The Ren and Stimpy Show/Radar



"Ren: Whaaat? Do I have to do everything around here?
 * Your Mileage May Vary, but the episode "Nurse Stimpy" appears as one huge Unusual Euphemism for various homosexual practices. Some evidence includes:
 * The disturbingly numerous times Stimpy has asked Ren to open his mouth with a mischeviously enthusiastic expression,
 * The "tools" he displays for performing the tests,
 * The hilariously and suggestively exaggerated spoon scene with Double Entendres like "Now swallow every little drop! Isn't it tasty?" and "This is some icky tasting-stuff!" (the latter line would have been less dirty if Ren specified that it was medicine)
 * The sponge bath sequence. ALL. OF. IT. Not only does Ren initially have a negative attitude about it and get extremely defensive about "taking off his fur", insisting on doing it by himself, but after a while he also eventually starts enjoying it. The Ho Yay page that lists this cartoon episode describes the sequence as having the same parallels as a straight, yet bi-curious man "giving into the moment" with a gay man (and the Double Entendres here don't disprove that theory either: "You know, this is not so bad. In fact, I feel better already. You're so good to me, Stimpy. It is embarrassing, though"). The kicker comes when the shocked/amused bystanders (one of which includes that horse who sometimes appears on the show) in the window are exposed to us, and the scene after that, where Ren relapses after reading that the bath made headline news ("Ren Hoek Takes Bubbly Sponge Bath").
 * The picture accompanying said headline. It has Ren laying back in Stimpy's hand, both of them gazing into each other's eyes and generally looking like the cover picture on a dime store romance novel.
 * The fact that someone reported on the sponge bath (and stated that millions watched it, even though there were only five people -- four people and a horse, actually -- looking through the window) in general also counts. It brings to mind sleazy celebrity tabloids, particularly those centered on sex scandals.
 * "Space Madness" has Stimpy smacking Ren's butt with a towel, to which he responds in a very Uke-ish fashion, including saying "Cut it out!" in a utterly wussy voice.
 * Double-subverted in "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen". The titular anthem features the word "hell" censored with an appropriate fart... quite poorly.
 * "Son of Stimpy", obviously. It features Ren acting pretty desperate for a change - Stimpy is standing at the door, calling for his son Stinky. It isn't before Ren points up at the mistletoe hanging over the door, bites his lip and coyly bats his eyelashes, that causes Stimpy to shout at him "THAT'S ALL YOU CAN THINK OF!"
 * Also in "Son of Stimpy" when Stimpy is searching for his lost fart he encounters a store Santa, it shows him ringing a bell for charity donations and he says "Ho Ho Whoa!" with a shocked look on his face and he frighteningly turns around to see Stimpy sniffing his butt.
 * There has been generally plenty of kissing between the two throughout the series, including a completely direct one in "Big House Blues" (with Ren unaware of the person he's smooching, but still...).
 * The Accidental Kiss on "Big House Blues" was cut when it premiered on Nickelodeon (despite having the scene of Ren rushing to the toilet to clean out his mouth in the opening sequence), but was finally shown when Spike TV had their version of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim line-up (which included Ren and Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon, Gary the Rat, Stripperella, and classic episodes of Ren and Stimpy), so it didn't get past the radar for at least a decade.
 * "The Great Outdoors" is another one with plenty of Accidental Innuendo (whether or not it can truly be considered "accidental" is up for debate).
 * The whole skinny-dipping scene: When Stimpy strips of his fur, can you guess what is played in the background?
 * Some of the looks Ren gives Stimpy while he's undressing are also pretty ambiguous...
 * Old Man Hunger, who is portrayed in an all-but-explicitly stated Camp Gay manner, also delivers a suspicious line: "It sure is great to meet other people as comfortable with their nakidity as I!".
 * Old Man Hunger, at one point appears behind a sign that says "No Ball Playing". Subtle.
 * When the same guy starts running towards the lake, We cut to Ren and Stimpy and see their pupils bouncing up and down, suggesting a certain kind of "jiggle physics"
 * When Stimpy asks Ren to light the fire:

Stimpy: You know I'm lost without you.

Somehow, that seems to have convinced him."


