La vida moderna de Rocko

In October 1993, something magical happened: an unassuming little cartoon called "Rocko's Modern Life" debuted on Nickelodeon. Sure, the premise might have sounded a little bizarre; I mean, how many programs do you know that center around an immigrant Australian wallaby trying to live his modern life with the help of his best friends, the gluttonous steer (NOT a cow, mind you) Heffer and the perpetually nervous turtle, Filburt? Throw in his toad neighbors, the Bigheads, his job as a clerk at Kind-of-a-Lot-O-Comics, and a cast of zany secondary characters, you've got yourself a downright offbeat cartoon. But you can't take "Rocko" at face value. You have to look deeper, watch an episode, and really laugh at the clever-yet-simple jokes that pepper the action.

And don't, under any circumstances, write this off as a kids' show. As you might know, "Rocko" came under fire for its "mature" content; in other words, the series harbors many, many, many inside jokes and innuendoes just below the surface. Just take a look at some episode titles ("Schnit-Heads," "Who Gives a Buck?"), some character/establishment names (Doctor Bendova, the Chokey Chicken fast-food restaurants), and countless other little occurrences throughout every episode.

A stark, unique animation style, one that presents everything at a slight angle, provides a great backdrop for Rocko's adventures, and paints a truly different world that sets the cartoon apart from all others.

And through it all, a surreal sense of humor reigns supreme. On what other cartoon could you find a Museum of Pointy Objects, police activities that include arts-and-crafts, a vacuum with a neutering device, or a family of wolves that adopted a steer?

It certainly didn't deserve to be canceled after only three seasons, but in the fickle world of children's programming (especially on Nickelodeon, a network infamous for canning innovative series and renewing the dreck year after year), it just wasn't prepackaged, marketable, and mainstream enough to work out. But that's what I like best about "Rocko"; it's truly different from anything else you could ever find on television, a little outpost of originality in a TV world full of copycats and clones. Rest assured, you can still enjoy Rocko, Heffer, and the whole gang, provided you have digital cable, on Nickelodeon's all-cartoon outlet Nicktoons TV.

Overall, a ten out of ten, but shave a few points off if you don't automatically crack up when you hear this classic "Rocko" line, courtesy of Heffer: "Hey, Rock, do that funny face you make when you're buying eggs."

"Rocko's Modern Life", the product of Joe Murray Studios and Games Productions, was a winner of a show. The first two seasons were jam-packed with innuendo that can be quite shocking when viewed later in life. The animation (especially the angular background drawings) was unique and stylistic. Filburt was a model for Jewish turtles everywhere!

Unfortunately, around mid-Season 3 or so, it started to decline. The series was gussied up- examples are "Chunky Chicken", scenes were censored, a new (inferior) theme song added, etc. This might be attributed to Joe Murray's departure after the first season or so.

My favorite episodes were "Driver's Ed", "Abuse-ment Park", the one where Bev seduces Rocko, the one where where Rocko is filmed naked...Well, there's just too many to name! Great show while it lasted!!

I remember watching this as a kid with the other great Nicktoons-Ren and Stimpy, Rugrats, etc. I loved this show and am going to be getting that Nicktoons channel now, so I can watch the old episodes again. I completely missed the adult humor in the show, Chokey Chicken??!

My favorite episode of all time is the one where they have to fly somewhere, and in the first class section of the plane there is a piano player, someone carving a ham, and it just looks like the inside of a mansion. Then when Rocko gets to the back of the plane, where he has to sit, its like a barn and there's chickens running around in the aisles. And he cuts his one peanut for dinner with a knife and fork!!! HHA!!! Anyone who flies Delta can relate. BRING IT OUT ON DVD!

I've been a fan of the Nick childrens TV channel for a long time. And down the road I have never seen better work from them then the work that is "Rocko's Modern Life".

The show is about aa Australian wallaby who comes to America. This wallaby (Rocko) is a funny looking character who wears the same thing all the time and is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui who now voices the Taco Bell dog. His friends Heffer Wolfe, an overweight steer and Filbert Turtle, a turtle help him through his life. While his neighbohrs, the Bigheads, don't help a bit.

Sounds strange right? Sounds like ANY other cartoon right? I think not.

The show has a different type of humor. With some adult references thrown in as well that are rather shocking for a Nick show. The animal humor (Heffer is a steer, not a cow. Rocko is a wallby, not a rabbit) is used in many kooky and hilarious ways. And although sometimes they can seem stupid, lines are repeated from episode to episode. And every now and then these lines are given a 180 degree twist of humor. While the mucas jokes could be settled down, the humor isn't very slapstick and is cartoonish witty humor at its best. Sure it's offbeat, innappropite and as I said is more of an adult show then a kids show (humor wise, not content wise) it's still very funny.

And when the show isn't funny it shines with charm. The characters are very easy to get behind and it flows like a sitcom. It has its dud episodes with good jokes wrapped into a bad plot, but overall the show is very charming. The characters have their own catch phrases and traditions which all give twists. Even when the show has run out of twists they add even more to thrill the viewing audiance into laughter.

Rockos Modern Life is an excellent example of the beginning of the adult cartoon era. It was made in 1993 and I believe it set the stage for more grown up cartoons like "The PJs", "Futurama" and "South Park". Sure The Simpsons helped much. But Rocko wasn't a stupid move. It shouldn't have gone on any other network. It was a bold move by Nickoloden and the shows director Joe Murray. And that bravery and boldness, led to Rockos Modern Life. One of the best animated series to come around yet.

SERIES GRADE: A-

This show is about a young wallaby named Rocko who moves with his dog Spunky to the United States from the Austrailian Outback. He immediately befriends Heffer Wolf, a steer who was literally raised by a family of wolves. Rocko and Heffer like to hang out around the neighborhood much to the dismay of Ed Bighead, the angry toad who lives next door.

I'm not going to lie, this isn't really a kids show. It contains a lot of adult humor, some wild violence, and a lot of other stuff that most people would label as disgusting.

Rocko's Modern Life is in fact one of the better shows on Nickelodeon and it's actually funny. It's not filled with a lot of stupid sex jokes or worn-out humor that's used on most of the shows that are on Nickelodeon now.

10/10