O-TOWN – How can you not love a wallaby in a pseudo Hawaiian shirt? Rocko’s Modern Life was a cult hit on Nickelodeon back in the mid-90s and is returning on home video. This month Rocko’s Modern Life: Season Two hits the DVD Shelves.
Rocko is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui, best known as Deputy Garcia on Reno 911!. Tom Kenny (Mr Show) gets tone to Hefer Wolfe, Rocko’s slightly out of it cow pal. You might know Kenny as the star of SpongeBob Squarepants. This show is where Kenny and SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenberg came together. But don’t make the mistake of viewing Rocko as the testing ground for SpongeBob. Rocko’s Modern Life is a great show by itself.
As someone who didn’t have cable when it aired, the show feels fresh. This isn’t like enduring a series packed with Jonas Brothers jokes. Season Two starts off with a new theme song from B-52s. “I Have No Son!” introduces us the disowned animator son of the Bigheads. There’s even a Christmas special.
I had a chance to swap questions via email with Rocko’s Modern Life‘s creator Joe Murray. After Rocko’s Modern Life, Murray went on to create Camp Lazlo. He’s currently making Frog In a Suit for KaboingTV. Our questions stuck with Rocko.
Party Favors: Looking back, do you find it odd that you had an easier time making Rocko into an animated series than getting it published as a comic book?
Joe Murray: Well, the Marvel Comic book came after the show started. Some people think it was the other way around. So it wasn’t difficult, until I tried to have a hand in the comic book on top of all my other duties.
Party Favors: Did you find yourself having a casting session with the supporting characters from the comic book deciding which ones deserved a recurring role?
Joe Murray: Supporting characters quite often start pushing their way to the front if they want more camera time.?
Party Favors: What was it like for you to go from working privately on the comic book to having story sessions with other writers?
Joe Murray: Well, I position this question to: What was it like to going from being my own writer on my Independent films to working with writers. Well,,, difficult. Especially when Nickelodeon first tried to “assign” a writer/editor they liked to me, and we didn’t get along. I had to say him or me because it was not working. Why have a creator driven show if they bring in someone who has his own vision of what the show should be?
Party Favors: Was there a discussion to call Rocko a Kangaroo?
Joe Murray: Not really. Nick liked that it was an odd animal. Relatively unknown.?
Party Favors: How did you end up making an animated series that features two main characters that aren’t loud and annoying?
Joe Murray: Why? Is that a formula? I wasn’t aware of that. Good thing. I just did a show that I connected to and related to.?
(Editor note: It is the Seth MacFarlane Formula of Success.)
Party Favors: How can Rocko work at a comic book store without being so judgmental of customers?
Joe Murray: Because he’s nice sweet Rocko. He just goes about his business while chaos happens around him.?
Party Favors: Had you seen Tom Kenny’s work on Mr. Show before he auditioned?
Joe Murray: Actually no. I did see his stand up comedy routine, and that’s what attracted me . Plus he’s such a great nice guy. Who wouldn’t want to work with that in combination with sickening fantastic talent??
Party Favors: How do you cast voice talent? Did you let Carlos Alazraqui test out his own voice ideas in the process?
Joe Murray: Yes. Carlos, who was also from stand up comedy, did great voices. He had never done voice acting before, but he was a natural. We had a long line of actors trying to do Rocko, and I just kept shaking my head no, no, not it, no.
And then Carlos nailed it,,, as well as Spunky. Plus Carlos is great guy as well. I don’t work with them if they are not nice guys.?
Party Favors: What allowed you to get the B-52s to perform the theme song?
Joe Murray: Well,, actually Nick asked me who my dream band would be to do the music for Rocko, and the B-52’s were on the top of the list. It just so happened one of the Nick producers knew Pat Irwin who did composing and was the keyboardist for the B-52’s. He did a demo for me and I loved it. Then it was just matter of him asking his friends in the band to do the opening song. I was there at the recording in New York, and we all had a great time.?
Party Favors: Did you have your own way to figure out if an episode could entertain an adult yet appeal to a kid?
Joe Murray: Well, we were all big kids, and we all found it funny. So that kind of covered us on all bases. We had the highest overall households ratings, so I guess it worked.?
Party Favors: We’re you pretty secure in the way the show would work for season two or was it still a big adventure?
Joe Murray: Every season is an adventure. But the way animation works, we needed to start season 2 before we aired the first episode of season 1, the main premiere. So we didn’t even know how any one was going to respond to this bizarre show. We just kept doing what we were doing on Season 1, but better. Filburt broke out as a more prominent character, the writing got better, we settled into a real great production groove. We got rid of the line producers, editors and writers that were assigned by Nick in the first season so the second season was smooth sailing as far as chemistry in the studio was concerned. I can’t wait for season 3 to come out. In my opinion that was the best.?
