The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show

"The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no. 167
Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Written by David S. Cohen
Showrunner(s) Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Production code 4F12
Original air date February 9, 1997
Couch gag A parody of the Sgt. Pepper's album cover.[1][Note 1]
Commentary Matt Groening
Josh Weinstein
David X. Cohen
Yeardley Smith
Alex Rocco
Steven Dean Moore
Guest appearance(s)

Alex Rocco as Roger Meyers, Jr.
Phil Hartman as Troy McClure

Season 8 episodes
Seasons

"The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" is the fourteenth episode in the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 9, 1997.[2] In the episode, The Itchy & Scratchy Show attempts to regain viewers by introducing a new character named Poochie, whose voice is provided by Homer. The episode is largely self-referential and satirizes the world of television production, fans of The Simpsons, and the series itself. It was written by David X. Cohen and directed by Steven Dean Moore. Alex Rocco is a credited guest voice as Roger Meyers, Jr. for the third and final time (having previously provided the character's voice in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" and "The Day the Violence Died"); Phil Hartman also guest stars as Troy McClure.[2] Poochie would become a minor recurring character and Comic Book Guy's catchphrase, "Worst episode ever", is introduced in this episode. With "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", the show's 167th episode, The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones in the number of episodes produced for a prime-time animated series.

Plot

The ratings of the Itchy & Scratchy Show segment on the Krusty the Clown Show suddenly fail. Krusty orders the cartoon's producer, Roger Meyers, to find a way to fix the sagging ratings, or else a Chinese cartoon will replace Itchy and Scratchy. Meyers decides to commission a focus group to discover why Itchy and Scratchy has lost its popularity. Bart and Lisa participate in the study, by watching cartoons and answering the questions. However, things do not go well, with the children contradicting themselves when explaining what they want. Eventually, Lisa tells the executives that there is nothing wrong with the show and that it is as good as it has ever been—but after being on TV for so long, the show does not have as much an impact on audiences as it did in its early years. Meyers thanks Lisa for "saving" Itchy and Scratchy, and decides that his cartoon's salvation lies in a new character. He tells Krusty and his team of writers that this new character should be a dog with "attitude", who will be called Poochie.

Bart and Lisa suggest Homer have a go at voice acting when they read that there will be open auditions. Homer auditions to read for Poochie's voice, and gets the part. He and June Bellamy, his fellow voice actor, make several publicity stops to promote Poochie, where Homer confronts the show's hardcore fans. Homer invites all of his friends and relatives to the screening of the first Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show. However, the cartoon is full of clichés and asinine antics, and by emphasizing Poochie, contains none of the show's trademark violence. Everyone except Homer finds the episode unimpressive. Meyers is forced to admit that Poochie's debut was a dud, and he decides to get rid of the character. Homer learns that Poochie will be killed off, and resolves to keep Poochie alive. At his next recording session, rather than reading from the script, he implores the audience, through lines that he wrote, to give Poochie a fair chance. The writing team appears moved by Homer's statement. However, on airing, his statement is dubbed over by Myers and Poochie is killed off in a poorly edited fashion. The in-studio audience cheers wildly as Krusty promises that Poochie is gone for good. Homer feels betrayed but attributes the affair to the nature of show business.

Production

"The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" was written by David S. Cohen and directed by Steven Dean Moore.[2] The episode was conceived as a commentary on what it was like to work on a television show that had long been on the air, but was considered to be nearing its end. This was intended to show that The Simpsons could still be good after eight seasons, even though it no longer had the "shock value" it did in the early years.[3] Before production of season eight began, several executives at Fox suggested the staff add a new character to the show, who would live with the Simpsons on a permanent basis, in a bid to freshen up the series.[4][5] The writers found the suggestion, usually considered a sign of desperation to boost a flagging series,[6] amusing, therefore much of the episode revolves around this trope. Parallel to the episode's main plot, where Poochie is introduced on The Itchy & Scratchy Show to boost its ratings, the writers inserted the one-time character Roy, a college-aged man who is shown to be living with the Simpsons, with no explanation as to his character or presence, as a reference to the executives' proposal.[7] Roy was originally conceived for the "Time and Punishment" segment of the season six episode "Treehouse of Horror V", living with the Simpsons in one of the alternate realities,[3] as a second, teenage son in the family.[8]

