Santa's Little Helper greyhound's lack of intelligence. In an article that compared "The Simpsons" to the animated series "Family Guy", Todd Camp of the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" noted that "though Santa's Little Helper may be the only Simpson who's dumber than Homer, the Griffins' pooch <nowiki>[</nowiki>Brian Griffin<nowiki>]</nowiki> is the brainiest member of the household". In 1991, Copley News Service's Alison Ashton described Santa's Little Helper as a "sweet and stupid dog". Tom Coombe of "The Morning Call" wrote in 2002 that "fans of "The Simpsons" will tell you that the cartoon family's dog [...] is often dumb, disobedient and skittish. Fans of the
Brother's Little Helper in the ratings, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most watched television program on Fox that night. Despite being the most watched program of the network, the ratings were considered disappointing by the "Deseret News". On October 7, 2008, the episode was released as part of "The Simpsons - The Complete Eleventh Season" DVD box set. Mike Scully, George Meyer, Mark Kirkland, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman and Tim Long participated in the DVD audio commentary of the episode. Following its broadcast, "Brother's Little Helper" received positive reviews from critics. About nine years after its original broadcast, Robert Canning