It's a syndrome that manifests itself the first time a significant other (usually female) says to the partner (usually male) "The Three Stooges are not funny, they're $tupid." And the partner retorts "What?! I think they're terrific!" Neither side can convince the other that their view is the best one. Why is their no middle ground? Why can't someone say "The Stooges are OK, I'd just rather watch something else"?

The Stooges are OK, I'd just rather watch something else. (nyuk - nyuk - nyuk ... [slap] Ow!)

Niagra Falls! Slowly I turned. Step by step, inch by inch... (female significant other's response to male's request to watch a Stooge episode instead of Survivor)

Nit. It's "Niagara Falls!"

That's one of the classic scenes, especially when they do it with the car!

Thanks for the spelling correction. :-) I wondered about that.

Correct me if I'm wrong-didn't Abbott and Costello do "Niagara Falls" too? I remember the Stooges doing it, but I heard it was an old Vaudeville routine, done by everybody.

I'm not so sure about vaudeville routines being "shared". Abbott & Costello had the Who's On First, What's On Second and I Don't Know is On Third routine that (to my knowledge) no one else performed. They also had the If you are ten and she is 40, she's four times as old as you. So you wait 5 years. Now you're 15 and she's 45. Now she's only three times as old as you. routine that I believe no one else performed. (at least not in front of the camera) I can only remember The Three Stooges doing the Niagara Falls routine.

For those of you that are mystified by the Abbott & Costello routine mentioned above, here is the condensed version:

Abbott: If you love her, you'll wait for her, right? Okay, let's say you're 10 and she's 40.
Costello: I'm 10 and she's 40 ...
Abbott: That makes her 4 times as old as you. So you wait 5 years. You're 15 and she's 45.
Costello: Okay, I'm 15 and she's 45 ...
Abbott: Now she's only 3 times as old as you. So you wait another fifteen years. That makes you 30 and she'd be 60.
Costello: Help me out ... how old is she now?
Abbott: Now, she's only twice as old as you.
Costello: Only twice as old?
Abbott: Yes. Now, here's the question ... how many years do you have to wait before you and her are the same age?
Costello: Let's see ... ummm ... er ...
Abbott: Come on, don't you know? Answer me! ...
Costello: Gimme some time!
Abbott: Can't you do simple arithmetic?
Costello: I waited for her for twenty years ... can't she give me a few minutes?

This idiotic type of reasoning may be one of the symptoms of Stooge Bi-Polar Disorder. The (usually female) counterpart wants to apply actual logic to a question that has no basis in logic. The only thing Costello can do is to lessen the interval between his age and hers by percentages, logically he'll NEVER be the same age as her. (duh) But that's what makes it SO hilarious! Trying to mis-apply a logical deduction is one of the classic straight-man/clown devices that worked so well for Abbott & Costello.

The Three Stooges used this device in countless routines to excess ... which is why I nominate this symptom as Symptom #1 for Stooge Bi-Polar Disorder.

Symptom #2: Not thinking that a slapstick routine, prattfalls, toilet-humor or comedic injury is funny.

This symptom is usually the dividing line between male/female. Males usually tend to think physical humor is terrific, while females usually tend to regard physical humor as base, and degrading.
These people also view a personal injury (even a slap on the face) as something to pity, not laugh at. I cannot fathom anyone who can think that way, especially when it is presented in a comedic vein. Us folk that can see humor in physical comedy have an advantage over those who can't ... namely be able to laugh at any Mel Brooks/Woody Allen/Monty Python movie, or any episode of The Simpsons.

I am a female and i find slapstick very funny. I think that I'm the only woman in the world who finds THe three Stooges funny.

You can't beat a good poke to the eyes, a slap the face or Moe hitting Curly on the head with a lead pipe for the thirty thousandth time.

