The fifth episode of the fourth season of Rocko's Modern Life.
Ed Good, Rocko Bad
Rocko runs against Ed Bighead for city dog catcher, and the Chameleon Brothers arrange a nasty smear campaign in Ed's favor.
Teed Off
Mr. Bighead enters a rigged golf game against his boss, and unbeknownst to him Heffer tries to help Mr. Bighead win.
"Ed Good, Rocko Bad" provides examples of:
- Attack of the Political Ad: Ed's campaign consists of nothing but slamming on Rocko.
- Balloon Belly: Heff finds Rocko’s home deserted and decides he should eat all his food before it spoils. He does just that, and by the time Rocko gets home, Heff is much fatter after eating everything in the house.
- Bittersweet Ending: For both Rocko and Ed. Rocko loses the election to Ed, but an amendment was passed that resulted in the dogcatcher's position being reduced to a glorified pooper scooper.
- Brutal Honesty: Bev tells Ed he shouldn't run for the position of dog catcher because he has absolutely no charisma and almost everybody hates him.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: While in the pound, the other dogs tell Rocko about the conditions they are forced to endure, one of which is being subjected to repeats of a syrupy cartoon called Mervin the Happy Cat.Stray Dog #1: No more, please!
Stray Dog #2: I can't take it! I CAN'T TAKE IT!
Stray Dog #3: SHUT IT OFF! FOR THE LOVE OF LASSIE!
Stray Dog #4: Somebody neuter me!
Stray Dog #5: (Grabbing Stray Dog #4 by his neck) Snap out of it, man! Don't let him break you!
Stray Dog #6: It's against nature! - Diabolical Dog Catcher: The dog catchers in town place the catcher dogs in what (to them) is a Hellhole Prison, so Rocko runs for dog catcher to change things. After hearing this, Ed decides to run to be allowed to be cruel to the dogs in town (especially Spunky). He wins, but at the same time a law passes that removes all of the dog catcher's power beyond picking up dog poop.
- Don't Ask: Heffer says this when Rocko comes to him, only to find him covered in "Vote For Rocko" buttons.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Even when Ed is just using his "Ed good, Rocko bad" slogan to appeal to "Cats for Ed Bighead", there's something about Ed appealing to a group full of cats that is basically appealing to one ethnic group going against another group being pound dogs. The dog catcher being rewarded his retirement while surrounded by two fat cats despite poor conditions of the dog pound, talk about a racial dog whistle.
- Election Day Episode: Rocko and Ed run for the position of dog catcher in this episode.
- Eskimos Aren't Real: When Rocko tries to rescue Spunky, the warden thinks he's another dog. Rocko tries to explain to him that he's actually a wallaby, which is "like a kangaroo, but smaller." The Warden accuses him of making it up and locks him up in the pound with the other dogs.
- Guilt by Association: One of Ed's political ads begins with a list of famous disasters (the fall of the Roman Empire, the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and the 1958 Edsel), then says "we're not saying Rocko caused all these things, but it really makes you think... doesn't it?" Watching on TV, Heffer falls for it and shames Rocko, who complains that he wasn't even born in 1958.
- Hated by All: As Bev points out, Ed is widely disliked by all, which he agrees with. That's why he goes to the Chameleon Brothers to help with his image.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Rocko. He and Filburt were the only two people in O-Town who voted for him, and when Ed won the election, Rocko admitted that Ed's campaign almost had him convinced that he was the bad guy.
- Karma Houdini: The dog catcher from the start of the episode never gets any comeuppance for his cruelty, as he was last seen getting into cushy retirement.
- Landslide Election: Mr. Bighead wins the election with 256,724 votes, while Rocko gets only two; his own and Filburt's. Heffer breaks down and admits even he couldn't vote against Mr. Bighead after his campaign thanks to his Shoulders of Doom. Fortunately, Laser-Guided Karma comes back to bite Mr. Bighead in the butt when an amendment was passed that resulted in him being reduced to a glorified pooper scooper.
- Low Count Gag: Ed gets 256,724 votes in the election. Rocko gets 2.
- Luminescent Blush: Heffer blushes in embarrassment when Rocko gets mad at him for voting for Ed.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: Ed wins by a landslide, but a motion is passed that turns the position of Dog Catcher into a glorified pooper-scooper.
- Mistaken for Dog: A literal example. When Spunky gets taken to the pound for not wearing his collar (after another, tougher dog took it off him), Rocko goes to the pound to rescue him. The warden mistakes Rocko for a dog and locks him in the pound with the other dogs.
