The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show

"The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" is the fourteenth episode of Season 8.
==Synopsis==
Following a slight fall in the ratings and Lisa telling Roger Meyers, Jr. that The Itchy & Scratchy Show might be getting a little stale, the staff at I&S Studios create a new character, Poochie the dog, and hire Homer to voice him. But when Poochie's premiere episode focuses on him to the exclusion of Itchy and Scratchy's normal violent antics and comes off as annoying and pandering, fans of the show get in an uproar and Homer feels that he's the only one who sees potential in the new character.
== Full Story ==
When the ratings for "Itchy and Scratchy" are dropping, Roger Meyers, Jr. gets a suggestion from Lisa that they should rejuvenate the show with the addition of a new character. They follow the animal enemy chain by going "mouse-cat-dog", and then a new character, Poochie is born. Lisa remarks that new characters are just a desperate effort to boost shows with low ratings, and at this point a character named Roy walks into the living room. It is suggested that he has been living with the Simpsons for some time.
Still, at the encouragement of the rest of his family, Homer auditions for the voice of Poochie, and he gets the job. Homer then meets June Bellamy, who does the voices for Itchy and Scratchy. He makes friends with her when he fires back at nerds and engrossed fans at a comic book convention.
When the debut cartoon premieres, it gets the worst reviews ever. For once this is not Homer's fault, but due to poor writing Poochie prevented the violence that the viewers love, causing everyone to hate Poochie, he overhears the staff saying they should kill him off.
When Roger Meyers, Jr. says that Homer is too much trouble and he could be laid off, June Bellamy comes to his defense by putting her foot down. At the next episode's recording, Homer reads lines that he wrote himself about how no one likes him (Poochie) initially, but they should give him another chance. By the time the episode airs, the company had amateurishly substituted Homer's speech with new dialogue, saying Poochie has returned to his home planet and died along the way. Everyone is excited about Poochie dying except for Homer. He soon gets over his disappointment, Roy declares that he is moving out, Itchy and Scratchy go back to their basics and their ratings are better than ever, but Bart and Lisa soon become bored with the show and ask what else is on. The episode ends with Lisa clicking the TV to static.
==Behind the Laughter==
=== Production ===
The addition of Roy is a reference to a suggestion made by Fox executives that the writers add a new character to the show to live with the Simpsons and "liven up the show". The staff rejected the idea and inserted Roy, without explanation, as a joke. Roy was previously planned to appear in one of the alternate universes of "Time and Punishment".
The original plan for Poochie was that he would be incredibly rich and would enslave Itchy and Scratchy in his gold mine. Itchy and Scratchy would plan to kill Poochie, but fail and die themselves.
Steven Dean Moore's cel with the episode number was lifted up after Poochie (dubbed by Roger Myers) proclaimed, "I have to go now. My planet needs me," according to the audio commentary. He told them how to the lift the cel up. 
=== Reception ===
This episode is often seen as a metaphor for The Simpsons' own issues with quality and trying to keep fresh and relevant as a long-running show.
== Citations ==
fr:Itchy, Scratchy et Poochie
pl:The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
pt:Homer na TV
Category:Episodes
Category:Krusty the Clown Episodes
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Episodes named after a character
Category:Episodes featuring guest stars
Category:Television-themed Episodes
Category:Bart episodes
Category:Lisa episodes
Category:Episodes named after Itchy & Scratchy
Category:Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Category:Written by David S. Cohen
Category:Episodes with a title card
Category:Episodes where Ralph Wiggum cries
Category:Highly Rated Episodes