I Love Chicken is the tenth episode of the fourth season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 19 November 1994.
Plot
Stimpy falls in love with a chicken from the grocery store which alternates between being a dead bird vs. an anthropomorphic chicken.[1] Stimpy is engaged to the chicken while Ren keeps trying to eat it.[1] Stimpy marries the chicken while Ren continues his attempts to eat the chicken.[1] Ren is jealous over the way that Stimpy gives all his love to his wife.[1] Ren is finally able to eat the chicken, which breaks Stimpy's heart.[1]
The story was written by the showrunner, Bob Camp together with Jim Gomez, and differed from the usual "gag reels" stories of the Games Animation studio.[2] Camp and Gomez chose to focus on characters rather than gags in I Love Chicken with the main themes being Ren's selfishness and self-pity vs. Stimpy's devotion and low intelligence..[2]
Reception
The American critic Thad Komorowski rated the episode three stars out of five and described I Love Chicken as one of the best stories of season four.[3]
Books and articles
Dobbs, G. Michael (2015). Escape – How Animation Broke into the Mainstream in the 1990s. Orlando: BearManor Media. ISBN978-1593931100.
Komorowski, Thad (2017). Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media. ISBN978-1629331836.
