The Ren & Stimpy Show will return on Comedy Central. It’s been 25 years since Ren and Stimpy ended their runs on Nickelodeon and Spike TV. Now Comedy Central will “reimagine” the series for a new generation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Nickelodeon Animated Studio will develop the project once ViacomCBS hires a creative team. There’s no information available on when the series will debut or for how many episodes it will run. The original Ren & Stimpy Show debuted on Nickelodeon in 1991. This announcement is the latest in a trend of ViacomCBS reviving subversive animated comedies from the 1990s and early 2000s. The company will also resurrect Beavis & Butt-Head and Clone High and ordered the Daria spinoff series, Jodie. Beavis & Butt-Head and Clone High are both headed to Comedy Central.
“I want to thank our partners at Nick Animation as we reimagine these iconic characters with a new creative team,” said Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer for ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group.
“We are excited to reinvent this iconic franchise with a new creative team and our partners at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio,” said ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group president Chris McCarthy. “Ren & Stimpy joins our rapidly expanding roster of adult animation including South Park, Beavis and Butt-Head and Clone High as we continue to reimagine our treasure chest of beloved IP for new generations.”
John Kricfalusi created the series, and it debuted alongside well-remembered fellow Nicktoons Doug and Rugrats. IT followed the adventures of Ren, an emotionally unstable Chihuahua, and Stimpy, a good-natured yet dimwitted cat. The series proved popular, though it drew criticism for subversive and adult content. It ran for five seasons on Nickelodeon. The spinoff Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon ran on Spike, though only three episodes ever aired. A new documentary, Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story, will dig into the show’s legacy, as well as Kricfalusi’s alleged history of sexually predatory behavior towards underage girls.
How do you feel about The Ren & Stimpy Show reboot? Will you be watching? Were you a fan of the original series? What about the other animated revivals recently announced by ViacomCBS? Let us know how you feel about all of this in the comments section.
The original Ren & Stimpy Show is available to stream on CBS All Access, part of the increased content catalog on the streaming service since Viacom and CBS merged into ViacomCBS.
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