In an era where R-rated movies like “Police Academy,” “Rambo,” and “The Toxic Avenger” received kid-friendly Saturday morning TV adaptations, it’s probably not shocking that some original properties that took wing during Nickelodeon’s early days were adventuresome too. While shows like “Rugrats” and “Doug” appealed to audiences of all ages, “Rocco’s Modern Life” called out to an older audience — and then there was the fearlessly gross and wild “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” which lacked anything resembling a moral center, let alone an adult on the playing field. It definitely felt directed at teenagers, but it became wildly popular among kids and adults alike from its very first airing in 1991. This was despite how the show’s content was frequently inappropriate for children.

Anarchic, knowing, violent, a little perverse, and always nonsensical, “Ren & Stimpy” had a long run despite parental protests. One episode was even banned, some forms of religious imagery were edited out of episodes, and some lines of dialogue were censored for later airing. But after five seasons, even a cult classic might run out of steam. In 1996, the series came to an end years after executive shuffling disrupted the last few seasons.

The shuffling involved Nickelodeon terminating series creator John Kricfalusi ‘s contract in 1993. Years of bad blood between the network and Kricfalusi — which required him to work with one of their story editors — resulted in disaster. Kricfalusi proved dilatory with episode delivery, increasing the show’s budget. And on Kricfalusi’s side of the fence, Nickelodeon’s tendency to stifle and censor material drove him wild. That meant that no one on either side was talking by the time the show forged on under new producer Bob Camp, Kricfalusi’s ex-partner. 

Nickelodeon also moved production of the show in-house. Unfortunately, audiences could feel the shift in quality between seasons, and some blamed Billy West for stepping in for Kricfalusi as Ren, an actor replacement that some claimed ruined the show. But “Ren & Stimpy” has had a vivid afterlife in other places and has had a revival run — and is set to explode all over again with a fresh run of episodes.

“The Ren & Stimpy Show,” like the things living in Ren Hoeck’s nose, refuses to die. As it’s been long popular on college campuses, Viacom moved reruns of the show to networks that appealed to teenagers and young adults. First, “Ren & Stimpy” found a natural secondary home on MTV, where teenagers and adults could binge episodes of the show between airings of “Beavis and Butt-Head.” But by the time 2003 rolled around, the show was ready for a full-out continuation.

“Ren & Stimpy ‘Adult Party Cartoon'” was born as an attempt to create a fully uncensored, freewheeling version of the program that was directed at the adults who watched the original “Ren & Stimpy.” To wit: In the new show, Ren (John Kricfalusi) and Stimpy (Eric Bauza) are portrayed as an unhappily married couple, with Stimpy often begging Ren for sex. 

Intended to lead off a packed animation block for Spike TV, “Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon” suffered the same fate as “Stripparella” and “Gary the Rat” in being quickly canceled and disappearing from the cultural zeitgeist. Fortunately, the original “Ren & Stimpy” is such a thing of legend that its reputation has survived this ignominy, and as of early 2024, re-runs were still airing in some of Comedy Central’s foreign markets. Furthermore, the show will also be followed by a second sequel attempt.

Though “Ren & Stimpy: ‘Adult Party Cartoon'” failed, it looks like the original “Ren & Stimpy” is about to get a fresh reboot. In the wake of the success of the Paramount+ refurb of “Beavis and Butt-Head,” “Ren & Stimpy” joined a whole bunch of other mid-’90s cartoons in receiving the remake treatment. Announced in 2020, the series has been pegged to air on Comedy Central. Unlike the “Daria” spin-off “Jodie” greenlit at the same time — which was then turned into a TV movie and later dropped by the network — the fate of the new “Ren & Stimpy” is more ambiguous. 

There will, again, be some changes at the top of the production food chain. Due to the sexual harassment and grooming allegations lodged against John Kricfalusi, he will not be participating in the show in any way, shape or form. Reinvolved in the series is former “Howard Stern Show” employee and voiceover acting legend Billy West, who will be back to voice both Ren and Stimpy, as he did for the latter seasons after Kricfalusi was ousted in 1993 and stopped voicing Ren. The show has endured a temporary production setback, but West says it’s still set to roll. Without any further word regarding a production start date, though, it’s floating in limbo — like one of Stimpy’s ghost farts. Hopefully, the scent it leaves behind is much sweeter than the one “Adult Cartoon Party” left floating in the air.

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