Get Out of This Degrading Business and Make Real Art Rockos Modern Life

The eleventh episode of the third season of Rocko's Modern Life.

In this 2-parter, Ralph Bighead is contractually-obligated to do another cartoon, but he wants to dedicate himself to "true art", so he gives Rocko, Heffer and Filburt complete creative liberty in an attempt to get fired, merely Wacky Delly turns out to exist a runaway hitting.

This episode provides examples of:

• Alliterative Name: Rocko names his bologna character Betty Bologna.
• Amusing Injuries: When Ralph'southward attempts to sabotage Wacky Delly simply make the show more popular, Ralph is mobbed by fans when he arrives at Bighead Studios and one tears out a piece of his scalp.
• Anthropomorphic Nutrient: The titular Wacky Delly is a drawing about anthropomorphic deli meats.
• Biting-the-Mitt Sense of humour: This episode is 1 big Accept That! to Nickelodeon and their process involving animated shows from back in the day.
• Bookcase Passage: Ed has one that leads to an underground lair where he keeps his estrus ray.
• Call-Back:
  • In the scene where Rocko goes over the storyboards for the pilot episode of Wacky Delly, Filburt asks Heffer if he's seen RoboFrog Five still. Heffer tells him, "Yeah, information technology's okay."
  • When Ed shows Ralph his heat ray, which he plans to use to destroy Rocko with, he mentions that one time Rocko is gone, he won't have to deal with baseballs landing on his front lawn or Spunky eating from his salmon bushes anymore.
  • When Rocko tells Ralph that he should put all his attempt into making Wacky Delly the best show it tin can be instead of trying to sabotage it, Ralph says, "Yeah, Rocko!" over and over, which is similar to when Rocko said "Aye, Melba!" over and over in "Honey Spanked".
• Cartoon Cheese: Filburt initially designed the character of Mr. Cheese every bit a highly stylized version of this (named "Lester Roquefort") before Heffer redesigned and renamed him.
• Graphic symbol Development: In Ralph's debut episode, "I Have No Son!", Ed disowned Ralph, chastised him and said Rocko's idiocy would destroy his career, simply their relationship has been patched upwards by Rocko at the end of the episode. In this episode, Ed has grown to respect what his son does and doesn't want Rocko or his friends to taint information technology. When Ralph explains to his dad that he knows Heffer's idea volition likely destroy his career, and that he wants that to happen then he can attempt his manus as an actual artist, Ed'southward face lights up when he realizes where Ralph is going with the plan. When this backfires, Ralph goes to Ed for communication on how to get Wacky Delly cancelled, and Ed shows Ralph the estrus ray he plans to destroy Rocko with. When Ralph clarifies that he doesn't want to hurt Rocko, Heffer and Filburt because they're his friends, Ed still supports Ralph and hands shifts gears to modify the program as Ralph wants.
• Character Shilling: All of Mr. Cheese'south dialogue is just him saying he's better than Betty Bologna and Sal Ami.
• Creator's Pet: In-Universe example with Filburt towards Mr. Cheese, to the point that all of Mr. Cheese's dialogue consists of "I am The Cheese! I am the best character on the show! I am better than both The Salami and The Bologna combined!" repeated over and over.
  • He besides loses information technology when Heffer asked if they needed Mr. Cheese at all.
• Contractual Obligation Projection: An In-Universe instance; Ralph ends product on his show The Fatheads to create his artistic masterpiece. All the same, his network contract states that he has to brand one more show, so to get it over with, Ralph hires Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt to make a pilot for the new evidence, hoping it will exist bad enough to get the executives to cancel his contract. Unfortunately, they love Wacky Delly and the prove becomes a massive hit. Ironically, when Ralph decides to put some effort into making it ameliorate, the network instantly cancels the show.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: When Ralph comes to Ed for communication on how to become Wacky Delly cancelled, Ed reveals that beneath his house he has assembled a NASA-esque system run past dozens of Conglom-O employees and includes a behemothic heat ray all for the sole purpose of eliminating Rocko, Spunky, Heffer and Filburt considering he hates them that much.
• Death Ray: Ed reveals that he'southward built a heat ray in an elaborate underground lab with the express purpose eliminating Rocko and his friends. When Ralph mentions he doesn't want to hurt Rocko, Ed decides instead to burn the heat ray at one of his satellites, stating it volition refract and strike the polar caps, melting the ice and creating a tidal moving ridge that will destroy Bighead Studios and Wacky Delly.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Mr. Cheese. Though of grade this was Heffer'south new name for the character's redesign; Filburt originally wanted him to be called "Lester Roquefort."
• "Eureka!" Moment:
  • When Heffer suggests that Ralph'southward new prove be about cafeteria meats, Filburt says that idea is and so bad, it'll become Ralph kicked out of his contract. When Ralph hears this, he decides to get with Heffer's idea.
  • While passing by the camera room, Ralph hears Heffer and Filburt arguing most turning on the room light, specifically Filburt saying "That volition exposue the film, Eisenstein!". He then silently backs upwardly before barging into the camera room with a searchlight behind him.
• Anybody Has Standards: Despite resorting to underhanded tactics to get rid of Wacky Delly, Ralph draws the line at hurting Rocko and his friends.
• Fourth-Wall Portrait: Filburt designs a cheese character for Wacky Delly, which he names Lester Roquefort, and draws a realistic (Even by Real Life standards) picture show of a cheese wedge. Rocko is amazed, only Heffer quickly decides to "improve" it by erasing information technology and cartoon a crude cheese-like stick figure which becomes the actual design for the cheese, naming information technology Mr. Cheese.
• Gone Horribly Correct: Ralph assigns Rocko and his friends to create Wacky Delly, believing that their incompetence and lack of training volition cancel the show outright. Instead, it becomes a major hit and he's stuck in his contract.
• Groupie Brigade: When Wacky Delly becomes successful, Ralph gets an army of psychotic fans that accept pieces of his car, his clothes, and his scalp as souvenirs. In a later scene, Ralph pushes his car with a dummy of himself towards the fans to distract them so he can safely walk into Bighead Studios.
• Happily Married: When Ralph returns to the Bigheads' firm for advice on how to get Wacky Delly cancelled, Ed chases Bev around the house while he is inside a hamster ball, with Bev laughing hysterically.
• Happy Circus Music: The in-universe Wacky Delly cartoon has upbeat fairground organ music playing in the background. While the cartoon has nothing to do with a circus, the music still sets a comical mood for the surreal cartoon.
• Inconvenient Darkroom Illumination: While passing the photographic camera room, Ralph hears Rocko and the others within, specifically Filburt proverb that turning the light on would betrayal the film of the newest episode. This prompts Ralph to open up the door, and for skilful measure, brings along a searchlight to ensure its overexposed. Similar every other demolition endeavour, it only makes the show meliorate.
• It's All Nigh Me: The Cheese, evidently.

