TOP 5 BEST
5. Speaking Terms - A wonderful satire of the scumbag world of tabloid TV with a heartwarming resolution, an unconventional format, and some wonderfully demented (moreso than usual!) animation in Rocko and Heffer’s biased flashbacks to the same incident. I love when this show does warm and fuzzy stories, which is a lot more common than the show’s “Ren & Stimpy but with politics'' reputation would make you believe
4. The Lounge Singer - probably the episode that feels the most like a typical kids’ show plot (sans Belch of Destiny, which is a bit of an outlier since it’s about Heffer being an overgrown boy scout) - Filburt overcomes his stage fright to become the world-famous crooner Filb. Buddy Gecko is one of my favourite one-off characters, and it’s satisfying to see Filburt overcome his stage fright - becomes extra sweet when it’s brought back up in The Big Answer (This show has continuity, as insane as that may be to believe)
3. Tickled Pinky - I love the contrast of gross and heartwarming this episode has. You really feel for poor Pinky the Make-A-Wish appendix. It’s weird to say this about a 90s cartoon, but I wish this show delved into gross-out elements more, especially if it could’ve pulled more creative twists on scatological tropes like it did for this episode. Also, Elvis’ appendix. Perfection. I wonder what animal Elvis is in the Rocko universe…
2. Cruisin’ - if Cruisin’ was a one-parter it’d easily be the highlight of the entire show, but the first 11 minutes of cliche elderly jokes bogs it down a little. However, once Rocko and co. enter the Bermuda triangle the episode truly shines. Surrealism, heart, humour, adventure, it’s got it all.
1. Wacky Delly -Probably the most famous episode of the show, and with good reason - even if you’re not well versed in 90s cartoons you’ve likely seen “Mayo” or “I am the Cheese” floating about - an incredibly hilarious laugh-a-second episode that never misses a beat. Helps that meta-”making cartoons” episodes are my favourite type of cartoon episode as is. Static Cling makes a great epilogue to it too
Honourable mentions to Popcorn Pandemonium, Commuted Sentence; Ed Good Rocko Bad; Who’s For Dinner; I See Paris, I See France; I Have No Son; Clean Lovin'; Bye, Bye, Birdie; Junk Junkies; both Heck episodes; and all the Bloaty & Squirmy episodes
TOP 5 WORST:
5. Magic Meatball - I know this episode is a fan favourite but… I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I don’t think it’s bad, it just kinda flies over my head. I appreciate the surrealism, but it’s hard not to shake the idea there’s a deeper meaning, and I just can’t find it.
4. Rug Birds - “What if a bald eagle wore a wig?” should’ve been a 5 second joke, not 11 minutes
3. Rocko’s Modern Christmas “You Can’t Squeeze Cheer from a Cheese Log!” - Fruitcake Man steals the show in his half a minute of screentime and the Hohoho dance is incredible, but I must question the choice to make the Christmas episode a racism allegory in a show that criticises consumerism regularly.
2. Tee’d Off - Star Wars meets golf? I don’t get it. The piano gag gets old quick.
1. Uniform Behaviour - Boring yet infuriating. The Shining parody is fun and the udders of justice are great, but everything else is just a cruel slog that feels more like Peter Griffin than Heffer Wolfe. Only episode I’m willing to call outright “bad” and not unfunny - lacks the fun Rocko brings when tackling other serious topics. Either that or I’m just too emotionally attached to this freeloading cartoon bovine to handle watching him naked in prison.
No dishonourable mentions, even calling Tee’d Off “mediocre” feels like it’s pushing it.
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