Original air date: 9/18/1993
A Sucker for the Suck-O-Matic
Tired of his old vacuum, Rocko decides to buy a new Suck-O-Matic, but the appliance soon makes things... interesting.- Added Alliterative Appeal: This line from the salesman in the commercial for the Suck-O-Matic:"It cleans colons, cordoroys, comments, calculators, clarinets, couches, cassettes, cotton, and lots of products that start with letters other than C."
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Turns out the vacuum has a life of its own.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The Suck-O-Matic manages to consume Rocko, Heffer, and Spunky, thanks to Heffer removing a potato chip that it choked on. What's more, the other buyers ended up suffering the same fate (or about to, in the case of one running away from a Suck-O-Matic).
- Bait-and-Switch: This episode begins with Heffer sitting on the couch and watching television as Rocko says insulting things like being useless and pathetic and that he's had enough. He then pulls out a hammer and pounds with it, implying that he's beating up Heffer for being lazy. It is then revealed that Rocko is beating up his old vacuum cleaner while Heffer is trying to watch TV.
- Brainwashed: Rocko and Heffer literally have their brains washed by the "Lobot-O-Shop" shopping channel.
- Downer Ending: Not only are Rocko, Spunky, and Heffer sucked up by the Suck-O-Matic (though they try to go on with their lives inside of it), but a whole lot of Suck-O-Matics have overtaken the neighborhood if not outright destroyed it. This is Played for Laughs, of course.
- Gainax Ending: The episode ends with the Suck-O-Matics destroying and taking over the neighborhood.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Humans make appearances in this episode, while later episodes establish the show is set in a World of Funny Animals.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Suck-O-Matic chokes on a potato chip caught in its throat and passes out. But then Heffer removes the chip, causing it to recover and suck him up along with Rocko and Spunky.
- Oh, Crap!: Rocko, Heffer, and Spunky when the Suck-O-Matic sucks the instructions for shutting it off.
- Prepare to Die: Rocko and Heffer desperately try to figure out how to shut off Rocko's new vacuum cleaner when it goes on a rampage and starts sucking up his entire house. The Suck-O-Matic then starts sucking the pages out of the instruction manual, and the manual's only advice as to what to do "if Suck-O-Matic sucks instructions" is "Prepare to die!", much to their horror.
- Shout-Out: Rocko's old vacuum cleaner whispers into his ear "Rosebud" before it dies. Rocko misinterprets it as "House crud".
- Trash of the Titans: Rocko's house has dirt from before he moved in.
- Very False Advertising: Rocko buys the Suck-O-Matic after seeing a commercial for it on TV. When he gets it, the vacuum cleaner delivered to him looks nothing like the one in the commercial, being as huge as a truck and having a mind of its own.
- Vicious Vac: The Suck-O-Matic.
- Visual Pun: When Rocko and Heffer are hypnotized by the "Lobot-O-Shop" network, the TV proceeds to take out their brains and wash them with soap and water.
Canned
After being fired from Super-Lot-O-Comics, Rocko does a string of short-lived jobs before his neighbor Ed Bighead gets him a job at Conglom-O... testing that the company's dangerous products are suitable for sale.- Bad Boss:
- Mr. Bighead. How many bosses try to kill their hires, anyway?
- Mr. Dupette, Rocko's manager at the comic store—He calls employees by their number, gives them promotions before handing them pink slips, pushes those on his way, and... has a finger up his nose most of the time.
- Bad "Bad Acting": When Rocko briefly gets a job at a "specialty phone operator", his idea of talking dirty is to say "Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby." in a half-hearted monotone.
- Chekhov's Gag: The genetic-enhancing chewing gum, which Rocko uses to get revenge on Mr. Dupette.
- Dirty Old Woman: Rocko's first (and it's implied last) customer at the "One-On-One Hot-Line" is Bev Bighead.
- The Dog Bites Back: After getting ruthlessly fired from his previous job by Mr. Dupette, Rocko decides to get back at him upon getting a new one.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Rocko works at another comic store at the beginning of the episode before landing a job at Kind-Of-A-Lot-O-Comics at the end.
- Filburt is shown as a neurotic, nameless customer who blathers on about how he washes his hands every time he turns the page. Later episodes would have him as Rocko's friend.
- Mr. Dupette is Rocko's boss instead of Ed's. He's also a full-blown Corrupt Corporate Executive.
- Ed actually is implied to be the CEO of Conglom-O in this episode (or at least the head of product testing. The point is, in this episode, he was in a higher position than in later episodes, where Ed is a faceless paper pusher while Mr. Dupette is his boss).
- Even Nerds Have Standards: At Super-Lot-O-Comics, a comic book nerd is telling another about how beautiful elf women are and that mortal women will never amount up to them. The other nerd responds with "Wow, you're an idiot."
- Evil Overlooker: This episode's title card depicts a giant Mr. Bighead looking down at Rocko as the latter sits at a desk.
- Eye Scream: One of the products that Rocko tests changes the shape of the user's nose. When Ed tries to use it himself, he remembers that he doesn't have a nose, so his eyes turn into noses instead.
- Grows on Trees: A variant; Mr. Bighead's garden has salmon bushes. Mr. Bighead is furious with Rocko when he finds Spunky eating from them.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Mr. Bighead attempts to get rid of his wallaby neighbor by having him as a tester for dangerous products, all of which backfire on him.
- Intimate Telecommunications: The "Specialty Phone Operator" job Rocko takes at one point is actually for the "One-On-One Hot-Line", with the customer being...Mrs. Bighead. Both hang up out of embarrassment after finding out who was at the other end of the line.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- All of Mr. Bighead's attempts to off his neighbor backfire on him.
- Rocko decides to get revenge on Mr. Dupette at the end.
- New Job Episode: After he gets fired from Super Lot-O-Comics, Rocko searches for a new job. After briefly becoming a test subject for Conglom-O, Rocko eventually gets a job at Kind of A-Lot-O Comics, the job he retains for the rest of the series.
- Overly Long Gag: "Hey, can you get that? Thanks a lot."
- Plumber's Crack: Rocko also took a "plumber's mate" job, his only task being keeping the plumber's pants in place.
- Revenge Is a Dish Best Served: Rocko offers Mr. Dupette the gene-enhancing chewing gum as payback for mercilessly firing him.
- Rule of Three: Prior to applying to Conglom-O, Rocko applied to three different jobs, all of which were met with dead ends. First, he was a tattoo artist, which he quit after getting swallowed by Mr. Horny. Then, he was a plumber's assistant, which he quit after getting tired of holding a plumber's pants up. Finally, he was a specialty phone operator, which he quit when he found out that Mrs. Bighead was one of his customers.
- Running Gag: Filburt and his monologue about washing his hands after turning each page of a comic book. Also the trapped flies (though they were only acting) making cheers at random.
- Scary Stinging Swarm:
- Ed gives Rocko a piece of chewing gum that makes a tree grow from his head. When he tries one himself, a beehive grows instead, stinging him.
- At the end of the episode, Rocko gives Mr. Dupette some of that chewing gum in retaliation for firing him...
- Swallowed Whole: Happens to Rocko when he tries to put a tattoo on the palate of a giant rhinoceros.
- Tastes Like Chicken: Mr. Horny, the giant rhino, says this after accidentally swallowing Rocko.
- Toilet Humour: A literal example: Mr. Dupette has a toilet in his office, so he can literally flush fired employees.
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: Ed sics a herd of mad giraffes at Rocko. A duck comes along and sprays Rocko with a Mad Giraffe Repellant that is "so new, it's untested". The giraffes bypass Rocko, leaving him unscathed, and trample Ed.