  The Cheese: I AM THE CHEESE! I AM THE All-time CHARACTER ON THE SHOW!

• Limited Animation: The blitheness for the pilot episode of Wacky Delly is very potent and jerky and many of the scenes in it are repeated. Later episodes of the show include one where a jar of mayonnaise is shown onscreen for 10 minutes and some other consisting entirely of overexposed motion-picture show footage.
• Long Runner: Show Within a Prove instance; The Fatheads is revealed to have run for 893 episodes.
• Lowest Common Denominator: Parodied heavily In-Universe; In this episode, Ralph intentionally has Rocko and his friends create a sloppily put-together series to go out of his contract, only for the executives and the general public to adore information technology. Ralph and then tries to have the evidence cancelled by making it more and more lowbrow, only to brand it even more popular. Information technology just takes one intellectually improved episode created by Ralph for the show to be hated by the public and immediately cancelled. Information technology'southward after this that Ralph expresses his frustration with the masses with this...

  Ralph: You cretins! Y'all don't know what art is!!! I'LL Testify Yous!!!!

• Magnum Opus: The episode ends in a Flash Forward showing Ralph after he has completed his life'southward master work, a notwithstanding life of vino and fruit carved into a mountain a la Mountain Rushmore. The subtitles tell the viewer that its cosmos has taken ten years, although judging from Ralph's mop of white hair and long white beard, those years have taken a toll on him.
• Magnum Opus Dissonance: In-Universe example; Ralph felt that the world'due south largest still life sculpture would be his masterpiece, but it turns out that it's not as popular as Wacky Delly was before he got involved in the show.
• Medium-Shift Gag: The live-action meatloaf footage in the pilot for Wacky Delly, which was filmed by Joe Murray and Richard LeRoy on Murray's patio.
• Moral Guardians: A newscaster starts calling Wacky Delly degrading garbage and invokes Think of the Children!. Upon seeing this, the executives are thrilled at the gratis advertising.
• Narrating the Obvious: Afterward Rocko, Heffer and Filburt stop photographing a Wacky Delly episode and are ready to become the film developed, Filburt announces, "We have to take the motion picture out of the camera, and put information technology in the film can."
• Never My Fault: Ralph blames most of his demolition attempts on Rocko and his friends, except for the moment where he and Ed sent a flood to Holl-o-woods, but for Heffer to accidentally save Bighead Studios by levying it with a car jack.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Ralph can never live down Wacky Delly, fifty-fifty subsequently he sculpted the world's largest still-life.
• Just Sane Man: When Heffer and Filburt argue over artistic differences for Wacky Delly, Rocko's caught in the eye, but just takes all the bickering in strides. Best exemplified when Rocko's tired and annoyed expression remains unchanged during an argument where Heffer beats Filburt with a flatbed editor with Rocko still sitting on it.
• Punny Proper name: Heffer names his salami character Sal Ami.
• Reaching Between the Lines: In the pilot for Wacky Delly, Betty Bologna answers the phone and all of a sudden Sal Ami pops out of the receiver to assault her, screaming "I hate baloney!"
• Recycled Animation: The same clip of a squirrel family sitting downwards to watch Wacky Delly is seen iii times during the 2nd act. First is earlier a news bulletin nigh Wacky Delly'south controversy, the second is before the "mayonnaise" episode, and the tertiary is before Ralph'southward episode.
• Rousing Speech: When Ralph reveals to Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt that he has deliberately been trying to sabotage Wacky Delly to get it cancelled and then he can focus on making existent art, Rocko gives him this kind of speech communication to encourage him to make the show better. Ralph takes Rocko'due south advice, and ironically, information technology gets the prove cancelled.

