The Simpsons: 20 Best Itchy And Scratchy Moments

As well as serving up the core five characters who have become universally adored (yes, even Maggie), The Simpsons has also invented a whole town full of loveable supporting characters around them e.g. Chief Wiggum, Moe the Bartender and that guy that goes "Yeeesss." Yet two of the great Simpsons creations aren't one of the family's neighbours, but their beloved TV icons Itchy (the mouse) and Scratchy (the cat), the stars of a cartoon within a cartoon that is basically a bloodthirsty version of Tom And Jerry. Imagine Saw meets Mickey Mouse.

Used as a handy device by the showmakers to elongate an episode when it is running under length, the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons can either liven up any less than great half hour or be the icing on the cake of a classic - there are very few that fail to get the ribs a-tickling. When doesn't watching a mouse hacking up a cat brighten your day (in cartoon form, of course)?

This list will gather together the twenty best Itchy and Scratchy moments. Those with an aversion to cartoon violence may wish to look away now. Those who get a kick out of seeing an animated cat's intestines, you're in for a treat.

From: There's No Disgrace Like Home

Itchy and Scratchy were actually two of the first recurring characters on the series to appear - they briefly showed up in one of The Simpsons shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show back in 1988. When the Simpsons family span off into their own show the following year, those biting fighting critters weren't far behind. Their first appearance in the show proper came in The Simpsons' fourth ever episode. 

Itchy and Scratchy, of course, start as they mean to go on. This first cartoon is much more a straight 'Tom And Jerry with added violence' skit than what it developed into, but it's still just as funny.