Rocko's Modern Life: Season One

As a kid growing up in the '90s, "Rocko's Modern Life" was the staple of a healthy TV diet for me. Nickelodeon had a series of cartoons at the time, aptly dubbed Nicktoons, that will remain synonymous with my adolescence. "Rocko's Modern Life" is one with which I particularly remember being completely enthralled. Looking back at it after a 15-year hiatus, I would lump the show in with the same brilliance exhibited by Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip. That is to say, I am able to enjoy the show just as much today as I did when I was a kid, only in completely different facets. In 1993, anything in the same animated vein as "Ren and Stimpy" was right up my alley, and "Rocko's Modern Life" had that overall look perfected.

In 2011, the year in which the show is finally getting a proper release on DVD, I find myself relating more to the various political and social commentaries cleverly buried within nearly every episode.Needless to say, I was more than excited to dive right into the first season of this long-awaited release. All 26 episodes are here in a two-disc set. Unfortunately there are zero special features included with this — not a single audio commentary, storyboard, or deleted scene ... zilch. To have waited nearly two decades and not be compensated with some additional features is quite the letdown.

Although, it's not surprising given the fact that nearly every TV show released on DVD by Nickelodeon is extremely bare bones. Putting all that aside, I was delighted with how well the show has held up over the years. The animation is very much a 1990s time-capsule piece, and in a way, it's a lost art form. Abrasively detailed close-ups, gross-out humor and double entendres were standards of most all Nicktoons. "Rocko's Modern Life" was also graced with a slew of brilliant voice actors such as Carlos Alazraqui of Taco Bell chihuahua fame and Tom Kenny, who would later go on to voice SpongeBob SquarePants, just to name a few.

Some episode highlights from Season 1 include: Keeping Up With the Bigheads, A Sucker For the Suck-O-Matic, and Who's For Dinner (a personal favorite of mine).

Season: 4 Yaps Extras: 0 Yaps