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* TheEnd: Every episode of ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' had a The End card with Greek Comedy/Tragedy masks.
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** The 1936 short ''Movie Maniacs'' has Curley utter this pearl of wisdom: "If at first you don't succeed, keep on suckin' til ya do suc-ceed!" It's not even a double-entendre, though in the 1930s the phrase "to suck" didn't have the same meaning is it does now.
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** In real life, it was otherwise: [[ThePerfectionist Moe]] was melancholic, [[NiceGuy Larry]] was sanguine, [[TheQuietOne Curly]] was phlegmatic, and Shemp was choleric.
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** In real life, it was otherwise: [[ThePerfectionist Moe]] was melancholic, [[NiceGuy [[TheCharmer Larry]] was sanguine, [[TheQuietOne Curly]] was phlegmatic, and Shemp was choleric.
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** A tragic inversion of the trope occurs midway through ''Half-Wits Holiday'' when Curly walks off camera and is never seen nor referenced again, even during the short's climactic pie fight. This is due to Curly suffering his stoke between scenes and the decision being made to complete the short without him.
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* DemBones: Almost every time the Stooges did a "horror" short, they met with either walking and talking skeletons or with cackling, flying skulls (their live parrot or owl inhabitant the cause), or both.
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* DodgyToupee: Cropped up in a few shorts, such as "Disorder in the Court".
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** The Stooges' friend from the orphanage Teddy is a clever reference to Ted Healy, creator of the three characters for the vaudeville stage and played the straight man to their antics on stage and in their first short ''Soup to Nuts''.
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* ContinuityNod: The Stooges' friend from the orphanage Teddy is a reference to Ted Healy whom created the three characters for the vaudeville stage and played the straight man to their antics on stage and in their first short ''Soup to Nuts''.
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** The Stooges' friend from the orphanage Teddy is a clever reference to Ted Healy, creator of the three characters for the vaudeville stage and played the straight man to their antics on stage and in their first short ''Soup to Nuts''.
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* DownerEnding: A few of the shorts ended with the stooges either getting some comeuppance they didn't really deserve, or even being killed. Subverted in that it always came off as darkly humorous.
** Probably not intended this way, but at the end of the 2012 film (note: this is not a plot spoiler), before the credits roll, the filmmakers, aware that today's kids are dumber than those of the 1930s and are more likely to imitate the Stooges and injure themselves, are compelled to append a more-or-less straight safety warning, revealing some of the tricks used in filming the Stooges' fights. It's a downer for those hoping today's audiences have become smarter.
** Probably not intended this way, but at the end of the 2012 film (note: this is not a plot spoiler), before the credits roll, the filmmakers, aware that today's kids are dumber than those of the 1930s and are more likely to imitate the Stooges and injure themselves, are compelled to append a more-or-less straight safety warning, revealing some of the tricks used in filming the Stooges' fights. It's a downer for those hoping today's audiences have become smarter.
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* DownerEnding: A few of the shorts ended with the stooges either getting some comeuppance they didn't really deserve, or even being killed. Subverted in that it always came off as darkly humorous.
** Probably not intended this way, but at the end of the 2012 film (note: this is not a plot spoiler), before the credits roll, the filmmakers, aware that today's kids are dumber than those of the 1930s and are more likely to imitate the Stooges and injure themselves, are compelled to append a more-or-less straight safety warning, revealing some of the tricks used in filming the Stooges' fights. It's a downer for those hoping today's audiences have become smarter.humorous.
** Probably not intended this way, but at the end of the 2012 film (note: this is not a plot spoiler), before the credits roll, the filmmakers, aware that today's kids are dumber than those of the 1930s and are more likely to imitate the Stooges and injure themselves, are compelled to append a more-or-less straight safety warning, revealing some of the tricks used in filming the Stooges' fights. It's a downer for those hoping today's audiences have become smarter.
* NaughtyNuns - Kate Upton as Sister Bernice in the 2012 film, 'nuff said.
* NunsAreFunny: in the 2012 movie, especially Sister Mary-Mengele played by LarryDavid (in drag!).
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** Many minor characters have ones related to their profession. For example, the dentist in ''All The World's A Stooge'' is named I. Yankum. Pretty much every firm in the movie as well.
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** Many minor characters have ones related to their profession. For example, the dentist in ''All The World's A Stooge'' is named I. Yankum.
** Pretty much every firm in the 2012 movie as well.
** Pretty much every firm in the 2012 movie as well.
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** The 2012 film features SofiaVergara and several female cast members of JerseyShore engaging in Stooge-like antics.
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** Moe in the 2012 film.
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** The "don't try this at home" message at the end of the 2012 film probably qualifies.
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** The fact the 2012 film, released during the 2010's 3-D fad, was produced and issued only in 3-D, probably counts as an inversion.
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** A major plot element of the 2012 film.
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** Actually the guy who plays her husband in the 2012 film looks fine, but anyone would look ugly next to Sofia Vergara.
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** One of the nuns is played by a descendent of Moe and Curly Howard.
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* DownerEnding: The DoNotTryThisAtHome message for confirming that today's young viewers, apparently are dumber than the millions of kids who watched the Stooges 65 years ago and were able to figure this out for themselves.
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A [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yCdZje_sTF0 movie]] was released on April 13, 2012. It was directed by the [[DumbAndDumber Farrelly Brothers]], appropriately enough.
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A [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yCdZje_sTF0 movie]] was released on April 13, 2012. It was directed by the [[DumbAndDumber Farrelly Brothers]], appropriately enough.
enough. Described on the DVD as a love letter to the Stooges, the film recreates many of the trio's tropes, and adds a few more.
** Inverted in the 2012 movie when the Stooges as children dress up to be adopted.
** Reaffirmed in the 2012 film.
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* BaldOfAwesome: Curly
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** Sister Mary-Mengele in the 2012 film.
* BaldOfAwesome:CurlyCurly and Curly-Joe (arguably also applies to Larry, especially in the 2012 film)
* BaldOfAwesome:
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** Played straight in the movie, when a little girl gets lifted by a bunch of balloons. When a bullet pops them and she falls onto a big cake, she says "That was awesome!!!".
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** Played straight in the 2012 movie, when a little girl gets lifted by a bunch of balloons. When a bullet pops them and she falls onto a big cake, she says "That was awesome!!!".
** Also many occasions in the 2012 film, including [[spoiler: when Mac is hit by the bus and run over by a street cleaner, though he later shows a little blood after he's mauled by the lion]].
** Attempting to fix the bell in the 2012 movie.
** Probably not intended this way, but at the end of the 2012 film (note: this is not a plot spoiler), before the credits roll, the filmmakers, aware that today's kids are dumber than those of the 1930s and are more likely to imitate the Stooges and injure themselves, are compelled to append a more-or-less straight safety warning, revealing some of the tricks used in filming the Stooges' fights. It's a downer for those hoping today's audiences have become smarter.
** Referenced in the 2012 film, [[spoiler: only with a lion]].
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* FatIdiot: Curly [[{{Malaproper}} resembles]] that remark.
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** Technically can be applied to the 2012 film since the original actors are impersonated.
* FatIdiot: Curly [[{{Malaproper}} resembles]] thatremark.remark, as does Curly-Joe.
* FatIdiot: Curly [[{{Malaproper}} resembles]] that
** For a PG film, the 2012 movie managed to sneak a surprising amount of off-color content, including [[spoiler: boob jokes, a scantily-clad nun, and a closeup of a lion's testicles.]]
** Also referenced in the 2012 film, during the party scene.
** Occurs in the 2012 film too.
** The 2012 film is considered an homage.
** In the 2012 movie Larry is also punished for this.
** Referenced in the 2012 film, in spades.
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** Will be directed by the [[Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary Farrelly]] [[Film/DumbAndDumber Brothers]], starring Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe, [[Series/WillAndGrace Sean Hayes]] as Larry, and [[Series/ShitMyDadSays Will Sasso]] as Curly.
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** Will be Released in 2012, directed by the [[Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary Farrelly]] [[Film/DumbAndDumber Brothers]], starring Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe, [[Series/WillAndGrace Sean Hayes]] as Larry, and [[Series/ShitMyDadSays Will Sasso]] as Curly.
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** In the movie, averted with regards to [[spoiler: Mac being pushed in front of a bus]], however the screen test version of the same scene (included on the DVD/Blu-ray) has an off-camera crash.
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** For reasons unknown the 1960s western film ''4 for Texas'', which followed a semi-dramatic plot about a man running a riverboat casino and avoiding being killed in the process, stops dead near the end so that Larry, Moe and Curley-Joe can put on a brief routine, after which they disappear from the film as abruptly as they arrived.
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Clarifying. Curly was still alive for a while after he quit, and even had a cameo in one of the films with Shemp.
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** Also don't forget that Curly actually came in to replace Shemp, who wanted to do a solo career. (So Shemp actually ''returned'', after Curly's untimely death.)
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** Also don't forget that Curly actually came in to replace Shemp, who wanted to do a solo career. (So Shemp actually ''returned'', after Curly's untimely death.stroke.)
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** A map in "Malice in the Palace" has the Giva Dam, which doubles as GettingCrapPastTheRadar.
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* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: In one short, when Moe asks Larry to think of a password to enter their room, he deadpans "Open the door!" Cue Moe's standard pretend-to-be-pleased-then-[[DopeSlap dope-slap]]-the-idiot routine.
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* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: In one short, when Moe asks Larry to think of a password to enter their room, he deadpans "Open the door!" Cue Moe's standard pretend-to-be-pleased-then-[[DopeSlap [[BaitAndSwitch pretend-to-be-pleased-then]]-[[DopeSlap dope-slap]]-the-idiot routine.
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** Dirty diapers in TheMovie...
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** Moe was at least smart enough to know that one person getting a handle on the situation could make it work... and then push the blame when it didn't.
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* DoNotTryThisAtHome: The movie ends with this message from two guys [[BlatantLies who are most definitely Bobby and Peter Farrelly. Definitely.]]
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he kept his hairstyle from his orphan time, so yeah
* CrosscastRole: One of the nuns is [[CurbYourEnthusiasm Larry Miller]]. Nuff said.
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* UglyGuyHotWife: Subverted in the movie with Teddy's father and mother. The father is by no means ugly (in fact, he is rather attractive)- but the mother is more attractive. Averted narrowly with Teddy and Lydia- Teddy grows up to be very handsome, but probably does not compare to the gorgeous Lydia (played by Sofia Vergara).
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* UglyGuyHotWife: Subverted in the movie with Teddy's father and mother. The father is by no means ugly (in fact, he is rather attractive)- but the mother is more attractive. Averted narrowly with Teddy and Lydia- Teddy grows up to be very handsome, {{Adorkable}}, but probably does not compare to the gorgeous Lydia (played by Sofia Vergara).
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well, oops
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** Moe accidentally staples the head of a guy who's already got several piercings. ''He's only slightly miffed.''
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** Moe Larry accidentally staples the head of a guy who's already got several piercings. ''He's only slightly miffed.''
