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Television Media

Ren and Stimpy (And John K) Returning? 199

Posted by CmdrTaco from the you-want-my-ice-cream-bar dept.
An Anonymous reader writes "The comedy duo Ren and Stimpy will be returning to our TV screens on TNN. Seems John Kricfalusi, the creator of Ren and Stimpy, has inked a deal with TNN to show old episodes, new episodes and at least one never release episode which Nickelodeon squashed because it was too violent." Here's hoping that its true- I wonder if John K will reclaim Ren's voice from Billy West.
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Ren and Stimpy (And John K) Returning? More

Ren and Stimpy (And John K) Returning?

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  • will it have the ticker at the bottom. Such an amazing *feature*
  • Yes, the network that puts a nasty black bar on the bottom of the screen during programming. Why is it that TNN keeps getting all the good shows? Star Trek, and now Ren and Stimpy?


    I wrote to them a few times explaining how annoying that black bar is, but never got replies. There was even a campaign on usenet to send them emails but that apparently didn't work either.


    Until they stop with the freaking black bars, don't count on me watching their channel. Sorry.

    • TNN gets shows like Ren & Stimpy & Star Trek because they have shitloads of money.

      The network forked out a reported fee of at least $364 million for the cable rights to three "Star Trek" TV series from the 1980s and '90s, as well as five Trek movies.
      • The network forked out a reported fee of at least $364 million for the cable rights to three "Star Trek" TV series from the 1980s and '90s, as well as five Trek movies.

        The level of disbelief here when I heard that Sci Fi had been outbid by TNN for Star Trek was pretty high. I went out and confirmed the story in a couple of places - I couldn't believe Star Trek would be shown by the same channel that was showing Arena Football and Secrets of the Hunt....
        • TNN is attempting to broaden their audience [tennessean.com] (and fatten their wallets). It was created as "The Nashville Network," but changed its name to "The National Network", and started picking up more mainstream shows like Trek and Ren & Stimpy in an effort to broaden its appeal without completely obliterating its brand identity:

          The changes come four months after Viacom Co., parent of MTV Networks, formalized its purchase of TNN's parent, CBS Inc., for roughly $50 billion.

          Yesterday, Scannell made his first-ever trip to Nashville, meeting with employees for about an hour and 45 minutes. Hall began the meeting with an emotional farewell.

          "There's people there I've been with for over 30 years," Hall said afterward. "It's like a big family. ... There should be a lot of pride in what they've done."

          Nickelodeon veteran Diane Robina was named general manager and will run TNN's day-to-day operations from New York. Brian Hughes, senior vice president for programming, will remain in Nashville.

          Since May, CMT, TNN's all-country-music sibling, has been run from New York by VH-1 executives. CMT will see no changes and will not pick up programming TNN discards, officials said yesterday.

          TNN will unveil new, original programs next year, including movies and reality-based shows. By 2005, Scannell said, 50% of TNN content will be original.

          TNN also will increase its ties to CBS, the only major broadcast network without a news or sports cable companion. In March, TNN may broadcast some NCAA tournament games, Robina said.

          Some changes at TNN will be instant. A new logo will make its debut next week. And one of cable's highest rated programs -- the World Wrestling Federation's Raw Is War -- will switch to TNN, beginning Monday at 8 p.m. A show that will not be renewed is "Crashed", a sitcom one about the travails of bearded computer nerds who live in their parents' basements and pine over their imaginary girlfriends.

          While many things will change, especially on weekdays, TNN will retain a few weekend local favorites, including the weekly live broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry and popular outdoor programs. Arena football games will return next year as well.
      • TNN is owned by Viacom, the owners of cable networks like Nickeldeon, MTV/VH1, and CBS. Star Trek is owned by Paramount, which is a subsidary of Viacom. You guess it, Viacom is a media giant like AOL Time Warner and News Corp.
      • Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that TNN is also owned by Viacom which is a key thing I missed on my previous post.
    • Up here in igloo land (Canada), if TNN doesn't have the rights/permission (money/incentive) to broadcast up here...all we get is the local cable/satellite blackout screen.

