The Three Stooges: A True Classic

Today I saw a commercial for an upcoming movie called The Three Stooges and it reminded me of my eternal love for the show. Most people my age (teenagers or younger) have never even heard of the trio.  Luckily for me, The Three Stooges was an early television favorite of mine, and will always be an important element as I experience more and more television.  How has this show shaped the way I experience TV? More than I will ever know.

I began watching The Three Stooges when I was very young. Every Saturday morning instead of obsessing over the various morning cartoons, I would turn on this black and white show and feast my eyes on this classical comedy.  This was my first real exposure to real comedy.  It may have been mostly physical comedy, as viewers like me know, but the innovation was still there.

If you've never seen the show, it's based around the character Moe, Larry, and Curly.  Ever heard your old teacher call you one of those names? Yeah, that's where it comes from.  Moe is sort of the leader of the group, but they all go around and get themselves into various situations. They are all very strange, and hit each other constantly. That's where the physical comedy comes into play. The Three Stooges really introduced me to this. They were also getting hurt somehow, either from each other, or just from being stupid.

How has this timeless comedy changed how I view TV today? I'm not really sure. Looking back, I see a show that was so comically confident. I admire that so much. These actors weren't afraid to be weird, or unfunny, they just let their truly unique characters come out. From that I feel that I can see shows that do this, and others that don't. The ones that play it safe, use "cheap humor", by going for the easy laugh are just never as good as the ones that are smart and innovative. You may argue that The Three Stooges has cheap humor, but I don't think that's true. For that time, physical comedy was pretty new, and the stooges were very creative in the kind of comedy they were doing.

I'm obviously not a comedian or anything, and there's no doubt I won't be the Steve Martin or Louis C.K., so why does being exposed to this kind of comedy affect me so much? Why do I care so much about comedy? I have a simple answer for a complex idea, I love television and especially comedy. I love learning about it, watching it, analyzing it, and so much more. It will always be my favorite element of television and I can't wait to know more and more about it as I get older.  So why is The Three Stooges so important to me? This may be a little exaggerated and dramatic, but that would like asking why Micheal Phelps first swimming class was important to him, the first exposure is memorable. I'm probably never going to go into comedy, but as I watch it in the future and appreciate it, I will remember how it all began for me.