Adam West Comments on the Stooges

[Seniorita_Rita]

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1505829/07152005/story.jhtml
(snip)
Although they continue to wreak havoc in reruns all over the world, the
long-deceased Three Stooges are unable to comment on current efforts by
Bobby and Peter Farrelly ("There's Something About Mary") to revive the
eye-poking trio with new comedians for the 21st century. Instead, veteran
actor Adam West would like to speak up on their behalf. "It's reflective
of certain people in the industry. There are many of those people who
feel, 'That's what the audience wants, and that's what were giving them,'
" lamented West, who played straight man to the comedy legends in "The
Outlaws Is Coming!" in 1965. "But I feel that no one can top them, because
it will be with people who are imitating, or trying to give the impression
that they should be the Three Stooges ... Regardless of how insane and
sometimes crude and basic their physical comedy was, they were perceptive
in that they had a kind of taste-meter with it that a lot of people don't
have today." ...
---------
BTW, rumor has it that the new movie will be about three *female* stooges,
and will be set in WWII.

='

[Walt Appel]

Seniorita_Rita wrote:

<snip>

Post by Seniorita_Rita
BTW, rumor has it that the new movie will be about three *female* stooges,
and will be set in WWII.

So its going to be about the Andrews Sisters?

Post by Seniorita_Rita
='

[James Neibaur]

Seniorita_Rita 7/16/05 10:10 PM

Post by Seniorita_Rita
"It's reflective
of certain people in the industry. There are many of those people who
feel, 'That's what the audience wants, and that's what were giving them,'
" lamented West, who played straight man to the comedy legends in "The
Outlaws Is Coming!" in 1965. "But I feel that no one can top them, because
it will be with people who are imitating, or trying to give the impression
that they should be the Three Stooges ... Regardless of how insane and
sometimes crude and basic their physical comedy was, they were perceptive
in that they had a kind of taste-meter with it that a lot of people don't
have today." ...

Amen, Mr. West.

Thanks for sharing this, Seniorita

JN

[Eric Perlin]

"Seniorita_Rita" <***@hotmail.com> wrote:

} Regardless of how insane and sometimes crude and basic
} their physical comedy was, they were perceptive in
} that they had a kind of taste-meter with it that a lot
} of people don't have today." ...

Like many talented performers, the Stooges made their comedy _appear_ to be
effortless and easy. When one sees Stooges imitators trying to re-create their
gags (as in that awful made-for-TV bio-pic), it becomes clear how much real
talent it takes to perform Stooge comedy properly.

[Mister Levity]

The Three Stooges worked long and hard performing their physical comedy
spending years and years perfecting their craft. They weren't merely
hired and thrown in front of a camera and asked..."OK make like funny".
As todays talentless shmucks do.

Mister Levity

[Eric Perlin]

"Mister Levity" <***@yahoo.com> wrote:

} The Three Stooges worked long and hard performing
} their physical comedy spending years and years
} perfecting their craft. They weren't merely hired
} and thrown in front of a camera and asked..."OK
} make like funny". As todays talentless shmucks do.

Well said.

Some good examples of once-great comedy routines performed badly:

Donnie and Marie Osmond doing the Marx Brothers "mirror" scene.

Buddy Hackett and Harvey Kornman performing "Who's On First" and other Abbott &
Costello routines

A massive pie-fight sequence on a "Brady Bunch" episode

Of course, the afore-mentioned "Three Stooges" bio-pic, with three miscast
actors ineptly re-creating various Stooges gags

Anyone else have additional examples?

[James Neibaur]

Eric Perlin 7/17/05 10:17 PM

Post by Eric Perlin
Donnie and Marie Osmond doing the Marx Brothers "mirror" scene.
Buddy Hackett and Harvey Kornman performing "Who's On First" and other Abbott &
Costello routines
A massive pie-fight sequence on a "Brady Bunch" episode
Of course, the afore-mentioned "Three Stooges" bio-pic, with three miscast
actors ineptly re-creating various Stooges gags
Anyone else have additional examples?

I guess the easy answer would be "any remake or movie version of an old TV
show being done today."

JN

[Eric Perlin]

James Neibaur <***@wi.rr.com> wrote:

} > Anyone else have additional examples?
}
} I guess the easy answer would be "any remake or movie
} version of an old TV show being done today."

That's not true 100% of the time. Dick Van Dyke's re-creations of several Laurel
& Hardy gags on an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" were not bad, although of
course they can't possibly measure up to the original L&H. Robert Downey Jr. was
excellent as Chaplin. An episode of the 1980's sitcom "Perfect Strangers"
reworked L&H's piano-up-a-long-stairway routine, and it was not half bad,
although needless to say no match for the original.

To reiterate: re-creating classic comedy gags and routines is much more than
going through the motions. There was great talent and hard work behind the
comedy of the Stooges, Marx Brothers, etc. which cannot be re-captured through
lackluster re-enactments. This is not something I've always understood. Before
watching "Bud and Lou" with Buddy Hackett and Harvey Kornman, I never thought it
was possible for "Who's On First" to be so lame and unfunny.

[James Neibaur]

Eric Perlin 7/17/05 11:27 PM

Post by Eric Perlin
That's not true 100% of the time. Dick Van Dyke's re-creations of several Laurel
& Hardy gags on an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" were not bad, although of
course they can't possibly measure up to the original L&H.

The one I remember was a reasonable tribute, yeah.

Post by Eric Perlin
Robert Downey Jr.
was
excellent as Chaplin.

But the film was terrible and filled with things like Dan Aykroyd as Mack
Sennett.

Post by Eric Perlin
An episode of the 1980's sitcom "Perfect Strangers"
reworked L&H's piano-up-a-long-stairway routine, and it was not half bad,
although needless to say no match for the original.

I'll have to take your word for it. The show itself was awful and I never
saw this episode.

JN


JN

[steverino]

And don't forget "For Love Or Mummy" by the big Bozo.