"That was a hoot!"

I've been randomly watching episodes of that old Nick Toons show, "Rocko's Modern Life". The one about the wallaby and his cow friend. It's entertaining enough. I don't know that I could have understood the underlying themes when I watched this show as a kid. One episode for example focused on Rocko's obnoxious neighbor, Mrs. Bighead, a boisterous frog lady. She's married to guess who - Mr. Bighead - they have sex problems. Mrs. Bighead tries to come on to the Mr., who turns over and goes to sleep one night making Mrs. B feel unattractive. The following day Mrs. B watches Rocko mow his lawn (not as dirty as it sounds) and calls him over to help her put in a lightbulb, or something stereotypical that a housewife would ask a man to do. He completes a number of tasks for her - because Rocko is a nice guy - Mrs. B watching him intently, hoping he notices her attractiveness. By the end of the episode Rocko is in his underwear, Mrs. B in her bathrobe when her husband returns home. It looks suspicious, the Mr. is pissed and kicks Rocko out - realizing his wife wants to be wanted. In their bedroom they both attempt to catch a fly on their tongues, their tongues become entangled in one another and the camera cuts to the exterior of their house - you watch their silhouettes tugging back and forth, along with zoo sounds and "ohhs" & happy "ahhs" from Mrs. B.

What 9-12 year old watching that could possibly get that? What did I think the story was if I'd watched that episode as a kid?

Another funny one shows Rocko's dog falling in love with the mop. Yeah, the dirty mop you clean the kitchen with. As the dog is falling for the mop they intercut shots of the dog drooling with big eyes - the mop - a shot of a chocolate covered donut being dunked into a cup of coffee - the dog panting - then a shot of Rocko's hand spreading mayonaisse on a slice of bread - the dog is going wild.

WTF?

Another scene I remember is the dog getting caught in the middle of the night alone in the closet with the mop. Rocko says his dog clearly has a problem, and admonishes him for being "with" the mop.

Rocko's Modern Life apparently was an early playground for a writer who would go on to create Spongebob Squarepants. First watching the show I thought it seemed a bit like the Spongebob humor, and the animation was - I don't know the technical terms, but they had the same look. So, it was cool to see there actually was a Spongebob/Rocko connection. Right down to the main character having a ridiculous, loud, dimwitted best friend.

That was a hoot!