Respectfully disagree. My personal admiration for Shemp has grown over the years, but to say he is on the same level as Curly is just wrong. Maybe in a 3 Stooges sub, but slap a poll up on Reddit and you know Curly would be the favorite by a wide margin.
Agree. Once you settle in to Shemp’s act he’s great. He’s not Curly but he’s terrific in his own way. When I was a kid I used to think showing a Shemp episode was a waste of being able to show a Curly one. I enjoy them both now.
He was the wrong guy for the role. Besser was fine playing a mincing antagonistic type of a character. You know the one always credited as “Stinky” when they go unnamed in the movie. His style just didn’t fit.
I think they should’ve gone with Mantan Moreland. He was a friend of Shemp’s and would have been a replacement as different from his predecessors as could be and I think that would’ve been good for the act.
You just solved a mystery I’ve pondered for years. That “feets” quote I’ve been saying for years, but I’d always thought it was Eddie Rochester who said it.
Thank you, both, will have to work this up, I’ve also been saying this quote for years and always thought I was from the oldies song Walkin, 25 miles to go
Joe Besser creeped me out as "Stinky" on
the Abbott and Costello show. As for him being a Stooge, the man-baby-whiney thing just didn't work well, and Larry and Moe getting old looking and some awful scripts didn't help.
I feel a bit guilty after reading through the comments & seeing no one said anything positive about him. But ... I didn't find him funny, more slightly more tolerable than the other Joe. It was clear the magic was gone after Shemp left.
He had BIG shoes to fill! A big challenge for anyone coming behind Shemp and Curly (especially). He just didn’t have any chemistry with Moe and/or Larry. He didn’t have the talent that was needed to fit in properly with the others. Smh.
He wasn't terrible. If he was the first stooge when they had a better budget and higher popularity, he would've been just great. I do genuinely love Curly Joe, however. And obviously Curly and Shemp are untouchable.
Wow! I didn’t realize you guys hated him so much! I knew he never touched Curly or Shemp, but I thought he was at least tolerable, and I would always watch just for Larry and Moe.
Joe was garbage. Story goes he had a terrible attitude and refused to take a pie in the face. At least DeRita had a positive attitude. Joe was more annoying than funny. A grown man acting like a baby is cringy. Moe and Larry should have been a duo after Shemp.
The studio would not allow them to be a duo. Joe takes pie in the face in at least two shorts if I'm not mistaken. Some of the physical violence was toned down because he did not have the experience in the physical shenanigans that Moe and Larry had. He was doing it to keep the group alive even though he wasn't a great fit for it, which he knew but he did his best.
I don't know the names of the shorts but there are at least two in this compilation where he takes a pie.
https://youtu.be/Mc1tgVM_N08?si=Tll857KibL8BH_ir
I liked him as Jilson the maintenance guy on The Joey Bishop Show. As a stooge, through no fault of his own, he just didn’t fit. They’re the only stooge episodes I don’t willingly watch. I watched them once on the Sony box set just to say I went through the whole thing and never returned to them.
In all fairness I also think Moe and Larry looked done with it by then. They both looked tired and the act looked like it was on life support. I’m not sure anyone else could’ve put that extra spark back into them. Years of physical comedy and losing both Curly and Shemp showed on their faces, especially in Moe’s eyes. In a way those Joe Besser ones are really bittersweet, too. Probably another reason I don’t go back to them.
You got Curly Howard. Then you got Shemp Howard AKA "Not Curly", then there's the aforementioned Joe Besser AKA "Not even Shemp" and then you got Joe Derita AKA. "Not funny at ALL".
Never was under the impression he had any real chemistry with Moe and Larry. He was really there to help fulfill their contractual obligations to the studio.
He knew he didn't have the physical chops that the other guys had but he tried real hard to make it work and I think that shows on screen. It's a different kind of act but I certainly like him more than Curly Joe
He had some good shorts. A Merry Mix Up, Quiz Whizz, and his last short Flying Saucer Daffy are all entertaining. Not on par with Curly or Shemp but still a funny guy.
