What A Cartoon! - Rocko's Modern Life "Wacky Delly"

Wacky Deli is probably the best Rocko episode to do because of how involved the creator was, but my personal favorite is Zanzibar. Which was written by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. It is the musical about recycling and corporate America and the way the show flows is almost exactly like a Phineas and Ferb episode. Fun Fact: Zanzibar appears again as the name of a band that Phineas's mother was in on the the Show. Also the B-52's theme is my preferred theme.

Niko Wells

This is an extremely formative show in my life. I'm three years older than Matt (I think- I'm 31 to his 28?) so when the show rolled around, I was a little kiddie watching it and having all of these jokes go over my head. But the biggest thing it put in my head is the mundanity of adult life- a pretty high concept for a kids show. Like Matt, I've went back and watched the whole show again (I caught it all again on Nick Toons last year). And besides all of the spicy adult jokes, I've also found the show to just be generally well-made and funny.

Bork

Great episode, Rocko's Modern Life was my favorite Nicktoon as a kid and re-watching it as an adult was pretty amazing how many of the dirty jokes went completely over my head as a kid. I had wondered what the hell had happened to Charlie Adler a few months ago too and it looks like he does voice directing for animated shows instead of voice acting.

Kristin Cheney

Awesome to hear you guys hit on Rocko as it still stands as one of my absolute cartoons between its sharp writing and off-kilter designs. I too will also go to bat for Camp Lazlo which certainly aims a lot younger than Rocko but retains a lot of the bizarre humor that made Rocko work, with many of its alumni going off to work on later CN mainstays Flapjack and Regular Show. It's a fun one to revisit as long as you're okay with making peace with the fact that you are not getting a show that's anywhere near as edgy as Rocko, but is certainly just as airtight. Also also, I'm always happy to hear any time anyone brings up to criminally underrated Teacher's Pet movie, which I always recommend for having some of the most un-Disney-like animation and writing to ever come out of the House of Mouse, right along with A Goofy Movie and Runaway Brain. If you guys ever decide to jump into full-length features, this would certainly be one to check out (it's actually directed by Rocko alumni!)

John-Charles Holmes

I always liked the b-52's theme better. The Fathead cartoon the son did always grossed me out! Didn't they have like, parking meters stuck on their head?

Anita

I'm glad you guys touched on Rocko making a girl character. As a little girl of 7 watching this episode, it blew my mind that the most likable character on the show would deign to create and then play a female character. (I listened to this episode in my office with my figure of Filb the lounge singer looking over my shoulder.)

lightningkraken

Wacky Delly is my favorite thing. Thank you for covering it, I loved this episode and now I am rewatching the series. I didn't realize how of this is just ingrained in my brain despite not seeing most of these episodes for more than a decade. Also, I don't know why, but when I hear Filburt say "I know what he says and don't says" my mind goes immediately to Moe. It just sounds like something Moe would say to me.

Kenneth Nelson

This is an excellent stand-alone episode from the show, and like many other What A Cartoon selections, it reminded me that I really need to dig deeper into Rocko's Modern Life.

Dylan (batmanboy11) Freitag

Great episode analyzing the cartoon that probably influenced my sense of humor the most! Though you missed a joke that I thought was really clever. When Rocko, Heffer and Filbert are in the dark room, Heffer wants to turn on the lights so he can see. Filbert sarcastically responds with "That will expose the film, Eisenstein." When I was a kid, I though that was just a funny way of saying "Einstein." However, when I grew older and became slightly more knowledgeable in film history and theory, I realized that was references to Sergei Eisenstein. For those of you who don't know, Sergei Eisenstein was not only the famed Soviet director who directed classic silent films such as Battleship Potemkin and October, but also a pioneer in the field of film editing with his theory of montage and how they can create metaphors and manipulate the audience's emotions through related images. Kyle Kallgren explains it better in his video "Rocky and the Methods of Montage", but I'm honestly impressed that a joke that only a handful of people would get got into Rocko's Modern Life. We talk about how they got away with so many "adult" jokes, but about all the cerebral jokes we may have missed?

KaiserBeamz

This episode is why I've wanted to make cartoons since I was a kid.

I have so many distinct memories of this show from when I was a kid, specifically watching it with my mother, which in retrospect is strange because she didn't let me watch the Simpsons for a time, but didn't seem to have any issues with Rocko's Modern Life. I've recently rewatched it for the first time in what must be 15 years thanks to Matt's video on Cartoons 101 (thanks for that) and it really struck me just how much the show gets that sense of ennui and listlessness that hits you in your mid-20s with no real prospects or sense of self or direction. In a lot of ways it feels a lot like British comedies like Red Dwarf or Bottom in how it draws from very real situations and anxieties but heightens them to such a massive degree for maximum comedic effect. Anyway, I love the show and loved the episode, thanks fellas! P.S. All respect to Fred Schneider but the original theme song is so much better than the b-52s redux.

forpush

Teen Nick, or whatever Nick channel it is that airs The Splat retro block, was showing a lot of Rocko during the winter and early spring and I would watch it from time to time. I loved this show almost as much as Ren & Stimpy as a kid, though as an adult it's harder to binge because the audio is so overwhelming. You guys basically touched on it with how loud it is, but they use that fart noise for everything! Someone frowns - fart noise. Someone sits down - fart noise. Someone gets confused - fart noise! Either they were really amused by farts or just assumed 90s kids wanted all the farts they could handle. The show is still good though, and it's actually more relate-able for adults. And I also loved how it stretched the original Nick Toons block to a full 2 hours. 90 minutes was just weird.

Joe Hodgson