Glad to see there are a few gems in the world ... Meg, you're one-of-a-kind!!
BTW - If you're interested, this site ... Three Stooges Discussion Board is another nifty place to find Stooge "hot-air". (and if you DO visit the site, I post under the name Giff me dat fill-em! jus so's you'll know who the kook is that posted those corn-ball things)

The Three Stooges!? What a load of garbage! (hides all his stooge videos and his curly coffee mug)

Does anyone know what comes after "Step by step, Inch by Inch"?

Here is the entire sketch transcribed from the 1944 short Gents Without Cents:

Curly: Hiya pal.
Moe: You call me pal? Why I haven't heard that word for years. Ya'know bub, I was once a tramp like you.
Curly: Oh, congratulations.
Moe: But it wasn't always thus. I can look back to the days of yore when I was a very happy married man. Then one day that rat came and destroyed forever all the happiness I'd ever known. I'll never forget that day. I just came home from the graveyard shift. And there was the note on a pillow.
Curly: What did it say?
Moe: Oh, it was one of those cold-blooded notes. "Dear Moe, I'm running away with Larry". I was obsessed with the idea that I must find him. The trail led me to Pittsburgh … I found that I'd missed him by three days when I got there. And I swore right there in Pittsburgh I'd find him and have my revenge. Now on with the chase … Miami, Dallas, New Orleans … and then I came face to face with the rat that had ruined my life. It was in Niagara Falls …
Niagara Falls!! … slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch, I walked up to him and I smashed him! (slap!) … I hit him! (conk!) … I ripped him to pieces! (rip!) … and I knocked him down! (punch!)
Curly: Take it easy, buddy … take it easy!
Moe: Excuse me, kid. It's that word Niagara Falls! Every time I hear it, it tears me apart!
Curly: It don't do me any good, either. Ungrateful, that's what it is! How do you like a guy like that? I say "Hello Pal" sorta friendly, and just because I say Niagara Falls …
Moe: Niagara Falls!! …
Curly: Woob-woob-woob-woob-woob!
Moe: Slowly I turned …
Curly: Please, no …
Moe: And step by step, inch by inch …
Curly: No, please no …
Moe: I walked up to him and I smashed him! (slap!) … I hit him! (conk!) … I ripped his shirt! (rip!) … and I knocked him down! (punch!)
Curly: Take it easy, pal … please! Take it easy.
Moe: Oh, it's that woman … I'll kill her, and him! … Blood? … Yes!! Rivers of blood! … Pools of blood! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! … the blood!! (runs off crazily … Larry enters and bumps into Curly)
Curly: Pardon me, pal.
Larry: Did you call me pal?
Curly: Nyah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
Larry: It's been a long time since I heard the word pal.
Curly: You too? Haven't you got any friends either?
Larry: That's what I was coming to, the dirty rat! He tried to take her away from me! Ah, but he couldn't get away with it. So he trailed me …
Curly: To Pittsburgh? (of course, Curly actually says "Pittsboig")
Larry: Yes.
Curly: And then you went to Miami, New Orleans and Dallas?
Larry: Yes, yes!! But how did you know?
Curly: You'd be surprised …(gets an idea and lays down) … and then he caught you in Niagara Falls.
Larry: Niagara Falls!! … slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch …
Curly: Not that … no!
Larry: I picked him up, and I smashed him! (slap!) … I hit him! (conk!) … I ripped his shirt! (rip!) … and I knocked him down! (punch!) What have I done? … Blood … the judge … blood!! (Moe enters) You!!
Moe: Ah, there you are, Larry!! Why you …!! (they approach and shake hands)
Both: Hiya pal!
Moe: I almost caught up with you in Pittsburgh.
Curly: Go ahead, tell him where you found him!
Larry: Forget it, it's past history!
Curly: Why you cowards! You're afraid to say Niagara Falls.
Both: Niagara Falls!! …
Curly: Rrrufff! Rrufff! Nyah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
Both: Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch … (they chase Curly off the stage)

Derf: "Three's Company" was loaded with physical humor, and that was one of the unfunniest, most pathetic "comedies" ever. That said, good physical humor is hilarious, almost an art form.