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** In TheMovie, a girl is clinging to balloons and floating to the ceiling, and Larry gets the idea to take a shotgun off a wall rack to pop the balloons. Moe takes it from him, chides him for his 'gun safety' and hits him with a buttstroke - causing the gun to go off. ''It was already loaded on the wall.''
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* ActorAllusion: Sofia Vergara's [[ModernFamily breakout role]] involved [[spoiler:her relationship with a much older man. TheReveal involves her cheating on her husband ''with his father.'']]
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** Moe accidentally staples the head of a guy who's already got several piercings. ''He's only slightly miffed.''
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* TheCameo: [[Americanidol Jennifer Hudson!]] [[ThemanYourmanCouldSmellLike Isaiah Mustafa!]]... JerseyShore?
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* TheCameo: [[Americanidol [[AmericanIdol Jennifer Hudson!]] [[ThemanYourmanCouldSmellLike Isaiah Mustafa!]]... JerseyShore?
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* TheCameo: [[ThemanYourmanCouldSmellLike Isaiah Mustafa!]]
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* TheCameo: [[Americanidol Jennifer Hudson!]] [[ThemanYourmanCouldSmellLike Isaiah Mustafa!]]Mustafa!]]... JerseyShore?
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* [[spoiler:PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure]]
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* BeamMeUpScotty: While Curly could psych himself up when dealing with the bad guys and occasionally needed to be restrained, he never said, "Lemme at 'em! Lemme at 'em!"
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* BeamMeUpScotty: While Curly could psych himself up when dealing with the bad guys and occasionally needed to be restrained, he never said, "Lemme at 'em! Lemme at 'em!"'em!" (That would be [[ScoobyDoo Scrappy Doo.]])
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** TheMovie has [[ThemanYourmanCouldSmellLike Isaiah Mustafa!]]
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* ChekhovsGun: The movie has several of these.
** The sledgehammer that falls in the bucket of water.
** The long range arrow that Larry shoots and does not know where it went.
** "Too much iron in the water".
* ChekhovsGunman: Teddy in the movie -- and how.
** The sledgehammer that falls in the bucket of water.
** The long range arrow that Larry shoots and does not know where it went.
** "Too much iron in the water".
* ChekhovsGunman: Teddy in the movie -- and how.
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* FishOutOfWater: In the 2012 movie, the stooges never left the orphanage until they were adults and had no knowledge of things like iPhones, Facebook and Twitter.
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* ShoutOut: TheMovie squeezes in a few.
** JenniferHudson [[SisterAct as a black nun who can sing.]]
** Moe calls a stuffy EnglishButler [[StarWars 'Threepio'.]]
** JenniferHudson [[SisterAct as a black nun who can sing.]]
** Moe calls a stuffy EnglishButler [[StarWars 'Threepio'.]]
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* TakeThat: In TheMovie, Moe fits in perfectly with the 'cast' of JerseyShore.
--> "Those three idiots are here!" "The Kardashian girls?"
--> "Those three idiots are here!" "The Kardashian girls?"
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** Subverted in the movie with Teddy's father and mother. The father is by no means ugly (in fact, he is rather attractive)- but the mother is more attractive. Averted narrowly with Teddy and Lydia- Teddy grows up to be very handsome, but probably does not compare to the gorgeous Lydia (played by Sofia Vergara).
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!! TheMovie has examples of:
*TheCameo: [[ThemanYourmanCouldSmellLike Isaiah Mustafa!]]
* ChekhovsGun: The movie has several of these.
** The sledgehammer that falls in the bucket of water.
** The long range arrow that Larry shoots and does not know where it went.
** "Too much iron in the water".
* ChekhovsGunman: Teddy in the movie -- and how. [[spoiler:His father too.]]
* FishOutOfWater: In the 2012 movie, the stooges never left the orphanage until they were adults and had no knowledge of things like iPhones, Facebook and Twitter.
* ShoutOut: TheMovie squeezes in a few.
** Jennifer Hudson [[SisterAct as a black nun who can sing.]]
** Moe calls a stuffy English butler [[StarWars 'Threepio'.]]
* TakeThat: In TheMovie, Moe fits in perfectly with the 'cast' of JerseyShore.
--> "Those three idiots are here!" "The Kardashian girls?"
* UglyGuyHotWife: Subverted in the movie with Teddy's father and mother. The father is by no means ugly (in fact, he is rather attractive)- but the mother is more attractive. Averted narrowly with Teddy and Lydia- Teddy grows up to be very handsome, but probably does not compare to the gorgeous Lydia (played by Sofia Vergara).
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* MadeOfIron: A Stooge prerequisite. TheMovie takes this up a notch by having Curly survive a chainsaw to the head - after which the ''chainsaw breaks.''
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** TheMovie has [[ThemanYourmanCouldSmellLike Isaiah Mustafa!]]
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* ShoutOut: Dozens.
** Any comedic fight scene in which one character attempts to poke another character in both eyes at the same time, only to be foiled by the second character holding up a flattened hand in front of their nose. This gag appears in ''Film/EvilDead'', during the scene where Ash is being beaten up by skeleton arms rising out of the earth.
** Many trios who posess or somehow acquire hairstyles (or the equivalent) reminiscent of the Stooges'.
** ''Film/ShortCircuit'' includes a brief appearance by Numbers Two, Three and Four, sent out to retrieve Number Five. "Johnny" reprograms them after a battle and they re-appear before their controllers engaging in Stooge-like shenanigans.
** During the "Beware the Creeper" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Joker's henchmen-of-the-episode sported Stooge-like haircuts, and the bald one even engaged in Curly-like self-face-slapping.
** Any comedic fight scene in which one character attempts to poke another character in both eyes at the same time, only to be foiled by the second character holding up a flattened hand in front of their nose. This gag appears in ''Film/EvilDead'', during the scene where Ash is being beaten up by skeleton arms rising out of the earth.
** Many trios who posess or somehow acquire hairstyles (or the equivalent) reminiscent of the Stooges'.
** ''Film/ShortCircuit'' includes a brief appearance by Numbers Two, Three and Four, sent out to retrieve Number Five. "Johnny" reprograms them after a battle and they re-appear before their controllers engaging in Stooge-like shenanigans.
** During the "Beware the Creeper" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Joker's henchmen-of-the-episode sported Stooge-like haircuts, and the bald one even engaged in Curly-like self-face-slapping.
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* ShoutOut: Dozens.
TheMovie squeezes in a few.
**Any comedic fight scene in which one character attempts to poke another character in both eyes at the same time, only to be foiled by the second character holding up JenniferHudson [[SisterAct as a flattened hand in front of their nose. This gag appears in ''Film/EvilDead'', during the scene where Ash is being beaten up by skeleton arms rising out of the earth.
** Many triosblack nun who posess or somehow acquire hairstyles (or the equivalent) reminiscent of the Stooges'.
can sing.]]
**''Film/ShortCircuit'' includes Moe calls a brief appearance by Numbers Two, Three and Four, sent out to retrieve Number Five. "Johnny" reprograms them after a battle and they re-appear before their controllers engaging in Stooge-like shenanigans.
** During the "Beware the Creeper" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Joker's henchmen-of-the-episode sported Stooge-like haircuts, and the bald one even engaged in Curly-like self-face-slapping.stuffy EnglishButler [[StarWars 'Threepio'.]]
**
** Many trios
**
** During the "Beware the Creeper" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Joker's henchmen-of-the-episode sported Stooge-like haircuts, and the bald one even engaged in Curly-like self-face-slapping.
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* StockShoutOut: Dozens of times.
** Any comedic fight scene in which one character attempts to poke another character in both eyes at the same time, only to be foiled by the second character holding up a flattened hand in front of their nose. This gag appears in ''Film/EvilDead'', during the scene where Ash is being beaten up by skeleton arms rising out of the earth.
** Many trios who posess or somehow acquire hairstyles (or the equivalent) reminiscent of the Stooges'.
** ''Film/ShortCircuit'' includes a brief appearance by Numbers Two, Three and Four, sent out to retrieve Number Five. "Johnny" reprograms them after a battle and they re-appear before their controllers engaging in Stooge-like shenanigans.
** During the "Beware the Creeper" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Joker's henchmen-of-the-episode sported Stooge-like haircuts, and the bald one even engaged in Curly-like self-face-slapping.
** Any comedic fight scene in which one character attempts to poke another character in both eyes at the same time, only to be foiled by the second character holding up a flattened hand in front of their nose. This gag appears in ''Film/EvilDead'', during the scene where Ash is being beaten up by skeleton arms rising out of the earth.
** Many trios who posess or somehow acquire hairstyles (or the equivalent) reminiscent of the Stooges'.
** ''Film/ShortCircuit'' includes a brief appearance by Numbers Two, Three and Four, sent out to retrieve Number Five. "Johnny" reprograms them after a battle and they re-appear before their controllers engaging in Stooge-like shenanigans.
** During the "Beware the Creeper" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Joker's henchmen-of-the-episode sported Stooge-like haircuts, and the bald one even engaged in Curly-like self-face-slapping.
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* TakeThat: In TheMovie, Moe fits in perfectly with the 'cast' of JerseyShore.
--> "Those three idiots are here!" "The Kardashian girls?"
--> "Those three idiots are here!" "The Kardashian girls?"
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* VitriolicBestBuds: Type 1. Moe Howard sure seemed to hate the first Joe, Joe Besser. While Besser seemed to reflect on his time with the Stooges fondly and thought Howard was a good sport for taking the hits for Joe Besser.
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** In real life, it was otherwise: [[ThePerfectionist Moe]] was choleric/melancholic, [[NiceGuy Larry]] was sanguine, [[TheQuietOne Curly]] was phlegmatic, and Shemp was choleric.
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** In real life, it was otherwise: [[ThePerfectionist Moe]] was choleric/melancholic, melancholic, [[NiceGuy Larry]] was sanguine, [[TheQuietOne Curly]] was phlegmatic, and Shemp was choleric.
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** In real life, it was otherwise: [[BigGood M]][[ThePerfectionist oe]] was choleric/melancholic, [[NiceGuy Larry]] was sanguine, [[TheWoobie Curly]] was melancholic, and [[TheQuietOne Shemp]] was phlegmatic.
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** In real life, it was otherwise: [[BigGood M]][[ThePerfectionist oe]] [[ThePerfectionist Moe]] was choleric/melancholic, [[NiceGuy Larry]] was sanguine, [[TheWoobie Curly]] was melancholic, and [[TheQuietOne Shemp]] Curly]] was phlegmatic.phlegmatic, and Shemp was choleric.
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->-- '''Jerry''', ''{{Series/Seinfeld}}''
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Moving to proper Namespace.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ThreeStooges.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:348:Meet the brain trust.]]
->''"Now I know why Moe was always mad."''
-->-- '''Titus''', ''{{Series/Titus}}''
->''"Well, they're these kinda funny looking guys... who like to hit each other."''