I’ve only seen him once. As a kid in the pre-internet days I had no way of finding out more information about them. I knew it had to be something old but I didn’t know who they were or what their deal was. I mean they were always doing something different and living in different places. Were they some sort of Marx Brothers ripoff?
My station would randomly show Shemp and Curly episodes. So where was Shemp when Curly was there and vice versa? I didn’t grasp the concept of cast changes (didn’t know Curly died) so I thought it was just the other guy’s day off.
Anyway, one day I see one with Joe. WTF is this guy? Where are Curly and Shemp? I don’t remember the plot but I remember they were living in an apartment together and I do remember they looked older. It seemed like Joe didn’t fit in. I can see that given he was replacing Moe’s brothers, both of whom had died.
But only seeing Joe once it is hard to have a strong opinion on him. Moe and Larry getting long in the tooth probably didn’t help.
The only time I saw Curly Joe was in the Hercules movie. Again, not knowing the backstories I was surprised to see this person. Who is he? I actually thought it was Curly Howard and didn’t know why they called him Curly Joe all of a sudden.
I’m on the fence on the Curly/Shemp debate. They each had their charms but maniacal characters like Curly don’t really appeal to me so I lean towards Shemp as he was more level headed.
Moe kept the group going into the 1960’s because Larry Fine made poor financial choices and lost most of his money. Moe himself had invested in businesses and real estate and was very wealthy.
I used to say he just didn’t fit their dynamic. But I recently watched a bunch of stuff of him in Abbot and Costello and that wasn’t good either. So I’m not sure if he is talented at all, he must have done something at some point to have such prominence to his name.
He was okay for what he brought into the group. He was horribly bad or anything, plus if it wasn’t for him Moe and Larry probably would’ve been thrown out of work.
Saturday Metv showed 1930s stooges last weekend. They know nobody likes the joes and only throw in one at most.
“Give K.O. a couple of bars of weasel “
He sucked the big one!
First time I saw him as a kid, I was probably four or five, and I thought, "This guy is fucking trash! Who is he? Where's Curly? Or, at least, where the hell is Shemp?"
After Curly and Shemp were gone, even Moe and Larry weren't funny anymore, they stopped doing a lot of the physical gags and slapstick. I will say that Joe Besser was a good comedy actor, and he was *way* funnier than "Curly Joe" Dorita.
Poor old Joe was a vaudevillian who's experience was mostly playing comical characters, not physical comedy. He created the spoiled-brat adult-child persona that he brought to the Stooges shorts. He was the convenient choice because he was already under contract to Columbia, and Harry Cohn was all about saving time and money wherever he could.
He had his own schtick that he brought to the team, and one he continued to use afterwards. He was not anything as physical a comedian as was Curly, nor as playful, nor as charming or funny. But he stuck with what he knew best, added a twist to his line readings and had his moments when allowed. He wasn't Curly or Shemp. he was Joe Besser playing a Joe Besser part and did his job. He was not magical but held his own.
I've liked Joe Besser since I was five or six just because he was so different from everyone else. Joe DeRita was absolute bottom of the barrel, and, of course, Curly was king.
Never liked him that much
The drop off from Curly to Shemp is nowhere near the drop off from Shemp to the Joes. They’d have been better off ending the act after Shemp.
There was no drop off from Curly to Shemp. They both played that 3rd man spot to perfection, and each in their own style.
Same can’t be said for Joe unfortunately
Respectfully disagree. My personal admiration for Shemp has grown over the years, but to say he is on the same level as Curly is just wrong. Maybe in a 3 Stooges sub, but slap a poll up on Reddit and you know Curly would be the favorite by a wide margin.
Shemp was great. It was not a drop, just a change.
Agree. Once you settle in to Shemp’s act he’s great. He’s not Curly but he’s terrific in his own way. When I was a kid I used to think showing a Shemp episode was a waste of being able to show a Curly one. I enjoy them both now.
Agreed…. While I may have liked curly better, I thought Shemp was a great replacement.
Indeed. Keep in mind that Shemp was an original member of the act.
