Synopsis of Saturday Morning Show

As most people know, the Three Stooges began their career in vaudeville and moved on to enjoy success in films. The invention of television, however, was a mixed blessing for the trio, because it cut their movie careers short (along with many others of the era) at the same time that it introduced them to a new audience by airing their short films in hour or half-hour blocks.

At the height of their “second” career, this animated version of the Stooges premiered to an audience hungry for anything Stooge-related. Much like the Abbott & Costello cartoon that premiered a few years later (see separate entry), this series showed the Stooges in typical slapstick situations that could all be taken a step further because they were now in cartoon form.

The high points of the series, however, were the live-action introductory wrap-arounds, featuring Moe, Larry, and "Curly Joe" DeRita in full shenanigan mode. While the live segments were a real treat to Stooge fans, they proved to be the undoing for the series itself. The number of live scenes filmed was considerably fewer than the number of animated shorts, therefore when viewers tuned in and saw a repeated scene, they assumed the cartoon was a repeat as well, and subsequently changed the channel.

Due to the versatility of The Three Stooges (and the fact that their films are now in the public domain), the trio can always be found somewhere on TV, constantly recruiting new fans and holding their place in television history.

Release History

1965 syndicated

TV Sub Categories

animated
comedy

TV Studio

Heritage Productions

Television Cast

Moe Moe Howard
Larry Larry Fine
Curly Joe Joe DeRita

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