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),
Brother's Little Helper by director Mark Kirkland and was the first episode staff writer George Meyer received a sole writing credit for since the season 5 episode "Bart's Inner Child". Meyer, who was facing some psychological difficulties while writing the episode, felt so dissatisfied with the episode's first draft that he turned it in with a pseudonym. The episode satirizes the perceived misdiagnosis of behavioral disorders in children, which was a controversial topic at the time the episode was written. The episode's title is a parody of The Rolling Stones song "Mother's Little Helper", which was also written on the topic of psychological