2 Stupid Dogs was a
show about just that —
Little Dog and
Big Dog, two
canines with a
nose for
trouble and not enough
brains to get out of it. The show was a break from
Hanna-Barbera’s
traditional
style, animated more along the lines of
Ren and Stimpy than
Scooby-Doo. The show also shared Ren and Stimpy’s taste for booger
jokes and
potty humor mingled into
plot-free exercises in unbridled wackiness.
The
premise was
simple: Little Dog was the loudmouth with a deathly
fear of cats, Big Dog was his
mellow companion. A broad-shouldered
human named
Hollywood appeared on most
episodes to antagonize the dogs, uttering his instant
catchphrase, “Isn’t that cute… But it’s WROOOONG!!” The show was filled with throwaway
one-liners that fans have been bandying about ever since: “It tastes like
caca,” “Where’s the
food?” “(
Monkey to
astronaut): I think you’ve been drinking too much
Tang,” and Little Dog’s catchphrase, “
Ball!”
2 Stupid Dogs also brought the
return of a little-known character from the Hanna-Barbera archives:
Secret Squirrel. Each episode of 2 Stupid Dogs featured a
Super Secret Squirrel
segment, spoofing the 1960’s spy craze with the
title squirrel, his
bull superior Chief, and his
Peter Lorre-inspired assistant
Morocco Mole.
2 Stupid Dogs endeared themselves to
viewers with their endlessly hilarious
stupidity. In one episode, Little Dog tried to use a
hand puppet to fool a cat into thinking there was food in another
alley. After a brief conversation with his puppet, Little Dog fooled himself instead, calling the puppet a
liar when the
truth came out.
After two
seasons of
original episodes in syndication, the show moved to
The Cartoon Network.