 * Not to mention that when Stimpy comes back, it's with a flower garland on his head and skipping in an utterly queer manner.
 * Stimpy has played the role of Ren's housewife several times, in "Fake Dad" or "Ren's Pecs" for instance.
 * In "Haunted House", when, naturally, Ren and Stimpy go to sleep together and Ren cuddles up to Stimpy, he notices his stench and immediately sends him to take a shower. While Stimpy does that, Ren suddenly pops in the door, not feeling uncomfortable at all for entering in the middle of Stimpy's shower, but he also reminds Stimpy not to "forget to wash where the sun don't shiiine!" much too cheerfully to let this line slip.
 * "Sven Hoek" has some questionable moments with Stimpy and Sven. When they're playing hide and seek, or should I say, seek and hide, Stimpy hides in a closet. After Sven finds him, they both sit in Stimpy's rather unimpressively sized litterbox. After a minute of blabbering, Stimpy realizes something and scolds the "cameraman", "Hey! This is private!", closing the closet door afterwards.
 * That scene was cut in reruns recently on Nicktoons.
 * The original version of the episode had a longer version of this scene that was cut in every airing, and was only seen in bootleg versions until it was restored on the DVD release. Sven and Stimpy are heard playing "circus": "I'm a juggler!" "I'm a bearded lady!" "And I'm a sword swallower!"
 * My dinosaur droppings...PAINTED LIKE EASTER EGGS!!!!!
 * Fair amounts of blood can be seen in a few episodes. "Sven Hoek" has Ren imitating (albeit very realistically) "tearing [Stimpy and Sven's] arms out of the sockets" - while he does that, a spray of blood is visible for a brief moment. In "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen", at the end of the song while hats are being thrown into the air, there's a very indiscreet shot of a bleeding intestine flying among the head gear. (complete with a turd flying off the screen) In "The Great Outdoors", Ren smashes an already fed mosquito that landed on his arm, which leaves a pretty nasty bloody stain. During the surgery in "Ren's Pecs", a very generous spray of blood appeared, along with some heavily bloodstained bandages.
 * The very first broadcast episode "Stimpy's Big Day" has Ren angry at Stimpy for entering the jingle contest over his objections. Later, as they're both at opposite ends of the same bed, a contrite-looking Ren haltingly starts to apologize...nope, not at all like an old married couple, nope.
 * In "A Yard Too Far" the duo have to get past a baboon, who is guarding some hog jowls that they want to eat. Near the end, Ren uses a female baboon puppet (who happens to look like Judy Jetson). The baboon falls in love with it and demands they get married. Later, the baboon takes the puppet with Ren's hand still attached and takes it inside his house, hanging a "Do not disturb" sign on the door. We hear the baboon happily grunting and Ren shivering in disgust.
 * In "Farm Hands", at one point Ren is hired to milk a gorilla named Bossy. He doesn't want to do it, and gets Stimpy do it for him. During the process as you can hear the gorilla happily grunting while it rubs Stimpy's head, and he remarks "Hey Ren, I think Bossy likes it, I like it too" and he drinks some of the "milk" and points out how funny it tastes.
 * Also, in that same episode, at one point, while Ren is having spasms as Abner and Ewalt use him as a foot stool, he appears to be flipping them off with both fingers.
 * "For I have a dream that one day, everyone... everywhere... will know the wonders of my nipples!"
 * For clarity, that was the episode where they were door-to-door rubber nipple salesmen. No, it does not make any more sense in context; yes, it WAS done simply to fill an episode with nipple references.
 * Let's not forget what Mr. Horse was probably doing to the walrus that would make him whisper, "Call the police!"
 * On that note, when they went to go sell nipples to the couple, Ren explicitly mentions that they make good hickies.
 * In "It's A Dog's Life" their new owner Granny Cartwright feeds them very old hardened dog food, Stimpy starts choking on his and Ren performs the Heimlich Maneuver, at that moment Granny Carthwright walks in sees this thinking they were doing something else and says "Good Lord, stop that!" and sprays them with a hose and says "You should be ashamed of yourselves, and on a Sunday too!"
 * In "Fake Dad" Ren has finally had enough of Kowalski's bad behavior so he decides to spank him with a giant spoon, once he pulls his pants down Ren has a surprised then shocked look, he then starts crying and tells Kowalski to pull them back up.
 * Kowalski is also reading (or attempting to) one of Ren's books called "Prison Love".
 * In "I Was a Teenage Stimpy" near the beginning when Stimpy is going through puberty it is strongly implied that Ren thinks that Stimpy is masturbating in the bathroom and Ren's "Husk" magazine for the adult corn lover, later when Stimpy opens the magazine a page unfolds like a centerfold model.
 * In "Prehistoric Stimpy" when Wilbur Cobb shows off the dinosaur fossils one of them is labeled "Homo Gigantis Erectus", and the kids who are part of the tour group have very shocked reactions to it.
 * In "Powdered Toast Man" the joke of the President getting caught in his zipper while kneeling in pain over a toilet, if you've seen "There's Something About Mary" you might know what's happening here.
 * Also, the visual innuendo of Powdered Toast Man roasting a weenie and PTM's lovely assistant roasting a melted marshmallow during the romantic ending.
 * In a stark contrast of what Nickelodeon censors deem is appropriate compared to what isn't, the reruns of this episode cut the part where Powdered Toast Man uses the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence as kindling for the fire and all appearances of The Pope (who was voiced by Frank Zappa).
 * In "A Scooter For Yaksmas" look carefully at Stimpy's Stinky Wizzleteats clock, he has a big smile on his face with shifty eyes and he has two pink pendulums hanging from his crotch area.