Vaudeville is a 1997 PBS documentary under its American Masters program. Using film clips and photos, the art and history of vaudeville (1890-1930s) is illustrated.

The Stooges become trainers of Bustoff, a champion wrestler. The big boss has a lot of money bet on Bustoff and orders the boys to take good care of him. Instead they accidentally knock him out and Curly must disguise himself as Bustoff and wrestle in his place. The match doesn't go very well until Curly smells "Wild Hyacinth" perfume on a lady fan at ringside. This drives him crazy and he knocks out his opponent and half the people in the stadium.

The Stooges are private detectives in the Old West trying to help a girl recover an IOU from a bad guy. Their attempts to steal the IOU from the villain's wallet and then from a safe meet with problems until Curly, who goes berserk whenever he sees a mouse, knocks out all the bad guys.

Ollie's house is a mess after a wild party from the previous night. Ollie receives a telegram from his wife (who is on vacation in Chicago), which tells him that she is returning home in the afternoon. Fearing his wife's wrath he calls Stan over to help him clean up. Things go downhill and they make more mess not less.

A beautiful woman suspected of being a jewel thief is actually a detective tracking down a ring of bond thieves.

The son of a wealthy politician falls in with a notorious gangster planning to rob a night club.

The stooges are down and out. With a cop chasing them, they flee into an artists studio where they are mistaken for students. The cop continues to hunt for them and they use a variety of disguises and tactics to elude him. A wild clay throwing fight ends the film.

A trio of amateur film makers try to persuade a group of studio executives to exhibit their new movie.

Two bumbling detectives help a stage actress who has been receiving threatening letters.

Two desperate singers take a job as the singing act in a movie theater between shows. They soon regret their decision.