The Good, the Bad, and the Snarky
Saturday Morning Confusion
A Short History of the Three Stooges
Dear Inman: We are trying to find the real names of the Three Stooges.
Please help! — C.R.
Dear C.R.: Thanks to exhaustive archeological research on this subject—
and I must credit all those great men of science who have blazed the trail
before me—we can conclusively, um, conclude that the Stooge story goes
like this:
The group was originally formed as comic relief for bandleader Ted Healy.
They made their film debut in 1930’s Soup to Nuts. At that time the group
consisted of Moe Howard, his brother Shemp, Larry Fine, and a fellow
named Fred Sanborn. Fred left the group soon after—legend has it he
departed because he was tired of Moe ironing his tongue for 82 consecutive
takes in the “Laundry Room” sketch.
Anyway, Shemp went out on his own and the trio acquired Moe’s other
brother, Jerome, a.k.a. Curly. Their first film short, Nertsery Rhymes, was
produced in 1933.
Curly stayed with the Stooges until he suffered a stroke on the set of 1947’s
Half-Wits Holiday. He retired soon thereafter and died in 1952. Shemp
stepped back in to replace his brother and stayed with them until their last
film short, 1956’s Commotion on the Ocean.
Joe Besser then joined the group for a year or so, and was followed by
Joe DeRita, who played Curly Joe and appeared in several Stooges films
during the early 1960s, including Have Rocket Will Travel and Snow White
and the Three Stooges (“A poisoned apple! Why, I oughta …”).
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The Three Stooges in a reflective moment.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Snarky
Funny Face Drink Mixes? Yes
Dear Inman: Back in the 1960s I remember TV commercials about talking
fruit for some kind of drink mix à la Kool-Aid. The phrase “Funny Face”
comes to mind. What I’m really trying to find are the names of the characters
(or flavors). Yes, I’m old. Yes, this is silly. But it must be done! Thanks. —Tim
There, there. As we grow older, silly things sometimes must
be done to remind us of when we were young and silly, you big silly man.
Dear Tim:
The flavor-characters were, in alphabetical order, Choo Choo Cherry,
Freckle Face Strawberry, Jolly Olly Orange, Lefty Lemon, Loud Mouth
Lime, Rootin’ Tootin’ Raspberry, and the least successful flavor, Barney
Brussels Sprout.
Nah, just kidding about that last one.
The rest of them were all Funny Face drink mixes, marketed through
oodles of animated TV commercials in the 1960s.
All About Monster Squad
Hey, David: As a kid in the 1970s I watched a live-action show on Saturday
morning about Dracula, Frankenstein and a werewolf becoming crime
fighters. Any background on this one? — P.W., Louisville
That was Monster Squad, which ran Saturday mornings on
NBC during the 1976–77 season. Fred Grandy, later Gopher on The Love
Boat (and even later, U.S. congressman Gopher from Iowa), played Walt,
a guy who worked in a wax museum and had found a way to bring the
statues to life. They were Dracula (Henry Polic II), Bruce W. Wolf (Buck
Kartalian), and Frank N. Stein (Michael Lane). They traveled around in a
“monster van,” fought monster criminals and enforced monster justice, all
on monstrously low budgets.
Dear P.W.:
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Saturday Morning Confusion
“Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!”
I am of the age where the phrase “Wonder Twin
powers, activate” calls to mind Saturday morning TV in the late 1970s. I
remember the Wonder Twins, but I don’t remember what show they were
on. What say you? — D.H.
Dear David Inman:
I say I never hung out with the Wonder Twins, but I spent
a memorable weekend with the Awesome Triplets, and … well, that’s a
story for another time.
Dear D.H.:
The Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, were regulars on The All-New Super
Friends Hour, which ran on ABC during the 1977–78 season. Zan was voiced
by Michael Bell, and Jayna was voiced by Liberty Williams. They were
from the planet Exxor, and they traveled around helping kids in trouble
with the help of space monkey Gleek. Their twin powers were activated by
touching each other, at which time they would say “Shape of …” or “Form
of …” to turn into something to stop the bad guys. Zan could transform
into any form of water, and Jayna could turn into any animal.
Far Out Space Nuts Were … Far Out
Back in the ’70s there was a Saturday morning show with
Bob Denver, a.k.a. Gilligan of Gilligan’s Island. On this particular show he
was a NASA employee along with someone else who was stocking meals
in a rocket for an upcoming flight. They packed away the breakfast, then
lunch and Bob Denver’s character accidentally hit the launch button
instead of lunch button. Do you remember the name of this series and
who was his co-star in it? — B.S.
Dear David:
That was Far Out Space Nuts, a little cheeseball of a sitcom that
ran on CBS during the 1975–76 season. Denver played Junior, and comic
actor Chuck McCann played his sidekick, Barney. Another character was
Honk, some sort of space animal (actually Patty Maloney in a costume)
who made sounds instead of speaking.
Dear B.S.:
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