# I saw a news story that reminded me of a Simpsons episode.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-news-story-that-reminded-me-of-a-simpsons-episode/539265>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 13, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-news-story-that-reminded-me-of-a-simpsons-episode/539265 "2010-05-13T03:33:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-news-story-that-reminded-me-of-a-simpsons-episode/539265/1 "2010-05-13T03:33:06Z")

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Don’t ask me why, but I immediately thought of a certain _Simpsons_ moment when I read an article very similar to [this](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8675978.stm) in the Chicago Tribune today. The gist of the story is that ten Somali pirates got captured by Russian commandos, got set free, but then died.

The _Simpsons_ episode I’m talking about is “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show,” where Homer is the voice of a new dog on Bart & Lisa’s favorite cartoon. Poochie is hated by the show’s audience, so the creators want to kill him off, but Homer thinks he convinces them to let Poochie stay. However, in the next Poochie episode, Poochie (in a different voice) says that he has to go back to his home planet. The image of Poochie is then crudely raised to the top of the screen. The next moment is what made me laugh so much today: a crudely-written sign says, “Note: Poochie died on the way back to his home planet.”

Knowing that Poochie and the pirates died is enough. No need for any further explanation.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-news-story-that-reminded-me-of-a-simpsons-episode/539265/2 "2010-05-13T03:42:26Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> The Navfor spokesman suggested the loss of navigational equipment would not necessarily be critical if there was an experienced mariner among the 10 men on the boat.

😛