Santa's Little Helper and is the center of the plots of several episodes. During the course of the show, he has fathered litters of puppies, passed obedience school, had surgery for bloat, replaced Duffman as the mascot for Duff Beer, and been trained as a police dog at Springfield's Animal Police Academy. Some of the episodes that focus on Santa's Little Helper have been inspired by popular culture or real experiences that staff members of the show have gone through. Although cartoon animals are often anthropomorphized, Santa's Little Helper generally exhibits canine behavior. Cast member Dan Castellaneta currently provides the dog's sounds on
Media in The Simpsons this mocks "how many children's programs have become little more than the ad to the merchandise". Gray also writes that "The Simpsons" "illustrates how the ad as genre has itself already invaded many, if not all, genres. Ads and marketing do not limit themselves to the space between programs; rather, they are themselves textual invaders, and part of "The Simpsons" parodic attack on ads involves revealing their hiding places in other texts." "The Itchy & Scratchy Show" is a show within a show that appears occasionally in episodes of "The Simpsons". They typically appear in the form of 15-60 second