L&H can be slow, but the relaxed pace suits me. I’ve always found them to be funny as hell. I was about 40 when I learned that my younger Sister and her husband are Sons Of The Desert. Neither of us had known about our shared appreciation of Stan and Ollie. (I’m now 70, Sis & Hub are mid-50’s. If it matters.)
I don’t know. I’m just pointing out that not seeing all of something isn’t the same as defacing it. There’s time reduced versions of movies and TV shows airing all the time, usually unnoticed. I think the same thing could be done to make Laurel and Hardy more appealing.
Stan was actually the “brains” of the outfit, so to speak. He did most of the production work, including editing and timing, while Ollie was content to spend his free time playing golf, which he loved.
Stan put in long hours at the Roach studio getting everything right. Both he and Ollie had years of experience from working in vaudeville, so they knew what they were doing when in front of (and behind) the camera.
When I was a kid I LOVED L&H. I tried to watch them several times as an adult, and often found them unwatchable. Not funny in the least - or so slowpaced as to be not worth the payoff. Last time I tried, I think what came up was a movie in the foreign legion - absolutely unwatchable.
Of course, having seen and memorized most of the Marx Bros, I’ve even felt (gasp) that they did not warrant rewatching.
It is rare comedy that stands up to multiple watching over long spans of time. Even w/ something you remember as hilarious, you find the “funny bits” are interspersed within a lot of filler.
I’ve seen some of these “time reduced” shows, and I can always tell when something’s missing even if I’ve never seen a particular episode before. This happened yesterday on The Beverly Hillbillies, and the obvious gap in the story was jarring.
I’ve seen it in shows like Cheers! and Frasier, too. It’s usually done to squeeze in more commercials in syndication, and not for any “artistic” purposes. I find this even more infuriating.
No TV show had faster timing than Laugh-In, and I never found it funny. The only time I laughed was when Ruth Buzzi beat the crap out of Arte Johnson:
“Would you call me ‘sexy’?”
WHACK! WHACK!
“Would you call me ‘alluring’?”
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
“Would you call me ‘desirable’?”
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
“Would you call me … an ambulance?” 
I’m not saying it has been done well, or defending it’s use for purely commercial reasons, but in theory it can be done without harming, and possibly improving the original work. And also, where it had been done well, you may not have even known if you saw it.
This is like quantum physics: Both may be theoretically possible, but they’re also highly unlikely.
I certainly can’t argue with that. 
I was in grade school. I’m sure part of the attraction was the “risque” nature. But I recall enjoying Rowan and Martin’s interaction, as I did the Smothers Bros.
I remember trying to introduce my kids to movies I recalled as hilarious - ike A Funny Thing Happened and Its a Mad Mad… World. I remember the kids asking me to “tell them when it got to the funny part” - and thinking to myself - this isn’t as funny as I remember.
OTOH, when I showed my kids the Stooges, I thought they were going to hurt themselves laughing so hard.
Tastes do differ.
Part of the problem with movies like MMW is that they were meant to be viewed on a giant screen, and not on TV. I watched it with my daughter (B. 1995) on TCM a few years ago; she mostly found it funny, but I could see she was getting only a fraction of the experience I had when I saw it in the theater with my brother and dad, lo those many years ago. I didn’t help that she couldn’t possibly have known most of the actors who were in it (Sid Cesar, Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Jack Benny…). I think the only two she may have recognized were Jim Backus and Peter Falk (from watching Gilligan’s Island and Columbo with me).
I once tried explaining the Stooges to my ex-wife, who is Russian. To this day, I don’t know if she was able to grasp the concept…
My German aunt who could barely speak English would laugh heartily whenever she watched them with us.
I have most Stooges shorts memorized, but I still laugh when I watch them on MeTV before Svengoolie.
Stooges rule.
There was one short in particular I wanted to show her, but the only version I could find on the Internet at that time was dubbed into Hindi. Since the plot turned on a misunderstanding in English (which she knows almost as well as I do) it probably wouldn’t have translated for her.
The slapstick might be another matter, but she normally leans more to British humor. She laughed when we watched Mr Bean, Monty Python, and Smack the Pony together.
Missed the edit for these:
The only thing I remember from Rowan and Martin is when they were guests on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I don’t recall on which naughty topic they were expounding , but Dick at one point channeled Stan Laurel and said “Let’s go to a convention and not tell our wives!”
Carson found this hilarious, as did I because (a) I immediately caught the reference (Sons of the Desert) and (b) I knew Dick was married to this honey:
CAUTION: Link is probably NSFW!
Mon, you have a chick like dat at home, who de hell wanna go to a convention?!? 
Nobody has yet mentioned the movie Stan & Ollie (2018)?
I found it light, enjoyable and well acted, if a bit predictable.
It’s rated 92% (critics) and 84% (audience) on Rotten Tomatoes.
Here are a couple of impersonators. “Stan” is good but “Ollie” is a bit off.
As a Stan and Ollie fan I adored that movie and saw it several times in the talkies.
And I agree the shorts were good but their movies seemed to drag.
Seems like the shorts were exercises in frustration.
Just started watching Big Business this morning, it was on TCM. Our hapless heroes were selling Christmas trees door to door. Gave up half way, too slow. I’ll go back and watch the rest eventually, it’s only 20 minutes altogether, I’ve seen it before, and it does pick up towards the end.