Editing Rock TV

{{about|the episode|the titular object|[[Koopasonic Rock TV]]}}
{{SMW TV episode infobox
|image=[[File: RockTV.jpg|240px]]
|production=409
|airdate=November 16, 1991 (English) <br> October 23, 1992 (French)
|writer=George Shea
|song="[[List of Super Mario World (television series) songs#Tail of the Dinosaur|Tail of the Dinosaur]]"
|captain_n="Three Men and a Dragon"{{ref needed}}
|before=[[Gopher Bash|<<]]
|after=[[The Yoshi Shuffle|>>]]
}}
"'''Rock TV'''" is the tenth episode of the [[Super Mario World (television series)|''Super Mario World'']] animated series. This episode can be seen as a commentary on {{wp|Television addiction|television addiction}}, an issue that had gained widespread focus by the time it aired. In 1990, the year before this episode aired, the United States {{wp|Federal Communications Commission}} enacted the {{wp|Regulations on children's television programming in the United States#Children's Television Act|Children's Television Act}} which required networks to strengthen educational values in children's television. After ''Super Mario World'' aired its lone season, {{wp|NBC}} followed suit in 1992 by discontinuing its Saturday morning cartoon lineup in favor of expanding the morning news program ''{{wp|Today (American TV program)|Today}}'' to Saturdays.

This episode is notable for being the ''Super Mario World'' episode with the most [[Koopalings]], with six, with [[Wendy O. Koopa|Kootie Pie]] being the only one absent. Though most appear in the episode, [[Morton Koopa Jr.|Big Mouth]] is the only one with dialogue. This episode is also the last episode where [[Ludwig von Koopa|Kooky]] appears, as well as the only ''Super Mario World'' episode where the [[Earth|real world]] appears.

==Plot synopsis==
While pacing back and forth in [[Bowser's Castle|his castle]], [[Bowser|King Koopa]] muses about how he has not done anything exceptionally evil in a while. Trying to think up a plan of some kind, Koopa remembers one of his trips to [[Earth|the Real World]]; more specifically, how television can put people in a near vegetative state. Suddenly, Koopa comes up with the idea of using TV to rot the minds of the cave-people in [[Dome City]].

Later, [[Oogtar]] the Caveboy rushes to the [[Dome Castle]] of [[Mario]], [[Luigi]], [[Yoshi]], and [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]], telling them to come quickly and see something. Following Oogtar, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Princess Toadstool are surprised to see what appears to be a giant, screenless television set.

[[File:Rock TV.jpg|thumb|220px|Mario and co. discovering the giant, screenless television.]]
As the cave-people stare in awe at the giant television set, King Koopa appears behind it with [[Larry Koopa|Cheatsy]] and [[Ludwig von Koopa|Kooky von Koopa]], who are helping him put on a rather crude human costume. Going into the giant television's empty screen, Koopa, in costume, introduces himself as "Robby Rockwell". "Robby" proceeds to tell all the onlookers that he is here to introduce "Rock TV". Oogtar proceeds to ask what Rock TV is, and Koopa explains that it has hundreds of different shows such as "''Mr. Koopa's Neighborhood''" (which Yoshi finds fun) and "''The World Dinosaur Wrestling Federation''" (which is really nothing more than dinosaur puppets bumping into one another). After being booed for this poor performance, Koopa shows the cave-people "Rock, Rock TV" with such stars as "Vanilla Ice-Age"; after saying this, Koopa proceeds to dress-up and dance around. Leaving the stage, Koopa returns in his Robby disguise and proceeds to tell everyone that they can buy their own "[[Koopasonic Rock TV]]" for ten [[coin]]s and a coin a minute.

[[File:MariosPhoneBill.png|200x400px|thumb|Mario's reaction after getting the phone bill.]]
Later, Mario and Luigi are in line to buy a Rock TV. Despite Mario saying that ten coins is a great deal, Luigi says that one coin a minute can really add-up and reminds Mario of the "Speak to [[Santa Claus|Santa]] Hotline" incident in [[Brooklyn]], which added up to a $1,295.31 phone bill. Hearing this, Mario simply tells Luigi that paying for their TV will be easy, as all they need to do is bash [[Brick Block|blocks]] to get them. Approaching Koopa, Mario proceeds to buy a TV, despite Luigi's suspicion of "Robby Rockwell".

