Stoogemania

Plot

The film centers on Howard F. Howard (Josh Mostel), a Three Stooges fan. He is engaged to the woman he loves (Melanie Chartoff), and life seems to be going well. More recently, he has been starting to see the Stooges wherever he goes. To save his life and his relationship, he seeks the help of a renowned Stooge psychologist (Sid Caesar). Unfortunately for him, this is a very serious epidemic which has apparently swept the nation. The doctor gives him medicine, which unfortunately are the wrong ones and are in fact sleeping pills.

To his dismay, Howard still sees the Stooges everywhere. He ends up going to "Stooge Row", a seedy part of Los Angeles located between the fictional "Shet Up St." and "Nyuk Nyuk Blvd." To combat this, a sanitarium known as Stooge Hills is created. While in an all-Stooge burlesque house, members of Stooge Hills (including James Avery) commit everyone in there to the sanitarium. Over a rigorous program, everyone is deemed cured. During the graduation ceremony, to prove that the Three Stooges are no longer funny, they play a few shorts. However, everyone comes to terms and realize "we love these guys". Howard marries his sweetheart, and the film ends on a happy note.

Production

Stoogemania was made in an attempt to cash in on The Three Stooges' sudden resurgence in popularity during the 1980s, thanks to syndication and Jump N the Saddle Band's hit novelty song, "The Curly Shuffle". The film was not endorsed by Columbia Pictures or the Three Stooges trademark holders. Only four shorts are shown throughout the film, all of which are in the public domain: Sing a Song of Six Pants, Malice in the Palace, Brideless Groom, and Disorder in the Court.