The Simpsons/The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show

The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
Season 8, Episode 14
Airdate	February 9, 1997
Production Number	4F12
Written by	David X. Cohen
Directed by	Steven Dean Moore
← 8x13 Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious	8x15 → Homer's Phobia
The Simpsons — Season Eight

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The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season of The Simpsons, and the one-hundred and sixty-seventh episode overall.

The episode's plot if often self-referential to long-running television series, specifically the oftentimes ill-advised attempts by their producers to use tactics – such as introducing new characters – to maintain viewer interest once viewership of the veteran series has waned, when the real issue is often that the older TV series in question has simply run its course and viewers have turned their attention to newer, fresher TV series.

Here, the producers of "The Itchy & Scratchy Show" cartoon shorts realize children aren't as interested in the most recent shorts and conclude that a new character is needed to inject new life into the show. Hence: Poochie, a beagle who is now part of the cartoon universe. And Homer is hired as Poochie's new voice. But what will viewers think?

Guest Stars: Alex Rocco (Roger Myers Jr.), Phil Hartman (Troy McClure), Pamela Hayden (Milhouse Van Houten, Krusty's Secretary)

Plot Overview

"The Itchy & Scratchy Show" cartoon shorts that are an integral part of "The Krusty the Klown Show" have recently become cliched, and children aren't reacting to them as they have before. Krusty takes notice, then is alarmed when he sees a report noting that his TV audience takes a big nosedive when the shorts are airing.

Krusty meets with Roger Meyers Jr. and the I&S and Krustylu Productions boards to demand answers, threatening to pull the I&S shorts from his show if things aren't improved stat. Meyers decides to convene a focus group of younger Springfield TV viewers to get some questions answered, but it leads nowhere. Lisa tries suggesting that "Itchy & Scratchy" simply has run its course because the cartoons have been around so long and viewers may want something completely different.

Meyers instead decides a new character is needed to become friends with Itchy and Scratchy ... and that new character is Poochie, a beagle with an "attitude" who surfs, raps, and plays electric guitar. Auditions are held for Poochie's voice, and – surprise, surprise – Homer is the sap ... er, man who wins the job of voicing the new character. A promotional tour is scheduled with June Bellamy (voiceover artist for Itchy and Scratchy).

When the first new cartoon with Poochie debuts – a short called "The Beagle Has Landed" – viewers see none of the trademark violence but instead an unimpressive cartoon featuring asinine antics. Critics are equally unimpressed by Poochie, and he gets such negative critical reaction – Comic Book Guy calls this short "Worst. Episode. Ever." – that Meyers and his staff are given no choice but to quickly kill off Poochie.

Homer gets wind of this and, fearing he'll lose his job (although through no fault of his own), he decides to go off-script at the recording session where Poochie announces his departure. Homer emotionally pleads for viewers to give Poochie a chance and that things will improve. The producers seem moved, but they in reality are showing poker faces ... for as when Poochie's swan song appearance airs, it is clumsily (and obviously) edited, with the intended line "I have to go; my planet needs me!" dubbed in by a producer, and then a handwritten intertitle explaining Poochie's fate – that he "died on the way back to his home planet" – is amateurishly edited in. Cut to the Krusty the Klown studio, where the children are cheering wildly and nearing a standing ovation, as Krusty produces a sworn affidavit promising that Poochie will never be spoken of or referred to again.

The subplot has the unexplained presence of a boarder, Roy, living with the Simpsons. He appears only at random times and makes random remarks that have little to do with the plot, and in the end, he announces he is moving to live with two beautiful young single women.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Apollo 11: The phrase "The Eagle has landed" inspires the title of the Itchy & Scratchy short "The Beagle Has Landed."
• Cousin Oliver Syndrome: Although not so-named until about a decade later (with the debut of the TV Tropes website), the plot of "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" is referential to this plot device and long-running TV series adding new characters later in their runs in an effort to revive interest in a show that has lost general viewer interest ... with said tactic rarely successful and – in this episode's case – often very negative to the show.
• Desliu Studios: Krustylu Studios makes another appearance.
• Frosted Flakes: The cereal Frosted Krusty Flakes is a spoof of the Kellogg's cereal, which were "G-RRRRRR-EAT!!!"
• Happy Days: Roy calls Homer and Marge "Mr." and "Mrs. S," as so many guests have done through the years.
• Three's Company: Roy announces at the end of the episode he was moving into an apartment with two bachelorettes, the same concept that was used in the long-running ABC TV series starring John Ritter.
• Saturday morning cartoons: Multiple cartoon series featuring classic characters – including Tom and Jerry – also featured new, shorter-lived characters in their own cartoon segments, often one-dimensional characters with cliched situations, purportedly to draw new, younger viewers into the audience. Often, these series were short-lived and the new characters dropped following cancellation of the series they were featured in.

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