In 1989, MTV aired a bump by animator Joe Murray that featured elements from Joe's soon-to-be most famous work, Rocko's Modern Life- specifically the character of Heffer and elements of the intro. What you may not know, though, is that Rocko as a character comes from even earlier than this bump- and a video test pilot was created to pitch around to networks pre-Nickelodeon that was much more disturbing.
Around the same time Joe's MTV bump aired, he was proposing that MTV put a concept of his on the animation premiere show Liquid Television- an animated short/potential series pilot about an anxious wallaby from his comic series Zak & Travis, named simply after the title character, "Rocko." He had prepared a script and animation for the day, an episode called "Big Farm in the Sky." The title was changed to "Who's For Dinner?" and was later used as an episode near the end of Season 1 of Rocko's Modern Life's run. The same basic opening is there but taken in a much different direction.
MTV reportedly were fine with the episode despite how much more plainly disturbing and bleak it was, due to them encouraging this type of adult animated programming (with Beavis and Butthead soon to be a colossal success), but passed on the offer to put Rocko on Liquid Television due to the pilot not really focusing so much on Rocko as it did on his friend Heffer. It was this that lead Joe to absentmindedly pitch Trash-o-Madness, the pilot for Rocko's Modern Life, to Nickelodeon as a quick aside to potentially procure funding for his real Nick passion project, My Dog Zero.
The tape containing footage of BFITS has circulated through many hands over the years, but only recently was it put on Archive.org for all to view in high quality.
The episode opens similarly to the later version, but with quick title cards introducing Rocko and Heffer as the two speak, with arrows pointing to them. Rocko is illustrated with a noticeable brow, similar to his appearance in Zak & Travis, while Heffer looks far more like a real-life steer. It begins on the shot of the two walking up Heffer's driveway, with Rocko saying he appreciates getting to meet Heffer's family since they've been friends for so long. Heffer tells Rocko that his grandpa hates wallabies, but doesn't add that his grandpa is nearsighted like in the final.
When the two open the door, the sight is much more stark.
A family of very-similar-looking wolves were standing there, shaded surprisingly realistically, and gathered around the door. One had glasses and one had a comical cartoon bow, and they were all staring daggers at Rocko, in complete silence. Heffer greeted them cheerfully: "Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! Hi, Evelyn!" and such-and-such.
Rocko nervously greeted the family and sat down at the dinner table, and the wolves simply glared at him from the doorway before slinking over to the table to sit. The wolf with glasses (which Heffer called his mom) left to the kitchen and returned with an extremely large silver platter being carried in both hands due to its size- the kind you'd usually see some kind of large, luxurious entree under.
However, this is not what was revealed when the platter's contents were.
Inside was a rotting, detailed corpse of a moose. Skin was peeling off, its muscle and bone were visible, and some flies were swarming around it. It panned around the table, and every one of the wolves was grinning sinisterly. Heffer's smile was much more goofy and Rocko was sweating, clearly uncomfortable.
The wolves and Heffer pounced on the moose, beginning to eat it with vigor- almost 2 entire minutes were dedicated to shots of the family mercilessly ripping it apart and consuming it with disgusting attention to detail. Every so often it was interspersed with an extremely uncomfortable-looking Rocko.
Eventually, the moose was nothing but a skeleton. Heffer turned to Rocko and said, "Gee, you didn't even have a bite! You must not be hungry, huh?"
Rocko quickly excused himself, bringing Heffer along.
In a hallway, lit only by a dull, swinging bulb, Rocko scratched the back of his head.
"Geez, Hef, you didn't tell me about your living situation."
Heffer tilted his head. "What about it?"
"You know... your... family dynamic," Rocko continued, waving his hand vaguely.
When he saw Heffer was still confused, he sighed.
"How you're adopted?"
An awkward silence hung in the air, punctuated by the sudden presence of a loud, overbearing radiator. Rocko looked immediately mortified, but Heffer stood blankly, staring into the distance.
"Thanks for letting me know, Rock," Heffer said, monotone. "I'll be taking my leave now."
Heffer listlessly shuffled out of the building, the wolves' eyes following him with no change in their expressions. Rocko peered out of the hallway, looking rather concerned.
What followed was several minutes of somber piano music as Heffer shuffled around the city late at night, getting drunk (with actual alcohol, note) and drunkenly accosted strangers, yelling about how sad his life is. Eventually, he comes across a farmer at a bar, who looks him up and down.
"Say, boy, you look mighty familiar," the farmer says. "Ain't you one of that there Holst family?"
Heffer is silent.
"Them cows what was bein' bred on the farm on the outskirts of town. Take a look."
He gives Heffer a photo. It's of a baby steer- clearly Heffer- and an older one with a bow tie and large horns.
"That there's you 'n' your pappy- we cut it out from a newspaper when we learned about how successful the Holst family was. I remember they were talkin' about how torn up yer daddy was when he had to give you up. Never said why, though."
Heffer nodded, taking the photo and leaving the bar.
Soon, he stumbles onto a farm. The farm has a small mailbox outside, reading "HOLSTS," which has been rusted and corroded due to disuse.
Several shots are shown of him looking around the barn and neighboring locations, with nobody there.
He's about to give up and walk away when he notices a tombstone on a hill. He runs up it and sees the engraving on the tombstone.
"RIP ERNEST HOLST
[the numbers were scratched out like with claws]
MY DEAR SON HEFFER
IF YOU FIND THIS
DON'T LOOK BACK IN SADNESS
I DID WHAT I MUST"
Heffer was once again silent and listless. It cut to a shot of a butcher's from the exterior. Heffer walked in, and it stayed on a shot of the butcher's for around a minute with low, ominous droning in the back. For the final 15 seconds, blood appeared to ooze out of the bottom.
The final shot consisted of Rocko at the table, eating what appeared to be a beef sandwich. He turned to the camera and spoke his final words.
"Can't say that the butcher has an easy job, but that was the easiest meal he ever made."
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Author's Notes:
This was basically just me flexing a Wikipedia scrub, heh.
I had always noted that the episode of RML "Who's For Dinner?" was surprisingly bleak in the middle, and I wanted to expand on this. Then I found out that MTV was Nick's sister channel and it was game over, really- it was already structured in my head.
An ending that just closes on the story itself's conclusion was new to me, really- I think I pulled it off well with an interesting final line.
I'll probably do more Rocko content in the future- maybe a retake of the only Rocko creepypasta I know of, Filburt's Funeral.
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