Bass Masters (The Ren & Stimpy Show)

Plot

Ren and Stimpy are the hosts of a reality show called Bassmasters. Over their lives, they have caught and killed an enormous number of fish, including one named Muddy Mudskipper. For the current episode, Ren decides to catch the Foul-Mouthed Bass. He ties a living fly to his hook as bait and heads out on a boat with his assistant Stimpy, who forces earthworms to walk for him.

Ren brings along equipment he values: a harpoon sniper rifle, a solar-powered bomb, a radar, and his pet bear. Stimpy makes the earthworms carry his gear, and Ren scolds him for slowing down the episode’s pace. Wilbur Cobb escapes from a nearby prison and spots Ren and Stimpy’s boat, thinking it could be a way to flee. Ren does not know Wilbur is a criminal and lets him join the show.

The three fish in the ocean for an entire day without catching anything. Ren blames Stimpy and Wilbur for scaring the fish away. The next day, Ren makes a special chum to attract fish. Two fish notice it and start eating frantically, while Wilbur and Stimpy relax on the sidelines.

Wilbur gives Stimpy a massage while Stimpy eats Kracky-Jacks. Stimpy finds a fish whistle prize inside the snack, uses it to call a fish, and Wilbur punches the fish, accidentally making it regain sentience. That fish joins Wilbur and Stimpy in eating Kracky-Jacks and relaxing, which annoys Ren. The two fish eat all of Ren’s chum, and all three fish seem able to breathe out of water.

Ren prepares his sniper rifle and sets up decoys to lure fish. A traveling salesman fish appears but is not tricked by the decoys. He sells Ren a fish whistle, which immediately destroys Ren’s pants. Ren asks Stimpy, who catches a fish in his pants using the same whistle, what his secret is.

Stimpy says he can speak the fish language, then summons every fish onto the boat for a party. Jealous, Ren tries to kidnap all the fish but is confronted by Albert the Foul-Mouthed Bass. Albert is depressed because fishermen have tried to catch him so many times. He convinces Ren to act like a fish to make up for his crimes.

Ren is then caught as if he were a fish and hung up in Albert’s home, where an elderly Albert tells his grandson the story of how he caught this “dumb bass.”

Production

The episode's initial concept was developed by Richard Pursel at Spümcø in 1992, but John Kricfalusi never gave it the go-ahead. The original story included George Liquor. After Kricfalusi was fired, Games Animation took over for the third season. Pursel refused to join them, so Bob Camp and Jim Gomez rewrote the plot, swapping George Liquor for Wilbur Cobb, a character voiced by Jack Carter from "Stimpy's Cartoon Show." Bill Wray felt this change hurt the show, as Cobb became less appealing once he was no longer a one-off character.