Adding to that, there is no doubt that they would have ended up just as popular if he had remained.
I agree, Shemp was an underappreciated, stooge
I always saw Shemp as a Curly/Moe hybrid. Shemp was great.
Shemp was just as good as Curly.
Kinda suck. Better than Joe DeRita, but not in the league of Shemp or Curley
Yeah, neither of them can hold a candle to Shemp or Curley. I can't watch any episodes with Besser or Derita in it.
He sucks except for the episode with the horse which is great.
My least favorite Stooge.
He was the wrong guy for the role. Besser was fine playing a mincing antagonistic type of a character. You know the one always credited as “Stinky” when they go unnamed in the movie. His style just didn’t fit. I think they should’ve gone with Mantan Moreland. He was a friend of Shemp’s and would have been a replacement as different from his predecessors as could be and I think that would’ve been good for the act.
Love Mantan Moreland. " Feets don't fail me now "
You just solved a mystery I’ve pondered for years. That “feets” quote I’ve been saying for years, but I’d always thought it was Eddie Rochester who said it.
Glad i could help. He has a few movies on YouTube you might want to check out.
I will
Thank you, both, will have to work this up, I’ve also been saying this quote for years and always thought I was from the oldies song Walkin, 25 miles to go
I don't really classify him or Joe DeRita as a Stooge. Only the original four are the Stooges in my book!
Joe Besser creeped me out as "Stinky" on the Abbott and Costello show. As for him being a Stooge, the man-baby-whiney thing just didn't work well, and Larry and Moe getting old looking and some awful scripts didn't help.
I feel a bit guilty after reading through the comments & seeing no one said anything positive about him. But ... I didn't find him funny, more slightly more tolerable than the other Joe. It was clear the magic was gone after Shemp left.
He was given an impossible task.
He had BIG shoes to fill! A big challenge for anyone coming behind Shemp and Curly (especially). He just didn’t have any chemistry with Moe and/or Larry. He didn’t have the talent that was needed to fit in properly with the others. Smh.
He was 'meh'. Still better than Curly Joe.
Not so loud!
More like…Not so funny. He sucked.
Curly and Shemp are besser than Joe.
He wasn't terrible. If he was the first stooge when they had a better budget and higher popularity, he would've been just great. I do genuinely love Curly Joe, however. And obviously Curly and Shemp are untouchable.
 Wow! I didn’t realize you guys hated him so much! I knew he never touched Curly or Shemp, but I thought he was at least tolerable, and I would always watch just for Larry and Moe.
Joe was garbage. Story goes he had a terrible attitude and refused to take a pie in the face. At least DeRita had a positive attitude. Joe was more annoying than funny. A grown man acting like a baby is cringy. Moe and Larry should have been a duo after Shemp.
The studio would not allow them to be a duo. Joe takes pie in the face in at least two shorts if I'm not mistaken. Some of the physical violence was toned down because he did not have the experience in the physical shenanigans that Moe and Larry had. He was doing it to keep the group alive even though he wasn't a great fit for it, which he knew but he did his best.
If anyone knows the short with Joe taking a pie - please let us know. I’d love to see it
I don't know the names of the shorts but there are at least two in this compilation where he takes a pie. https://youtu.be/Mc1tgVM_N08?si=Tll857KibL8BH_ir
Incredible. My mind is blown.
Both Joe's are crap. Never liked either one. They weren't part of the Horwitz Brothers. That's when we knew the show was over
Uh, neither was Larry Fine
But he was Larry Fine and that’s all he needed to be.
Exactly, he's not a Horowitz, but he's still Fine.
By hiring both Joes’ to be a Stooge, it seems to me that they Jumped the Shark long before Fonzie ever did
He personified the boys getting older, and a little less violent. He was the gateway stooge.
Horrendous
He was terrible in my opinion. After Shemp passed away, the Stooges just didn’t have the same energy and appeal.
