The ninth episode of the fourth season of Rocko's Modern Life.
Closet Clown
Ed Bighead discovers a secret passion for clowning.
Seat to Stardom
Rocko's butt ends up on the front page of a newspaper, which eventually leads him to a career as an underwear model.
"Closet Clown" provides examples of:
- Alliterative Title: Closet Clown.
- Bait-and-Switch: Mr. Dupette sees Ed fooling around with the red nose in the bathroom, and tells him to come to his office. Mr. Bighead is afraid he's going to be fired (or worse) but then it turns out Mr. Dupette is a secret clown too.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Mr. Dupette has employees jettisoned out the window for screwing up a round of the Name Game.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Confirmed by Word of God to be an allegory for closeted homosexuals. Probably one of the most blatant scenes is where Mr. Dupette reveals he's a clown too, and asks Ed if he's "gone public" about being a clown.Mr. Dupette: So what're you into, hm? Birthdays? Barbeques? Bat mitzvahs?
Ed: Well, I, uh, I dunno, I... I never... I never...
Mr. Dupette: Don't tell me you haven't gone public yet!
Ed: Public?! Uh! You must be joking!
Mr. Dupette: Do I look like I'm joking to you? If this is part of you, Bighead, you're going to have to accept it sometime! Hahaha! It might as well be now. - Ejection Seat: Mr. Dupette has one built into the chairs of employees he fires.
- Gay Aesop: Rocko suffers this at the end of this episode when he admits he likes rainbows. Suddenly his friends turn against him and chase him down with rakes.
- Imagine Spotting: One of the Conglom-o employees sees Ed's thought bubble regarding the red nose he picked up, but Ed grabs the thought bubble and stuffs it away.
- Jumping Out of a Cake: Ed does this in his clowning around montage.
- Luminescent Blush: Filburt's whole face turns red when he admits he wears "European-style undergarments".
- Non-Ironic Clown: Ed discovers that he wants to be one of these.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Apparently the red nose is the only thing that doesn't make Ed recognizable to his neighbor and wife.
- Riddle for the Ages: If Bev doesn't have a sister, who was she talking to on the phone?
"Seat to Stardom" provides examples of:
- Alliterative Title: Seat to Stardom.
- Celebrity Is Overrated: Rocko quickly finds his model career stifling, as it keeps him from spending time with his friends. Although he never wanted to be a celebrity at all, Heffer was the one who talked him into it (by getting him to sit on the chair).
- Don't Try This at Home: Really Really Big Man tells the kids in the audience to not put their hands in wet cement.
- Fan Disservice: Four words: Heffer in skimpy underwear. We get a good view of his naked, hairy ass throughout it all.
- The Girl Who Fits This Slipper: A variant. The underwear modeling company tries to have a search for who fits the butt-print Rocko made in the cement.
- Joke of the Butt: Butt comedy is the full subject of this episode.
- Poor Communication Kills: Rocko tries to call Heffer to apologize for missing their movie night. But then one of the fashion lady's assistants pulls him away from the phone, Rocko tells him to go away, Heffer overhears it and assume Rocko's telling him that. The phone was left hanging and someone puts it back, making Heffer think Rocko hung up on him. This was the last straw for Heffer and went over to confront Rocko, only to find how miserable Rocko's celebrity life is.
- Plumber's Crack: Poor Filburt gets a bird's eye view of the Grand Canyon.
- Pun:Heffer: The End. (Heffer laughs) Get it?! "The End!" No buts about it!
- Reused Character Design: The photographer resembles the deportation worker from "Kiss Me, I'm Foreign" but with a different color scheme.
- Voicemail Confusion: Heffer attempts to call Rocko but gets his answering machine. Its' greeting involves Rocko asking "Hello?" as if he really were answering the phone, then pauses, and then says "This is Rocko. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now," and explains to leave a message and he will get back to him. Of course, Heffer falls for Rocko's fake-out greeting.
