The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best known for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures that have been regularly airing on television since 1958. Their hallmark was physical farce and slapstick. In films, the stooges were commonly known by their actual first names. There were a total of six stooges over the act's run (with only three active at any given time), but Moe Howard and Larry Fine were the mainstays throughout the ensemble's nearly fifty-year run and the pivotal "third Stooge" was played by (in order of appearance)

On October 30, 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a two-disc DVD set entitled The Three Stooges Collection, Volume One: 1934-1936. The set contains shorts from the first three years the Stooges worked at Columbia Pictures, marking the first time ever that all 19 shorts were released in their original theatrical order to DVD. Additionally, every short was remastered in high definition, a first for the Stooge films. Previous DVD releases were based on themes (wartime, history, work, etc.), and sold poorly. Fans and critics alike praised Sony for finally giving the Stooges the proper DVD treatment. One critic states "the Three Stooges on DVD has been a real mix'n match hodgepodge of un-restored titles and illogical entries. This new...boxset...seems to be the first concerted effort to categorize their huge body of work chronologically with many shorts seeing the digital light for the first time." Videolibrarian.com critic added "finally, the studio knuckleheads got it right! The way that the Three Stooges have been presented on home video has been a real slap in the face and poke in the eye to fans. They've been anthologized, colorized, and public domain-ed, as their shorts have been released and re-released in varying degrees of quality. Highly recommended." Critic James Plath of DVDtown.com added, "Thank you, Sony, for finally giving these Columbia Pictures icons the kind of DVD retrospective that they deserve. Remastered in High Definition and presented in chronological order, these short films now give fans the chance to appreciate the development of one of the most successful comedy teams in history."  The chronological series proved successful, and Sony wasted little time preparing the next set for release. Volume Two: 1937-1939 was released on May 27, 2008, followed by Volume Three: 1940-1942 three months later on August 26, 2008. Demand exceeded supply, proving to Sony that they had a hit on their hands. In response, Volume Four: 1943-1945 was released on October 7, 2008, a mere two months after its predecessor. The global economic crisis slowed down the release schedule after Volume Four, and Volume Five: 1946-1948 was belatedly released on March 17, 2009. Volume Five is the first in the series to feature Shemp Howard with the Stooges and the final volume to feature Curly Howard. Volume Six: 1949-1951 was released June 16, 2009, and Volume Seven: 1952-1954 was released on November 10, 2009. Volume Seven included 3-D glasses for the two shorts: Spooks! and Pardon My Backfire. As of 2013, the 3-D versions of the two shorts in this volume have been removed. Volume Eight: 1955-1959 was released on June 1, 2010. This was the final volume of the Stooges collection, bringing the series to a close. Instead of two discs, Volume Eight includes three discs. It is also the final volume to feature Shemp Howard and the first and only volume to feature Joe Besser. For the first time in history, all 190 Three Stooges short subjects became available to the public, uncut and unedited.  A 20-disc DVD boxed set entitled The Three Stooges: The Ultimate Collection, including all 190 shorts from volumes 1-8 and additional bonus material, was released on June 5, 2012. Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

How many volumes were there?
A 20-disc DVD boxed set entitled The Three Stooges: The Ultimate Collection, including all 190 shorts from volumes 1-8 and additional bonus material, was released on June 5, 2012.