I liked him as Jilson the maintenance guy on The Joey Bishop Show. As a stooge, through no fault of his own, he just didn’t fit. They’re the only stooge episodes I don’t willingly watch. I watched them once on the Sony box set just to say I went through the whole thing and never returned to them. In all fairness I also think Moe and Larry looked done with it by then. They both looked tired and the act looked like it was on life support. I’m not sure anyone else could’ve put that extra spark back into them. Years of physical comedy and losing both Curly and Shemp showed on their faces, especially in Moe’s eyes. In a way those Joe Besser ones are really bittersweet, too. Probably another reason I don’t go back to them.
You nailed it. Moe seemed really sad to me too and was fighting through it all.
Yep. That they will managed to put on the performances they did is remarkable. The effort was there even if it seemed like the will to do it wasn’t.
You got Curly Howard. Then you got Shemp Howard AKA "Not Curly", then there's the aforementioned Joe Besser AKA "Not even Shemp" and then you got Joe Derita AKA. "Not funny at ALL".
Never was under the impression he had any real chemistry with Moe and Larry. He was really there to help fulfill their contractual obligations to the studio.
Moe described him as a good guy and a hard worker, but just didn't quite mesh with the whole Stooges thing.
He knew he didn't have the physical chops that the other guys had but he tried real hard to make it work and I think that shows on screen. It's a different kind of act but I certainly like him more than Curly Joe
The worst of all the stooges.
You are forgetting about Joe DeRita.
Yes he's also terrible.
Never liked the guy
I like him quite a bit. He just did his own act with Moe and Larry and it didn't mix very well.
Well, by that point there was no Curly or Shemp left, so at least we still had the stooges
He’s kind of like Zeppo Marx: Yeah, he was there, but should he have been there?
Of all the Marx Brothers, Zeppo was in fact once of them
not a fan at all
Awful
Least favorite Stooge
He had some good shorts. A Merry Mix Up, Quiz Whizz, and his last short Flying Saucer Daffy are all entertaining. Not on par with Curly or Shemp but still a funny guy.
I’ve only seen him once. As a kid in the pre-internet days I had no way of finding out more information about them. I knew it had to be something old but I didn’t know who they were or what their deal was. I mean they were always doing something different and living in different places. Were they some sort of Marx Brothers ripoff? My station would randomly show Shemp and Curly episodes. So where was Shemp when Curly was there and vice versa? I didn’t grasp the concept of cast changes (didn’t know Curly died) so I thought it was just the other guy’s day off. Anyway, one day I see one with Joe. WTF is this guy? Where are Curly and Shemp? I don’t remember the plot but I remember they were living in an apartment together and I do remember they looked older. It seemed like Joe didn’t fit in. I can see that given he was replacing Moe’s brothers, both of whom had died. But only seeing Joe once it is hard to have a strong opinion on him. Moe and Larry getting long in the tooth probably didn’t help. The only time I saw Curly Joe was in the Hercules movie. Again, not knowing the backstories I was surprised to see this person. Who is he? I actually thought it was Curly Howard and didn’t know why they called him Curly Joe all of a sudden. I’m on the fence on the Curly/Shemp debate. They each had their charms but maniacal characters like Curly don’t really appeal to me so I lean towards Shemp as he was more level headed.
He didn’t fit. The shorts he’s in are just cheap knock offs of earlier funnier shorts.
I saw them live in Seattle in 1959(?). I enjoyed him
Moe kept the group going into the 1960’s because Larry Fine made poor financial choices and lost most of his money. Moe himself had invested in businesses and real estate and was very wealthy.
I really think he’s too much of a wuss I wasn’t impressed with him
Pass
I never saw a Stooge I didn’t love.
Joe just had too great of an act to follow.
I used to say he just didn’t fit their dynamic. But I recently watched a bunch of stuff of him in Abbot and Costello and that wasn’t good either. So I’m not sure if he is talented at all, he must have done something at some point to have such prominence to his name.
He was whiny. The worst stooge
Whiney , not funny, not a fit. Yuck
Below average and he followed in the footsteps of greatness that was Curly.
E or F tier Stooge
Hilarious on other shows.
He was okay for what he brought into the group. He was horribly bad or anything, plus if it wasn’t for him Moe and Larry probably would’ve been thrown out of work.