[[File:YoshiApproves.png|thumb|left|200px|Yoshi reacting to King Koopa's "preview" of "Mr. Koopa's Neighborhood".]]
Once the TV is at home, Princess Toadstool proceeds to tell Mario and Luigi that she won't have any part in watching the TV, saying that she and Yoshi are going for a nature walk, and proceeds to walk out with a protesting Yoshi. Putting a coin in the TV, Mario and Luigi are suddenly hit by the spell of a [[Magikoopa|Koopa Wizard]] hidden in the TV. Appearing to go into a trance, Mario and Luigi crouch down on their couch and begin watching "everybody's favorite Kooparobics show, ''Koopa Sez''!". As Koopa, wearing sports equipment, begins giving demands on TV, Mario and Luigi and all the cave-people begin to follow him in a daze.

After a while, Koopa says he has "a game he wants everybody to play", at which point Mario and Luigi's TV breaks down, snapping them out of the trance. On the rest of the televisions, Koopa orders all the cave-people to go to Dome Castle and capture Mario and Luigi. Like robots, the cave-people obey Koopa and, grabbing anything nearby to use as weapons, rush off to Dome Castle. At Dome Castle, Mario, frustrated with his broken TV, throws it out a nearby window and into the moat surrounding the castle. As Mario does this, he notices a mob of cave-people storming the castle with clubs. Before Mario or Luigi can do anything, they are captured by the zombified cave-people.

Brought to King Koopa's giant TV, Mario and Luigi are forced to participate in "All-Star Prehistoric Tag-Team Wrestling", which has [[Lemmy Koopa|Hip]] and [[Iggy Koopa|Hop Koopa]] as the judges and [[Morton Koopa Jr.|Big Mouth Koopa]] as the announcer. After going on an extremely long-winded speech, and introducing the [[Tyrannosaurus Twins]], Big Mouth is finally shut up by Koopa, only to return, and then as he is introducing the Marios, one of the twins tosses him out. Koopa proceeds to introduce Mario and Luigi into the ring. 

Attempting to be friends with the Tyrannosaurus Twins, Mario ends up being swirled around by the bigger of the two, while Luigi gets tangled up in the ropes and sling-shot into the opposite side of the ring by the smaller one. With the Mario Bros. taking a beating, Princess Toadstool and Yoshi appear and, after seeing that Mario and Luigi are in trouble, with Yoshi's help, hitting a [[! Block]] at the top of the giant TV, they release a swarm of [[Pal Pill|miniature Marios]]. With Big Mouth, Hip, Kooky, and [[Roy Koopa|Bully Koopa]] chasing the miniature Marios and the Tyrannosaurus Twins distracted, Princess Toadstool manages to hit a [[? Block]], which releases a [[Cape Feather|feather]].

Attempting to grab this feather, Koopa is knocked aside by Mario, who uses the feather to transform into [[Cape Mario]]. With his newfound powers, Mario easily defeats the Tyrannosaurus Twins. In the next scene, Yoshi begins eating all the nearby Rock TVs, spitting the apparently disgusting-tasting Koopa Wizards out of them.

As Mario and Luigi thank Princess Toadstool for helping them, Yoshi begins eating the nearby, giant TV. A panicking King Koopa tries to stop Yoshi because he thinks that the giant TV is still useful to him somehow, only to be crushed by dozens of falling blocks. A cheerful Yoshi, wanting to help the trapped Koopa, begins to eat all the blocks around him at an extremely slow pace.

==Cast==
*[[Harvey Atkin]] &mdash; [[Bowser|King Bowser Koopa]]
*[[Walker Boone]] &mdash; [[Mario]]
*[[Tony Rosato]] &mdash; [[Luigi]]
*[[Andrew Sabiston]] &mdash; [[Yoshi]]
*[[Tracey Moore]] &mdash; [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]]
*[[Gordon Masten]] &mdash; [[Morton Koopa Jr.|Big Mouth Koopa]], singer #1
*[[Dan Hennessey]] &mdash; [[Roy Koopa|Bully Koopa]], Green T-Rex twin, Singer #2, Caveman #1, Caveman #3, Caveman #4
*[[James Rankin]] &mdash; [[Larry Koopa|Cheatsy Koopa]]
*[[John Stocker]] &mdash; [[Oogtar]] the caveboy, Oogtar's dad, Caveman #2, Caveman #5, Caveman #6
*[[Paulina Gillis]] &mdash; female singer, cavelady #1, cavelady #2, Oogtar's sister, Oogtar's Mother
*[[Michael Stark]] &mdash; [[Ludwig von Koopa|Kooky von Koopa]], Orange T-Rex twin