- Perpetual Smiler: The titular character of Mervin the Happy Cat, best described by his theme song, set to the tune of "Bell Hop (a)".He's got paws and ears and whiskers and a lot of fur,
And you'll never hear him crying, he can only purr,
And you'll never see him frowning, no, he won't do that,
Cause' he's Mervin the Happy Cat! - Pounds Are Animal Prisons: When Rocko tries to rescue Spunky, he gets mistaken for a dog and is put on the pound. Appalled by the deplorable conditions, he decides to run for city dog catcher. He loses, but the city simultaneously votes in a more liberal animal control policy, and the role of dogcatcher (won by Mr. Bighead) is reduced to "glorified pooper scooper".
- Shout-Out:
- One of the dogs in the pound resembles Alex from A Clockwork Orange.
- Ed delivers his campaign motto in one part of the montage leading to the elections in front of a humongous photo of his upper torso.
- Shoulders of Doom: Ed's campaign suit consists of very large shoulders. While his smear campaign towards Rocko played a huge part, this is somewhat of a tipping point according to Heffer (who votes against Rocko).
- Sickeningly Sweet: An in-universe example with Mervin the Happy Cat, a cartoon that the dogs are forced to watch reruns of as a form of punishment. The dogs go insane just from listening to the show's sickeningly sweet theme song.
- Suckiness Is Painful: Mervin the Happy Cat is so painfully cutesy that the dogs go insane from just listening to the intro.
- Take That!: The episode contains a lot of satire regarding voting and American politics, most prominent when Rocko says "the American public isn't swayed by flashy ad campaigns, they only care about the issues" and then is Instantly Proven Wrong.
- Title Drop: Ed's slogan when running for dog catcher is "Ed Good. Rocko Bad."
- Victorious Loser: Despite having lost the election, Rocko's goal of better conditions for the dogs ultimately won out, and as a bonus, he does not have to deal with the indignity of becoming a pooper scooper.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Ed manages to get nearly all of O-Town on his side thanks to the Chameleon Brothers' smear campaign against Rocko.
- With Friends Like These...:Rocko: Any minute, Hef is going to realize we're missing and come get us.
[cut to Heffer sitting on Rocko's couch]
Heffer: Rocko sure has been gone a long time. Maybe I should eat his food. Before it spoils.
"Teed Off" provides examples of:
- Bizarre and Improbable Golf Game: Ed is supposed to lose to Mr. Dupette, and to make sure he does, the groundskeepers launch pianos on Ed's ball (and occasionally on Ed himself). Heffer, who is unaware of this, makes sure Ed scores every time, leading to a battle of wills behind the scenes, with neither Ed nor Dupette seemingly aware of it.
- Cigar Chomper: Spoofed when Heffer, piloting a plane, has a chocolate bar between his teeth.
- Crop Circles: Heffer spends his time cutting circles on the greens. The Stinger has two aliens looking at one and asking "Who keeps writing this stuff?!"
- Graceful Loser: Mr. Dupette takes his loss rather well, congratulates Ed and does not retaliate.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Heffer is working as a landscaper for a golf course in this episode.
- Not What It Looks Like: Noway thinks Ed is deliberately trying to beat Mr. Dupette.
- Out of Focus: Rocko has only one brief scene in the whole episode.
- Piano Drop: When the golf course get really serious about making Ed lose.
- Reactive Continuous Scream: As Heffer's plane is about to crash into the Dark Gardner's command center, there ensues a montage of characters screaming — including a random shot of Rocko (in his only appearance in this episode) sitting in his living room, apparently watching the whole thing on TV.
- Sanity Slippage: Noway, as Ed keeps winning.
- Serious Business: The golf course basically wages all-out war to keep Ed from beating Mr. Dupette.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Thanks to Heffer countering the Dark Gardener's plans to sabotage Ed's chances of winning, Mr. Dupette loses and Ed doesn't get his promotion.
- Shout-Out:
- The Dark Gardener wears a gas mask and beekeeper outfit that strongly resembles Vader's mask and armor, as well as having Vader Breath. In one scene he even appears to be Force strangling a subordinate, but he just happened to be choking.
- "Heffer phone home..."
- The closing shot with the aliens has a "Rocko-ized" version of the five-note motif from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
- Unwanted Assistance: Heffer doesn't know that Ed has agreed to lose on purpose, so his "help" is widely unappreciated.