->-- '''Jerry''', ''{{Series/Seinfeld}}''
'''The Three Stooges''' are best known for the dozens of short subjects they turned out Columbia Pictures starting in the 1930s. In fact, with 190 short films, not including their features, this trio had the longest film series in Hollywood history.
Though there were several members over the years people nowadays are most likely to be familiar with the iconic lineup of Moe Howard, the bully-like leader; Larry Fine, the frizzy-haired sort-of straight man, and Jerome "Curly" Howard, the bald, oddball guy with the weird mannerisms and verbalizations. Like many Hollywood successes the Stooges came about their success largely through serendipity. The Stooges were little more than second bananas and comic foils to vaudeville comic Ted Healy when Columbia offered them their first picture deal and Moe promptly seized the opportunity to make the big time without their notoriously drunk and abusive employer. Unfortunately, elder brother Shemp Howard picked this time to strike out on his own, leaving them one stooge short of a three-stooge deal. So Moe turned to younger brother Curly (who had no prior acting experience) to replace him and the rest is history. Shemp Howard later rejoined the act after Curly suffered a stroke, changing the dynamic and triggering an ongoing "Curly vs. Shemp" debate that presaged the similar [[MysteryScienceTheatre3000 Joel vs. Mike debates]] of more recent vintage. After Shemp passed on, Joe Besser joined the group for their last shorts with Columbia and "Curly Joe" [=DeRita=] would sign on for their "post-shorts" career.
The Three Stooges are one of the few rare comedy acts of the black-and-white era that continue to attract fans and remain so firmly embedded in the popular culture that a fifteen second silent cameo depicting them as airport firefighters still provides one of the biggest laughs in ''ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' decades after their heyday. Their popularity is such that video games have been made about them all the way up to the GameBoyAdvance era. And while their broad slapstick has been often derided by critics, it's also a key reason why they're popular even in nations where English isn't spoken. They also had two {{animated adaptation}}s: a syndicated series in 1965, with live-action wraparounds between cartoons, and ''WesternAnimation/TheRobonicStooges'', a segment of {{Hanna-Barbera}}'s ''Skatebirds''. Unfortunately, neither of these truly took advantage of The Stooges' already cartoon-like nature.
That's the short version of it. Wikipedia has practically a small [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Stooges book]] on the team, their history and their impact. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
Trope-wise, it is hard to do {{slapstick}} without referencing the Stooges. They did it all. Wait. Here is the throw-down: If you can come up with a slapstick bit that was not done by the Stooges, the Wiki will award you a delicious, fresh-baked custard pie.[[hottip:*:In your face. Let's not forget tradition!]] [[spoiler: Notably, the GroinAttack trope is not on this page. This could be an oversight or deliberate, due to HaysCode enforcement. The movie definitely has a GroinAttack, but YMMV -- it's not the original Stooges...]]
Don't bring any lame [[TooSpecificToTrope one-foot-in-a-wastecan, guy-turns-with-ladder-and-bonks-another-guy-in-the-eye stuff.]] We have no pies for that.
A [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yCdZje_sTF0 movie]] was released on April 13, 2012. It was directed by the [[DumbAndDumber Farrelly Brothers]], appropriately enough.
Has a [[Recap/TheThreeStooges recap page]] in progress.
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!!The Three Stooges provides examples of the following tropes:
* AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade: The shorts used this in a couple of varieties, including the door opening outwards and the villains coming in behind them, sometimes handing them things to put on the barricade.
* AccidentalAthlete: One of their early shorts.
* ActingForTwo
** In the short ''Three Dumb Clucks'', Curly plays the boys' father.
** In the Shemp remake, ''Up In Daisy's Penthouse'', Shemp plays the boys' father.
** In ''Heavenly Daze'' and ''Bedlam In Paradise'', Moe plays the boys' uncle Mortimer.
** In ''Self Made Maids'', the boys play their fiances and later their babies. Moe also plays the fiancés' father.
** In ''Spooks'', Shemp plays a close-up of a bat.
** In ''Creeps'', the boys play their children.
** In ''A Merry Mix-Up'', the boys play their triplet brothers.
* AdultsDressedAsChildren: Current Trope Illustrator, from ''All the World's a Stooge'' -- they do this twice in the film.
* AllJustADream: Most of "I Can Hardly Wait", though the audience is shown that it's Curly's dream when it starts in a ThoughtBubble. "Heavenly Daze", and its stock footage reworking, "Bedlam in Paradise", are examples featuring Shemp.
* AmusingInjuries
* AntiSneezeFinger: Used a few times.
* AscendedExtra: The Stooges themselves.
* AsideGlance: Shemp's trademark.
* AttractiveBentGender: Should the Stooges be DisguisedInDrag, someone ''will'' find them attractive.
* BabyCarriage: The Stooges knocked over one while running from some authority figures in ''Grips, Grunts and Groans''. [[HarmfulToMinors There WAS a baby in it]], [[DudeNotFunny and it was played for laughs.]]
* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: In episodes where the three are babysitting. You definitely do not want these three guys anywhere near your children.
* BaldOfAwesome: Curly
* {{Balloonacy}}
** In an odd variation of this trope, Moe ''becomes'' a balloon in one episode. In ''Dizzy Pilots'', Moe falls into a tub of tar, and to get the tar off of him, Larry and Curly cut a hole in his clothes and begin filling it up with gas. HilarityEnsues as Moe begins to float away when Larry and Curly aren't looking, and they spend the next sizable chunk of the episode trying to get Moe down. He eventually floats through an opening in the ceiling and into the sky. Hearing Moe cry during the ordeal makes this a candidate for CrowningMomentOfFunny.
** Played straight in the movie, when a little girl gets lifted by a bunch of balloons. When a bullet pops them and she falls onto a big cake, she says "That was awesome!!!".
* BANGFlagGun: Used on occasion.
* BeamMeUpScotty: While Curly could psych himself up when dealing with the bad guys and occasionally needed to be restrained, he never said, "Lemme at 'em! Lemme at 'em!"
* BerserkButton
** Curly has 4 of them, each of which turns him into a [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass wrecking machine.]]
*** Hearing the song "Pop Goes the Weasel" in ''Punch Drunks''. When the music stopped, so did he.
*** Seeing a mouse in ''Horses' Collars''. The only way to stop him was to stuff cheese into his mouth.
*** Smelling a perfume fragrance called "Wild Hyacinth" in ''Grips, Grunts and Groans''. In this short the only way to stop him was to tickle his feet.
*** The sight of tassels in ''Tassels in the Air''.
** Mentioning "Niagara Falls" can also push Moe and Larry's button.
** The WolfMan in "Idle Roomers" was fairly peaceful until he heard music, causing him to go berserk.
* BloodlessCarnage: Particularly the scene in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jocRd-aajW0 "They Stooge to Conga"]], in which Curly pierces Moe's scalp, ear, and [[EyeScream eye]] with a climbing spike, and somehow Moe is relatively unscathed.
* TheBully: Moe
* TheButlerDidIt: In the short "If a Body Meets a Body".
* ButterFace: Curly or Shemp often ended up wih one of these while Moe and Larry got attractive women.
* ButtMonkey: The worst things would usually happen to Curly. Then again, contrary to the public perception of the stooges, Moe often seemed to get the worst of the beatings, mostly due to accidents caused by himself or Larry and Curly's stupidity, and he'd then take it out on them whether it was their fault or not.
* TheCameo
** Moe, Larry and Curly Joe appeared in the 1963 film ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld''. They are on-screen for maybe ten seconds, don't speak or even ''move'', and it's still one of the funniest jokes in the entire movie.
** Curly himself also appeared post-retirement in the short "Hold That Lion" as a sleeping train passenger who would make dog noises (as Curly would). This would be the only short to include all three of the Howard brothers, Moe, Curly, and Shemp. The scene was also used in "Booty and the Beast".
** Shemp has a wacky cameo as "Wacky" in ''[[Film/TheThinMan Another Thin Man]]''.
** Larry, Moe and Curley show up in a last minute cameo in 1942 screw-ball comedy My Sister Eileen. The central joke of that film involved two sisters who's basement Manhattan apartment is routinely invaded by all manner of hilariously outlandish pests. The final moments of the films see the Stooges (apparently employed as subway maintenance workers) literally drilling their way into the apartment from below.
* CarMeetsHouse
** The climax of ''The Three Stooges Go Round the World in a Daze''
** Also the ending of ''Yes We Have No Bonanza''.
* CarnivalOfKillers: ''The Outlaws Is Coming''.
* CatchPhrase: Most of Curly's dialog, but particularly remembered are his Catch Whinnies.
** Moe's "Why I oughtta..."
*** "Spread out!"
*** When he and another try to leave a too-small corridor: "Recede."
*** "You're pretty smart for an imbecile!"
*** "Oh, a wise guy, eh?"
*** "Remind me to moider you later."
*** "What's the matter with you?"
** Curly's "Sointen'y!"
*** "I'm a victim of coicumstance!"
** And for a supporting character... Emil Sitka's 'Hold hands, you lovebirds!' from ''The Brideless Groom''. Sitka was often invited to weddings to say this.
* ChekhovsGun: The movie has several of these.
** The sledgehammer that falls in the bucket of water.
** The long range arrow that Larry shoots and does not know where it went.
** "Too much iron in the water".
* ChekhovsGunman: Teddy in the movie -- and how.
* CloseCallHaircut: In many shorts, gun shots might leave a bald, steaming trail from the front to the back of Moe's or someone else's head, or else blow their hats off.
* ComicTrio: Goes without saying, but still...
* ConcussionsGetYouHigh: Used frequently, by having whoever was hit on the head take on a silly facial expression and slump over to the sound of chirping birds.
* CourtroomAntics: ''Disorder in the Court''
* CutASliceTakeTheRest: Moe and Larry would usually give Curly the short end of the stick. In the short ''I Can Hardly Wait'' they even make Curly feel guilty for being so ungrateful for his meager piece of the food when he complains.
-->'''Moe:''' We each took half a slice of ham and half an egg apiece, and gave you a whole bone and a whole egg shell, ''and you're squawkin'!!''
* DeadpanSnarker: Larry, when he wasn't acting as goofy as Curly in order to annoy Moe.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: In "Idiots Deluxe":
-->'''Judge:''' You face charges of attempt to commit mayhem.\\
'''Curly:''' You mean murder!\\
'''Larry:''' Yeah! He tried to kill us, too!
* DisguisedInDrag: Used quite often. Especially blatant in these cases because most of the Stooges not only have very obviously male faces, but are... well, exceptionally ugly, even as men. Also, Curly, the largest Stooge, is the one who most frequently has to do this.
** In fact, in one episode, Curly dresses up as a female Native American to fool a French hunter, who actually goes so far as to marry this "fat Indian momma" and take him/her to his bedroom. Hilarity ensued, although since this was before BlackComedyRape, the disguise was revealed before anything truly unfortunate could happen.
