The gold standard of comedy. Period. During the 1930's and 1940's, the original trio of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard elevated the art of Vaudvillian slapstick to its zenith. After the ailing Curly left the team, brother Shemp Howard and later Joe DeRita took his place. Although still very entertaining, the magic seemed to wane with each successive replacement.
Originally intended as theater shorts, The Three Stooges adapted perfectly to the new medium of television. My Stoogian indoctrination occured as their films were aired as part of DFW's Slam Bang Theatre with Icky Twerp (see section). Every morning and afternoon, we would
pick up some new form of comedic mayhem to get us through the day. The Three Stooges in some form lasted well into the 1960's through full length feature films, and cartoons.