Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

First, welcome to the forum. I assume by "Moe" you mean "Moe Howard" of the 3 Stooges? Not sure what you mean by "educational show" in that case.  

Anyway, I did a search for "Jewish + superstition + toupee" and only came up with this.

Apparently there are some Jewish superstitions about toupees, but I'm not sure if this answers your question. Seems like a bit of stretch, but that's all I could find. Unless I'm missing some obvious wordplay by the script writers. Maybe another forum member will come up with a better answer.

It may have something to do with "sue-perstitious."   If that's it, I still don't get it.   Just a thought.

OK, I did forget to mention that when Moe realizes that the hairpiece is not a tarantula, he says "It's just a divot". Maybe there is some golf superstition about replacing sod that I don't know about.  At this point, I'm willing to write it off as just another punchline that I don't get. Maybe it will come to me in my sleep.

Last one - Just what kind of hat  is  a Vernacular?

Sorry this is so late.

Folks, you're looking for far too much sophistication. This is Three Stooges humor, which is not far above kindergarten level, and that's maligning kindergarteners. Dick is absolutely right about sue-perstitious – it's Moe's version of litigious, just because it has the sue sound. If the man had threatened to break his knee, Moe might have said, "Oh, a neophyte!" Larry says the hairpiece is a tarantula because it looks like one: it's about the right size and it's hairy. Moe's divot reference is the same thing: especially after he shoots it, the thing looks rather like a clump of grass. There might be an extension of the golf reference in Moe's "I just shot five [golf] holes in a divot!" but I doubt it. These things are funny because we know it's a toupé (which, apparently, is inherently funny), so the tarantula and the divot are unexpected, and way out of their natural elements in a courtroom. And because the Stooges take them so seriously.

The hat is a "vernacular" because when Curly is told to drop the vernacular (his peculiar manner of speech), he has no idea what the word means, so he assumes it refers to what's in his hands – so he drops his hat.

I haven't watched much Three Stooges in the past fifty years, but my recollection is that it is the broadest, most obvious, least sophisticated humor there is. That's my take on it, anyway.

Peter