Cohen's initial vision for Poochie was that he would be annoying to fans because he was wealthy, aloof and unlikeable. In the episode's DVD commentary he read his script for the first cartoon featuring Itchy, Scratchy, and Poochie:

As with other episodes centering on the production of The Itchy & Scratchy Show, such as "The Front", the show's staff are shown. Almost all of them are based on the actual staff of The Simpsons.[3] In the first scene at the production table the person in the lower right corner, wearing a squid T-shirt, is Cohen. On the left side, the furthest away is Bill Oakley with Josh Weinstein next to him. Next to Weinstein is George Meyer, who is the writer who speaks out and gets fired. The animator shown designing Poochie is supervising director David Silverman. As Silverman plays the tuba, one was drawn into the background of the scene. Other writers who appear include Dan McGrath, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Donick Cary, Ron Hauge, Ned Goldreyer, and Mike Scully, who had to be added in later, as the animators "didn't have his photo" from which to get an accurate likeness.[3]

This episode also features the first mention of Comic Book Guy's soon-to-be catchphrase "Worst. Episode. Ever.", which was taken from the alt.tv.simpsons newsgroup.[3]

Themes

This episode saw The Simpsons surpass The Flintstones for the number of episodes produced for an animated series.[9] The episode therefore deals with the issue of longevity and the problems that arise when the producers try to make a show "fresh" again.[10] The show mainly deals with themes commonly known as "jumping the shark", instances that usually occur when a failing show adds a new character or major plot twist to boost ratings. The first theme is a commentary on adding a new character, when the show has run for too long. Usually, this is a technique used in shows that involve children, who have grown up. This was the case in "Oliver" in The Brady Bunch or "Luke" on Growing Pains. Both Poochie and Roy are used to reflect this, by attempting to keep The Itchy and Scratchy Show and the Simpson family fresh respectively.[6]

Another theme is the notion of network executives forcing ideas onto a show. The interaction between the writers and the network executives in the episode underscore the differences between them. The writers understand the show's inner workings, but the network executives approach improvements to the show from a business point of view. They try to incorporate what they see as a rebellious character with the comment "This is popular with the kids", but the viewers later reject the character.[11] The writers themselves are satirized in the episode, and are depicted as lazy and pretentious with few original ideas.[12]

The last theme is the viewer backlash and obsession with internal consistency. When Comic Book Guy sees the Poochie episode, he immediately goes on the Internet and writes "Worst episode ever" on a message board; a commentary on how the active audience nit picks the episode. The writers respond by using the voice of Bart:[13]

Bart: Hey, I know it wasn't great, but what right do you have to complain?
Comic Book Guy: As a loyal viewer, I feel they owe me.
Bart: What? They're giving you thousands of hours of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? I mean, if anything, you owe them!
Comic Book Guy: ...Worst episode ever.

Earlier in the episode, Homer and June Bellamy attend an in-store appearance as part of the promotion for the new character Poochie. They are asked a question of internal consistency, like the show's fans do all the time; Homer says to the fan who asks the question, "Why would a man whose shirt says 'Genius at Work' spend all his time watching a children's cartoon show?" This is again a reflection on how the writers feel about the fans obsessing about internal consistency.[13]

Cultural references

The original opening couch gag shows a pastiche of the cover collage from The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was first used earlier in the season for "Bart After Dark".[1] Otherwise, the episode refers to other TV shows, including the syndicated couch gag featuring the Flintstone family, recycled from the season four episode "Kamp Krusty", to mark The Simpsons surpassing The Flintstones as the longest-running animated series.[14] Roy calls Homer and Marge Mr. and Mrs. S, which echoes Fonzie calling the Cunninghams "Mr. and Mrs. C" on Happy Days. Later, he decides to move in with "two sexy ladies", recalling Jack Tripper in Three's Company.[6] Homer hiding in the closet to hear what the network executives were planning to do with Poochie is a reference to Jay Leno reportedly eavesdropping on a conversation between NBC executives on whether he or David Letterman would replace Johnny Carson as the host of The Tonight Show.[15]

