2 Stupid Dogs

2 Stupid Dogs was a show about just that — Little Dog (a dachshund) and Big Dog (a sheepdog), 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 in most episodes to antagonize the dogs, pointing out their ignorance with his leading catchphrase, “Isn’t that cute… But it’s WROOOONG!!” Less frequent guests included the nerdy grade-schooler Kenny Fowler and his classmate and tormentor Buzz. Fellow student Buffy Ziegenhagen was the subject of Kenny’s secret crush. Red, a frightfully nearsighted little girl who occasionally crossed paths with the dogs in a park, inserted random shouts into her normally quiet tone. A fat and nerdy fellow named Cubby appeared in different job roles, but maintained a passion for whatever occupation he held.

2 Stupid Dogs also brought the return of a little-known character from the Hanna-Barbera archives: Secret Squirrel. Each half-hour episode featured two, 2 Stupid Dogs segments  bookending one Super Secret Secret Squirrel segment, which spoofed 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.