A lifetime of STOOGE-watching!

An appropriate image, if I've EVER seen one! The choices for watching the original 'Knuckleheads' (Moe, Larry and Curly, natch!) and their  ALWAYS funny shorts / episodes, are almost TOO many to keep track of! Coming from ALL kinds of different directions and sources! Keep scrollin' & readin', to see just how much time & effort I've put into saving copies of those shorts over the years!

 Ok, so this post is ABSOLUTELY going to prove what an 'old TOOT' (a term coined WAY-back--by my mom, of course!) that I am! Mostly... because I'm gonna kick it off by saying how AMAZING technology has become in recent years!

If you've been following along with me any length of time here on the 'ol bloggy-woggy-thingy-thang, you'll know that the 3 Stooges were (some of) my absolute HEROES growing up! (Heck, they STILL are!) The story in THIS post, is just how MANY ways (not to mention how MANY years!) I've been chugging-along at trying to SAVE (and RE-WATCH, many, MANY times over!) the adventures of these MASTERS of the art of slapstick!

Never could I, as the wee-lad-Loydster-- around the age of 8 or 9-- have imagined having access to practically EVERY 3 Stooges short... ANY time of day (OR night!)! AND the numerous ways / choices in HOW to watch them all! Back then, I simply looked forward to my time spent with them--- weekday afternoons around 3 o'clock (after school).

In those days, ANY show that you watched on a regular basis, was 'appointment TV'! meaning, if you wanted to watch a favorite show.... you had to be parked in front of the 'ol 'boob-tube' at EXACTLY the time it was scheduled to come on! This was before ANY sort of recording devices were available to the public. So, if you missed your show--- well... you just MISSED it!

Of course, the 'Stooges were NO different than ANY of the other programs I parked my little grade-school-aged-booty in front of every weekday--- in that the episodes were shown OVER and OVER again! So--- if I missed an installment, a few weeks down the line... I could count on it turning up again! Still, it WAS a bit of a hassle keeping up with my 'Knuckleheaded'-buddies!

The household item my pops sometimes referred to as 'the ONE-EYED monster'! Many weekday afternoon-hours were spent by the teeny-Loydster, parked in front of one VERY much like this example!

Fast-forward to my late-teen years, when some of my more 'well-off' friends' moms and dads  started getting another sort of WILD gadget in their living rooms---usually it was parked on top of their TV sets!---

Ah yes! The EARLY 80s version of the VHS player / recorder! Something that pretty much BLEW the then 19 - 20 year-old Loydster's mind! Just to think ---I could watch 'Stooge-shorts (and other COOL movies and stuff!) OVER AND over-- on something called 'video-tape'! It just twisted my BRAIN into a pretzel!

Yes... it would be another handful of years, (the mid-80s -- when they FINALLY went down a bit in price, so average joe-blows could actually AFFORD them! They STILL weren't exactly cheap!) before my folks actually snagged one of the last 'top-loader' types of VCRs, but man-o-man! I became a VCR-video-recording-FIEND! (Even MORE so, after mom and pops eventually bought one of the later 'front-loading' tape machines!)

By then, the 'Stooges were being shown around midnight, and only on weekends. So, I'd stay up 'til the wee-hours-- recording what shorts I could. Several VHS-tapes were filled-up with not ONLY the 'Stooges, but LOADS of movies, favorite TV shows, and OF COURSE-- Looney Tunes! I still had MANY of those tapes-- even after the wife and I got hitched, MANY years later!

Skip a few more years ahead, to the early and mid-90s. VCRs by then were a LOT more streamlined, simple to use, and a TON of material was available on tape for 'collector-types' like yours truly! Sadly--- there weren't any 'complete' collections of 'Stooge shorts that I remember ---though there WERE a few 'best of' / 'mish-mash' / odd-ball collections around, like THIS--- 

The Knuckleheads on home video! NO 'complete' collections of their shorts were around, back in the 80s OR early 90s! (At least that I knew of!) But--- there were plenty of 'random' / 'mixed-bag' collections around---like the example above!