Itchy and Scratchy are based on Tom and Jerry and other cat-and-mouse cartoons. As a boy, series creator Matt Groening and his friends would fantasize about an ultra violent cartoon and how much fun it would be to work on a show like that.[16] June Bellamy is a tribute to voice actress June Foray.[3] In the episode, Bellamy claims that she provided the "Beep, beep" sound effect in the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons; in reality the phrase was voiced by Paul Julian.[17]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" finished tied for 38th place in the weekly ratings for the week of February 3–9, 1997, with a Nielsen rating of 8.8. It was the third-highest-rated show on the Fox Network that week.[18]

This episode was placed 23rd on Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episodes list.[19] Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, praised "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", calling it "a very neat episode which, like "The Front", is a good parody of the cartooning business." In 2007, Vanity Fair named it the sixth-best episode in the show's history, describing it as "a classic satire of network influence, obsessed TV fans, and programs that survive long after the shark has been jumped, the episode is a meta-celebration, a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal to everyone who claimed that the quality of The Simpsons had declined over the years."[20] Todd Gilchrist called it a masterpiece, stating it "could easily be packaged and sold by [itself]".[21] Planet Simpson author Chris Turner describes the episode as "the most contentious and direct counterattack The Simpsons ever unleashed on its fans"[12] and "[harsh] satire of the working world of big-time TV production".[22] Robert Canning of IGN said it was "laugh-out-loud funny" and describing the introduction of Roy as "a hilarious parody of a classic, overused television device."[14] Alan Sepinwall of The Star Ledger, in a review printed two days after the episode originally aired, praised the writers for not airing a "very special" episode to celebrate the milestone of overtaking The Flintstones. He noted "[the episode is] so self-aware it put the best in-jokes on St. Elsewhere to shame."[23] The BBC named it as one of the ten most memorable episodes of the show, noting, "the writers used the opportunity to pay tribute to the art of animation and rail against network interference in their show."[24] In 2014, The Simpsons writers picked "The Beagle Has Landed" as one of their nine favorite "Itchy & Stratchy" episodes of all time.[25]

Comic Book Guy's phrase "Worst. Episode. Ever" was named by The A.V. Club as a quote that could be used in everyday life, as well as being one of the most popular quotes from the show.[26]

Notes

  1. ^ In syndication, this is replaced with the couch gag from the season four episode "Kamp Krusty" which parodies The Flintstones, but the audio from the original couch gag remains.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show". BBC. Retrieved March 12, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 Richmond & Coffman 1997, pp. 226-227.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cohen, David (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. ↑ Groening, Matt (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ↑ Tom Heintjes. "Family Matters - The David Silverman Interview". MSNBC. Archived from the original on February 17, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 Alberti, p. 144
  7. ↑ Smith, Yeardley (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  8. ↑ Daniels, Greg (2005). The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Treehouse of Horror V" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  9. ↑ McCampbell, Marlene (December 26, 1997). "1997 Timeline". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  10. ↑ Alberti, p. 143
  11. ↑ Alberti, pp. 145-147
  12. 1 2 Turner 2004, pp. 297-299.
  13. 1 2 Alberti, pp. 147-148
  14. 1 2 3 Canning, Robert (June 23, 2008). "The Simpsons Flashback: "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" Review". IGN. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  15. ↑ Weinstein, Josh (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  16. ↑ Groening, Matt (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  17. ↑ Barrier, Michael. "Fast and Furry-ous" on Looney Tunes All-Stars: Part 1 (Region 2 DVD release). (DVD commentary). Event occurs at 6m10s.
  18. ↑ "Prime-Time Ratings". The Orange County Register. February 12, 1997. p. F02.
  19. ↑ "The Family Dynamic". Entertainment Weekly. January 29, 2003. Retrieved March 12, 2007.
  20. ↑ Ortved, John (July 5, 2007). "Springfield's Best". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
  21. ↑ Gilchrist, Todd (August 14, 2006). "The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season". IGN. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
  22. ↑ Turner 2004, p. 419.
  23. ↑ Alan Sepinwall (February 11, 1997). "'Simpsons' as slyly subversive as ever". The Star Ledger. p. 43.
  24. ↑ "The Simpsons: 10 classic episodes". BBC News. January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  25. ↑ "The Simpsons’ Writers Pick Their Favorite ‘Itchy & Scratchy’ Cartoons". Vulture. March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  26. ↑ Bahn, Christopher; Donna Bowman, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, Kyle Ryan, Scott Tobias (April 26, 2006). "Beyond "D'oh!": Simpsons Quotes For Everyday Use". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 8, 2017.

Bibliography

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