      You guys think you have it bad...look into Canada's CRTC [crtc.gc.ca] (our local government oppression office :P). I'd be really happy to see that black bar...
    • Its just a prelude to future banner ads, since we all fastforward thru commercials.

      Its not going away, in time all tv will have it, so best get used to it now and quit your bitchin..

      Lately other cable channels are trying it too, ive noticed...

      • Great...so in order to increase ad revenue they will distort and deform the TV picture. It won't be so bad when everything is filmed wide (and I can just hit "zoom" on my TV), but Star Trek looks awful with everything so squashed.
        • my digital cable co doesnt give use TNN (though we have every available channel).....

          let me get this straight.... this is not letterboxing for widescreen format movies/tv show (a few TV shows are widescreen now, but only to HDTV feeds) . wow that's insane. i think i would rather they frame the whole screen and keep the proper aspect ratio. banner ads on tv shows is going to be really crazy. i have a feeling they wont do it to eliminate TV commercials either, eh? wait.... what if there is a Sprint commercial and an AT&T banner ad? this sounds like a nightmare. every thing we watch will be like headline news. AGH! it's one thing to underline news with other news, stocks and weather, but to banner Hogan's Heroes with soap ads.... strange, really strange.
    • huh, that black bar bothered me for about 5 minutes when they unvieled the "new TNN" (and had that week long 24 hours a day STNG...drooooool) but I haven't even noticed it since then.

      I wasn't even aware that it bothered people, it's not like it is blinking all of the time or something...

  • You can see it already on cable or DSS (Score:3, Informative)

    by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Sunday June 30, 2002 @12:20PM (#3796078) Homepage
    Ren & Stimpy [lysator.liu.se] can be seen via cable TV or satellite. It airs on Nickelodeon (aka SNICK on Saturday nights) Saturday evening at 9 PM (Pacific/Eastern). It also airs Sunday mornings at 11 AM (Pacific/Eastern), though it appears that this time slot will continue with reruns. MTV is also airing the second season, apparently, but no hard information has reached this author. MTV showings are inferior to the showing on Nick, since they stick the MTV logo on the lower right corner and have more commercials. (By the way, SNICK has also started adding their own logos to each cartoon.) MTV also compresses the audio badly and doesn't start the show on time. Incidentally, MTV Networks, Inc., owns Nick. Apparently MTV is owned in large part by Viacom. On the marathon of January 1993, MTV didn't have the logo but edited the music of "Svën Höek" and most show's order of cartoons.

    MTV has random airings of the show (see your local television book for times if any), and Nick had "Nick-Mania" weekend with 8 of the best Ren And Stimpys during the afternoon. Nick Mania for the weekend of May 8 and 9 had "SNICK Mania" so that R&S will be played two times, once for each SNICK. No more mass airings have been planned, but R&S were participants in the Slime Time Sweepstakes.

  • :-D (Score:1)

    by mqduck ( 232646 )
    Thank you, god almighty, for this, after so many years. *Sniff* I'm beginning to tear up. And maybe now it'll do stuff even "worse" than John K. tried before, seeing as it won't be on a "kids" channel.

    -Jeff

    P.S. Go watch the music video to "Fuck Her Gently" by Tenacious D.