Party Favors: Are you excited about Season 2 coming out since it has Ralph Bighead’s arrival? Was Ralph you or a composite of all the people working on the show?
Joe Murray: No, Ralph was pretty much me. But the directors and writers also resonated with him. The episode “I Have No Son” was a lot of fun to do, except I don’t like my voice as Ralph Bighead. The episode “Wacky Deli” that came later was also a lot of fun.
Party Favors: How far into Season 2 did you know there would be Season 3?
Joe Murray: Well, we knew early on that we were going to start producing episodes for season 3, but didn’t know if they would air. ( we were pretty sure they would, but in entertainment, you never know. Season 3 was the last season I was completely in the trenches as a hands on Director, Producer Story editor. So I wanted to have fun with it. Season 4 I was the Executive Producer, and Steve Hillenburg (Spongebob) took over more of my jobs.?
Party Favors: What do you feel you did as a story editor back in the ’90s that made “Rocko’s Modern Life” still enjoyable for new viewers today?
Joe Murray: Well, we didn’t know how it would appeal to anyone. People thought it was a weird show back then, and I think more people “Got it” as time went on. I wanted to make Rocko a show that you could watch again and again, and get something new we put in each time. I hope we did that. Thanks to Shout, we have them on DVD now and the audience can do that.
The Party Favors would like to thank Joe Murray and the fine folks at Shout! Factory for setting up our email exchange with Joe Murray.
SAVE THE GREETER
Recently Walmart has been tinkering with the position of People Greeter. First it was eliminating the role from the overnight hours. This made sense since the old folks who stand at the entrances don’t like being night owls. Now they want to shift the greeters to further back in the store and make them restockers. How can Walmart think of messing with the position?
The only thing that gives Walmart an ounce of humanity is the old people at the front entrance saying “Welcome to Walmart.” Without the greeter, a Walmart is nothing more than a computer controlled box stocked with cheap Chinese products on the verge of being recalled and preprocessed frankenfoods. The old person gives the illusion that someone cares that I’m shopping in their inhuman labyrinth of consumerism. Plus the People Greeter reminds us that there might still be a job for us when we’re 80 years old and discover our retirement plan was a worthless scam. What other jobs can an 80 year old do? Grandma can’t work at Hooters. They have a rule that your breasts can’t drop below your orange shorts.
Let Walmart know that you need a greeter. I propose a Vampire Protest. Refuse to enter a Walmart until someone greets you to come inside. Thousands of people must cluster outside Walmarts across this country to hive the message to Bentonville. We need our People Greeters! And I’m not just writing this because I’m about to publish The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters. Although it would help sales if they still had People Greeters.
BLU-HEAVEN
Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Next Level is a demonstration of what happens to the U.S.S. Enterprise as it hits the warp speed of high dentition. When the series originally aired, the live action was shot on 35mm film, but the special effects were done in standard video. This worked well for the syndicated television world of 1987. But now in the world of HDTV, ST:TNG does not look modern. Luckily someone at Paramount realized that this show wasn’t always going to be stuck on standard def channels. They basically redid the post-production on the show. The original 35mm film was rescanned, the special effects were recreated in a higher resolution and a fresh 7.1 DTS-HD sound mix was created. The results judging from the three episodes on this sampler Blu-ray are magnificent. All the little details onboard the deck come out. You’ll be able to read the emotions of Deanna Troi. Ladies should be warned about seeing the young Wil Wheaton in 1080p. The uniforms have a sheen to them. “Encounter at Farpoint” is the double episode pilot that brought the franchise back to the small screen. Picard and crew have their first encounter with Q. The higher being is eager to smash them if they fail his test. Season Three’s “Sin of the Father” makes Worf defend his father’s honor in a Klingon ceremony. Season Five’s “The Inner Light” plays with how a lost civilization gets Picard to remember them. This is a fine sampler to let folks see the glory of the fresh post-production. If you need a gift for your Star Trek fanatic pal, this is it.
DVD SHELF
Happy, Happy is a cute, cute film from Norway. Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen)is excited when new neighbors move next door in the middle of winter. She adores the new couple since they seem so perfect. Her own marriage is turning into a bit of a pain since her husband is more focused on their kids. He’s lost his sex drive. The new couple gets her a little excited and she ends up doing something that can bust up every one’s lives. But she’s not sinister about it. She’s not out to destroy and claim as reawaken herself. Plus the husband needs a little payback since they moved after his wife admitted to having an affair. This is a great throwback to the foreign language sex comedies that used to appeal to an art house audience that didn’t mind subtitles to see how risqué the rest of the world lives. They do sing in English.
