The Simpsons has introduced a variety of minor, supporting, and background characters who have become very popular with viewers, among those Itchy and Scratchy, who are only added into certain episodes – and here’s why. Created by Matt Groening, The Simpsons began as a series of shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987 and was developed into a half-hour prime time show three seasons later, making its official debut on Fox in 1989. The series has since become the longest-running American animated series and shows no signs of stopping soon with more than 30 seasons and counting.
The Simpsons is all about the adventures of the title family in the fictional town of Springfield, along with those of other notable residents – both enemies, like Sideshow Bob, and friends of the family, like Milhouse and Barney Gumble. Over the course of three decades, The Simpsons has also introduced a variety of characters that are not at the front and center of the stories nor have a direct connection to the family but have become very popular with viewers. Among those are Itchy and Scratchy, the stars of the most successful cartoon-within-the-show, and who are only added to the series on specific occasions.
These characters are the protagonists of The Itchy & Scratchy Show, an animated TV show and a segment of The Krusty the Clown Show, both Bart and Lisa’s favorite TV shows. Itchy is an anthropomorphic mouse who has an eternal rivalry with Scratchy, an anthropomorphic hapless cat, with the latter always trying to catch the former, but Itchy always comes out as the winner thanks to his very violent ways – it’s basically Tom and Jerry but with a lot of graphic violence. The show is presented as short segments, allowing the audience to watch the clips as if they were among the Springfield audience, but Itchy and Scratchy don’t always appear in The Simpsons, as the writers only add them when needed, either due to time or the topics they want to address in the episode.
In the DVD commentaries of various seasons of The Simpsons, Mike Scully and Al Jean have shared the secret behind the appearances of Itchy and Scratchy in the show. Their cartoons are added when the Simpsons episode needs to be expanded, serving as a filler (though a very entertaining one), but they also come into play when there’s an issue that the writers want to satirize. In the commentary of the episode “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show”, the writers explained that Springfield’s most famous cat and mouse were used as a way to comment on The Simpsons, and these characters have also gotten the writers into trouble. During seasons 5 and 6, when David Mirkin was serving as showrunner, he was asked by Fox to not do more Itchy & Scratchy segments due to how violent they were, so the production team responded with the episode “Itchy & Scratchy Land”, with the network threatening to cut the segment themselves. The episode managed to air as it originally was, but the writers promised not to go over the top with the violence.
Coming up with Itchy & Scratchy segments is also described as “group effort” as they are often difficult for the writers and take too much time, but in the end, it has all been worth the time and sweat as viewers have reacted positively to their strange and blood-filled adventures. Itchy and Scratchy will surely continue to appear in The Simpsons to shed some light on certain topics but with their trademark humor and graphic violence.