Tooth and Nail is episode 9b of season 3 of Rocko's Modern Life.
Plot[]
Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt go to a Scratch and Sniff Cafe, where they scratch whatever is on the menu and order it by its smell. Rocko reminds Heffer that he has already ate before arriving at the restaurant and tells him that he has an eating problem, which Heffer delusively denies. As a waitress offers the three friends their menus, they scratch their orders in and Rocko tries to scratch his order in and can't. Heffer and Filburt figure out that Rocko has a nail biting addiction. But Rocko denies this, claiming that he has a bad scratching card. As he and Heffer argue over this, Heffer gives Rocko a dime to pick up. Due to his lack of fingernails, Rocko has trouble picking up the dime with his fingers. Despite this, Rocko, still delusional, shouts out that he doesn't have a problem and runs off.
Back at his house, Rocko continues to deny his problem and says that his tendency to bite his nails is nothing compared to Heffer's gluttony or Filburt's neuroticism, which Rocko deems as real problems. He tries to open his can of Root Beer, but his lack of fingernails once again squelches his attempt and he furiously slams the can on the table, spraying himself with the soda. It isn't until Spunky scratches the fleas off his body and the fleas transfer to Rocko's body, prompting Rocko to scratch himself, which he is unable to do, that he finally concedes his nail-biting habit.
As Rocko struggles to control his nail-biting habit, he hears the doorbell ringing and hides his hands inside a monkey puppet and a ham in order to hide his chewed-up fingernails. As he answes the door to find Heffer and Filburt standing there, they ask if Rocko is hiding somehing. Rocko furiously tells them that everyone has something to hide and slams the door shut in a fit of rage. Heffer and Filburt realize that Rocko's habit is worse than they thought as they turn to leave. In order to contrive a way to control his habit, Rocko searches through the phone book to find a place that does that and comes across the Chameleon Brothers' Sure Cure Clinic.
As Rocko makes it there, Chuck and Leon escort Rocko out the clinic, saying that it is exclusive. They do, however, offer Rocko a bag, only for the wallaby to discover that the bag is completely empty when he checks inside the bag back at home. Furious that he has been ripped off, Rocko balls the bag up and heaves it to the floor. The bag then reveals a large set of six steps, which animals, known as the 12-steps, emerge from. They help him with his nail-biting habit, getting him to admit it. When the others hear about this, six of them decide to leave to take a trip to Las Vegas. The second step Rocko is given is to squish the fish. Rocko has fish on hs feet used as water skis and sides through a puddle. His third step is to smell the rhinoceros, which crushes him as he does. The fourth step he is given is to shave a weasel. As Rocko gets to the fifth step, which is smell a foot, he becomes annoyed and asks what any of the steps have to do with his habit. The fifth step admits that they have nothing to do with it, as they are just having a little fun, but brings in a hooded figure known as the sixth step. Because of its resemblance to the grim reaper, Rocko worries if his habit may be fatal, but the figure reassures him it isn’t. However, it shows him his future if his habit remains unchecked. Rocko's scenario shows that Heffer and Filburt come across a store named Feet of the Stars and views most of the feet that have been cut off from other citizens. So Heffer and Filburt search for Rocko and finally find him in the dumpster chewing on a foot. The two leave the wallaby to get chili.
Back in reality, it's revealed that Rocko had been dreaming and he is chewing on Heffer's foot. Heffer kicks him off and Rocko lands onto the couch. He finally wakes up and decides to never bite his fingernails again. At they end the other 6 steps are shown gambling in Vegas and losing money, showing that they ironically have an addiction as well.
Characters[]
- Rocko Rama
- Heffer Wolfe
- Filburt Turtle
- Spunky
- Chuck Chameleon
- Leon Chameleon
- Unknown Girl with Glasses
- Waitress
Trivia[]
- When Rocko says "Everybody's got something to hide, except for meat and my monkey", this is a parody of the title of a song by the Beatles.
- While in denial back at home, Rocko mentioned that Heffer can literally hide his head into his body like Filburt does sometimes.
- This episode is similar to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "SpongeBob's Bad Habit" from Season 12.
- This episode shared it's same beginning and end music from "Schnit-heads".
- This episode also uses music from "Bye, Bye Birdie".
Errors[]
- When Heffer checks his menu, he says he thinks number 4 is in violation of the Health Code; he was actually sniffing the number 1 squares.
Quotes[]
- Heffer: Hi, Rocko! Why do you have your hands inside a monkey and a ham?
- Rocko: What? What do you mean?
- Heffer: I mean, you have your hands inside that monkey and that ham.
- Rocko: Oh. You mean this? And this?
- Filburt: Rocko, are you hiding something.
- Rocko: No! Everybody's got something to hide except for meat and my monkey! Goodbye! (slams door)
- Filburt: It's worse than we thought.
- Heffer: Yeah. What a waste of ham.
- Heffer: All this toe-biting is making me hungry. Let's go get some chili!