dogs

(S06E20) This episode opens with Santa's Little Helper destroying the house. Everyone naturally assumes it's Bart, but as Bart points out, none of the destruction has his usual social commentary. They finally figure out it's the dog, but they can't figure out why it's behaving so crazy, so they take it to a pet store where the clerk performs a canine/human mind meld, a power only he and three other clerks possess. Really, he's just using this as a way to get the family to buy a lot of unnecessary doo-dads for Santa's Little Helper. On the drive home, the dog escapes out the car window and heads for the racetrack where Bart and Homer first found him. It's there that he finds love.

Santa's Little Helper's girlfriend moves into the house, and there's a funny montage in which the two animals go out for a romantic day in Springfield. The butcher shop gives them a steak, and for some reason the video store happens to have steak, too, as does an old woman who carries the meat in her purse. There's the obligatory Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene, but the two dogs actually fight over the spaghetti, just like real dogs. One of my favorite things about the pets on The Simpsons is how much they behave like real animals.

(S03E03) The designers were told to design something for one of fashion's hottest accessories. I had a few guesses... The accessory would either be an iPod, a baby (well, maternity clothes), or pets. I was right with my third guess because the designers were each given a small dog to serve as a muse. Their challenge: Design an outfit for their dog, a complimentary outfit for their model, and think up a narrative explanation for their creation. The narrative part seemed kind of pointless to me, but, hey, I'm no Heidi Klum.

Oh, and I just have to say this because I'm so excited... Someone's getting kicked off for being naughty in the next episode. Scandal!

Sitcoms Online seems to be the only blog with any information about it, but Nick at Nite is planning to air a new sitcom starting in April. The new show, called At the Poocharelli's, will be slightly shorter than most sitcoms, and by "slightly shorter" I mean each episode is only ninety seconds long. The show, which revolves around a family of dogs, will air at exactly 9:57 p.m., following new episodes of Search for America's Funniest Moms II. The first episode airs on April 11.

Is it possible to be paralyzed by cuteness? Because I think that's what happened while I watched these highlights from Puppy Bowl II on Animal Planet. Puppy Bowl was aired during the Super Bowl and consisted of three hours of different breeds of puppies frolicking on a tiny football field. The show was then repeated for a total of twelve hours. How could even the most jaded person not find this adorable? I think they should run this all the time. It would be the perfect respite from the nightly news.

Oh yeah, and halftime featured kittens, of course.

[via Onion AV Club blog]