** Moe and Curly disguise themselves as female nurses in the movie in order to sneak into the hospital. Curly even flirts with a male employee, who falls for "her" charms!
** Whenever the Stooges disguised themselves as children, Larry would dress as a girl.
* DIYDisaster: In ''A Plumbing We Will Go'', the boys pose as plumbers; their attempts at plumbing had water coming out of the stove, the light bulbs, telephones, and a very primitive television set.
** In ''Goof on the Roof'', the stooges trying to set up a television somehow results in their completely ruining the house they'd been renting a room in.
* DopeSlap: Essentially Moe's job. Interestingly, when Moe wasn't around Larry tended to take his place dishing out Dope Slaps, as he was next in the sort of pecking order dynamic the stooges had. Occasionally, Curly or Shemp would hit Larry, again, provided Moe wasn't around.
* DoubleTake: About once every minute.
* DownerEnding: A few of the shorts ended with the stooges either getting some comeuppance they didn't really deserve, or even being killed. Subverted in that it always came off as darkly humorous.
* DropTheCow: The shorts had to be strictly two reels and comedy was valued more than plot. So many shorts end with a big bang rather than a bunch of loose ends tying up. This, far from being dissatisfying, is often as funny as the gags themselves!
* EinsteinHair: Larry
* EverythingExplodesEnding: ''Three Little Sew and Sews''
* EverythingsWorseWithBears: In the short ''Idiots Deluxe'', the stooges have to contend with a bear which wanders into their cabin as they're camping. HilarityEnsues, as just about everything they try backfires on them.
* ExtremeDoormat: Larry comes across as the most sensible of the three in most of the shorts but apparently only goes along with what the others do -- and puts up with Moe's abuse -- because he's just very passive. The fact that Curly and Shemp also put up with Moe's abuse makes them examples of this as well.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Curly, when hungry.
** At a fancy dinner, he was presented with a crab ("Ooh, a tarantula!") and ate it, ''shell and all''. Interestingly, Moe's crab shell is a rock candy fake; he had a dislike of shellfish (either from keeping kosher himself or growing up in a family who did) and didn't even like the smell left on a real crab shell.
** In ''A Pain in the Pullman'', all three of them eat crab shells, leaving the meat aside.
* EyePoke: Moe's signature move (actually performed by poking the eyebrows).
* FaceFault: In ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IV9eB8cC2I&feature=related Men In Black]]'', though, granted, they fall backwards.
* FakeBand: One of The Stooges' many signature gags. Inverted since the Stooges, notably Larry, were actually musicians.
* FakeShemp: The TropeMaker (the actual TropeNamer is director SamRaimi, who coined the term in regards to the Stooges over his case of this trope during filming of ''Film/EvilDead'').
* FatIdiot: Curly [[{{Malaproper}} resembles]] that remark.
* FishOutOfWater: In the 2012 movie, the stooges never left the orphanage until they were adults and had no knowledge of things like iPhones, Facebook and Twitter.
* FloweryInsults: [[DrinkingGame Take a shot]] every time Moe calls one of the other stooges a "chowderhead", "numbskull", "mental midget", "muttonhead", "porcupine", or some other creative insult.
* FoodFight: They always had an uncanny ability to make a formal party regress into the formerly snobby, cultured rich people partaking in an epic food fight.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: [[TheBully Moe]] is choleric, [[OnlySaneMan Larry]] is phlegmatic, [[CloudCuckoolander Curly]] is sanguine, and [[NervousWreck Shemp]] is melancholic.
** In real life, it was otherwise: [[BigGood M]][[ThePerfectionist oe]] was choleric/melancholic, [[NiceGuy Larry]] was sanguine, [[TheWoobie Curly]] was melancholic, and [[TheQuietOne Shemp]] was phlegmatic.
* GargleBlaster: Seems to be the only type of alchohol available to the stooges.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Way too many to mention, but one from ''Some More of Samoa'' was pretty blatant for its day.
--> '''Moe:''' ''(about a persimmon tree)'' You ain't gonna get anywhere with a single tree. Why, this poor thing is pining away for a girlfriend!\\
'''Curly:''' Or maybe a boyfriend.\\
'''Moe:''' Quiet.
* GrandeDame: A very common character in the shorts, the stuffy Society lady whose party (for example) is invaded by the Stooges and becomes the venue for a gigantic pie fight. Often played by Symona Boniface, sort of a budget studio [[MarxBrothers Margaret Dumont]].
* GrievousBottleyHarm
* {{Grumpy Bear}}: Moe
* HardHead: A standard gag was to have Moe take a saw or a hammer to Curly's head, only to have his head bend and warp solid steel.
* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: ''Moe punishes Curly.''
* HeroSyndrome: The Stooges flirt with this in Pest Man Wins when they infest a mansion with common household pests in order to exterminate them and get paid.
* HeWentThatWay
* HollowSoundingHead: Curly's head is apparently MadeOfIron ''and'' hollow.
* HollywoodHealing: All three Stooges had the endurance of a typical cartoon character.
* {{Homage}}: The minor 1984 hit "The Curly Shuffle" is all about watching the Stooges on late night TV.
* HotPotato
* HowManyFingers: A common gag would be Moe asking one of the stooges how many fingers he was holding up, and when they answered "two" he'd poke them in the eyes.
* IAteWhat: A RunningGag had the characters, whether a stooge or a supporter, to drink brown paint instead of coffee.
* IllGirl
** The stooges help one reunite with her father in ''Nutty but Nice''.
** Another one shows up in the movie.
* ImpossibleLeavening: Done with beer instead of bread. In ''Beer Barrel Polecats'', each of the Stooges add the prescribed amount of yeast to their beer, not knowing that the other two stooges have done (or will do) the same. They end up with enough beer that they have to move it to a bathtub to contain it all.
* IncrediblyLamePun: Many of Curly's jokes, which invariably earn some abuse from Moe.
* InkSuitActor: In the 30s up to the 40s, the Stooges cameoed in animated cartoon form, usually from other studios. Warners used them in ''Porky's Hero Agency'' and ''Hollywood Steps Out''.
* InOneEarOutTheOther
* InstrumentalThemeTune: Most famously, instrumental versions of "Listen to the Mockingbird" and "Three Blind Mice". In both cases, doubles as a RealSongThemeTune.
* IronButtmonkey: Though this applies to Curly most of all, all three Stooges have their moments.
* {{Isophagus}}: Played straight in ''The Three Stooges'' film ''Disorder in the Court''. When the stooges are reenacting a musical performance during a trial Curly slaps Moe on the back causing him to swallow a kazoo. They then find that when they press on Moe's stomach they can hear the kazoo, and soon Curly and Larry begin to make Moe play "Ach Du Lieber Augustine" by pumping his arm and squeezing his stomach, before he coughs the kazoo up.
* IsThereADoctorInTheHouse: In the episode ''From Nurse to Worse'', a doctor shouts this frantically while in a hospital surrounded by other doctors, after accidently giving another doctor sleeping gas when he was supposed to give it to Curly, before slowly realizing that he is a doctor.
* {{Jerkass}}: Moe. ''And then some''.
** In ''Pop Goes the Easel'', his JerkAss attitude gets cranked {{Up To Eleven}} when, following a clay fight, Moe demands to know who started it, Larry says "YOU did!", Moe responds by angrily yelling "Oh YEAH?!", and then promptly spins around with his hand extended, [[HairTriggerTemper slapping Larry, Curly and three or four other guys with one continuous slap]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Moe's character on-screen would sometimes reveal his heart of gold whenever a woman or a child was somehow in trouble.
* JugglingLoadedGuns
** ''Disorder in the Court'' introduces a gun as evidence. Curly is told to try to pull the incredibly rusty trigger, after being told "[[TemptingFate Never fear, it's not loaded.]]" After one harmless click, he then accidentally shoots off the baliff's toupee when his finger gets stuck in the trigger guard.
** ''Any'' time the Stooges or someone around them insisted a gun wasn't loaded, it was. In "Even as I.O.U." Curly gives a baby a pacifier. When Moe sees that it's a revolver, he reaches in to get it, but is stopped by Larry, who warns that the kid might pull the trigger. Curly insists it isn't loaded, and seeks to prove it...by cocking the hammer and thoughtlessly discharging it in an enclosed space. Pretty much every rule of gun safety is blithely disregarded.
* JustForPun: Often overlooked by their physical slapstick humor is their witty way with words and puns. Examples can be found in any short- and the movie.
* KavorkaMan: All three, both onscreen and off.
* KnifeThrowingAct: ''The Three Stooges Go Round the World in a Daze''
* KungFoley: The Stooges had the most ridiculous and creative foley artists in the history of film. In fact the main reason the television pilot they filmed late in their careers flopped was that it didn't have those ridiculous sound effects. Those noises that went with their unique slapstick were an essential part of their comedy. Without them their classic comedy slapstick is reduced to violence for violence' sake. Remember that "slapstick" doesn't refer to the stick you use to slap someone. It's the stick you use to create the slapping sound.
* LiteralAssKicking: Probably in every short.
* {{Malaproper}}: The Howard brothers in general were masters of this.
* ManiacMonkeys: Gorillas were always bad news in Three Stooges shorts.
* MarathonRunning: In 2011 cable channel Antenna TV began running mini-marathons of the shorts over the weekend.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: This was a staple of their comedy.
** How much would being bopped on the nose actually hurt when Moe's got his fist around it to absorb most of the shock? Curly certainly makes it look agonizing.
** There's also this recurring joke in their shorts:
-->'''Larry:''' ''(after receiving an eye poke)'' I can't see! I can't see!\\
'''Moe:''' What's the matter?\\
'''Larry:''' ''(smugly)'' I've got my eyes closed. ''(gets slapped by Moe)''
* TheMovie
** Will be directed by the [[Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary Farrelly]] [[Film/DumbAndDumber Brothers]], starring Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe, [[Series/WillAndGrace Sean Hayes]] as Larry, and [[Series/ShitMyDadSays Will Sasso]] as Curly.
** A TV biopic came out a few years ago -- with [[TheShield Michael Chiklis]] as Curly!
* MurphysBed: How many times have their bunk beds collapsed? It doesn't help that they always put the heaviest person, Curly, on the top bunk. Curly often steps on Moe's and Larry's heads on the way up to the top. The trio have often had bad luck with beds that fold into the wall as well.
* MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast: Inverted in ''Idle Roomers'', which features a WolfMan who is relatively tame until he hears music. The stooges, mistakenly believing in this trope, decide to play music when confronted by him, activating the Wolf Man's BerserkButton.
* NatureVersusNurture: Two professors tested this on the Stooges in ''Hoi Polloi'', long before ''TradingPlaces'' used much the same plot.
* NeverMyFault: Moe would punish Larry and Curly for accidents that were actually Moe's fault.
** ''Example:'' Moe tries to kill a pair of moving pants with a wooden board. On the back swing, he breaks a priceless vase. To Larry: ''Why didn't you bring me a softer board!?''
* NoEnding: A lot of the shorts just end suddenly without resolving the plot.
