My Favorite Stooge

Although I spent a big chunk of my childhood watching Shemp and his fellow Stooges, I never really identified a favorite.

The topic surely must have come up. After all, I remember having discussions about favorite Beatles (mine was Paul), favorite Monkees (Mike) and favorite Darrins from "Bewitched" (Dick York, of course).

Then again, maybe The Three Stooges remained somehow immune from that sort of pre-adolescent analysis, since Curly always seemed to be such a strong "default favorite." Proclaiming that you liked Larry better than Curly would have raised more eyebrows than saying you found Lovey Howell more enticing than either Mary Ann or Ginger.

So, after all these years - at the risk of alienating the male population as a whole - it's time to make a choice: Who was my favorite Stooge?

Thinking back, most of my fondest Stooge-related memories involve Moe. Don't misunderstand; It wasn't his nearly perpetual anger, his bullying demeanor or even his knack for slapstick violence that won me over. I liked his conceptual humor.

For example: During one of their classic short films, a linked pair of fried eggs flies through the air and lands squarely on Moe's face. Larry laughingly asks, "Hey, Moe, where'd you get the sunglasses?" Moe's reply? "I bought 'em!"

Pure genius.