The Simpsons Season 8, Episode 14, “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show,” temporarily introduced the titular dog to the long-running animated series. Now, former showrunner Josh Weinstein has revealed that a Fox executive’s terrible suggestion is what led to Poochie’s creation.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Weinstein explained how Poochie came to be, saying, “One of the origins was that Fox was not allowed to interfere with the show, but as a courtesy, [co-showrunner Bill Oakley] and I would meet yearly with the president and top executives. And at one point, someone suggested that we add another family member to the show, a teenager. […] And we were like, ‘That smacks of desperation.’ We were polite. They wanted to help. But we just ignored them.” In a subsequent comment, Oakley confirmed Weinstein’s story, though he declined to name the executive.
As for the dog himself, writer David X. Cohen confirmed later in the interview that fellow writer Richard Appel came up with the name for Poochie. “We were trying to think of a name for the dog,” Cohen said, “and it took about one second for Rich to say ‘Poochie.’ Everyone was like, ‘OK.’ And that is the exact scene within the episode.”
“The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show” saw executives deciding to update the in-world Itchy & Scratchy Show by adding a cool cartoon dog. Voiced by Homer Simpson, the character was the subject of massive critique and was eventually removed from the show. In order to ensure the character would not return to the Itchy & Scratchy Show, Poochie died on his way back to his home planet. Still, The Simpsons itself does make periodic references to the character.
Created by Matt Groening, the Simpsons family were originally part of a series of shorts on The Tracey Ulman Show. Eventually, the dysfunctional family got their own series. Debuting in 1989, The Simpsons has run for a record-breaking 33 seasons and 717 episodes and won numerous high-profile awards. There have also been numerous films, video games and other media based on the property. At the time of writing, The Simpsons has been renewed through Season 34.
The Simpsons follows a family — Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie — living in Springfield, a town in an undisclosed location in the United States. Generally, the episodes are one-offs that explore the wacky goings on in Springfield and the lives of the show’s titular family. That being said, the show does have at least some continuity between episodes.
The next episode of The Simpsons Season 33, “Pixelated and Afraid,” is slated to debut on Feb. 27. Previous seasons of the show are available on streaming and home media.
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