So--- I was STILL recording stuff from both late-night local 'Stooge-programs, as well as cable channels. It took AGES, but I eventually collected / recorded-- EVERY short featuring 'Curly' Howard! Now THAT'S dedicated-stooge-fandom for you!

You can PICK your nose, you can even PICK the noses of your friends! BUT-- in the 8os and 90s-- the ONLY way to 'PICK' - up the adventures of my HEROES, the 'Stooges-- was to relentlessly RECORD late-night showings of their shorts-- mostly on weekends! It was though, TRULY a labor of love for this LIFE-LONG 'Knuckleheads' fanatic!

Not that I disliked Shemp Howard---some of his early appearances, after he took Curly's place -- are indeed VERY funny! BUT-- Curly was ALWAYS my all-time-FAVORITE '3rd stooge', PERIOD! (STILL is!) The team just was NOT quite as gut-bustingly-funny, after his departure! (Just this fan's opinion!)

So, it was ALL 'the Curly shorts' (plus a handful of the 'early Shemps') that I went after, in trying to build-up my 'Stooge-video-library'! The 8 VHS tapes That I eventually compiled, were my 'go-to' source for repeated 'Stooge-entertainment' for QUITE a few years.

Eventually, the old VHS tapes began to gradually wear-out--- from not ONLY the passage of time.... but ALL of those MANY repeat-viewings! Then came the WONDER that was the arrival of the Digital Video Disc! 

Again, it took another handful of years-- but I eventually was able to snag & add THESE little numbers to the 'Loydster-video-library', to replace those nearly worn-out old video cassettes! (-- Not ONLY the 'Stooges tapes-- but LOTS of my favorite movies, and of COURSE-- hundreds of hours of Looney Tunes cartoon-collections, are STILL being gradually 'changed over' to DVDs! It's a SLOW, on-going project!)---

FINALLY! there was a source / media-type, that offered the opportunity to watch PRISTINE-copies of ALL of the Boys' CLASSIC shorts! It took a a bit of time & patience-- but eventually, DVD-sets of EVERY 'Curly-episode' were at LAST on a shelf in my house! BUT-- that didn't end up being the ONLY way I've watched the 'masters of mayhem' since then!
That doesn't mean these discs are going anywhere though! Nope-- these collections are staying with me--- for however long I stay around and kicking!

Which brings us back around to the present day and time, folks-- and ALL those 'viewing-choices' I referred to up above! Now, there's numerous ways a 'Stooge-fan can get their 'Knucklehead-fix'! Streaming-video platforms are about the most convenient. 

YouTube is the one that's my 'go-to' source, here at 'Ferrell-Central'. As also stated above-- ANY time, day OR night-- I can plop down in my old faithful easy-chair, pull-up the YouTube 'Stooge-channel on my Roku device---and let those AGELESS, always FUNNY shorts put a BRIGHT-spot into my life... for 17 to 20 minutes at least!

Oh, there's 'smart-phone' aps and other 'digital-down-load' sources I could be utilizing too, for my 'Stooge-watching'.... but, right now-- YouTube is the easiest and most 'user-friendly'! Especially for an 'over-the-hill-type' like ME! I'll also occasionally pop in one of the DVDs, when I want to watch the boys 'commercial-free'! (One of YouTube's down-sides!)

I just know, that no matter HOW I've managed to watch them over the years.... these SPECIAL funny-folks have ALWAYS brought me a LOT of happiness and PLENTY of belly-laughs-- in ALL the ups, downs, and other CRAZY times in my life! That's one thing that will NEVER change!

This post is dedicated to both of the Arnold brothers, Tim and Jeff! We spent countless hours watching (AND belly-laughing at, of COURSE!) the Stooges together! 

3 Stooges (AND cartoons too!) lovers and fellow GEEK-A-ZOIDS! Circa 1987-or-so! Tim, Jeff, and (a MUCH-YOUNGER) Loyd! (AND-- yes, I know I've put up this old pic once before! But.... SO WHAT!? It's ALWAYS been one of my FAVORITES of the 3 of us!)

When I watch the classic Stooge-shorts even now, I STILL think of you two! You guys are TRULY my BROTHERS! Then, now, and ALWAYS! Love you BOTH!