* NonFatalExplosions
* NotSoAboveItAll: Not only is this the ending to ''Hoi Polloi'', but the audience is often reminded that Moe (the "boss" Stooge) was not really that much smarter or more sensible than Curly.
* OffscreenCrash: Sometimes used straight and sometimes averted.
* OpenHeartDentistry: "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard." Which has become a ''very'' common ShoutOut in hospital scenes throughout media.
* OverlyPolitePals: The Stooges often did an overly-bumbling version of this whenever they wish to attempt to blend in with high society.
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: In one short, when Moe asks Larry to think of a password to enter their room, he deadpans "Open the door!" Cue Moe's standard pretend-to-be-pleased-then-[[DopeSlap dope-slap]]-the-idiot routine.
* PerpetualPoverty: Many shorts started with the Stooges either losing a crappy job or having no job at all. Likely [[TheGreatDepression a reflection of the times]]. This is a main theme in the movie.
* PieInTheFace: If not the {{Trope Codifier}}s, they definitely took this trope and ran with it, several times. Although, as some Stooges historians have noted, not nearly as often as the general public might think. Something like 10 or 12 out of almost 200 shorts actually feature pie-throwing. It wasn't always pie either, sometimes it could be mud, cake, sculpting clay (in an episode where the stooges start a fight at an art school), or any other messy substance.
* PigLatin: One of the many [[RunningGag running gags]].
* PlankGag: A favourite of theirs.
* PowerTrio: Curly/Shemp/Joe (Id), Moe (Superego), Larry (Ego)
* ThePratfall: Curly in particular made regular use of this.
* ProWrestlingEpisode: ''Grips, Grunts and Groans''
* PungeonMaster: Curly, again. He'd usually say this in response to a question Moe asked, and Moe would either just be annoyed and ignore it, or in some cases, slap Curly. Example:
-->'''Curly:''' ''(after hearing a roar in a pipe they're trying to fix)'' Sounds like a bear!\\
'''Moe:''' How's a bear gonna fit down there?\\
'''Curly:''' Well, it's bear-y possible!\\
''(Moe nods like Curly made a good point before realizing he just made another stupid pun and gives him an annoyed look)''
* PunnyName
** The law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe, (president I. Fleeceum) among others.
** The map in "You Nazty Spy!" has several, such as the Look Sea and Doublecrossia
** Many minor characters have ones related to their profession. For example, the dentist in ''All The World's A Stooge'' is named I. Yankum. Pretty much every firm in the movie as well.
* RumpRoast: Happens in many shorts.
* RunningGag: More than you could shake a schtick at.
* SavingTheOrphanage: The plot for the video game and the 2012 movie.
* SayMyName: In ''A Pain in the Pullman'':
-->"JOHNSONNNNN!!!"
* ScoobyDoobyDoors: On a few occasions.
* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: In-story, the trio tried two 3-d shorts, ''Spooks!'' and ''Pardon My Backfire''. To help enhance the gags, some shots were done at the camera. Which means [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Sppooks.jpg Moe Is About to Poke Your Eyes!]]
* SelfDeprecation: More than once in their shorts, such as this exchange in ''Crash Goes the Hash''.
-->'''A butler:''' Say, you three remind me of the Three Stooges.\\
'''Curly:''' Hey! That's an insult!!
* ShoehornedFirstLetter: In the short ''Sing a Song of Six Pants'', the stooges are trying to guess the name of the owner of a suit when they know his initials are TH. They come up with Thomas Hedison and [[TeddyRoosevelt Teddy Hoosevelt]].
* ShotInTheAss: This often happened to them. They reacted to it in about the same way a cartoon character would.
* ShoutOut: Dozens.
** Any comedic fight scene in which one character attempts to poke another character in both eyes at the same time, only to be foiled by the second character holding up a flattened hand in front of their nose. This gag appears in ''Film/EvilDead'', during the scene where Ash is being beaten up by skeleton arms rising out of the earth.
** Many trios who posess or somehow acquire hairstyles (or the equivalent) reminiscent of the Stooges'.
** ''Film/ShortCircuit'' includes a brief appearance by Numbers Two, Three and Four, sent out to retrieve Number Five. "Johnny" reprograms them after a battle and they re-appear before their controllers engaging in Stooge-like shenanigans.
** During the "Beware the Creeper" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Joker's henchmen-of-the-episode sported Stooge-like haircuts, and the bald one even engaged in Curly-like self-face-slapping.
* SignatureLaugh: Curly's "Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk".
* {{Slapstick}}: Gee, [[CaptainObvious ya think?]]
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Women weren't on the receiving end of the stooges antics ''too'' often, at least until food fights broke out, then everybody was fair game.
** A notable exception is in ''I'm a Monkey's Uncle''. Moe and Larry have ''courted'' (read: bopped) Aggie and Maggie. Shemp is [[ButterFace less enthusiastic]] about Baggie, and she ends up wooing him after a flying tackle. Another tribe comes on them and accuses the boys of stealing the women, and hurls spears; all three land in the rumps. Of Moe, Larry, and ''Baggie'' (as she's carrying Shemp).
* TheSmartGuy: Though none of them were really that gifted intellectually, Larry was probably the marginally most intelligent and sensible of the three in most of the shorts, even if he came off somewhat eccentric. Though it usually displayed itself with him being more street than book smart.
* SmellySkunk: Quite a few times, like when Curly had a cold while they were fox hunting and captured a skunk by mistake. Also in many shorts Curly wears a skunk-fur cap while Moe and Larry are wearing a racoon-fur cap.
* SnakeOilSalesman: The Stooges become this in ''Dizzy Doctors''.
* StandInPortrait: A rare three-dimensional example, seen in ''The Hot Scots'' as well as other shorts.
* StickySituation: The Stooges use glue to sabotage the guns of the CarnivalOfKillers in ''The Outlaws Is Coming''.
* StockFootage
** Many later shorts recycle material from earlier ones. Only less funny. Curly's failing health towards the end of his career is part of the reason this was done.
** Most of Shemp's later shorts were remakes of earlier shorts, a cost-cutting measure by Columbia's short subjects department.
* StraightMan: Larry, to a certain extent, and various supporting characters.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Four, actually -- Shemp, then Joe, then Curly-Joe, and finally Emil.
** Also don't forget that Curly actually came in to replace Shemp, who wanted to do a solo career. (So Shemp actually ''returned'', after Curly's untimely death.)
* StyrofoamRocks: Used quite often, though it helped sell their slapstick humor by having them survive being hit in the head with rocks or bricks with only minor pain.
** This is even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Beer Barrel Polecats'', when Moe and Larry are breaking rocks over Curly's head in prison while he nonchalantly sews a uniform. He stops them at one point when Moe is grabbing another rock.
-->'''Curly:''' Hey wait a minute, that's a ''real'' one! I'm no fool.
* TapOnTheHead: Always accompanied by chirping birds afterwards.
* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: In episodes where they weren't sleeping in three stacked bunk beds that were almost certain to collapse, the stooges all shared one bed, which usually resulted in more hilarity.
* ThinkOfTheCensors: In ''Gypped in the Penthouse'', a beautiful woman takes Shemp's ring and hides it in her cleavage, leaving Shemp with a problem:
-->'''Shemp:''' There must be a way to get that ring back without getting in trouble with the censors.
* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: ''You Nazty Spy!'' claims that "Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle."
* ThoseWackyNazis: YouNaztySpy! was [[UrExample the first movie]] ''[[UrExample ever]]'' to mock the Nazis. Not only do they have that CrowningMomentOfAwesome, but the balcony scene where they parody Hitler's unique oratorical style with nonsense and weird noises is perhaps the biggest CrowningMomentOfFunny in all the Stooges' copious work. Certainly justified mocking on the Stooges' parts, since they were all Jewish.
* ThoughtBubble: A rare live-action one in ''I Can Hardly Wait'', while Curly is dreaming.
* ThreeDimensionalEpisode: Two of ''The Three Stooges'' shorts, ''Pardon my Backfire'' and ''Spooks'', were shot in 3-D in the 1950's, during the first big 3-D craze.
* TheToothHurts: Used in ''I Can Hardly Wait'', where Curly gets a toothache.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Burnt toast and a rotten egg: "I've got a tapeworm and it's good enough for him."
* TrueCompanions: Moe, Curly, and Shemp considered Larry to be their brother.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Scads of attractive actresses played love interests for the Stooges. Later in an autobiography Moe would say that producers and directors would butter up a woman by telling her she could be in a Stooge short. That many of them had no acting abilities and little stage presence didn't seem to matter.
** Yes, but one of them was ''[[Series/ILoveLucy Lucille Ball]]''!
** Not to mention the lovely and talented Christine [=McIntyre=], whom many Stooge fans fondly dub "the female Stooge".
** Subverted in the movie with Teddy's father and mother. The father is by no means ugly (in fact, he is rather attractive)- but the mother is more attractive. Averted narrowly with Teddy and Lydia- Teddy grows up to be very handsome, but probably does not compare to the gorgeous Lydia (played by Sofia Vergara).
* VagabondBuddies
* VerbalTic
** A large portion of Curly's shtick involved his odd vocalizations like "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk," "woo-woo-woo," barking, and so on.
** Shemp would often go "heebebebebebebeee", usually while snoring but in certain situations while he was awake too.
* WartimeCartoon: Though not cartoons as such, the Stooges made several shorts supporting the war effort ranging from from the sublime (''You Nazty Spy'') to the cringeworthy (''The Yolk's on Me'') which used actual Japanese-American internees as extras.
* WeirdTradeUnion: The Amalgamated Association of Morons local 6 7/8 (''Half-Wits Holiday'').
-->'''Stooges:''' We are morons tried and true! And we'll do our yell for you! ''(start making weird faces and noises)''
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In ''Even As I.O.U.'', the plot of the first half of the short, where the stooges are helping a homeless mother and her child, is forgotten after they go to the horse races to raise money for them.
* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: The stooges are basically doing something different in every episode, that is when they actually have a job.
* {{Yellowface}}: In ''No Dough Boys'', a wartime short, the stooges are dressed as Japanese soldiers for a photo shoot, and later stumble upon a hideout with Nazi spies and have to take on the identity of the Japanese spies they were expecting to meet with.
* YouCanSayThatAgain: In ''Micro-Phonies'', as they see a beautiful woman:
-->'''Curly:''' My, ain't she pretty!\\
'''Moe:''' Boy, you can say that again!\\
'''Curly:''' My, ain't she pretty!\\
'''Moe:''' Shut up! ''(slaps him)''
* YoungGun: Billy the Kid in ''The Outlaws Is Coming''.
* YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses: Shemp tries this in ''Who Done It?'' Of course, Moe hits him anyway without bothering to remove the glasses.
----
[[EveryEpisodeEnding Dum-dada-dum-da-dum. Da!]]
----
[[caption-width-right:348:Meet the brain trust.]]
->''"Now I know why Moe was always mad."''