When Don Knotts was added to the cast, he helped the show "get better" than it was. The show spent most of it's time getting Jack caught between two lovelies with nothing but platonic friendship in mind, and an idiotic landlord that spent all of his time ribbing Jack for being "funny" with men, who had a wife filled with unrequited hormones. THAT was funny for one-and-a-half episodes ...

Adam Bomb: Correct me if I'm wrong-didn't Abbott and Costello do "Niagara Falls" too? I remember the Stooges doing it, but I heard it was an old Vaudeville routine, done by everybody.

To give you a clear answer to your comment, I've included this exerpt from a post by fellow Stooge-ite "BeaStooge" on the website www.threestooges.net:

This is an old vaudeville/burlesque routine that was first performed as far back as the 1910s. Hundreds of performers over the years did it, and Bud and Lou were doing it in burlesque in the mid/late 1930s, and did it at least once on radio's "The Kate Smith Show," which they costarred on from 1938 - 1940. The Stooges' version is outstanding, but it was not their routine. The Stooges only did it on film before Abbott and Costello (filmed for the Columbia feature "Good Luck Mr. Yates" in 1942, cut from the final print, and finally finding a home in 1944's "Gents Without Cents"), but Bud and Lou did it years before.

Just in case anyone's interested, Abbott & Costello did "The Niagara Falls" bit (a.k.a. "Slowly I Turned".) in their 1944 movie, Lost In a Harem. On this occasion, the trigger word was "Pokomoko".

Here is an exerpt from the website The Three Stooges: Reflections in a Well-Poked Eye that might help explain better the symptoms of Stooge Bi-Polar Disorder:

There are two main reasons why women don't like the Stooges. First, women have an attenuated sense of the absurd (even though women have a reputation for illogicality, it is ill deserved: women see the world much more logically than do men). Men, like children, easily accept the farfetched notions upon which Stooge comedy is based, but women don't. Second, women disdain conflict, and the foundation upon which most Stooge comedies are built is --- conflict! The Stooges inhabit a world where people express themselves loudly and directly: inhibition doesn't exist, and the preferred method for dealing with adversity is confrontation. Those who don't subscribe to this world-view - stuffy professors, refined aristocrats, society matrons, intellectuals and the like - pay a severe Stooge penalty, much to the delight of Stooge fans, who love to see the self-righteous get a good swift kick in the pants (or a pie in the face).

Actually Three's Company and Laverne & Shirley
both did a lot of slapstick type of comedy.
I love both shows.
btw:Didn't they do the Niagara thing on I Love
Lucy once?(Of course I Love Lucy is another example of a show that featured great slapstick
humor.)

I didn't know where to put this & I didn't wish to create a new board (conversation) about it.

From what I remember, Moe was seriously hurt in an episode of the Stooges when he was standing on a plank of wood that Curly was sawing. The plank collapsed & Moe went down with a thud. He got up and said, "I'm alright" and walked off stage & collapsed. it was found that he had broken several ribs in the fall.

Also, in the episode where Curly is wearing the turban & the fish-eyeglasses (The "Bah Hah? Ah ha!" episode)...you can tell that Curly was ill. In fact, he just had a stroke & died several days later.

What really amazed me was to discover that Moe was an extremely talented musician. He did a routine, not slapstick, where he took over a music class from the teacher. I've directed choirs before, and play piano and did an organ recital, but I couldn't have done what he did, at least not a fourth as well.

I recall watching that episode with Curly wearing the turban & thinking that he seemed unusually subdued & with little energy,& wondering why? It was years later that I read biographical material on the Stooges & discovered how ill the poor man was while making his last Stooge shorts.There was another one of their shorts where the plot had them staying in a mansion awaiting an inheritance for Curly.There are murders & mysterious doings going on at night,& Curly again,seemed to have little zip to his performance.I think that also might have been when his health was failing.What a wonderful comic actor he was!