The Traumatic Transition

The new Three Stooges volume is out this week. I knew it was coming in March but not exactly what week.

Here's an interesting snippet from the NY Times:

THE THREE STOOGES COLLECTION, VOL. 5: 1946-1948 Sony continues its series of meticulously restored Three Stooges shorts with 25 titles that bridge the traumatic transition from Curly to Shemp. ($24.96, not rated)

I like the phrase there. The episodes in this collection "bridge the traumatic transition from Curly to Shemp."

Shemp has his own thing, various delights that are uniquely Shemp. I've been guilty over the years of going "Oh, it's a Shemp one!" but now I'm over that, I hope. I like Shemp OK. His "bee bee bee bee" noise, his "I have a brother this high," the way his hair goes crazy when he's being punished in various ways...

I've watched Shemp but not as much as Curly, so I hope the transition isn't too traumatic. It was probably traumatic for the Stooges. Curly was a brother, then Shemp came back into the act with Curly's troubles.

The problem with Shemp isn't so much Shemp, but the iconic look of a guy with bangs, a guy with frizzy hair, and a guy with a butch that you need.