-->-- '''Titus''', ''{{Series/Titus}}''
->''"Well, they're these kinda funny looking guys... who like to hit each other."''
->-- '''Jerry''', ''{{Series/Seinfeld}}''
'''The Three Stooges''' are best known for the dozens of short subjects they turned out Columbia Pictures starting in the 1930s. In fact, with 190 short films, not including their features, this trio had the longest film series in Hollywood history.
Though there were several members over the years people nowadays are most likely to be familiar with the iconic lineup of Moe Howard, the bully-like leader; Larry Fine, the frizzy-haired sort-of straight man, and Jerome "Curly" Howard, the bald, oddball guy with the weird mannerisms and verbalizations. Like many Hollywood successes the Stooges came about their success largely through serendipity. The Stooges were little more than second bananas and comic foils to vaudeville comic Ted Healy when Columbia offered them their first picture deal and Moe promptly seized the opportunity to make the big time without their notoriously drunk and abusive employer. Unfortunately, elder brother Shemp Howard picked this time to strike out on his own, leaving them one stooge short of a three-stooge deal. So Moe turned to younger brother Curly (who had no prior acting experience) to replace him and the rest is history. Shemp Howard later rejoined the act after Curly suffered a stroke, changing the dynamic and triggering an ongoing "Curly vs. Shemp" debate that presaged the similar [[MysteryScienceTheatre3000 Joel vs. Mike debates]] of more recent vintage. After Shemp passed on, Joe Besser joined the group for their last shorts with Columbia and "Curly Joe" [=DeRita=] would sign on for their "post-shorts" career.
The Three Stooges are one of the few rare comedy acts of the black-and-white era that continue to attract fans and remain so firmly embedded in the popular culture that a fifteen second silent cameo depicting them as airport firefighters still provides one of the biggest laughs in ''ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' decades after their heyday. Their popularity is such that video games have been made about them all the way up to the GameBoyAdvance era. And while their broad slapstick has been often derided by critics, it's also a key reason why they're popular even in nations where English isn't spoken. They also had two {{animated adaptation}}s: a syndicated series in 1965, with live-action wraparounds between cartoons, and ''WesternAnimation/TheRobonicStooges'', a segment of {{Hanna-Barbera}}'s ''Skatebirds''. Unfortunately, neither of these truly took advantage of The Stooges' already cartoon-like nature.
That's the short version of it. Wikipedia has practically a small [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Stooges book]] on the team, their history and their impact. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
Trope-wise, it is hard to do {{slapstick}} without referencing the Stooges. They did it all. Wait. Here is the throw-down: If you can come up with a slapstick bit that was not done by the Stooges, the Wiki will award you a delicious, fresh-baked custard pie.[[hottip:*:In your face. Let's not forget tradition!]] [[spoiler: Notably, the GroinAttack trope is not on this page. This could be an oversight or deliberate, due to HaysCode enforcement. The movie definitely has a GroinAttack, but YMMV -- it's not the original Stooges...]]
Don't bring any lame [[TooSpecificToTrope one-foot-in-a-wastecan, guy-turns-with-ladder-and-bonks-another-guy-in-the-eye stuff.]] We have no pies for that.
A [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yCdZje_sTF0 movie]] was released on April 13, 2012. It was directed by the [[DumbAndDumber Farrelly Brothers]], appropriately enough.
Has a [[Recap/TheThreeStooges recap page]] in progress.
----
!!The Three Stooges provides examples of the following tropes:
* AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade: The shorts used this in a couple of varieties, including the door opening outwards and the villains coming in behind them, sometimes handing them things to put on the barricade.
* AccidentalAthlete: One of their early shorts.
* ActingForTwo
** In the short ''Three Dumb Clucks'', Curly plays the boys' father.
** In the Shemp remake, ''Up In Daisy's Penthouse'', Shemp plays the boys' father.
** In ''Heavenly Daze'' and ''Bedlam In Paradise'', Moe plays the boys' uncle Mortimer.
** In ''Self Made Maids'', the boys play their fiances and later their babies. Moe also plays the fiancés' father.
** In ''Spooks'', Shemp plays a close-up of a bat.
** In ''Creeps'', the boys play their children.
** In ''A Merry Mix-Up'', the boys play their triplet brothers.
* AdultsDressedAsChildren: Current Trope Illustrator, from ''All the World's a Stooge'' -- they do this twice in the film.
* AllJustADream: Most of "I Can Hardly Wait", though the audience is shown that it's Curly's dream when it starts in a ThoughtBubble. "Heavenly Daze", and its stock footage reworking, "Bedlam in Paradise", are examples featuring Shemp.
* AmusingInjuries
* AntiSneezeFinger: Used a few times.
* AscendedExtra: The Stooges themselves.
* AsideGlance: Shemp's trademark.
* AttractiveBentGender: Should the Stooges be DisguisedInDrag, someone ''will'' find them attractive.
* BabyCarriage: The Stooges knocked over one while running from some authority figures in ''Grips, Grunts and Groans''. [[HarmfulToMinors There WAS a baby in it]], [[DudeNotFunny and it was played for laughs.]]
* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: In episodes where the three are babysitting. You definitely do not want these three guys anywhere near your children.
* BaldOfAwesome: Curly
* {{Balloonacy}}
** In an odd variation of this trope, Moe ''becomes'' a balloon in one episode. In ''Dizzy Pilots'', Moe falls into a tub of tar, and to get the tar off of him, Larry and Curly cut a hole in his clothes and begin filling it up with gas. HilarityEnsues as Moe begins to float away when Larry and Curly aren't looking, and they spend the next sizable chunk of the episode trying to get Moe down. He eventually floats through an opening in the ceiling and into the sky. Hearing Moe cry during the ordeal makes this a candidate for CrowningMomentOfFunny.
** Played straight in the movie, when a little girl gets lifted by a bunch of balloons. When a bullet pops them and she falls onto a big cake, she says "That was awesome!!!".
* BANGFlagGun: Used on occasion.
* BeamMeUpScotty: While Curly could psych himself up when dealing with the bad guys and occasionally needed to be restrained, he never said, "Lemme at 'em! Lemme at 'em!"
* BerserkButton
** Curly has 4 of them, each of which turns him into a [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass wrecking machine.]]
*** Hearing the song "Pop Goes the Weasel" in ''Punch Drunks''. When the music stopped, so did he.
*** Seeing a mouse in ''Horses' Collars''. The only way to stop him was to stuff cheese into his mouth.
*** Smelling a perfume fragrance called "Wild Hyacinth" in ''Grips, Grunts and Groans''. In this short the only way to stop him was to tickle his feet.
*** The sight of tassels in ''Tassels in the Air''.
** Mentioning "Niagara Falls" can also push Moe and Larry's button.
** The WolfMan in "Idle Roomers" was fairly peaceful until he heard music, causing him to go berserk.
* BloodlessCarnage: Particularly the scene in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jocRd-aajW0 "They Stooge to Conga"]], in which Curly pierces Moe's scalp, ear, and [[EyeScream eye]] with a climbing spike, and somehow Moe is relatively unscathed.
* TheBully: Moe
* TheButlerDidIt: In the short "If a Body Meets a Body".
* ButterFace: Curly or Shemp often ended up wih one of these while Moe and Larry got attractive women.
* ButtMonkey: The worst things would usually happen to Curly. Then again, contrary to the public perception of the stooges, Moe often seemed to get the worst of the beatings, mostly due to accidents caused by himself or Larry and Curly's stupidity, and he'd then take it out on them whether it was their fault or not.
* TheCameo
** Moe, Larry and Curly Joe appeared in the 1963 film ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld''. They are on-screen for maybe ten seconds, don't speak or even ''move'', and it's still one of the funniest jokes in the entire movie.
** Curly himself also appeared post-retirement in the short "Hold That Lion" as a sleeping train passenger who would make dog noises (as Curly would). This would be the only short to include all three of the Howard brothers, Moe, Curly, and Shemp. The scene was also used in "Booty and the Beast".
** Shemp has a wacky cameo as "Wacky" in ''[[Film/TheThinMan Another Thin Man]]''.
** Larry, Moe and Curley show up in a last minute cameo in 1942 screw-ball comedy My Sister Eileen. The central joke of that film involved two sisters who's basement Manhattan apartment is routinely invaded by all manner of hilariously outlandish pests. The final moments of the films see the Stooges (apparently employed as subway maintenance workers) literally drilling their way into the apartment from below.
* CarMeetsHouse
** The climax of ''The Three Stooges Go Round the World in a Daze''
** Also the ending of ''Yes We Have No Bonanza''.
* CarnivalOfKillers: ''The Outlaws Is Coming''.
* CatchPhrase: Most of Curly's dialog, but particularly remembered are his Catch Whinnies.
** Moe's "Why I oughtta..."
*** "Spread out!"
*** When he and another try to leave a too-small corridor: "Recede."
*** "You're pretty smart for an imbecile!"
*** "Oh, a wise guy, eh?"
*** "Remind me to moider you later."
*** "What's the matter with you?"
** Curly's "Sointen'y!"
*** "I'm a victim of coicumstance!"
** And for a supporting character... Emil Sitka's 'Hold hands, you lovebirds!' from ''The Brideless Groom''. Sitka was often invited to weddings to say this.
* ChekhovsGun: The movie has several of these.
** The sledgehammer that falls in the bucket of water.
** The long range arrow that Larry shoots and does not know where it went.
** "Too much iron in the water".
* ChekhovsGunman: Teddy in the movie -- and how.
* CloseCallHaircut: In many shorts, gun shots might leave a bald, steaming trail from the front to the back of Moe's or someone else's head, or else blow their hats off.
* ComicTrio: Goes without saying, but still...
* ConcussionsGetYouHigh: Used frequently, by having whoever was hit on the head take on a silly facial expression and slump over to the sound of chirping birds.
* CourtroomAntics: ''Disorder in the Court''
* CutASliceTakeTheRest: Moe and Larry would usually give Curly the short end of the stick. In the short ''I Can Hardly Wait'' they even make Curly feel guilty for being so ungrateful for his meager piece of the food when he complains.
-->'''Moe:''' We each took half a slice of ham and half an egg apiece, and gave you a whole bone and a whole egg shell, ''and you're squawkin'!!''
* DeadpanSnarker: Larry, when he wasn't acting as goofy as Curly in order to annoy Moe.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: In "Idiots Deluxe":
-->'''Judge:''' You face charges of attempt to commit mayhem.\\
'''Curly:''' You mean murder!\\
'''Larry:''' Yeah! He tried to kill us, too!
* DisguisedInDrag: Used quite often. Especially blatant in these cases because most of the Stooges not only have very obviously male faces, but are... well, exceptionally ugly, even as men. Also, Curly, the largest Stooge, is the one who most frequently has to do this.
** In fact, in one episode, Curly dresses up as a female Native American to fool a French hunter, who actually goes so far as to marry this "fat Indian momma" and take him/her to his bedroom. Hilarity ensued, although since this was before BlackComedyRape, the disguise was revealed before anything truly unfortunate could happen.