  • What about Rocko? (Score:2, Informative)

    by xenoweeno ( 246136 )
    Now if only they'd bring back Rocko's Modern Life, fixing the censored parts [voyager.net], too.
  • I have been waiting for years, in vain thought i, for this event. What the hell ever possessed MTV to get rid of this show?!?! It's one of the best cartoons ever, it has creativity, style, and content. I'm sure that Ren & Stimpy will get massive ratings since all the kids that grew up on it are coming home from their 9ta5s and watching all the horrible bs that passes for entertainment these days. Well, MTV, in the immortal words of Ween "You Fncked Up!!! You Bitch!!! You really fncked up!!!!!!"

    jaymz168

    • Re:OMFG!!!!!!! (Score:2, Interesting)

      by heptapod ( 243146 )
      John K. was the reason why Ren and Stimpy was no longer aired on television. Halfway through Ren and Stimpy's run he started to butt heads with Nickelodeon management because of the content of the cartoon and more importantly the fact he was taking forever to create new episodes. That's why he no longer did Ren's voice and was only listed as a creator in the credits.
      Ren and Stimpy was funny for the first few episodes but one would realize that John K. only had a few good ideas. The only shows I've seen that "ripped off" Ren and Stimpy have been Nickelodeon cartoons. Like the neanderthal, Ren and Stimpy were a dead-end.

  • wait, only expected? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by GersonK ( 541726 )
    From the article:
    TNN is expected to bring back series creator John Kricfalusi

    It sounds like they may do new shows without him. Ouch. And if he does return, I'd be surprised if he didn't do Ren's voice. I'd be more worried that he wouldn't ask Billy West back to do the voice of Stimpy, on account of West sticking with Nick.

  • Last year [techtv.com] Icebox.com signed a three-year deal with John Kricfalusi (creator of Ren & Stimpy). It was for three new series by John K, that term (until 2003!) Icebox will be the exclusive Web home for content generated by Spumco (www.spumco.com), John K's animation studio.

  • HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Qui-Gon ( 62090 ) on Sunday June 30, 2002 @12:29PM (#3796119) Homepage Journal
    Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!
  • No sir, I don't like it...err, actually i do, i like it very much.
  • pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!

    ---gralem
  • Now all TNN needs is to get Beavis and Butthead, get rid of that annoying black bar and it would be the only channel I'd watch.
    • Does TNN play anything besides star trek marathons?
      • Does TNN play anything besides star trek marathons?

        Now, I know that it seems like all TNN airs are Star Trek: TNG marathons, but take heart! The future is bringing major changes as TNN acquires the rights to other programming.

        Stay tuned next year for marathons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and in 2006 be ready for marathons of Star Trek: Voyager.

        So don't worry - TNN's not all Star Trek: TNG ;-)

      • Yeah, cut versions of movies, the A-Team, Miami Vice and of course, Wrassling by Vince McMahon. Now you know you're dealing with a classy channel.
    • Beavis & Butt-Head IS coming to TNN.

      Also, the Spumco R&S episodes TNN will be showing will be restored to "director's cut" status. And "Man's Best Friend," the legendary "lost R&S episode" will get its broadcast premiere when R&S returns to the air on TNN.

      Spumco has been tapped for 9 new episodes. They will probably be produced in Canada.

      This is really kick-ass news, because September will mark the 10th anniversary of when Nickelodeon basically removed the creators of R&S from their creation.

      Justice, man...justice.
  • I really never saw the value on this serie? What is that kicks you? The design? The dialog? The "violence"? The nonsense?

    Is there any originality on this serie?Where?

    • Re:Ren & Stimpy? Why? (Score:2, Informative)

      by ebh ( 116526 )
      That animation style (if not the content) was the prototype for half the cartoons on TV today, including SpongeBob. (The first time I stumbled onto SpongeBob, my instant reaction was, "Is John K. doing another series?")
    • You do realize that this show is 10 years old, right?

      It was very original when it came out, for the first season, anyway.

      After John K. was fired/left the show it went downhill very, very quickly. It didn't so much go downhill as it just dropped off a cliff, actually.

      I suspect a lot of the people here complaining about it saw later episodes, from the time when the new writers realized they couldn't be funny, so they just went for the five year old gross out humor (which the good episodes had, but they didn't rely on it).