  Rocko: Gee, R.B., I call up you've got it all wrong. You've been afforded a keen opportunity here; running your very own animation serial, and everybody loves it! It's your art! Instead of fleeing from your situation, you should be embracing it! You should exist trying to brand this show the best darn show it tin possibly be! You should be the all-time Ralph Bighead y'all can be!
  Ralph: Yeah, Rocko. Yes, Rocko. Yeah, Rocko! Yeah, ROCKO! I'Thousand GONNA Do IT! I'G GONNA MAKE THE BEST DARN SHOW THIS WORLD HAS Ever SEEN!

• Seasonal Rot: An In-Universe instance; after a brief speech from Rocko on how he should make Wacky Delly better instead of trying to sabotage it, Ralph takes over writing the testify, which gets it cancelled. X years later, he'south seen in the desert after completing his masterpiece. A yokel walks up to him and asks him if he'south seen Wacky Delly.

  Yokel: The beginning flavour, that is. Earlier that new guy ruined it!

• Shout-Out:
  • After viewing the series finale of The Fatheads, Ralph Bighead's toadies tell him, "It's a credit to your genius!" "A triumph of your will!" "Information technology's okay!"
  • Ralph's episode of Wacky Delly is a spoof of the "Nutcracker Suite" segment of Fantasia (specifically the dancing mushrooms).
• Show Inside a Show: The titular Wacky Delly, and to a lesser extent, The Fatheads.
• So Bad, It's Skilful: In-Universe; Ralph has Rocko and his friends produce the airplane pilot episode of Wacky Delly in an attempt to get fired. Thanks in part to Heffer and Filburt'southward creative differences, the final production is a poorly-fatigued and poorly-edited mess. Unfortunately for Ralph, his program backfires, as both the network executives and full general public dearest it. Ralph's attempts to sabotage the testify, such every bit having one episode testify a jar of mayonnaise for 10 minutes, and another episode consisting of overexposed film footage just make the show even more popular. It only takes one intellectually improved episode of the evidence to get it hated by the public and cancelled.
• Spinning Paper: Washed when Wacky Delly becomes the newest hitting animated series, becomes even more than popular with the "ten Minutes of Mayo" episode, and finally, when Ralph's episode of the prove leads to its fall and cancellation.
• Spit Have: Ralph does this when Rocko asks him if he'd like to the see the latest episode of Wacky Delly after eating an episode of The Fatheads, because he idea he was eating the erstwhile.
• Springtime for Hitler: When Ralph tries to sabotage Wacky Delly, it grows in popularity. But when he's inspired to finally try hard in making it cracking, it's immediately canned.
• Stock Footage: An actual SMPTE universal inaugural leader is shown before the Wacky Delly pilot, compared to other episode where flick reels are started upward that have a countdown leader blithe in the same fashion equally the evidence.
• Stylistic Suck: Wacky Delly recycles animations and vocalization clips, the animation is choppy and the "plot" is pure nonsense. It becomes extremely popular regardless.
• Have That!:
  • This episode has a subtle dig at how prevalent The Smurfette Principle was in the 90's, with Rocko creating a character named Betty Bologna and promptly summing up her unabridged graphic symbol by maxim "she's a girl" and leaving it at that. Unsurprisingly, the show itself dealt with this from the executives at Nick in Season One, which led to the creation of Dr. Hutchinson.
  • When Heffer argues with Filburt, he says "Your cartoons aren't fifty-fifty funny enough to be on The Family Channel!" ^note Heffer's kind of right- Fam didn't e'er have much in the style of blitheness until Play a joke on bought them out in the late 90s. They tended to focus on their original game shows, which tended to exist quirky, low budget, or both- like Masters of the Maze, Trivial Pursuit with Wink Martindale, Jay Wolpert'south Shopping Spree, or The New Shop Til Y'all Drop.
  • The episode's ending is i to how Fantasia, widely considered to be the first animated "art" pic, was a commercial flop before being Vindicated by History.

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Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/RockosModernLifeS3E10WackyDelly

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