The Ren And Stimpy Show Forum

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Retrology
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The Ren And Stimpy Show Forum

Postby Retrology » February 15th, 2016, 2:20 am

As an adult in his early 20s, rare is it that I sit down and watch "kids shows" these days. Perhaps my favorite is the original Ren and Stimpy show.

I'm a diehard fan of the original series. What makes it so great is that you appreciate it a lot more as an adult, and the episodes get better with every view. The show was often times very clever (such as the ending to Mad Dog Hoek where Stimpy satires the WWE), and helped pave the way for adult oriented cartoons.

The animation is fantastic, even to this day. Thousands of facial expressions, nothing looks the same. Perhaps my favorite episode is Stimpy's Fan Club, where Ren nearly kills his best friend over fan letter; like many other instances in the show's run, R&S got away with a LOT back in the day.

Of course, the psychological aspects truly stand out, and the show's absurd lack of continuity made it even funnier to watch.

Last thing, I think the Games episode are underrated. Yes, there were some awful episodes (looking at you "It's a Dog's Life"), but also many great ones (Abe Divided, Insomniac Ren, Terminal Stimpy, Hermit Ren, Pixie King, Superstitious Stimpy, Bell Hops, Cartoon Show, etc). It's a shame this era has been given a bad rap, considering the mess that was Adult Party Cartoon.

Anyway, the show is timeless, funny, clever, relatable, and a work of art.

Thoughts?

SigSauerLover
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Re: The Ren And Stimpy Show Forum

Postby SigSauerLover » February 15th, 2016, 12:18 pm

I'd occasionally watch it back in the 90's when I was in my 20's, but I was more of a Rocko's Modern life kind of guy.

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LuckyMan
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Re: The Ren And Stimpy Show Forum

Postby LuckyMan » February 15th, 2016, 1:52 pm

I'm a big fan of the show, too, but only the first two seasons. After John K. left, I feel the quality of the show went way down.

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Retrology
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Re: The Ren And Stimpy Show Forum

Postby Retrology » February 15th, 2016, 2:27 pm

LuckyMan wrote:I'm a big fan of the show, too, but only the first two seasons. After John K. left, I feel the quality of the show went way down.


Eh, imo it wasn't as great as the first 2 seasons, and lost some of the psychological and emotional aspects, but there were still many quality episodes. The Games era gets a mixed reaction, but I'm one of those who enjoys a big aspect of it.

Just not Cheese Rush Days or It's a Dog's Life.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: The Ren And Stimpy Show Forum

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 16th, 2016, 7:55 pm

Yeah I got all the Ren and Stimpy's on DVD. Thanks for reminding me - I'll have to pull them out the next late night after I've had a few beers.

Two of my favorite characters are Mr. Horse and Powdered Toastman.

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Retrology
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Re: The Ren And Stimpy Show Forum

Postby Retrology » February 17th, 2016, 9:04 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:Yeah I got all the Ren and Stimpy's on DVD. Thanks for reminding me - I'll have to pull them out the next late night after I've had a few beers.



You literally aren't the only one who's watched Ren & Stimpy after some beers *points to self*. That's the best time to watch the show (though it's pretty great sober as well).

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Retrology
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Re: The Ren And Stimpy Show Forum

Postby Retrology » April 25th, 2016, 3:10 pm

I really don't think this show has gotten the universal respect it deserved. Sure, it's still critically acclaimed to this day, but there's still audiences who believe it to be stupid, mindless TV.

On the surface, it is, but looking a bit deeper it's actually a really smart, creative, and witty show. I'm amazed at 1) How they were able to get away with the jokes/material covered/how they were covered on a kids network, 2) How it near single handedly revived TV animation and threw out every cliche passed down in history at the time, 3) How I'm a "grown up" and it appeals to me even more than it did when I was a kid.

It's a show I hold dear to me not just because it's funny as hell, but because it's more relatable than the average show. Isolation, lust, murder, madness, paranoia, PTSD ("In The Army"), acceptance, understanding, jealousy, and greed are several of the topics presented by the show, and they're presented really well without being in your face. The sweeter moments in the show (Son of Stimpy) manage to be heartwarming without being eye rolling, which is incredible.

I apologize about the long comment, I just wanted to dive deeper into how much Ren and Stimpy means to me. Something about it just connects to me in a way few shows can.


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