      However, if you can watch "Space Madness" and not laugh your ass off, there is something horribly wrong with your brain and you should probably have it removed.
    • I've gotta agree, The only thing I've ever seen that I liked of Ren/Stimpy was the log song.

      Other than that I think it's a pretty stupid cartoon show, I'd much rather they brought back D&D
    • If you don't get it then you don't get it. Move along, nothing for you here. Try the Disney channel.
  • The guy who does the voices of Ren and Stimpy (Billy West?) is also the voice for Fry in Futurama.

    Part of me wonders if we messed up our petition to get Futurama back and got Ren and Stimpy back instead. You eeeeeeeeeeeeediots!

    • Re:*Grumbles* (Score:2, Informative)

      by goldfndr ( 97724 )
      He does lots of other shows [imdb.com] too.
    • John K. did the voice of Ren Hoek.
      Billy West did the voice of Stimpy.

      That is, John K. did the voice of Ren Hoek up until Nickelodeon seized R&S from Spumco and set up a company-controlled production team, Games Animation, to churn out fake R&S episodes. Billy West originally promised Spumco he'd stand with them against Nickelodeon, then basically stabbed his co-workers in the back when he was lured to Games Animation.

      If you've ever seen a Games Animation Ren & Stimpy episode, you know how badly Billy West did Ren.
  • We talked to two other retired members of MTV's production team, who insisted on anonymity.

    Man #1: Yeah, it was great, they'd be all like [wren voice] "Space Madness," and then, all the chicks watching would go crazy and they'd flash their boobs. I'd totally score! Heh heh, heh heh.
    Man #2: Shut up, fart knocker, that's not what happened. [Smacks other interviewee in the back of the head.] Cause, like, it's on Kid's TV and kids don't have boobs. Heh heh, heh heh.
    Man #1: Oh yeah. [Joins in laughter.]
  • cartoons will ruin your mind?

    Look what it's done to your brain! [tripod.com]

  • I saw the title of this story and thought that it was a John Katz article ... whew ;)
    • I saw the title of this story and thought that it was a John Katz article ...
      (You can block John Katz via preferences)

      When I saw this article, my first thought was "Hey- maybe Mr. Katz is going away!"

      For one fleeting moment, I was filled with glee..
  • Has anybody seen Boo Boo Runs Wild or the Jetsons that were on adult swim? I loved George Liquor and Jimmy the Idiotboy but his cartoon network hannah barbara shorts are truly unfunny. I haven't had a chance to see The Ripping Friends but I hope if he does commit to newer episodes he actually injects some humor into them.
  • IMHO, without a doubt the best animated and written episode ever, beating even Space Madness and The Happy Helmet. The final shot of the musical number with all the woodland creatures singing, and a disembodied large intestine flying up into the air with a turd shooting out of one end had me clutching my stomach in pain from the laughter.

  • HOLY JEEZ YES! (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Ren and Stimpy are like the red-headed stepchildren of Cartoons. I once read an interview where Kricfalusi described working on the Heathcliff animated cartoon series in his early days of animation. He said "It was the worst years of my life...Bad pay, shitty animation...No wonder they moved these things to korea where the sweatshop labor could actually be done in a suitable location." or something to that effect. It's no wonder Kricfalusi is so disenfranchised with TV animation. Look what Nick did to him.
  • And in the process John K will be opening SpumCo North in Ottawa, Ontario. We have a goodly number of animators up here and one of my buddy has already worked with John K on the Ripping Friends and will be working on the new R&S.
    • John K. is Canadian, and grew up in Ontario. This is not a "runaway production" because John is actually coming home to do this.

      Hopefully people like Bob Jaques and Karen Armstrong will be working on the new R&S episodes...they rock.
  • that nick' played the show in the 1st place.

    but thats not to say im not gald its gonna be back on cause i am.

  • Yet again... (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by Ubi_UK ( 451829 )
    I've said it before and I'll say it again:

    When a post concerns something that is only applicable to the US it should:
    a) be filed under 'US'
    b) at least *mention* the topic concerns only the US.

