Rating : - This VCR Video Tape has the Legendary "Suck-o-Matic" Episode
Usually I don't write about kids' TV shows, leaving such matters to my betters, ten year olds, but this dropped and unavailable show about a transplanted wallaby named Rocko living in American suburbia deserves more of a chance. Everyone who likes Rocko's show wonders why it's not available on DVD. (The same purgatory seems in place for Dexter's Lab.) The Cartoon powers apparently have decided thumbs down on poor Rocko, and obstinately refuse to release a DVD of Rocko and friends. Whatever their excuse it's a shame. Few TV cartoons can match Rocko's Modern Life for pure unadulterated over the top zaniness. The sense for Southern California living is remarkable, as is the oddly accurate buddy world Rocko inhabits. Trashy in Rocko is somehow magically converted into high chic.

Anyway, here on a good VCR tape are four of the wilder shows, with three tied to the 'out of control machine' theme, and a fourth when Spunky loses his brain. If you've already seen the "Suck-o-Matic" episode look no further, you'll want this. The other episodes on this Video are; "Unbalanced Load", "Trash-O-Madness", and "How to Tell if Your Dog is Brainless". If you think I'm nuts to be recommending this, you may be partly right - you have to be a little crazy to get Rocko.

Yes, Rocko is undeniably a show designed for young boys, or young males who have not graduated to something beyond cartoons, but it has a brilliance which at times far surpasses the run of the mill stuff pushed out as cutting edge, but which in time inevitably comes across as just trashy and sick. Rocko's different, and more importantly - hilarious! Many people don't realize this, but Rocko's best episodes have even been used as the basis for modern opera productions. (Only Rocko is ever so much better, as well as infinitely funnier.)

Amyway, don't hold your breath for more Rocko from the establishment. Such great episodes as "Wacky Deli" lanquish while the trite but apparently in demand girls shows are popping up on glossy DVDs with entire seasons. The more wily Rocko fans, disgusted by this censorship, have collected the entire series through tv copies. Just a hint.