Santa's Little Helper and Maggie are—heck, most Americans probably recognize their pets, Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II". McHugh wrote in "Dog" that while Master McGrath was the most famous greyhound of the 19th century, "the most popular greyhound a hundred years later" is Santa's Little Helper. In the television special "50 Greatest TV Animals" that was hosted by Mario Lopez and aired on Animal Planet in 2003, the dog ranked 27th. Other dogs featured on the list were Lassie (first), Eddie (fifth), Snoopy (sixth), Scooby-Doo (13th), Rin Tin Tin (14th), Max (20th), Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog (24th), Buck (29th), Chipper (44th),
Bart's Dog Gets an "F" shorts, the characters spun off into their own half-hour prime-time show on the Fox network named "The Simpsons". Matt Groening, the series' creator, wanted Ullman to make a guest appearance in one of the shorts, but was told that she was too busy with the rest of "The Tracey Ullman Show". When her show was canceled in 1990, Ullman agreed to do a guest appearance on "The Simpsons" after being asked by Groening once again. The animal noises for the episode, including those by Santa's Little Helper, were performed by Frank Welker. It was the first "The Simpsons" episode Welker