    Now mod me down as anti-american flamebait or whatever. I've got karma to burn for this.

    • Re:Yet again... (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by daeley ( 126313 )
      When a post concerns something that is only applicable to the US it should:
      a) be filed under 'US'
      b) at least *mention* the topic concerns only the US.

      To quote Ren: "Get outside! It's too nice a day to be stupid indoors!!"
  • I loved Ren and Stimpy "back in the day". One of their episodes was the basis for naming my website, Missing Left Socks [missingleftsocks.com]. As for the people that won't watch it because of the black bar at the bottom of the screen -- why is it they have no problem watching letterbox movies? It is just rediculous.

    • The difference is simple:

      In the case of letterbox movies, the black bars are there because there was nothing there in the original film.

      In the case of TNN's showings, it appears from other comments (I've never watched that channel myself) that it covers up picture that was in the original broadcast.
    • The problem with the black bar is that they squeeze the picture rather than just layering the bar over the frame (at least on ST:TNG). When I have to watch captain picard this way it becomes unbearable and I would just rather get out the DVD.
    • I say fsck the people who won't watch TNN because of the bar.

      They have some great shows, of course TNG.. but other ones I hate to admit like Kate & Alley.

      I thought it was cool that on an episode talking about college they were giving the acceptance rates at the bottom...

      ...knowledge is cool.

  • woogida! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by KanSer ( 558891 ) on Sunday June 30, 2002 @01:24PM (#3796303)
    "The little critters of nature, they don't know that they're ugly. That's
    very funny. A fly marrying a bumblebee. I told you I'd shoot. But you
    didn't believe me! Why didn't you believe me?!"
    --Stinky Wizzleteeth

    -

    It's so great to see one of my favorite shows of all time come back. They were pure genius and few things make me laugh as hard.

    Incidentally, I like the blackbar on TNN, but I'm a big news junkie so I'm completely used to my "Tickers" and such. It's not so bad to go to that channel and know EXACTLY what is happening. I like that, and as long as people like me continue to like it, it isn't leaving.

    ... As for people worrying about TNN being an "evil empire", you are just nucking futs. TNN has ditched it's souther redneck programming because it realises what we want to watch. It's programming is just getting better and better and it is simply poising itself to kick some ass simply because they listen to people and not fucking retarded focus groups. If anything, Nickelodeon are the assholes who fired John K, and continued to try and ruin the show. Look at the shit they run now, think back 5 years and remember how cool the station used to be.

    TNN is quickly becoming one of my favorite channels. If only they would ditch Wrestling for some gaming news like that latenight TBS show. (Pacific time zone rules, its on at 11:00 :D)
  • I thought for a minute that JonKatz was returning!
  • If you're Canadian and you have cable or sattelite you can watch it at 12 AM weekdays on Teletoon.

    If you're like me and have a dish, you can watch it at 9 PM then again at 12 AM (Gotta love getting both Teletoon West and Teletoon East).

    Does anyone know if these uncensored or new episodes made it to Teletoon?

  • Memories (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Trekie8472 ( 517426 )
    Ren and Stimpy provided fodder for an entire age demographic's elementary school dirty jokes. I count myself as one of those few. I still think back to the days of "Don't Pee on the Electric Fence" and "You iideot!" follwed by a violent slap. I'm suprised Nickelodeon allowed the show to even air. Godspeed Ren and Stimpy.
  • Damn! Where did my left sock go?
  • hmm....
    hmm....
    No Sir, I didnt like it.

  • I call for Ren and Stimpy in the movie theater.

    Who's in?

  • "You Seeck little monkey!"

    - Ren Hoek

    ps - amazing JohnK trivia: he used to date the divine Eleanor Blake - a.k.a. April March.

  • more then write lame movie reviews for slashdot?

    What is this world coming to?

    What you mean its not our beloved JonKatz [slashdot.org], you mean there are more then 2 John Ks?

