ) mentioned Mantan humorously to point out how impossibly wide they cast their net, which statement I don't buy either. They knew Curly was sick, and they were breaking in Shemp for at least a year and maybe more both live and in a series of shorts.
