Note: This whole section has been written by Kerrin. All dates for this section are in the form day/month/year. An update from any NZ fan on R&S showings would be most appreciated.
Thank you, Kerrin, for writing this up!
From Kerrin Rhys Jones <Kerrin.Jones@comp.vuw.ac.nz>:
Sorry I've taken a while to get back to you with this - I dug through some old issues of The Listener and discovered R&S have actually been lurking on our screens in little watched timeslots for a lot longer than anyone seems to realise.
I've written up all the details I have at the moment - I'd like to give you episode listings for some of the earlier stuff, but have been unable to find anyone with such a thing. I emailed the two NZers who you have included comments from in the current version of the FAQ, asking if either of them had any more details, but I haven't heard back from them (and it's been a while)...
So here you go... It's all I can come up with at the moment, really... Feel free to edit, chop, cut and paste as you see fit, include as much or as little in the FAQ as you like... I'll let you know if I find out anything further or if R&S return...
Spot you later,
Kerrin.
The Ren and Stimpy Show gained widespread popularity when it screened for a
while in a 6:00pm Saturday time-slot. It was quite well publicised - a
full-page article in the 17/4/93 issue of The Listener (NZ TV magazine) did
the usual "it's gross, it's disgusting, but it's popular" bit and gave the
background on the Nickelodeon/
This was the first time the show had been publicised widely, and the first time most viewers (including myself) discovered it. However, checking through old issues of The Listener, it appears that Ren and Stimpy had actually been on our screens for quite a while before gaining their widespread popularity...
It seems that R&S was first screened on WHAT NOW, a Saturday morning kids show. R&S was listed as running for 10 to 15 minutes on the following dates:
14/11/92 10:00-10:15am 21/11/92 10:00-10:10am 28/11/92 10:00-10:10am 05/12/92 10:05-10:15amIt seems that 05/12/92 was the last WHAT NOW for 1992.
The next week, Ren and Stimpy resurfaced in a 4:30-5:00pm Saturday timeslot, where they ran on the following dates:
12/12/92 4:30-5:00pm 19/12/92 4:30-5:00pm 26/12/92 4:30-5:00pm 02/01/93 4:30-5:00pm 09/01/93 4:30-5:00pm 16/01/93 4:30-5:00pm 23/01/93 4:30-5:00pm 30/01/93 4:30-5:00pm 06/02/93 4:30-5:00pmI believe Show #16 ("The Big Baby Scam" and "Dog Show") and Show #14 ("Svën Höek") were both shown in this run, among others.
WHAT NOW came back on 06/02/93, screening 8:00am-12:00pm on Saturdays. Once again R&S was included in it, from 10:35-11:00am.
06/02/93 10:35-11:00am 13/02/93 10:35-11:00am 20/02/93 10:35-11:00am 27/02/93 10:35-11:00am 06/03/93 10:35-11:00am 13/03/93 10:35-11:00am
And then finally, Ren and Stimpy made it to a decent timeslot and got a bit of publicity. Here's the episode listing of R&S from their 6:00pm Saturday run. Episodes are titled as in the Ren and Stimpy Extra, with some comments on cuts where we know they've been made - there are bound to be many others.
17/04/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #3 24/04/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #6 (Missing PTM Bumper) 01/05/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #2 08/05/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #5 15/05/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #4 22/05/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #7 29/05/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #8 05/06/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #10 (Missing "The Hangin' Song" from Out West) 12/06/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #16 19/06/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #19 26/06/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #9 03/07/93 6:00-6:30pm Show #12 (Haunted House ends with "...end it all")
Then with no warning or explanation, R&S disappeared from our screens to be replaced by DEEP WATER HAVEN, a new 26-part NZ drama series, (or at least what passes for drama around here...) Ren and Stimpy have not been sighted on our screens since.
An article "Censored!" on TV censorship in the 7/8/93 issue of The Listener talked about the cutting of various TV programs by TVNZ. R&S got the following mention, referring to the cutting of "Haunted House":
Like THE SIMPSONS, the shamelessly subversive REN AND STIMPY has felt the censor's knife for it's deliberate battering at the taste barrier. A cutting notice from June orders the following: Delete "I couldn't even scare a paranoid schizophrenic". Delete suicide scenes. Delete "There's only one thing left to do, I'm going to end it all", "Sweet Lord No" (Spike shown through head), "You can't do that ... Do this" (A bottle of poison handed over and swallowed, followed by writhing and death.)