    Damnit be more clear in the message summary.
  • VH1 showed "Ren's Evil Half" (or whatever) but they won't show "Man's Best Friend"?

    VH1 was showing episodes for a few months but then just stopped. NIK was showing them, but they never aired a single episode when they said they were going to.
  • Well well. Nice to see that John K is moving back on the scene. Cartoon Network viewers will remember his takes on the Jetsons and Flintstones, which were insane. Yep, he's still got it. And now that TNN wants to be racy and outlandish (thank the maker, the country theme sucked), it'd be nice to see it back on TV. New episodes, anyone?

    Nick's demographic is the kiddies. TNN wants the X-ers and older teens. Ren and Stimpy was kids TV from a very different (Pre-Politically Correct) era. Now it's considered in the "Adult Swim" vein, almost Robert Smeigel-ish in nature. Perfect for TNN, since the audience that grew up laughing at John K's sick humor is now their target demographic.

    Now all they need to do is pull GI Joe and Transformers (pre movie) out of mothballs and run those bad boys. I don't care what network, what time slot. Thems was some bad ass cartoons, and they never once made me want to pick up a gun...

  • Ok, I think TNN is trying to setup a competitor to Cartoon Networks Adult Swim, and have unedited Ren and Stimpy be the showcase piece for it. Great, but dont forget that Viacom already has another great cartoon on Nickelodeon that sorely needs a switch to a more adult audience, and more freedom for its creators, Invader Zim. Take it off of Nick's hands, and let TNN have its shot with it, please.
  • Informative: +2 Overated: -1 Underrated: +3 Flamebait: -1 Off-Topic: -237
  • Ren and stimpy turned into a pile of just trying to be disgusting when John left, before that the episodes were actually humourous.

    Its sad to see all the shows in the genre and I'll never watch because they wanna be gross and stupid, but have nothin cool in em.

    If ren and stimpy come back, they need episodes of quality that can stand to par with stayput socks(happy happy joy joy), and the robin hood one.

    Random slop may get you some money before your show dies off, like the last 6-10 episodes.... But if you want to make a show, try and make everyone the best you can, or you're not doing yourself or the audience justice.
  • Why don't the content owners of Ren & Stimpy take a page from Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and The Simpsons and start releasing Ren & Stimpy seasons on DVD? Hell, they even released The Transformers Season 1 on DVD and it seemed to be selling pretty well on Amazon.

    Like a lot of people here on Slashdot, I watched Ren & Stimpy as a young teenager and it was the first show that I really enjoyed that I couldn't explain. It was sort of the modern art of Nickelodeon cartoons. There is something there you like and you're not completely sure why because you don't completely get it. But you end up laughing yourself off the couch.
  • I rented "Nothing but Shorts" (50 minutes of R&S short spots) the other night and had a laugh, and it was so blindingly obvious which footage was "new" and what was "original". Not just the voices (which were obvious), but the content and affectations were all wrong in the "new" footage. Stimpy had so much more odd facial expression, really out of place kinda stuff. And Ren's actions were far more strange.

    Eh, hopefully the "NEW new" series will be more like the old stuff.

  • Invader Zim? (Score:2, Informative)

    by luphus ( 201537 )
    Okay, I'm kind of surprised that I've seen no Invader Zim related comments so far. It too was an extremely fine quality show that got axed by Nickelodeon, although it never belonged on that network in the first place. Anyone ever read Johnny the Homicidal Maniac? Same author ;) Anywho, R&S completely kicked ass - Kilted Yacksman, The history eraser button, space madness, don't whiz on the electric fence, and powdered toast man were some of my favorite episodes, just to name a handful :)
  • I thank R&S for adding "OH STINKY!" to my more inappropriate comments.

    I also love saying to my wife during breakfast in my best Stimpy voice "And what's inside? A PRRIIIIZZE!" as I open the cereal box.

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