Outrage: Way of the Yakuza is the kind of Asian mobster film that would have had me driving out to Dave’s Videodrome in Carrboro to rent the VHS tape in ’93. Luckily it’s cheaper nowadays to just online order the DVD or Blu-ray and not have to worry about the price of gas and late fee. Takeshi Kitano remains a cinematic artist who paints the screen in badass red. He wrote, directed, edited and starred in Outrage. This is his movie. The Yakuza, the Japanese version of the Mafia, are changing to fit the 21st century. No longer are they tattoo covered goons with missing fingers. They’re hustling in the age of digital technology. There’s a power struggle as aging lions are targeted by young cubs with sharp teeth. Kitano’s mobster is part of a family looking to mess with their neighboring crime family. A little disrespect tumbles into an all out mobster war with bodies piling up. Did you know that instead of sending a muffin basket for a slight screw up, you include the finger of the Japanese intern? Think of how many fingers would be piling up at the various new channels. Outrage would have been worth the drive to the Videodrome.
Police Woman: Season Two gets Angie Dickinson’s iconic series back on the release tracks after six years. The series was a spin-off from Police Story when the public couldn’t get enough of Sgt. Pepper Anderson (Dickinson) and her partner Sgt. Bill Crowley (Earl Holliman). The duo enjoyed going undercover to bust mobsters, pimps, drug dealers and more mobsters in Los Angeles. “Pawns of Power” bring son the heavyweight talent of Mr. Robert Goulet! Even wonder how long Ian McShane has been around? He’s in “The Chasers” with Film Noir legend Ida Lupino in 1975. “Farewell, Mary Jane” has Angie saying hello to Sam Elliott, Geoffrey Lewis and Loni Anderson. “Glitter with a Bullet” dazzles with Frank Gorshin (Batman‘s The Riddler). Future supercop Erik Estrada (CHiPs) is part of “Don’t Feed the Pigeons.” There’s only two more seasons left. “The Pawn Shop” trades in a younger Joan Collins. “Wednesdays Child” gives us the joy of Robert Loggia (The Sopranos) and Raymond St. Jacques (Coffin Ed in Cotton Comes to Harlem). The season wraps up with the two part “Task Force: Cop Killer.” Angie might be targeted. The series kicks. There’s only two more seasons left to be released.
The Adventures of Chuck and Friends: Friends to the Finish is about tiny Tonka trucks. Chuck’s a jacked up dumptruck with a need for speed. The show appeals to little kids who are can handle motor vehicles with eyeballs. Chuck’s brother is a big time racer so the kid has a Speed Racer quality. The show’s big focus appears to be on the worthy nature of practice. This is series is not Allen Iverson approved. Each episode is about 11 minutes long so it has the ability to keep a little kid’s attention before they start zipping their own cars and trucks around the floor.
Limelight gives the history of New York City’s legendary nightclub that was inside a church. The mixing of religious architecture and ecstasy that took over the mantle of decadence from Studio 54. Owner Peter Gatien went beyond Studio 54 when he created a nightlife kingdom within the Big Apple. He also ran Tunnel, Palladium (home of Club MTV) and Club USA. During the ’80s and ’90s, Gatien’s clubs had larger audiences than the Yankees. Cocaine Cowboy‘s Bill Corben once more scores in creating a documentary that reminds us America likes to get messed up and party down. Gatien’s clubs not only helped mark the rise of Rave culture, but his Tunnel’s rap night created a hip hop nation. Naturally the mayor of New York had to shut down anything that wasn’t wholesome. The infamous Party Killer murder of a club kid by one of the Limelight’s top party promoter didn’t help the cause. The documentary allows Gatien and the players discuss how the city dismantled the velvet ropes and escorted Gatien back to Canada. This is a bigger story than Studio 54. Sad thought is that soon the Limelight will be turned into an iHop. Be careful if you find a lost “sugar packet” under your table.
?Father Dowling Mysteries: The First Season brought Tom Bosley back Happy Days purgatory. He’s a pastor of a Catholic Church in Chicago that loves mystery novels and true detective tales. He’s got an eye for details and the ability to spot sin in a man’s soul. He’s also got a cute nun (Tracy Nelson) as his sidekick. The show was made by the people behind Matlock so it has the same tone in the crimes. “Fatal Confession” was the TV pilot movie that stole America’s heart in 1987. Father Dowling doesn’t believe a parishioner is a suicide. He has to juggle his investigation with running various church function. The first season only had 7 episodes when it started in the winter of ’89. His cases included mobster priests, hookers, babies, evil brothers and Harriet Nelson. After confession, you can always use an episode of Father Dowling to replace 10 Hail Marys.
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