** Moe and Curly disguise themselves as female nurses in the movie in order to sneak into the hospital. Curly even flirts with a male employee, who falls for "her" charms!
** Whenever the Stooges disguised themselves as children, Larry would dress as a girl.
* DIYDisaster: In ''A Plumbing We Will Go'', the boys pose as plumbers; their attempts at plumbing had water coming out of the stove, the light bulbs, telephones, and a very primitive television set.
** In ''Goof on the Roof'', the stooges trying to set up a television somehow results in their completely ruining the house they'd been renting a room in.
* DopeSlap: Essentially Moe's job. Interestingly, when Moe wasn't around Larry tended to take his place dishing out Dope Slaps, as he was next in the sort of pecking order dynamic the stooges had. Occasionally, Curly or Shemp would hit Larry, again, provided Moe wasn't around.
* DoubleTake: About once every minute.
* DownerEnding: A few of the shorts ended with the stooges either getting some comeuppance they didn't really deserve, or even being killed. Subverted in that it always came off as darkly humorous.
* DropTheCow: The shorts had to be strictly two reels and comedy was valued more than plot. So many shorts end with a big bang rather than a bunch of loose ends tying up. This, far from being dissatisfying, is often as funny as the gags themselves!
* EinsteinHair: Larry
* EverythingExplodesEnding: ''Three Little Sew and Sews''
* EverythingsWorseWithBears: In the short ''Idiots Deluxe'', the stooges have to contend with a bear which wanders into their cabin as they're camping. HilarityEnsues, as just about everything they try backfires on them.
* ExtremeDoormat: Larry comes across as the most sensible of the three in most of the shorts but apparently only goes along with what the others do -- and puts up with Moe's abuse -- because he's just very passive. The fact that Curly and Shemp also put up with Moe's abuse makes them examples of this as well.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Curly, when hungry.
** At a fancy dinner, he was presented with a crab ("Ooh, a tarantula!") and ate it, ''shell and all''. Interestingly, Moe's crab shell is a rock candy fake; he had a dislike of shellfish (either from keeping kosher himself or growing up in a family who did) and didn't even like the smell left on a real crab shell.
** In ''A Pain in the Pullman'', all three of them eat crab shells, leaving the meat aside.
* EyePoke: Moe's signature move (actually performed by poking the eyebrows).
* FaceFault: In ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IV9eB8cC2I&feature=related Men In Black]]'', though, granted, they fall backwards.
* FakeBand: One of The Stooges' many signature gags. Inverted since the Stooges, notably Larry, were actually musicians.
* FakeShemp: The TropeMaker (the actual TropeNamer is director SamRaimi, who coined the term in regards to the Stooges over his case of this trope during filming of ''Film/EvilDead'').
* FatIdiot: Curly [[{{Malaproper}} resembles]] that remark.
* FishOutOfWater: In the 2012 movie, the stooges never left the orphanage until they were adults and had no knowledge of things like iPhones, Facebook and Twitter.
* FloweryInsults: [[DrinkingGame Take a shot]] every time Moe calls one of the other stooges a "chowderhead", "numbskull", "mental midget", "muttonhead", "porcupine", or some other creative insult.
* FoodFight: They always had an uncanny ability to make a formal party regress into the formerly snobby, cultured rich people partaking in an epic food fight.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: [[TheBully Moe]] is choleric, [[OnlySaneMan Larry]] is phlegmatic, [[CloudCuckoolander Curly]] is sanguine, and [[NervousWreck Shemp]] is melancholic.
** In real life, it was otherwise: [[BigGood M]][[ThePerfectionist oe]] was choleric/melancholic, [[NiceGuy Larry]] was sanguine, [[TheWoobie Curly]] was melancholic, and [[TheQuietOne Shemp]] was phlegmatic.
* GargleBlaster: Seems to be the only type of alchohol available to the stooges.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Way too many to mention, but one from ''Some More of Samoa'' was pretty blatant for its day.
--> '''Moe:''' ''(about a persimmon tree)'' You ain't gonna get anywhere with a single tree. Why, this poor thing is pining away for a girlfriend!\\
'''Curly:''' Or maybe a boyfriend.\\
'''Moe:''' Quiet.
* GrandeDame: A very common character in the shorts, the stuffy Society lady whose party (for example) is invaded by the Stooges and becomes the venue for a gigantic pie fight. Often played by Symona Boniface, sort of a budget studio [[MarxBrothers Margaret Dumont]].
* GrievousBottleyHarm
* {{Grumpy Bear}}: Moe
* HardHead: A standard gag was to have Moe take a saw or a hammer to Curly's head, only to have his head bend and warp solid steel.
* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: ''Moe punishes Curly.''
* HeroSyndrome: The Stooges flirt with this in Pest Man Wins when they infest a mansion with common household pests in order to exterminate them and get paid.
* HeWentThatWay
* HollowSoundingHead: Curly's head is apparently MadeOfIron ''and'' hollow.
* HollywoodHealing: All three Stooges had the endurance of a typical cartoon character.
* {{Homage}}: The minor 1984 hit "The Curly Shuffle" is all about watching the Stooges on late night TV.
* HotPotato
* HowManyFingers: A common gag would be Moe asking one of the stooges how many fingers he was holding up, and when they answered "two" he'd poke them in the eyes.
* IAteWhat: A RunningGag had the characters, whether a stooge or a supporter, to drink brown paint instead of coffee.
* IllGirl
** The stooges help one reunite with her father in ''Nutty but Nice''.
** Another one shows up in the movie.
* ImpossibleLeavening: Done with beer instead of bread. In ''Beer Barrel Polecats'', each of the Stooges add the prescribed amount of yeast to their beer, not knowing that the other two stooges have done (or will do) the same. They end up with enough beer that they have to move it to a bathtub to contain it all.
* IncrediblyLamePun: Many of Curly's jokes, which invariably earn some abuse from Moe.
* InkSuitActor: In the 30s up to the 40s, the Stooges cameoed in animated cartoon form, usually from other studios. Warners used them in ''Porky's Hero Agency'' and ''Hollywood Steps Out''.
* InOneEarOutTheOther
* InstrumentalThemeTune: Most famously, instrumental versions of "Listen to the Mockingbird" and "Three Blind Mice". In both cases, doubles as a RealSongThemeTune.
* IronButtmonkey: Though this applies to Curly most of all, all three Stooges have their moments.
* {{Isophagus}}: Played straight in ''The Three Stooges'' film ''Disorder in the Court''. When the stooges are reenacting a musical performance during a trial Curly slaps Moe on the back causing him to swallow a kazoo. They then find that when they press on Moe's stomach they can hear the kazoo, and soon Curly and Larry begin to make Moe play "Ach Du Lieber Augustine" by pumping his arm and squeezing his stomach, before he coughs the kazoo up.
* IsThereADoctorInTheHouse: In the episode ''From Nurse to Worse'', a doctor shouts this frantically while in a hospital surrounded by other doctors, after accidently giving another doctor sleeping gas when he was supposed to give it to Curly, before slowly realizing that he is a doctor.
* {{Jerkass}}: Moe. ''And then some''.
** In ''Pop Goes the Easel'', his JerkAss attitude gets cranked {{Up To Eleven}} when, following a clay fight, Moe demands to know who started it, Larry says "YOU did!", Moe responds by angrily yelling "Oh YEAH?!", and then promptly spins around with his hand extended, [[HairTriggerTemper slapping Larry, Curly and three or four other guys with one continuous slap]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Moe's character on-screen would sometimes reveal his heart of gold whenever a woman or a child was somehow in trouble.
* JugglingLoadedGuns
** ''Disorder in the Court'' introduces a gun as evidence. Curly is told to try to pull the incredibly rusty trigger, after being told "[[TemptingFate Never fear, it's not loaded.]]" After one harmless click, he then accidentally shoots off the baliff's toupee when his finger gets stuck in the trigger guard.
** ''Any'' time the Stooges or someone around them insisted a gun wasn't loaded, it was. In "Even as I.O.U." Curly gives a baby a pacifier. When Moe sees that it's a revolver, he reaches in to get it, but is stopped by Larry, who warns that the kid might pull the trigger. Curly insists it isn't loaded, and seeks to prove it...by cocking the hammer and thoughtlessly discharging it in an enclosed space. Pretty much every rule of gun safety is blithely disregarded.
* JustForPun: Often overlooked by their physical slapstick humor is their witty way with words and puns. Examples can be found in any short- and the movie.
* KavorkaMan: All three, both onscreen and off.
* KnifeThrowingAct: ''The Three Stooges Go Round the World in a Daze''
* KungFoley: The Stooges had the most ridiculous and creative foley artists in the history of film. In fact the main reason the television pilot they filmed late in their careers flopped was that it didn't have those ridiculous sound effects. Those noises that went with their unique slapstick were an essential part of their comedy. Without them their classic comedy slapstick is reduced to violence for violence' sake. Remember that "slapstick" doesn't refer to the stick you use to slap someone. It's the stick you use to create the slapping sound.
* LiteralAssKicking: Probably in every short.
* {{Malaproper}}: The Howard brothers in general were masters of this.
* ManiacMonkeys: Gorillas were always bad news in Three Stooges shorts.
* MarathonRunning: In 2011 cable channel Antenna TV began running mini-marathons of the shorts over the weekend.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: This was a staple of their comedy.
** How much would being bopped on the nose actually hurt when Moe's got his fist around it to absorb most of the shock? Curly certainly makes it look agonizing.
** There's also this recurring joke in their shorts:
-->'''Larry:''' ''(after receiving an eye poke)'' I can't see! I can't see!\\
'''Moe:''' What's the matter?\\
'''Larry:''' ''(smugly)'' I've got my eyes closed. ''(gets slapped by Moe)''
* TheMovie
** Will be directed by the [[Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary Farrelly]] [[Film/DumbAndDumber Brothers]], starring Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe, [[Series/WillAndGrace Sean Hayes]] as Larry, and [[Series/ShitMyDadSays Will Sasso]] as Curly.
** A TV biopic came out a few years ago -- with [[TheShield Michael Chiklis]] as Curly!
* MurphysBed: How many times have their bunk beds collapsed? It doesn't help that they always put the heaviest person, Curly, on the top bunk. Curly often steps on Moe's and Larry's heads on the way up to the top. The trio have often had bad luck with beds that fold into the wall as well.
* MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast: Inverted in ''Idle Roomers'', which features a WolfMan who is relatively tame until he hears music. The stooges, mistakenly believing in this trope, decide to play music when confronted by him, activating the Wolf Man's BerserkButton.
* NatureVersusNurture: Two professors tested this on the Stooges in ''Hoi Polloi'', long before ''TradingPlaces'' used much the same plot.
* NeverMyFault: Moe would punish Larry and Curly for accidents that were actually Moe's fault.
** ''Example:'' Moe tries to kill a pair of moving pants with a wooden board. On the back swing, he breaks a priceless vase. To Larry: ''Why didn't you bring me a softer board!?''
