Rocko's Modern Life Season Three

It took an awful long time before it happened, but after almost 20 years, Rocko's Modern Life has finally been recognised as the entertaining and hugely influential cartoon it always was. Created by Joe Murray, the Rocko in the title was a wallaby that moved from Australia to the fictional U.S. city of O-Town. He's joined by his best friends ― Heffer (a not-very-bright cow), Filburt Turtle and his pet dog, Spunky ― and they have to deal with the weirdness of surviving in a strange world. By season three, the show was hitting its stride ― it knew how to manage the balance between plot, slapstick elements and ridiculousness that made it so beloved. It doesn't think twice about veering into surrealism and the relentless inventiveness of the writing makes it a joy to watch. There are plenty of "meta" moments, such as the episode "Wacky Delly," where the television network wants to squeeze every ounce of creativity out of Ralph Bighead, and the ongoing battles with the Conglom-O Corporation, which runs pretty much all of O-Town. It definitely had plenty for older viewers, including more innuendo and satire than anything else on Nickelodeon. It stands up well, even after a couple of decades. Throughout this season, Murray handed an increasing amount of control over to Stephen Hillenburg, before finally seceding the day to day running for the fourth and final season. It gave Hillenberg the chance to hone his skills before he went off to create Spongebob Squarepants, and after watching just a few Rocko episodes it becomes very apparent that he learned a great deal during his time working with Murray. That's equally true for Tom Kenny, who started his voice acting career on Rocko, and Dan Povenmire and Jeff Marsh, who went on to create Phineas and Ferb. The 13 episodes, each made up of two stories, are spread over two DVDs, and the only extra included is an entertaining 30-minute featurette, where Murray picks out his favourite clips from the show and shares a few behind-the-scenes stories. Hopefully Shout! Factory will have a few more bits and pieces with some of the other folks involved with the show ready in time for the final season's arrival.