La vida moderna de Rocko

"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!!

This show had to be one of the best on Nickolodeon I've ever seen. The humor was fresh and always new in what they were doing as they followed the adventures of a wallaby, a rather unique and clever idea for a cartoon character, and his dog Spunky and friends Phil the turtle and Heffer the cow. The kind of jokes used here were usually sick and always hilarious sight gags, but the writers were intelligent enough not to depend on one kind of humor alone to carry the entire show. The dialogue was witty and always hit the mark, the plots delightfully wacko, and the characters surprisingly lovable under the insane exteriors. One of the best shows was when Heffer became a night watchman ("No experience necessary; Carry a stick and hit things") and loses touch with his hu(cow)manity, forcing harsh punishments on even his best friends. What follows is an excellently done parody of "The Shining."

Unfortunately, I did not become aware of the show until after it had been canceled (story of my life) and so I was forced to depend on reruns. Alas, I have missed the show. Rocko, we hardly knew ye. (P.S. Check out the theme song by the B-52s. They were perfect for the job.)

Rocko's Modern Life was one of the original 5 nicktoons on Nickelodeon, and it was by far the best of those. It was a hilarious show with some sophisticated humor that was only understood by the older crowd (ie The Chokey Chicken). It was created by Joe Murray, with some writing done by Stephen Hillenburg, who later went on to create the revered 'Spongebob Squarepants." Unfortunately, production was halted around 1996 and continued to air in syndication until 2000. It occasionally appears on Nickelodeon about once a month. Hopefully, Nickelodeon executives will realize that it is a cult classic and should be released onto DVD sometime soon so a whole new generation can enjoy this classic show.

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-