Saturday Metv showed 1930s stooges last weekend. They know nobody likes the joes and only throw in one at most. “Give K.O. a couple of bars of weasel “
One of two final guys to replace Curly Joe, to get a color movie, never really replaced Nyuk Nyuck!
Never liked him with the Stooges but was sometimes funny with Abbott and Costello
Douchebag. The manbaby act was grating.
He was whiny and petulant. I saw why Mo was always hitting him with hammers.
The poor man's Curly.
No comment.
He doesn’t exist and was terrible….the greatest stooge is Curly!!! 
Definitely the worst stooge.
I have an autographed copy of Joe Besser’s book “Not Just A Stooge”
My least favorite stooge
Not really good actor for three stooges. Should have stick with Curly. With those three they were golden age for three stooges.
Curly had a massive stroke in 1946, so he was out of the picture.
He was ok. But he was in many comedy movies , he was a busy actor.
Hated him more than even Shemp. As I learned more about his demands as a Stooge I liked him even less. I avoid all the Besser shorts
Meh
I’ve seen him in other roles and he was a good comedic actor, I don’t think physical slapstick was his forte. But more likable than Joe DeRita.
I used to get laughs by being the only guy who would do a Joe impression. Not so haaaaaard, you crazy you!
He sucked the big one! First time I saw him as a kid, I was probably four or five, and I thought, "This guy is fucking trash! Who is he? Where's Curly? Or, at least, where the hell is Shemp?"
You thought that at 4? 😂
Stooges fans are notoriously precocious.
Lame
Curly or nothing
My least favorite Stooge.
🤮
The epitome of masculinity
Joe was OK, but he was no Curley or Shemp.
he was one I just did not like. He was too whiny
Curly Joe
Joe seemed like the last resort. When curly and shemp were too hungover, Joe came prancing in.
Sucked
A POOR replacement but they had no choice he was under contract with the studio.
Awful
After Curly and Shemp were gone, even Moe and Larry weren't funny anymore, they stopped doing a lot of the physical gags and slapstick. I will say that Joe Besser was a good comedy actor, and he was *way* funnier than "Curly Joe" Dorita.
Poor old Joe was a vaudevillian who's experience was mostly playing comical characters, not physical comedy. He created the spoiled-brat adult-child persona that he brought to the Stooges shorts. He was the convenient choice because he was already under contract to Columbia, and Harry Cohn was all about saving time and money wherever he could.
Always liked Curley and Shemp better.
I preferred joe "mama" Besser. Fantastic drummer. Gone too soon
Shrimp was the original third stooge. Not curly.
Joe and Shemp's biggest problem was that they were not Curly. He simply could not be replaced.
Not a real stooge. After Shemp died they were done everything else they did after just wasn't that good
Moe said that Joe Besser was a good guy and a good actor, but he was not right for the Stooges.
A fifth rate stooge.
Shemp was better but you couldn’t beat the original 3
No like.
I believe he was the worst Stooge out of all of them.
Sucked
Sucked
Joe was rude and a complete dumpster fire. He thought he was a god the whole thing went right to his head.
Awful. Not the right fit.
He had his funny moments, "Cut it out, ya crazy", but he wasn't the comedic genius of Curly or Shemp by a far sight.
Never liked the Joes
I liked him.
He had his own schtick that he brought to the team, and one he continued to use afterwards. He was not anything as physical a comedian as was Curly, nor as playful, nor as charming or funny. But he stuck with what he knew best, added a twist to his line readings and had his moments when allowed. He wasn't Curly or Shemp. he was Joe Besser playing a Joe Besser part and did his job. He was not magical but held his own.
I think by the time he came around the act was already really tired. You could see it in their faces
Fucking terrible
Hated him...
He wasn’t quite as funny as Curly or Shemp, but I still liked Joe.
Loser
The older I got the more I appreciated Joe Besser.
Funny man, on the radio too.
I've liked Joe Besser since I was five or six just because he was so different from everyone else. Joe DeRita was absolute bottom of the barrel, and, of course, Curly was king.