People’s Choice Awards

Hi Puzzlers,

The Three Stooges Puzzle Item #876



We have some exciting news to share with you!  The Three Stooges movie has been nominated for Favorite Comedic Movie for the 2013 People’s Choice Awards! We just think it’s great that an old-time favorite has made its way into today’s pop culture; this certainly assures that the “Godfathers of Comedy”  legacy will continue on.   It also appears that the “People Choice Awards” is on track to leave its legacy for future generations as well.

The People’s Choice Awards made its debut in 1975.  It was created and produced by Bob Stivers and aired on CBS.  The show’s goal is to honor and recognize the work and people of popular culture.  It is also one of the very first televised annual awards shows to have its winners chosen by votes from the general public. 

Winners that first year included Barbra Streisand as the year's Favorite Film Actress, John Wayne as its Favorite Film Actor and The Sting as 1974's Favorite Picture.  Presenters included Jim Nabors, Sammy Davis Jr. and Alan Alda.

Votes in the shows early years were tallied in the various categories based on the results of the Gallop poll.   In 2005 the voting went online and all results were based on the online votes.  Presently, in an effort to reach a broader base and reflect a true people’s choice, voting now encompasses a variety of methods including; land line calls, cell phone calls, online voting, reviewing data from Internet videos, national ratings averages, box office grosses and album sales.  In the event that the poll is so close, and no clear winner can be determined, a tie is announced in that category and both will be recognized as the Favorite.

Multiple versions on the People’s Choice Awards have been created to appeal to younger audiences such as the Teen Choice Awards and Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.  It is important to note that these shows are independent and unrelated to each other and the only thing they share is similar names.

In 2012 the People’s Choice Awards franchise expands to India. This is the first time in the shows four-decade history it will air outside of America.  The India version will continue to cover fan favorites such as movies, music and television but it has added sports as a special category.

SO click here to cast your vote for your Favorite Comedic Movie for the 2013 People’s Choice Awards! N’yuk, N’yuk, N’yuk!

Happy Puzzling!

Best Sellers Jigsaw Puzzle

  
Hi Puzzlers,

 

Best Sellers Jigsaw Puzzle Item #930



Don’t you just love all of our new puzzles? It seems like each day a new one gets shipped to our warehouse. I like variety and White Mountain Puzzles definitely strives to give its puzzlers a wide range of puzzling choices. My need for variety, like many of you, stretches across the board and into the realm of a good book. So just imagine how delighted I was when Charles Girard designed a new puzzle titled Best Sellers. I was drawn to it like a moth to flames. This new puzzle incorporates my love of puzzles and books. Check out all the titles on the puzzle, I have read most of these bestsellers. Look out White Birch Books and BAM! I’m coming down to buy one of the new bestsellers. But now I’m plagued with the question, “What makes a bestseller, a bestseller?”

In 1895, a monthly magazine called The Bookman published the first American bestseller list. This list was based on book sales. Next, in 1912 the list was published by Publishers Weekly. Publisher Weekly has since become our country’s oldest continuously published Bestseller List. The New York Times began its list in 1942 and since then, most major publications, including USAToday, publish their own variation of a Bestseller List. But, The New York Times continues to claim the top spot for the most popular list.

 The Bookman’s first list contained only works of fiction. Publishers Weekly expanded its list to include works of fiction and non-fiction. The New York Times published its list with the top 15 fiction books and the top 15 non-fiction books.

The Times model of 30 bestsellers continued for more than 40 years. By 1984, the self-help books era was in full swing and extremely popular. Its presence in the publishing industry necessitated a need for a third section. The new section would include the top 15 Advice/How-To books. In 2000, the wildly popular Harry Potter series began to consistently dominate the fiction lists top spots. Publishers worried that these top spots could be held for years by this successful series. The Times acknowledged the publisher’s concern by adding Children’s Books as a fourth section to the list. This addition brings the total for the weekly bestseller list to include 60 books. New sections are continually being added to the list, further solidifying our cultures need for variety.

Today we still use best in sales to rate bestsellers, but how the information is gathered is different from publisher to publisher and the accuracy of the numbers can be subject to errors and exaggerations. Then the issue is further compounded when books go into new editions with a different publisher. One must also take into consideration that some of the bestselling books of all times have made the list due to mandatory purchasing and extensive gift-giving. The historic top three bestsellers fall into this latter point: The Bible, 6.7 billion copies: Quotations from Chairman Mao, Mao Tse-Tung, 900 million copies: The Qur’an, 800 million copies.

Bestsellers capture the imagination and touch the hearts of the reader. Just like a good jigsaw puzzle they can be “Nostalgic”....“Fresh and fascinating”... and “Impossible to put down”.

Happy Puzzling!



The Three Stooges

Hi Puzzlers,

The new Three Stooges movie is scheduled to hit theaters Friday April 13th! I can’t wait! Like many of you I have been watching the Three Stooges my whole life and am very happy that their legacy is continuing on. The Three Stooges have been entertaining us for over 80 years! How many acts/shows can make that claim! N’yuk, N’yuk, N’yuk! So I thought it would be fun to take a quick look at how it all began.

The “Godfathers of Comedy” got their start in 1921with an act known as Ted Healy and the Southern Gentleman. In the beginning it only had two of the three stooges, Moe and Shemp. WOW! That factoid supersized me too, I always thought Curly came before Shemp. The shows premise was based around lead comedian Healy attempting to tell a joke or to sing, while his cohorts would keep interrupting him. Healy would counter these antics with verbal and physical assaults known as slapstick comedy. Violinist Larry Fine was added to the trio in 1925 and success was quick to follow.

After a few years Larry and Moe decided to take a two year hiatus from the group in order to be closer to their families, as luck would have it, they returned in the knick of time to join Healy and Shemp for the Broadway revue of A Night in Venice. This extremely popular act became a permanent show, and after 175 performances finally closed due to the Great Depression.

Immediately following the closing of the show a scout from Fox signed Healy, Moe, Larry, and Shemp to star in the movie Soup to Nuts. Healy and the trio parted ways in 1931 due to financial discrepancies but reconciled in 1932. Shemp fed up with all the drama decided to leave the trio to pursue a solo career. This is when Shemp and Moe’s brother Jerome Howard, AKA, Curly joined the group.

Healy and the new trio signed a movie contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1933. They would go on to appear in feature films, short subjects and musical comedy shorts, either together, individually, or with other actors. The contract with MGM ended in 1934 and so did the Stooge’s association with Ted Healy.

In 1934 Moe, Larry and Curly sign with Columbia Pictures to appear in two comedy shorts. This is when they officially became “The Three Stooges” and their popularity soared worldwide. The Stooges would remain with Columbia for 23 years and appear in 190 film shorts and feature films.

Shemp returned to the Stooges in 1947, after Curly suffers a stroke. He continued performing with Moe and Larry until his sudden death in 1955. Joe Besser joined the group in 1956 and remained until 1958 when Columbia Pictures cancels the comedy shorts.

The next Stooge to join Moe and Larry was Joe DeRita. DeRita played Curly Joe from 1958-1971. Along with Moe and Larry, Joe created Comedy III Productions, a company that still owns all the copyrights, trademarks and merchandising of the Three Stooges!

The Three Stooges were one of America’s greatest talents and I’m happy I got to witness part of their journey.

See you April 13th at the opening of the new Three Stooges movie!

Happy Puzzling!