The Itchy & Scratchy Show is an animated TV show and a segment of The Krusty the Clown Show on KBBL-TV. The show involves a anthropomorphic mouse named Itchy and a anthropomorphic cat named Scratchy attempting to kill each other, though Itchy kills Scratchy in every cartoon except for one episode. The show contains a huge amount of blood and gore and cartoon violence, unlike Tom and Jerry, which only contained mild slapstick violence.
Chester Lampwick invented Itchy in the year 1919 and owns the rights to that character. Lampwick was also known as the "father of cartoon violence." Roger Meyers, Sr. (1890–1985) plagiarized Itchy and established Itchy and Scratchy Studios in 1921. Originally Itchy was called "Itchy the Lucky Mouse" (a parody of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit). He starred in his first cartoon made by Lampwick, "Manhattan Madness".
Scratchy starred in his first cartoon in 1928, entitled That Happy Cat. The film, which is about fourteen seconds of animation showing the cat walking and whistling, then stopping and tipping his hat, did very poorly. It is unknown who created Scratchy, or if he was plagiarized by Meyers Sr. in the same way that Itchy was.
Later that year, Itchy and Scratchy starred in their first cartoon together entitled "Steamboat Itchy" a parody of Added by Johnny Depp Girl Disney's Steamboat Willie featuring Mickey Mouse. Along with the cartoon shorts, Itchy and Scratchy were featured in a wartime radio series, at least two films - Pinitchio and Scratchtasia, and television commercials for Laramie Cigarettes. An X-rated Itchy & Scratchy titled "Itchy & Scratchy meet Fritz The Cat" was created during the 1970s. According to Comic Book Guy, only bootleg copies are available "because of its frank depiction of sex and narcotic consumption".
At one point, additional characters were added to the pair on a show titled Itchy & Scratchy and Friends Hour: Uncle Ant, Disgruntled Goat, Flatulent Fox, Ku Klux Klam, Manic Mailman, Dinner Dog and Rich Uncle Skeleton. These characters parodied the addition of superfluous, two-dimensional characters to TV shows in an effort to draw viewer interest.
Itchy and Scratchy Studios is currently run by Roger Meyers, Jr. (born 1956), the son of the cartoon's "creator." Itchy and Scratchy Studios was bankrupted after being sued by Lampwick for $800 billion, but was saved after receiving a large cash settlement from the government over its use of Mr. ZIP.
The Itchy and Scratchy Show airs as a segment on The Krusty the Clown Show (TV series)|, though it moved to the Gabbo show during the latter's short-lived run. The show underwent a non-violent retooling following a protest campaign led by Marge Simpson, but after Marge was later discredited, it returned to its original violent format. The show has spawned an Academy Award-winning film adaptation, amusement parks, and a musical.