The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show/References

References/Trivia

Trivia

Many of the Itchy and Scratchy staff members are caricatures of the actual Simpsons staff.
The addition of Roy is reference to a suggestion made by a Fox executive that writers add a new character into the show to live with the Simpsons and "liven up the show". The staff rejected the idea and inserted Roy, without explanation, as a joke.
Roy was previously planned to appear in one of the alternate universes of "Time and Punishment".
The original plan for Poochie was that he would be incredibly rich and would enslave Itchy and Scratchy in his gold mine. Itchy and Scratchy would plan to kill Poochie, but fail and die themselves.
The episode features the first appearance of Comic Book Guy's catchphrase "Worst. Episode. Ever".

The episode is a commentary on "jumping the shark" - doing outlandish things to a show, like adding a new character, in order to boost ratings and save the show from cancellation.
June Bellamy, voiced by Simpsons regular Tress MacNeille, is a referenc to veteran voice actress June Foray.
The scene where Homer hides in a closet and hears that Poochie will be killed off is a reference to Jay Leno supposedly hiding in a closet and hearing that he would replace Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.
Roy is largely based on Fonzie, calling Homer and Marge Mr and Mrs S, similar to how Fonzie refers to Mr and Mrs Cunningham.
Roy saying he will move in with "two sexy ladies" is a reference to the sitcom Three's Company.