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Leave
it to this show that specializes in wild perspectives on life to successfully
portray the frustrating circumstance as best friend fallouts as something
pleasing.
The cartoon takes place on the
set of a talk show run by a talk show fox named Nosey. She’s a highly entertaining TV personality
bringing life and energy into any situation she’s placed in. After all, she is described as someone who
never minds her own business as folks who are nosey tend to do. However, Nosey is just part of the staging
for the imaginative approach to the featured fall-out of the story. This character and her talk show bring an
energetic way of explaining how both Rocko and Heffer have had a fight and
haven’t spoken to each other in days.
Somehow, I believe that explaining the fight this way is a lot nicer to
see than seeing what actually happened.
On that subject, the interview portion of the talk show bring both sides
of the argument that are both clearly exaggerated by the person recounting
things. It’s easy to tell right from the
staging of the flashbacks of Rocko and Heffer’s fallout. The teller of the tale is drawn in a simple
innocent style and acting so over-the-top happy-go-lucky. Likewise, the ex-friend of each recount is
portrayed as the same purple hulking monster with scary eyes and fangs acting
over-the-top jerky. It’s so ridiculous,
you can’t help but be drawn more into the hilarity of the absurdity than the
drama behind what amounts to a petty argument.
The actual argument is incredibly minor though. Heffer hastily made
Rocko a head out of lint or toilet paper as a gift after forgetting Rocko’s
birthday and Rocko did not take it well.
They’re both dense and not too likable for how one-sided and selfish
they are when explaining the issue, but that’s part of the humor of the
staging. By the time both sides are
explained, Rocko and Heffer are practically a riot when they start spatting at
each other on live TV, their anger sounding very over-the-top. Filburt, who brought their argument to this
show’s attention, even comments on how their behavior is making them a hit on
the show. Really, that’s the best way to
react to anyone so involved in a fight which is hard to make a point of when
stories try to make petty fights seem like they’re worth taking seriously. Heck, even Nosey isn’t really much help to
making the situation better as she expects Rocko and Heffer to continue fighting to
keep the ratings up.
It’s therefore a
shock when Heffer’s mother, Virginia Wolfe, acts as the odd one out in the
audience by actually taking the fight seriously and scolds the boys into making
up. Even if the whole argument is staged
as a joke, that doesn’t stop Rocko and Heffer making up come off as a genuinely
endearing moment. In fact, it may very
well be the most genuine showing of friendship between these characters to
date.
As for the show, while it seems to
become a bust, which while good for Rocko and Heffer, is unfortunate given how
fun it was, it still manages to be a hit.
All Filburt has to do is make an offhand remark about aliens. This turns out to work as a solid setup for a
punchline as the cartoon ends with Filburt actually being taken by aliens, so
his statement wasn’t really a ruse after all.
It’s just more important that Rocko and Heffer have mended their
friendship.
Thanks to the comedic
approach to their fight as the basis for a talk show making it feel engaging,
the ordeal turns out to be worth caring about.
That’s remarkable considering that the opposite result is typically
expected from fights.
A+
Addictions
are one of the unhealthiest challenges or disorders people tend to face in
life. This cartoon allows this show to
tackle such a theme as an addiction Rocko’s faced with comes in the form of the
common bad habit of nail-biting. That said, the execution of his personal
conflict isn’t exactly handled the best way possible. Right away, it feels downright immature.
He, Heffer, and Filburt meet at a diner where
food is ordered via scratch and sniff cards, except Rocko is unable to work his
card. This is all because of his bad
nail-biting habit which has made him chew his nails down to the bone. It goes without saying that he has a problem,
but this is where the storytelling gets kind of frustrating. Heffer states the painfully obvious point
that Rocko has a nail-biting problem over and over. As overbearing as this is, Rocko isn’t
innocent either as he stubbornly insists that he doesn’t have a problem. The thing is that it just doesn’t feel right
for someone like him to be this dense and understand that he really does have a
problem. It can be argued that refusing
to admit he has a problem is a part of addictions but it still feels like it
goes too far.
Rocko is also
uncharacteristically aggressive as his nail-biting problem makes things difficult
for him at home too. Can he seriously admit that everything’s fine when he
can’t even open a soda can or scratch himself when affected by a bunch of
Spunky’s fleas? Every time there’s a cut
to his chewed up nails, you can’t help but beg him to get some help. There is at least one funny bit to come from
the effects of his nail-biting as he randomly hides his hands in a ham and
monkey puppet when Heffer and Filburt come to check on him. In addition to being a humorous off-the-wall
sight gag, this moment shows Rocko develop some awareness over chewing up his
finger nails.
The cartoon then goes in a
more pleasing direction as he joins a help group to settle his problem. While he doesn’t have the money to actually
get into the club, he does get the home version of the help group. Keeping with the random nature of the series,
Rocko is greeted by a vast assortment of creatures on makeshift stairs
representing the steps he needs to take.
The thing is, most of the steps are just random nonsense like squeezing
fish, smelling rhinos, shaving weasels, and smelling feet. While this is in-line with the expected
oddball nature of the series, the steps that actually do connect to Rocko’s
problem are of special mention. The
process begins with him admitting he has a problem which feels like a genuinely
legit way to conquer addiction. There’s
also the last step where a creature looking like the Grim Reaper shows a dark
future that can come from Rocko’s nail-biting.
Maybe it’s not death, but Rocko ending up in a dumpster chewing on any
nails imaginable is somewhat disturbing.
Things get confusing when the next scene suggests that Rocko went
through was just a dream when it constantly felt real and the series has done
stuff like this before. Nevertheless, it
feels like something was gained with Rocko claiming that he’ll never bite nails
again after this experience, and it’s implied that he sticks to this plan. It’s just too bad we end with constant
obvious mentions of a gambling problem of some of the steps who go to
Vegas.
Ultimately though, despite all
shortcomings, the cartoon is a commendable and relatable way of overcoming any
and all addictions and bad habits.
A-
The Ranking
1. Camera Shy
2. The Emperor’s New Joe
3. Ed is Dead: A Thriller
4. Bye Bye Birdie
5. Speaking Terms
6. Sugar Frosted Frights
7. I See London I See France
8. Nothing to Sneeze At
9. Schnit-Heads
10. Dear John
11. The Fat Lands
12. Belch of Destiny
13. Tooth and Nail
14. Rocko’s Happy Vermin
15. Manic Mechanic
16. Old Fogey Frog
17. Fish-N-Chumps
18. Fortune Cookie
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode which is one of the deepest satires on working in the arts via a show called Wacky Delly.
If you would like to check out other Rocko's Modern Life reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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