'''Original air date:''' 9/8/1991

'''Space Madness'''

Ren and Stimpy are watching themselves on TV as astronauts going into outer space. While on a six-year break in space, Ren and Stimpy spend some quality time together, but the stress of being stuck alone in space stresses out Ren, and no matter what Stimpy does, Ren just keeps getting more and more insane. Finally, Ren tricks Stimpy into giving into the stress as well by tempting him into pushing the ''HISTORY ERASER BUTTON''!

'''The Boy Who Cried Rat'''

Ren and Stimpy, here penniless and hungry, pretend that Ren is a mouse and Stimpy a professional mouse catcher to get $5. It's all going well until the clients want Stimpy to eat Ren...

!!''Space Madness'' provides examples of...
* BigRedButton: The beautiful, shiny, jolly, candy-like History Eraser Button.
* CompanionCube: Ren hallucinates that a bar of soap is an ice cream bar, which he believes he's had since childhood
->'''Ren:'''' "Oh, my beloved ice-cream bar..."
* DontTouchItYouIdiot: Said almost verbatim in regards to the History Eraser Button.
-->'''Ren:'''' "DON'T TOUCH IT! '''IT'S THE HISTORY ERASER BUTTON, [[YouFool YOU FOOL]]!!!'''"
* FoodPills: The tube-form version. This is part of what drives Ren over the edge.
-->'''Ren:'''' "THAT'S IT! I NEED SOME '''''REAL''''' '''FOOD!'''"
* TheFuture: The "Commander Hoek and Cadet Stimpy" series is set in "the year four hundred billion".
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: When Ren starts going off the deep end during his bath, Stimpy is forced to jump him and hold him down.
-->'''Stimpy:''' You poor, crazy kid!
* HeadDesk: Ren bangs his head against the table repeatedly when he finds nothing to eat but food tubes.
* HelpMistakenForAttack: Due to his increasing insanity, Ren believed Stimpy's GetAHoldOfYourselfMan moment was an attack and that ''he's'' the one with space madness.
* ImprovisedWeapon: When Ren feels threatened by Stimpy, he grabs the nearest thing at hand - a toothbrush - and yells "Don't make me use it!" When Stimpy steps forward, Ren uses the toothbrush... [[SubvertedTrope to brush his teeth]].
* InteractiveNarrator: The announcer steps in and actively goads Stimpy into touching the History Eraser Button. Will he hold out, folks? CAN he hold out?!
-->Stimpy: '''''NO, I CAN'T!!!!'''''[[note]][*SCREECH!*] [*press*] [*WOOP! WOOP!*][[/note]]
* KilledMidSentence: The narrator is interrupted as he, Ren, and Stimpy get [[RetGone erased from history]].
--> '''Narrator''': ''Tune in next week, as--''(ZAP)''"
* MadnessInducedOmnivore: Ren succumbs to the titular SpaceMadness and eats a bar of soap, mistaking it for an ice cream bar.
* MisophoniaGag: The first sign of Ren's Space Madness is his reaction to Stimpy tapping his finger on the table.
-->'''Commander Hoek:''' ''DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP TAPPING LIKE THAT? YOU BLOATED SACK OF PROTOPLASM!!!''
* OpeningNarration:
-->'''Narrator''': All systems go! Prepare for countdown! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, blast off to adventure in the amazing year four hundred billion, with Commander Hoëk, and his faithful companion Cadet Stimpy, as they roam the endless uncharted regions of space at speeds so fantastic, they throttle[[note]]or "boggle"; it's unclear which.[[/note]] the imagination...
* SanitySlippage: Ren, of course!
-->"They think I'm crazy, but I know better. It is not I who am crazy, it is I who am MAD!!"[[note]]Didn't you hear 'em? DIDN'T YOU SEE THE CROWDS?![[/note]]
* SchmuckBait: The History Eraser Button.
* SciFiFlyBy: Parodied. The opening credits play over a beautiful shot of outer space. Then the spaceship appears... and it's a cheap wind-up toy.
* ShoutOut: Ren's line "We're not hitchhiking anymore! We're ''riding!''" is from the 1949 film ''The Champion''.
* SlasherSmile: Ren makes one when he gets the idea to control his partner's...[[VoiceOfTheLegion SPACE MADNESS]]!
* SpaceMadness: The TropeNamer.
* TitleDrop:
-->'''Ren''': You know, they say sometimes people go crazy on these long trips. They get the...(SPACE MADNESS!). Heh, space madness.
* TooDumbToLive: Stimpy, being Stimpy, never gets the hint that pushing the ''History Eraser'' Button would be a bad thing.

* WhatDoesThisButtonDo:
-->'''Ren''': That's just it, we don't know! MAYBE something bad? MAYBE something good? I guess we'll never know, because YOU'RE going to guard it![[note]][[TemptingFate You won't touch it, will you?]][[/note]]
* WhosOnFirst: Near the beginning, Ren and Stimpy communicate to each other in the same spacesuit and use the "Roger!" call. A man named Roger responds to the call.
* YoureInsane:
-->'''Stimpy''': Stop it. You're talking crazy.

!!''The Boy Who Cried Rat'' provides examples of...
* AnimalsNotToScale: Ren is suddenly mouse sized when Stimpy puts him in his mouth.
* AssInALionSkin: Ren dresses as a mouse as part of their scam.
* DumpsterDive: Ren and Stimpy are introduced eating out of garbage cans.
* ExtremeOmnivore:
-->[[spoiler:'''Stimpy:''' All this talk about eating made me hungry! I ate the five bucks!]]
* MonsterProtectionRacket: Ren pretends to be a mouse so Stimpy can chase him out and get paid.
* NeverTrustATitle: The title states that Ren pretends to be a rat, but Ren actually pretends to be a mouse.
* OhCrap: When they're told that Stimpy has to eat Ren.
* SanitySlippage: Ren when he's trapped inside Stimpy's mouth.
--> '''Ren:''' Teeth to the left of me...! ''[slowly gains VoiceOfTheLegion]'' Gums to the right of me! '''I tell you, I can't STAND it!''' '''''I'm going... MAAAAAAAD!!!'''''
* ShoutOut:
** The scenes of Stimpy chasing Ren spoof ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry''.
** Ren's mouse disguise [[WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse includes red shorts and white gloves]].
* WorkingOffTheDebt: The cartoon ends with Ren and Stimpy doing chores to pay off [[spoiler:the five bucks Stimpy ate]].
** "Paint the lawn"? "Shave the chickens"?
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