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I would have say "Little Rascals" only because I've seen all those "Three Stooges" episodes too many times.
When I was eight I used to laugh myself dizzy at the Stooges, but by the time I was fifteen, I thought they were assanine...but still funny in a perverse way.
Whereas, when I saw the "Little Rascals" in childhood, I couldn't put the program into context as well as I could now. If "Little Rascals" is to trump the Stooges, they'd have to be the original 1930s Hal Roach productions.  
Hal Roach was a bastion of racial progressivism.  For instance, when they decide they're gonna play hooky by pretending they have the measles, they spat black paint through  strainers.  Except Stymie, the little black kid, he spats WHITE paint through his strainer!
Did you know the guy who played Spanky became a good friend of Michael Jackson?  Also, Alfalfa Switzer was shot dead over a card game at the age of 26 back in the '50s.

Both the Rascals and the Stooges predate the '70s by many decades, but on the other hand, we children of the '70s saw them all ad nauseam on UHF reruns!
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Loved both The Little Rascals and the Three Stooges, but as I got older the Stooges lost some of their shine for me. The Little Rascals never did.

The actor that played Stymie had a hard time finding work, and developed a heroin addiction. He did do some work in the 70's on Sanford and Son and other bit parts. He did a lot of good work helping addicts get off drugs and back on their feet.

Alfalfa was killed trying to collect what he thought he was due from finding/taking care of a lost dog ($50) of a drinking buddy. Alfalfa pulled a knife to force the issue, his buddy had a gun...
A lot of the kid actors, with the exception of Robert (Mickey) Blake, had a hard time after the ending of Little Rascals.
There was no such thing as residuals back then and no TV to negotiate royalties from TV serials or reruns.  Spanky McFarland went to his grave trying to shame King World (current owner of Little Rascals) to pay some of the kid actors their due.
Sad...

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Alfalfa was killed trying to collect what he thought he was due from finding/taking care of a lost dog ($50) of a drinking buddy. Alfalfa pulled a knife to force the issue, his buddy had a gun...

A lot of the kid actors, with the exception of Robert (Mickey) Blake, had a hard time after the ending of Little Rascals.
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I've read that the guy who played "Alfalfa" was a colossal A-hole in real life, and that nobody was surprised when he met his demise.

It would seem that Robert Blake's attack of "child star syndrome" came later in life.  Apparently after "Beretta", he also became a colossal A-hole with whom nobody wanted to work.

Does anyone know what happened to Buhwheat?

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I've read that the guy who played "Alfalfa" was a colossal A-hole in real life, and that nobody was surprised when he met his demise.

Does anyone know what happened to Buhwheat?
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You said it, Carl Switzer (Alfalfa) was a monumental A-hole. Supposedly he was that way all his life, used to poke kids in the back with nails as a "joke". He once was tired of working out a scene, didn't like the director and whizzed on the stage floor lighting when everyone was away at lunch, when everyone came back & turned on the lights...well, you can imagine the stench...no filming was done for the rest of the day.
Also heard of the story of a camera man who needled him to hurry up and get a line straight to finish a scene, once his back was turned, good 'ol Alfalfa put chewing gum in the gears of the movie camera, stopping production for the whole day...BTW Carl (Alfalfa) really thought he sung well. He thought he was a real crooner. It was kind of a inside joke on the set, no one ever told him to his face how badly he sang off-key. He actually tried to get a record contract with RCA after his days on Little Rascals were over...they laughed him out of the building.

William "Buckwheat" Thomas suprisingly lead a rather mundane drama free life (compared to some of the other kid actors). Living in Los Angeles, he worked for Technicolor as a film technician for 20 years after his acting days were over. He was a citizen's band "ham" radio operator, his hobby. He died in 1980, very young at 49, of a heart attack.  

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William "Buckwheat" Thomas suprisingly lead a rather mundane drama free life (compared to some of the other kid actors). Living in Los Angeles, he worked for Technicolor as a film technician for 20 years after his acting days were over. He was a citizen's band "ham" radio operator, his hobby. He died in 1980, very young at 49, of a heart attack.  
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I checked imdb.com about Buhwheat, and apparently in about 1990, ABC (or one of the network news shows) ran an interview with "Buhwheat", who was supposedly working as a grocery bagger.

