Dog Show (The Ren & Stimpy Show)
| "Dog Show" | |
|---|---|
| The Ren & Stimpy Show episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 10 |
| Directed by | John Kricfalusi Chris Reccardi |
| Story by | Richard Pursel |
| Production code | RS5-3B |
| Original air date | December 12, 1992 |
Dog Show is the 10th episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 12 December 1992.
Plot
[edit]For the annual All-Breed Dog Show, George Liquor, the abusive owner of Ren and Stimpy, has entered his pets into the show despite the fact that Stimpy is a cat. George is only willing to love his pets if they are "champions" and subjects both of his pets to various cruelties such as cutting off Ren's tail. In the first stage of the contest, Mr. Horse rejects both Ren and Stimpy, but George berates him with such force that Ren and Stimpy make it to the finale. George tells Ren to win to "make my dreams come true!", but Ren mocks him instead. Ren tells George that he should enter the Dog Show competition, which George does, calling himself the rare Royal American George Hound. Despite the fact that George is not a dog, he wins the prize trophy while Ren and Stimpy embrace and say "oh joy!".
Cast
[edit]- Ren-voice of John Kricfalusi
- Stimpy-voice of Billy West
- George Liquor-voice of Michael Pataki
- Poodle-voice of Harris Peet
- The Salesman-voice of Billy West
- Mr. Horse-voice of John Kricfalusi
- Fat Lady-voice of John Kricfalusi
Production
[edit]Dog Show had an extremely troubled production even by the standards of The Ren & Stimpy Show and was the subject of a fierce disputes between the showrunner, John Kricfalusi and the producer, Vanessa Coffey for the entire first half of 1992 over its contents.[1] The judges of the dog show were originally depicted as stereotypically effeminate gay men, and George Liquor made a number of blatantly homophobic remarks.[1] Coffey ordered the judges to be replaced with the Mr. Horse and Salesmen characters, which delayed the episode.[1] A number of George's homophobic remarks were removed, but others such as his statement to the judge "keep this strictly professional Mack" were retained, but left out of context.[1] Dog Show was scheduled to air on 5 September 1992, but did not finally appear on the air until 12 December 1992.[2]
Reception
[edit]The American journalist Thad Komorowski wrote that Dog Show was a far inferior episode compared to the other 1992 episode that featured the George Liquor character, Man's Best Friend.[3] The American critic Matt Langer described Dog Show as typical of the episodes that ultimately led to Kricfalusi being fired as he noted that many of the scenes of cruelty being inflicted on Ren and Stimpy by George Liquor were too extreme for a children's TV show.[4]
Books
[edit]- Klickstein, Matthew; Summers, Marc (2013). Slimed! An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age. London: Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 9781101614099.
- Langer, Matt (June 1993). "Animatophilia, Cultural Production and Corporate Interests: The Case of 'Ren & Stimpy'". Film History. 5 (2): 125–141.
- Komorowski, Thad (2017). Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1629331836.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Komorowski 2017, p. 179.
- ^ Komorowski 2017, p. 185.
- ^ Komorowski 2017, p. 181.
- ^ Langer 1993, p. 137.
