Throughout its run to present day, the series has been controversial for its adult humor, including double entendre, innuendo, and satirical social commentary, and gained a cult following, similar to The Ren & Stimpy Show.

His best friends are Heffer Wolfe, a fat and enthusiastic steer; Filburt, a neurotic turtle who often feels awkward or disturbed and his faithful dog Spunky.

Murray initially believed that he would create one season, move back to the San Francisco Bay Area, and "clean up the loose ends I had left hanging".

[16][17] Murray rented a floor in the Writers Guild of America, West building, although the team of Rocko was not a part of the union, which the staff found ironic.

[3] Murray described the daily atmosphere at the studio as "very loose", adding that the rules permitted all staff members to use the paging system to make announcements.

[21] While directing during recording sessions, Murray preferred to be on the stage with the actors instead of "behind glass" in a control room, which he describes as "the norm" while making animated series.

The writers, including George Maestri and Martin Olson, often presented ideas to Murray while eating hamburgers at Rocky's, a restaurant formerly located on Lankershim in the North Hollywood section of the San Fernando Valley.

[20] Rocko's Modern Life has been described as similar to that of the output of Warner Bros. cartoons in the Golden Age: a visually driven show heavy on humor, sight gags, and good animation.

[11] Pat Irwin, a veteran of many bands, including the New York-based instrumental group the Raybeats, and a side gig, the B-52s, spent five years as a music director on the series.

Leading a six-piece combo on keyboard and guitar, Irwin brought together musicians such as trombonist Art Baron, drummer Kevin Norton,[35] wind player Rob DeBellis, and bassist David Hofstra.

[39] The series contained numerous adult innuendos, such as Rocko's brief stint as a telephone operator at what is implied to be a sex hotline in the season one episode "Canned": the instructions on the wall behind him helpfully remind all employees to "Be Hot, Be Naughty, and Be Courteous" while he flatly repeats "Oh baby" into the receiver, who turned out to be Mrs.

[42] In a deleted scene from the season one episode "The Good, the Bad and the Wallaby", Heffer encounters a milking machine and finds pleasure receiving, although only his reactions are shown onscreen.

The original broadcast of the season two episode "Road Rash" featured a scene in which Rocko and Heffer stop at what is suggested to be a love hotel (the "No-Tell Motel") advertising "hourly rates" and ask the horse desk clerk for a room, who infers the two will be engaging in intercourse: "All night?

On the season three DVD, the "Wacky Delly" segment was shortened by approximately ten seconds to remove footage of Sal Ami repeatedly whacking Betty Bologna over the head with a telephone receiver.

[54] On the night leading into April Fools' Day 2013, The 90's Are All That, aired a prank "lost episode" of the series consisting solely of a still picture of a mayonnaise jar.

[64] In August 2008, Nickelodeon joined forces with CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com Inc. group of companies, to make a number of animated and live-action shows available on DVD, many for the first time.

", "Sugar-Frosted Frights/Ed is Dead: A Thriller", and "Turkey Time/Floundering Fathers" are included and uncensored, but still has edited versions of "The Good, the Bad and the Wallaby", "Road Rash", and "Hut Sut Raw".

[81] There was a brief period in 1993 when the network received numerous complaints from members of a religious group that Ren & Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life were too adult-oriented to be shown to kids on Sunday mornings.

The Miami Herald ran an article about series that were "rais[ing] the standards for children's programming", singling out Rocko's Modern Life as "definitely worth a look".

[80] Ted Drozdowski of The Boston Phoenix stated in the "Eye pleasers" article that he enjoyed Rocko's Modern Life because of "jovial excitement", "good-hearted outrage", "humanity", and "pushy animated characterizations".

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described the series as "a witless rip-off of Ren & Stimpy: mucus jokes without the redeeming surrealism or contempt for authority.

"[86] Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times called the series "rock bottom" and a "tasteless attempt to capture the Ren & Stimpy audience", mostly expressing displeasure at the crass humor.

[95] The award was accepted by the episode's writers, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, future creators of the hit Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb.

[101] Murray revealed to Motherboard that in the special, Rocko would come back to O-Town after being in space for 20 years, and that it would focus on people's reliance on modern technology.

[104] In May 2019, it was announced that Netflix has acquired the distribution rights to both Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling and Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus and the streaming service confirmed a day later they would premiere sometime in the summer of 2019.

In July 2019, it was confirmed alongside an exclusive clip by the Rocko's Modern Life official Instagram page[105] and various news sources that the show would premiere on Netflix on August 9, 2019.

Rocko appears in a Robot Chicken skit in the episode "Fila Ogden in: Maggie's Got a Full Load" where he attempts to leave Australia for America, but ends up getting run over by cars in the street.

[108] Viacom New Media released one game based on the show, Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day, in the United States in April 1994, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Rocko and Heffer make cameo appearances in Nicktoons MLB, and are both playable in Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix, which features with two racetracks based on the show.

[110][111] Hot Topic sells Rocko's Modern Life merchandise such as T-shirts, wristbands, keychains and other items as part of their Nick Classic line.