This season's cult hit is frozen in '50s sensibility and abrasive wit.

"The Ren and Stimpy Show" enthralls audiences, making even the casual kiddie whistle a new sort of loony tune.

Created by John Kricalusi, along with the animation company Spumco and the cable network Nickelodeon, the cartoon premiered in August last year.

"It looks so much like the underground cartoons of the '60s and '70s," said Patrick Trimble, instructor of integrative arts. "It's like Steven Spielberg's 'Tiny Toons' on acid."

The offbeat cartoon features an asthmatic Chihuahua, Ren, and his faithful feline friend, Stimpy. Each cartoon segment is bookended by phony commercials for products like powdered toast or Gritty Kitty Litter.

Since the show sandwiches dark humor between slapstick antics, the duo's audience varies.

"Well, the target audience for the Nicktoons is for the 9 to 12 plus, but we know that when a cartoon really works . . . it should appeal to their older brothers and sisters," said Linda Simensky, manager of animation, production and development for Nickelodeon.

"What happened with 'Ren and Stimpy' is that it has developed a sort of cult following with college students and animation people," she added.

The show centers around the relationship between Ren and Stimpy. Touching on topics like greed, temptation and kindness, it displays an honesty not seen on other cuddly cartoon fare.

"It deals with things that are very painful," Trimble said. "It strips the cuteness from cartoons and suggests a real cause and effect. These creations can be hungry and starving. It suggests there is something abnormal about the world."

Unlike many cartoons from television's past and present, there are no villains to thwart, taunt or maim. But even without the usual forces of evil, the show maintains a level of uncertain conflict.

"It's not a comfortable cartoon world. . . . This is a show that is complex and in its own way, has a sense of implied violence. I like that about it," Trimble said. "If there is any process of violence, everything has a consequence."

The show also breaks away from the normal cartoon hijinks with its overall style and music. The backdrop has a look and feel of Vegas during the 1950s while the music stops just short of surf twang.

"The background music is more modern and more counterpoint (and) doesn't generally fit the mood," Trimble said. "It acts like a buffer whereas it's not like 'Tiny Toons' or 'Duck Tales' in that the music doesn't tell us what to do."

Memorable sequences include Ren (as Robin Hok) avoiding man-eating monks in his attempt to rescue Stimpy (as Maid Moron), and Stimpy playing with magic nose goblins.

"It really made me laugh. It had a lot of adult humor. I really liked 'Nurse Stimpy.' I liked the part when Stimpy gave Ren a bath and he slipped off his fur," said Susan Blehi (freshman-chemical engineering).

But perhaps the most important departure from mainstream cartoons is the show's fervent lack of self-commercialization. Merchandise sales are not the reason for its existence.

"It's one that is extremely and decidedly not a commercial effort. The Nickelodeon ethic is basically opposite that. We're just proof that if you create a new cartoon with high quality and comedy, it can work," Simensky said.

Currently, there are only six episodes, which air at 8 p.m. Saturdays on MTV and 11 a.m. Sundays on Nickelodeon. But 20 more will pop up in the next six months, Simensky said.

"There's one about Ren's stupid cousin, a show where they go out West and Stimpy's cartoon show," she said.