Overall, I don't feel this is a great show for kids but it is a pretty entertaining cartoon for adults. If you are someone who grew up with this show this product is perfect for you. It features all 52 episodes from the show's four-season run and many bonus features such as the original pilot as well as all sorts of commentaries.
“Rocko’s Modern Life: The Complete Series has over 20 hours of Rocko, Heffer, Filburt, Spunky, and the Bigheads as they explore the ups and downs of everyday life in the city of O-Town. Fans can enjoy classic episodes such as “Carnival Knowledge” and “Flu-In-U-Enza,” and relive all of the adventures and life-lessons from Rocko and his friends, including the dangers of garbage day, the disastrous results of Heffer eating too many Pasture Puffies, and Filburt struggling to save his soul after opening a not-so-fortunate fortune cookie.” – Provided Description
Rocko’s Modern Life was one of the staple cartoons for the 90s kids. Having been born after the show had already gone off-air, I had only caught a couple of the episodes as a kid leading me to have no real feeling of nostalgia while watching this show. While I feel the main target of this complete series bundle is those who have grown up on this show purchasing one of their old favorites, I believe that the cartoon might actually be better as an adult.
Having basically no memory of this show and seeing as it is aimed for children I once again had my 8-year-old sister watch a couple of episodes with me. We started with the first episode of season one, No Pain No Gain followed by Who Gives a Buck. The premise of the No Pain No Gain episode follows Rocko and his best friend Heffer as they travel to a gym for the first time where they plan to get into shape. For the majority of the episode, we see Rocko and Heffer struggle on the various machines and they almost always end up hurting themselves in a comical manner. My sister would be giggling at nearly every one of these scenes, she was very much amused by it. However, at one point in the episode Rocko witnesses a bodybuilder attempt to lift a very heavy weight but then his arms get ripped out of socket with bones sticking out and a lot of blood. The blood continues to pour out of the characters arms and a pool of blood forms around the character on the ground. This scene made my sister very uncomfortable, I don’t believe she has seen blood in a cartoon before and if she has, never that much of it.
The next episode we watched involved Rocko getting a new credit card and taking a trip to the mall. While searching for a parking spot the Rocko and Heffer drive higher and higher into a parking structure until Heffer’s nose starts bleeding a fair amount. This once again unsettled my sister and she decided to leave. From this alone, I would say that I don’t recommend this show for children. It may be better for older kids and definitely teens but for less than 10-year-olds, I would shy away. Though for adults this show is actually pretty entertaining.
Nearly every episode deals with some rather adult themes such as body image, gluttony, hell (lots of hell), adultery, debt, and more. Many of the episodes act as some sort of social commentary and half of the jokes in the show are innuendos of one kind or another. These aspects of the show make it far more entertaining for adults than children. Take for example the Who Gives A Buck episode. This episode featuring Rocko overspending on his credit card and being unable to pay his bill. He gets letters and calls from the credit card company though he ignores them and he goes to bed. He tries to go to sleep but he keeps having dreams regarding the debt that he is in and he wakes up sweating and trembling. If that isn’t just about the most relatable thing, I don’t know what is.
Overall, I don’t feel this is a great show for kids but it is a pretty entertaining cartoon for adults. If you are someone who grew up with this show this product is perfect for you. It features all 52 episodes from the show’s four-season run and many bonus features such as the original pilot as well as all sorts of commentaries.
