Book-TV Deal Something to Yuk About

One key difference between men and women is that most women can’t stand the Three Stooges and many men can’t get enough of their pie-fighting, hair-pulling adventures.

One such fan is Mel Gibson.

For his first TV project, he has optioned “The Three Stooges,” an illustrated history of the comedy trio by Daily Variety columnist Michael Fleming that Doubleday will publish in November. Tentative plans call for Icon, Gibson’s company, and Storyline, which recently did the TV movie “Double Platinum” (with Diana Ross), to produce a two-hour movie that ABC would air next spring.

Gibson, whose role in the “Lethal Weapon” films evidences a special appreciation of the dim-witted Curly, was perhaps the biggest fan of the Stooges to tell Fleming in interviews of how he has been influenced by the comedy team. Others questioned by Fleming include Quentin Tarantino, Robert Zemeckis, George Carlin, Bobby and Peter Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary”) and Mel Brooks.

But the heart of Fleming’s book, subtitled “From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons,” will be the Stooges’ show-biz story--from their vaudeville origins to those black-and-white short films familiar to TV viewers to the full-length features that older baby boomers will remember best. Fleming gathered material with the cooperation of Comedy III, the Stooges’ production company, with access to the group’s archive and through interviews with those living souls who worked with them.

“When I did this book, it was a lark,” Fleming said. “But I’ve always felt that the Stooges were underappreciated. When you think of the classic comedy teams, they’re always relegated to second-class status.

“I’ve believed there should be a reconsideration of them. Hopefully, I will have accomplished that with this book.”

One barroom sport for now might be to imagine which actors would best be cast in the roles of Moe, Larry and Curly. (Must be willing to endure all-but-constant head-bopping, eye-gouging and other witless pranks.)

Think big names, for Storyline has a record of attracting some of the biggest to its TV movies. Besides Diana Ross and Brandy in the recent “Double Platinum,” the stars have included Glenn Close in “Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story” and Bette Midler in a 1993 production of “Gypsy.”

Storyline’s Neil Meron, who is executive-producing the Stooges project with partner Craig Zadan, said Tuesday that Janet Roach, a co-writer and Academy Award nominee for “Prizzi’s Honor,” has been engaged to write the script. But casting decisions have yet to be made.

“We’re throwing a lot of names against the wall and seeing what sticks,” Meron added.

Starbucks Launches Mag

Cup of joe, anyone? And how about an issue of Joe to go with it?

Joe, which goes on sale today in the 1,800 Starbucks outlets for $3 a copy, is a new magazine produced under a joint agreement between Starbucks Coffee Co. and Time Inc. Custom Publishing. Its editorial focus is hard to describe, except to say that it’s interesting enough to extend the enjoyment of a cup or two.

Trust is the main topic of the premiere issue. It’s explored through the short fiction of Stuart Dybek, a photo essay by Geof Kern, a transcribed conversation (between the writers Abraham Verghese and Andrew Solomon) and the humor of Mark Leyner. Other bylines in the premiere include those of Luc Sante, Lisa Shea, Time digital dean Joshua Quittner and Douglas Coupland, who offers an annotated view of the office cubicle (“Welcome to the Electronic Coffin”). There’s poetry, too.

The upscale tone of Joe and the exclusive distribution of the magazine through the pricey Starbucks--that is, no crowded newsstands to pick through--have helped draw 28 ad pages from Polo Ralph Lauren, General Motors and other marketers. The 84-page magazine is produced on heavy paper stock, sure to survive many pass-alongs.

Excerpts from Joe also are available at https://www.joemag.com, a Web site that launches today. A second issue is scheduled for September and a third in November.

Joe’s managing editor is Scott Mowbray.

Paul D. Colford’s e-mail address is paul.colford@newsday.com.