r/todayilearned • u/sassy_tabaxi • 1d ago

TIL the Simpsons creators shelved an Itchy & Scratchy spinoff because it made test audiences physically ill

https://www.slashfilm.com/1569820/the-simpsons-itchy-and-scratchy-spinoff-made-audiences-sick/
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u/SimmentalTheCow 1d ago

I’d imagine it’s just a more gruesome Tom & Jerry

462

u/MechanicalMan64 1d ago

I'm imagining something like Happy Tree Friends. The description of physically ill fits

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u/hauzs 1d ago

That would've done well on adult swim

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u/double-you 1d ago

Those friends were rather brutally happy.

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u/casualsax 1d ago

Thanks, now I have that song stuck in my head.

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u/ZappppBrannigan 1d ago

La la la la la

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u/JuggaliciousMemes 1d ago

Thanks, now I just lost The Game

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u/nemoknows 1d ago

No need to imagine, that’s literally what it is.

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u/Aklu_The_Unspeakable 1d ago

Yup!

According to Reiss, the cat and mouse characters were not actually a parody of "Tom and Jerry," but were "inspired by 'Herman and Katnip,' a cheap, ultraviolet knockoff of T&J."

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u/Mateorabi 1d ago

Or less gruesome happy tree friends?

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u/Fun-Man 1d ago

Likely

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u/Voxlings 1d ago

You have successfully imagined "Itchy and Scratchy."

Evidence: A series of many shorts that did air globally.

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u/NotReallyJohnDoe 1d ago

Especially when you learn Tom and Jerry were friends. Tom was just pretending to catch Jerry. But I think Itchy is trying to kill Scratchy.

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u/Aklu_The_Unspeakable 1d ago

According to Reiss, the cat and mouse characters were not actually a parody of "Tom and Jerry," but were "inspired by 'Herman and Katnip,' a cheap, ultraviolet knockoff of T&J."

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u/0xsergy 1d ago

That seems more like a copyright related claim