Original air date: 12/5/1993
The ninth episode of the first season of Rocko's Modern Life.
Keeping Up With the Bigheads
Rocko and Heffer team up to beautify Rocko's house before Mr. Bighead's nephew comes over for an inspection.
Skid Marks
Rocko is sent through a boatload of red tape to get his driver's license renewed.
"Keeping Up With the Bigheads" provides examples of:
- Big Eater: Heffer. On his to-do list are "Wake up", "Eat," "Eat again", "Sunbathe (while eating)", "TV and snacks", and "Eat some more".
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Heffer mixes what little paint Rocko has of each color in a stewpot to make a lot of one to paint his house. When Rocko looks in the stewpot, he says that the paint looks sort of brown or green. Heffer decides to call this new color "Breen".
- Chekhov's Gag: Early in this episode, Mr. Bighead finds a bug eating his hedges and puts it in his bug prison. The bug vows that someday, he and his friends will escape. Near the end of the episode, Heffer accidentally launches the stewpot of "Breen" paint into the air, causing it to land near the bug prison, knocking it over and setting the bugs inside free, who then destroy Mr. Bighead's garden and house.
- Continuity Nod: When Rocko searches his garage for something to improve his house, one of the things in it is the Suck-O-Matic vacuum cleaner.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Mr. Bighead calls his nephew, the O-town Building Inspector, to have Rocko's house condemned if Rocko can't improve it by 6:00 P.M. Thanks to a series of contrived coincidences, Rocko's house and garden look fabulous, while Mr. Bighead's house and garden are both in shambles, leading the Building Inspector to take Mr. Bighead's house (with Mrs. Bighead still inside it) away.
- Nephewism: In this episode, Mr. Bighead is revealed to have a nephew who is a building inspector. Season 2 would introduce Ralph, Mr. Bighead's estranged son and creator of The Fatheads.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Near the end of the episode, through a series of contrived coincidences, Rocko's house and garden look fabulous, while Mr. Bighead's house and garden are both in shambles. The Building inspector takes Mr. Bighead's house (with Mrs. Bighead still inside it) away, and Rocko and Heffer try to tell Mr. Bighead this, but he refuses to listen to them. He finds out too late.
- Status Quo Is God: Rocko and Heffer succeed in making Rocko's house beautiful so the Building Inspector won't condemn it. At the end of the episode, when they go back inside the house, as soon as Heffer closes the door, the house is back to its old, decrepit state.
- Tar and Feathers: While attempting to re-tar his driveway, Rocko accidentally squirts Mr. Bighead with tar thanks to Heffer standing on the hose and stepping off. Then an army of featherless chickens target Mr. Bighead with a plane and drop a load of feathers on him.
- Tempting Fate: When Mr. Bighead taunts Rocko, saying that he will never improve his house in time for the inspection, Rocko tells him that not only is he going to keep his house from being condemned, he's going to make it so beautiful, it'll be better than his. Mr. Bighead laughs hysterically, and tells Rocko that he might wet himself. That's exactly what happens next.
- Toilet Humor:
- When Rocko tells Mr. Bighead that he's going to make his house even more beautiful than his, Mr. Bighead laughs so hard, he wets his pants.
- While planting seeds in Rocko's yard, Heffer decides that what they need for them to grow is some fertilizer. Heffer asks Rocko if he has the sports page, and in the next scene, Heffer points at Rocko to tell him he needs some privacy. Heffer then grunts and strains, and eventually manages to poop out some fertilizer, all to the tune of Ride of the Valkyries.
- Wild Take: Mr. Bighead has one where his eyes pop out of his head when he sees his nephew take his house with his wife still inside it away.
"Skid Marks" provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: The mad doctor who examines Rocko's eyes calls him "Rocky".
- Black Comedy: Since the DMV doesn't allow dogs in the building, Rocko is forced to leave him tied up outside. Rocko assures Spunky that he won't be long. Unfortunately for Spunky, he is standing right next to the skeleton of another dog who had to wait a long time for its owner.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: The pig driving instructor seen hopping on the black tiles clearly is missing a screw."Don't step on the white ones...... Hot laaaaaaavaaaaaaaa.... PINEAPPLES!"
- Mad Doctor: This episode has one, though he's actually rather friendly and likes to examine eyes with a Jump Scare because it's much easier. He likewise warns Rocko about getting the fat guy.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Filburt has a job as a DMV employee in this episode, and the Chameleon Brothers have jobs as photographers.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: This line from the Cat Driving Instructor:"Now, let us begin by covering a few BASIC!!! ELEMENTS!!! OF!!! DRIVING!!!"
- Running Gag: People telling Rocko not to get the Fat Guy. Even the clown in the instructional video.AND GOD HELP YOU IF YOU GET THE FAT GUY!
- Safe Driving Aesop: Spoofed with "Red Concrete", a film shown on traffic class which had a crash test done with dummies made out of tomatoes, making for extra gory results. And yes, even the film warns Rocko not to get the Fat Guy.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Throughout the episode, Rocko is warned not to get "the Fat Guy". He takes an imaginary driver's test with a pretty fat elephant, and barely manages to pass after accidentally "crashing" into a mutant deer (who threatened to sue them, mind you there was no actual car involved). When telling the Chameleon Brothers this, they scoff off that elephant being 'the Fat Guy' and point over to the REAL Fat Guy; a bulging giant pig with Braces of Orthodontic Overkill stomping down the road with the flab of his back fat crushing two poor souls... No wonder no one wanted the Fat Guy.
- Shout-Out:
- The teacher says, "Now I know of some driving schools where you're allowed to take your tests like normal human beings. WELL, THAT'S NOT HOW WE DO THINGS HERE!!", which is a parody of a line from the "Hospital run by an RSM" sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
- The clown from the driver's ed film sounds like Roger Rabbit.
- This line at the end of the episode after the squirrel returns Rocko's missing gas cap!
Small Boy: Daddy, daddy! Teacher says every time a gas cap is found, an angel gets its wings!
His Father: Your teacher's full of snot! - Turn Your Head and Cough: Parodied. The doctor cups Rocko's eyeballs and tells him to cough.
- Two Decades Behind: The "Red Concrete" film is shown in the drivers' ed. class on an old 16mm movie projector, and the Cat Driving Instructor even picks Rocko to run the projector. By this time (1993), most drivers' ed. classes would be showing such instructional films on a VCR and television.
- Visual Pun:
- Early in this episode, Rocko is being chased by the SWAT team. When they catch up to him, the officers all come out, armed with fly swatters.
- When Rocko comes to the traffic school classroom, the instructor is an anthropomorphic cat who acts like a drill sergeant and proceeds to scream "As far as I'm concerned, you are ALL WILD PIGS!" Cue an actual wild pig joyously calling out "I'm a wild pig!"
- Wild Take: Rocko does one where his eyes pop out of his head when he discovers the chair he's sitting in is really a mad doctor. It turns out that the doctor invoked this because it's easier to examine eyes that way.
- Wingding Eyes: The pupils of the driving instructor who tells Rocko not to step on the white tiles turn into stars when he says "Pineapples!".