After the show had aired, Buhwheat's relatives called and notified the network that he had been dead for like 10 years, and that the guy they had on their show was an impostor.  ;D

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I checked imdb.com about Buhwheat, and apparently in about 1990, ABC (or one of the network news shows) ran an interview with "Buhwheat", who was supposedly working as a grocery bagger.

After the show had aired, Buhwheat's relatives called and notified the network that he had been dead for like 10 years, and that the guy they had on their show was an impostor.  ;D
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LOL! That's too funny...sad, yes, but funny.  That reminds me of the time SNL had Alfalfa (played by Mary Gross), murder Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat for revenge.  "I was in front of the class singing, and you put a frog down my pay-ants!"

I stand corrected about Alfalfa Switzer.  I remembered something about fifty dollars and a dog, but I thought he got it in a card game.  I think he did have a gambling problem.  I also heard about him being an astronomical a-hole, but not the story about him whizzing on the stage lights.  Given the lighting technology of the 1930s, he's lucky he didn't fry himself!

By the time Robert Blake (Mickey Gubitosi)  was in the "Our Gang" movies (starting in 1939), the golden years of Hal Roach were over (1928-1938).

I always think of Little Rascals/Our Gang as a TV show, but there was no TV in its day.  They were "shorts" before the main attraction in the movies.  The series was syndicated for television pretty early in the game, 1954.

Hal Roach died in 1992 at the age of 100!

BTW, remember, the verdict isn't in on Robert Blake yet.  Circumstances make him look suspicious as H-E double toothpicks, but weird coincidences do happen sometimes.  Blake certainly hasn't made himself a sympathetic character, and it doesn't help if people remember him as "Perry," from In Cold Blood!

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BTW, remember, the verdict isn't in on Robert Blake yet.  Circumstances make him look suspicious as H-E double toothpicks, but weird coincidences do happen sometimes.  Blake certainly hasn't made himself a sympathetic character, and it doesn't help if people remember him as "Perry," from In Cold Blood!
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I think he's being railroaded.  In any event, it seems that the broad deserved it anyway.  :-/

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I always like Spanky. Even into his 60s or so, he still never got rid of the name. I think he liked it. He seemed like a nice guy (as he got older).

Cat
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Spanky McFarland rocked.  8)

I used to work with a guy who looked almost identical to McFarland.  And yes, we all called him "Spanky" too.  :P  He hated it.

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I think he's being railroaded.  In any event, it seems that the broad deserved it anyway.  :-/
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Um, a little harsh there, Lyricsboy, wouldn'tcha say?

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Um, a little harsh there, Lyricsboy, wouldn'tcha say?
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When somebody spends their life hustling people, ripping them off, accusing various people of fathering their children, running mail scams to get peoples' money under false pretenses, and does it long enough, they are VERY LIKELY to get their comeuppance.

And when your "chickens come home to roost", you rarely get the chance to choose which chickens and what roost.

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By the way does anybody know that Darla grew up to become an exotic dancer in the 1950's,and 1960's? End Quote

Heh heh... Reminds me of a woman I used to work with.  Her brother married a stripper, but when any of us would mention that her sister-in-law was a stripper, she got indigant and said "She is NOT a stripper!  She's an exotic dancer!"   :P

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Heh heh... Reminds me of a woman I used to work with.  Her brother married a stripper, but when any of us would mention that her sister-in-law was a stripper, she got indigant and said "She is NOT a stripper!  She's an exotic dancer!"   :P
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LOL!  "I'm not a loanshark!  I'm a Freelance Personal Finance Agent, and don't you forget it!"

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Wow!!! I didn't know my fellow group members were "Our Gang" historians. By the way does anybody know that Darla grew up to become an exotic dancer in the 1950's,and 1960's? Also,is anybody familiar with the story behind why the shorts were called "Our Gang" in the theater,but "The Little Rascals" on tv? Thanks for the memories! Sincerely,Steve.
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For the record, The Three Stooges were my favorite much for the same reason that Most Extreme Challenge is my favorite show now. Nothing like Moe getting a pick-axe in the lower part of his spine and walking away from it.

Actually, I was reading a post here and thought one of the facts stated was inacurate. When I went to check, I noticed this site..........  


http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/alfalfa/alfalfa.htm
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