* NoEnding: A lot of the shorts just end suddenly without resolving the plot.
* NonFatalExplosions
* NotSoAboveItAll: Not only is this the ending to ''Hoi Polloi'', but the audience is often reminded that Moe (the "boss" Stooge) was not really that much smarter or more sensible than Curly.
* OffscreenCrash: Sometimes used straight and sometimes averted.
* OpenHeartDentistry: "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard." Which has become a ''very'' common ShoutOut in hospital scenes throughout media.
* OverlyPolitePals: The Stooges often did an overly-bumbling version of this whenever they wish to attempt to blend in with high society.
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: In one short, when Moe asks Larry to think of a password to enter their room, he deadpans "Open the door!" Cue Moe's standard pretend-to-be-pleased-then-[[DopeSlap dope-slap]]-the-idiot routine.
* PerpetualPoverty: Many shorts started with the Stooges either losing a crappy job or having no job at all. Likely [[TheGreatDepression a reflection of the times]]. This is a main theme in the movie.
* PieInTheFace: If not the {{Trope Codifier}}s, they definitely took this trope and ran with it, several times. Although, as some Stooges historians have noted, not nearly as often as the general public might think. Something like 10 or 12 out of almost 200 shorts actually feature pie-throwing. It wasn't always pie either, sometimes it could be mud, cake, sculpting clay (in an episode where the stooges start a fight at an art school), or any other messy substance.
* PigLatin: One of the many [[RunningGag running gags]].
* PlankGag: A favourite of theirs.
* PowerTrio: Curly/Shemp/Joe (Id), Moe (Superego), Larry (Ego)
* ThePratfall: Curly in particular made regular use of this.
* ProWrestlingEpisode: ''Grips, Grunts and Groans''
* PungeonMaster: Curly, again. He'd usually say this in response to a question Moe asked, and Moe would either just be annoyed and ignore it, or in some cases, slap Curly. Example:
-->'''Curly:''' ''(after hearing a roar in a pipe they're trying to fix)'' Sounds like a bear!\\
'''Moe:''' How's a bear gonna fit down there?\\
'''Curly:''' Well, it's bear-y possible!\\
''(Moe nods like Curly made a good point before realizing he just made another stupid pun and gives him an annoyed look)''
* PunnyName
** The law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe, (president I. Fleeceum) among others.
** The map in "You Nazty Spy!" has several, such as the Look Sea and Doublecrossia
** Many minor characters have ones related to their profession. For example, the dentist in ''All The World's A Stooge'' is named I. Yankum. Pretty much every firm in the movie as well.
* RumpRoast: Happens in many shorts.
* RunningGag: More than you could shake a schtick at.
* SavingTheOrphanage: The plot for the video game and the 2012 movie.
* SayMyName: In ''A Pain in the Pullman'':
-->"JOHNSONNNNN!!!"
* ScoobyDoobyDoors: On a few occasions.
* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: In-story, the trio tried two 3-d shorts, ''Spooks!'' and ''Pardon My Backfire''. To help enhance the gags, some shots were done at the camera. Which means [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Sppooks.jpg Moe Is About to Poke Your Eyes!]]
* SelfDeprecation: More than once in their shorts, such as this exchange in ''Crash Goes the Hash''.
-->'''A butler:''' Say, you three remind me of the Three Stooges.\\
'''Curly:''' Hey! That's an insult!!
* ShoehornedFirstLetter: In the short ''Sing a Song of Six Pants'', the stooges are trying to guess the name of the owner of a suit when they know his initials are TH. They come up with Thomas Hedison and [[TeddyRoosevelt Teddy Hoosevelt]].
* ShotInTheAss: This often happened to them. They reacted to it in about the same way a cartoon character would.
* ShoutOut: Dozens.
** Any comedic fight scene in which one character attempts to poke another character in both eyes at the same time, only to be foiled by the second character holding up a flattened hand in front of their nose. This gag appears in ''Film/EvilDead'', during the scene where Ash is being beaten up by skeleton arms rising out of the earth.
** Many trios who posess or somehow acquire hairstyles (or the equivalent) reminiscent of the Stooges'.
** ''Film/ShortCircuit'' includes a brief appearance by Numbers Two, Three and Four, sent out to retrieve Number Five. "Johnny" reprograms them after a battle and they re-appear before their controllers engaging in Stooge-like shenanigans.
** During the "Beware the Creeper" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Joker's henchmen-of-the-episode sported Stooge-like haircuts, and the bald one even engaged in Curly-like self-face-slapping.
* SignatureLaugh: Curly's "Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk".
* {{Slapstick}}: Gee, [[CaptainObvious ya think?]]
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Women weren't on the receiving end of the stooges antics ''too'' often, at least until food fights broke out, then everybody was fair game.
** A notable exception is in ''I'm a Monkey's Uncle''. Moe and Larry have ''courted'' (read: bopped) Aggie and Maggie. Shemp is [[ButterFace less enthusiastic]] about Baggie, and she ends up wooing him after a flying tackle. Another tribe comes on them and accuses the boys of stealing the women, and hurls spears; all three land in the rumps. Of Moe, Larry, and ''Baggie'' (as she's carrying Shemp).
* TheSmartGuy: Though none of them were really that gifted intellectually, Larry was probably the marginally most intelligent and sensible of the three in most of the shorts, even if he came off somewhat eccentric. Though it usually displayed itself with him being more street than book smart.
* SmellySkunk: Quite a few times, like when Curly had a cold while they were fox hunting and captured a skunk by mistake. Also in many shorts Curly wears a skunk-fur cap while Moe and Larry are wearing a racoon-fur cap.
* SnakeOilSalesman: The Stooges become this in ''Dizzy Doctors''.
* StandInPortrait: A rare three-dimensional example, seen in ''The Hot Scots'' as well as other shorts.
* StickySituation: The Stooges use glue to sabotage the guns of the CarnivalOfKillers in ''The Outlaws Is Coming''.
* StockFootage
** Many later shorts recycle material from earlier ones. Only less funny. Curly's failing health towards the end of his career is part of the reason this was done.
** Most of Shemp's later shorts were remakes of earlier shorts, a cost-cutting measure by Columbia's short subjects department.
* StraightMan: Larry, to a certain extent, and various supporting characters.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Four, actually -- Shemp, then Joe, then Curly-Joe, and finally Emil.
** Also don't forget that Curly actually came in to replace Shemp, who wanted to do a solo career. (So Shemp actually ''returned'', after Curly's untimely death.)
* StyrofoamRocks: Used quite often, though it helped sell their slapstick humor by having them survive being hit in the head with rocks or bricks with only minor pain.
** This is even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Beer Barrel Polecats'', when Moe and Larry are breaking rocks over Curly's head in prison while he nonchalantly sews a uniform. He stops them at one point when Moe is grabbing another rock.
-->'''Curly:''' Hey wait a minute, that's a ''real'' one! I'm no fool.
* TapOnTheHead: Always accompanied by chirping birds afterwards.
* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: In episodes where they weren't sleeping in three stacked bunk beds that were almost certain to collapse, the stooges all shared one bed, which usually resulted in more hilarity.
* ThinkOfTheCensors: In ''Gypped in the Penthouse'', a beautiful woman takes Shemp's ring and hides it in her cleavage, leaving Shemp with a problem:
-->'''Shemp:''' There must be a way to get that ring back without getting in trouble with the censors.
* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: ''You Nazty Spy!'' claims that "Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle."
* ThoseWackyNazis: YouNaztySpy! was [[UrExample the first movie]] ''[[UrExample ever]]'' to mock the Nazis. Not only do they have that CrowningMomentOfAwesome, but the balcony scene where they parody Hitler's unique oratorical style with nonsense and weird noises is perhaps the biggest CrowningMomentOfFunny in all the Stooges' copious work. Certainly justified mocking on the Stooges' parts, since they were all Jewish.
* ThoughtBubble: A rare live-action one in ''I Can Hardly Wait'', while Curly is dreaming.
* ThreeDimensionalEpisode: Two of ''The Three Stooges'' shorts, ''Pardon my Backfire'' and ''Spooks'', were shot in 3-D in the 1950's, during the first big 3-D craze.
* TheToothHurts: Used in ''I Can Hardly Wait'', where Curly gets a toothache.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Burnt toast and a rotten egg: "I've got a tapeworm and it's good enough for him."
* TrueCompanions: Moe, Curly, and Shemp considered Larry to be their brother.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Scads of attractive actresses played love interests for the Stooges. Later in an autobiography Moe would say that producers and directors would butter up a woman by telling her she could be in a Stooge short. That many of them had no acting abilities and little stage presence didn't seem to matter.
** Yes, but one of them was ''[[Series/ILoveLucy Lucille Ball]]''!
** Not to mention the lovely and talented Christine [=McIntyre=], whom many Stooge fans fondly dub "the female Stooge".
** Subverted in the movie with Teddy's father and mother. The father is by no means ugly (in fact, he is rather attractive)- but the mother is more attractive. Averted narrowly with Teddy and Lydia- Teddy grows up to be very handsome, but probably does not compare to the gorgeous Lydia (played by Sofia Vergara).
* VagabondBuddies
* VerbalTic
** A large portion of Curly's shtick involved his odd vocalizations like "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk," "woo-woo-woo," barking, and so on.
** Shemp would often go "heebebebebebebeee", usually while snoring but in certain situations while he was awake too.
* WartimeCartoon: Though not cartoons as such, the Stooges made several shorts supporting the war effort ranging from from the sublime (''You Nazty Spy'') to the cringeworthy (''The Yolk's on Me'') which used actual Japanese-American internees as extras.
* WeirdTradeUnion: The Amalgamated Association of Morons local 6 7/8 (''Half-Wits Holiday'').
-->'''Stooges:''' We are morons tried and true! And we'll do our yell for you! ''(start making weird faces and noises)''
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In ''Even As I.O.U.'', the plot of the first half of the short, where the stooges are helping a homeless mother and her child, is forgotten after they go to the horse races to raise money for them.
* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: The stooges are basically doing something different in every episode, that is when they actually have a job.
* {{Yellowface}}: In ''No Dough Boys'', a wartime short, the stooges are dressed as Japanese soldiers for a photo shoot, and later stumble upon a hideout with Nazi spies and have to take on the identity of the Japanese spies they were expecting to meet with.
* YouCanSayThatAgain: In ''Micro-Phonies'', as they see a beautiful woman:
-->'''Curly:''' My, ain't she pretty!\\
'''Moe:''' Boy, you can say that again!\\
'''Curly:''' My, ain't she pretty!\\
'''Moe:''' Shut up! ''(slaps him)''
* YoungGun: Billy the Kid in ''The Outlaws Is Coming''.
* YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses: Shemp tries this in ''Who Done It?'' Of course, Moe hits him anyway without bothering to remove the glasses.
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[[EveryEpisodeEnding Dum-dada-dum-da-dum. Da!]]
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