Ren and Stimpy is an animated kids program and was one of four of the original Nicktoons that premiered back in the early 1990's on MTV's sister channel, Nickelodeon.
The premise was that it's a gross-out cartoon in lives of two characters: Ren Höek (note the umlaut over the o) the chihuahua and Stimpson J. Cat (aka Stimpy) the cat. There was a lot of pandering for some desperate attention with shameless and sometimes outright gross physical humor often consisting of nose-picking, farts, and, most importantly, the wonders of sound.
The show usually begins at Ren and Stimpy's home, a dead cow who's on its back with doors where its little butthole should be. Sometimes Ren and Stimpy would also be homeless or in outer space. John K. also has a thing for Scotsman and Canada. Some other recurring skits that was born out of the show include Powdered Toast Man and LOG.
While it was suitable for children of all ages, including the parents, the producer, John Kricfalusi, kept pushing the boundaries and limits with some homosexual references, sexual innuendo, or just plain violence.
The entire show lasted for three seasons and while it was indeed funny at times it wasn't quite appetizing at others and it remains to be an acquired taste for sure.
As of this writing, February, 2002, MTV's other sister channel, VH1, is showing most of the old Ren and Stimpy episodes (though some are shaved a couple seconds) on a show called "Ren and Stimpy Rocks" with Billy West (voice actor of Stimpy) as host.