==References to real media==
*The family [[Bowser|King Koopa]] spies on watches ''{{wp|Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)|Wheel of Fortune}}''.
*"''Mr. Koopa's Neighborhood''" is a parody of the children's show ''{{wp|Mister Rogers' Neighborhood}}''. [[Mario]] also tells [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]] and [[Yoshi]] that "maybe [he will] see them on {{wp|Public Broadcasting Service|PBS}}," referring to the network on which ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' was broadcast.
*The "World Dinosaur Wrestling Federation" can be seen as a parody of the World Wrestling Federation, now called {{wp|World Wrestling Entertainment}} (WWE).
*"Vanilla Ice-Age" is a parody of the American rapper {{wp|Vanilla Ice}}. [[Oogtar]] also says "Ice Age Baby", a reference to "{{wp|Ice Ice Baby}}."
*The company name "Koopasonic" is a parody on the Japanese electronics company {{wp|Panasonic Corporation|Panasonic}}.
*Mario's line "I want my Rock TV!" is a parody of {{wp|MTV}}'s slogan at the time, "I Want My MTV."
*The game show ''Koopa Sez'' is a reference to the children's game {{wp|Simon Says}}.

==Animation and continuity errors==
*When [[Mario]] and his friends run over to the giant television, [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]] and [[Yoshi]] can be seen to appear from thin air.
*When [[Bowser|King Koopa]] introduces "Rock Rock Baby", [[Luigi]] is depicted as Mario.
*When Luigi asks how much the [[Koopasonic Rock TV|television sets]] cost, his eyes are blue like Mario's instead of green.
*When [[Mario]] faints after looking at the bill, his sideburns briefly disappear.
*After Mario suggests that Robby Rockwell's lips do not move because he has been watching too many cartoons, his mouth moves but his voice is not heard. Due to the context, however, this may have been an intentional joke. Additionally, Rockwell's hands lack claws.
*When the Marios look at each other after Mario mentions that the [[Cave People]] are storming the [[Dome Castle|castle]], the stripes on Mario's gloves are the same color as his shirt.
*When Luigi asks what show he and Mario will be in, their eyes are mostly closed.
**In the same scene, the spikes on King Koopa's shell and shackles are colored white like his claws instead of orange.
*[[Iggy Koopa|Hop]] is depicted with black eyelids in this episode instead of his usual green ones.
*When the green dinosaur wrestler sticks out its right hand, its shackle is on it instead of the other hand.
*In one scene, Luigi has four fingers on each hand instead of five.
*When the [[Tyrannosaurus Twins]] throw Mario and [[Luigi]] into each other, their clothes switch, but the letters on their caps remain the same.
*When Luigi says that he is bruised everywhere, the shackle on the orange dinosaur wrestler is black with red spikes instead of green with black spikes.
*When Princess Toadstool and Yoshi jump into the ring, the green dinosaur wrestler's sclerae are white instead of green.
*In a couple of scenes, the stripe on the green dinosaur wrestler's horn disappears.
*When Luigi gets off one of the wrestlers, he passes through them while their jaw is transparent.
*When [[Yoshi]] spits out the second [[Magikoopa|Koopa Wizard]] from [[Oogtar]]'s Rock TV, as it runs away, its face is completely white.
*When King Koopa urges Yoshi to stop eating the giant television, he is briefly layered in front of and behind the ring.

<gallery>
Smwplumbing.jpg|Mario's missing sideburns
SMW Rock TV error.png|King Koopa's miscolored spikes
SMW Rock TV error 2.png|The orange dinosaur wrestler's miscolored shackle
</gallery>

==Profiles==
*'''[[Koopa Kronicles]]''' DVD: ''[[Bowser|King Koopa]] invents television! The [[Cave People|people]] are crazy about it. He sells them [[Koopasonic Rock TV|sets]] to watch at home...but each TV contains a [[Magikoopa|Koopa wizard]] that casts an evil spell over them! With the cave people under his control, Koopa puts the Marios on TV as the fall guys in Dinosaur Wrestling!''
*'''[[Koopa's Stone Age Quests]]''' DVD: ''King Koopa invents television! The cave people are crazy about it. He sells them TV sets to watch at home... but each TV contains a Koopa wizard that casts an evil spell over them! With the cave people under his control, Koopa puts the Marios on TV as the fall guys in Dinosaur Wrestling!''

==Profiles==
*'''WildBrain - Cartoon Super Heroes/Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - WildBrain:''' ''King Koopa invents Television! The Cave People are crazy about it. He sells them TV sets to watch at home but each TV contains a Koopa Wizard that casts an evil spell over them! With the Cave People under his control, Koopa puts the Marios on TV "" as the fall guys in Dinosaur Wrestling!''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91bXoa8Nes "Super Mario World 408 - Rock Tv//The Yoshi Shuffle"]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved June 23, 2020.</ref>

==Names in other languages==
{{foreign names
|SpaA=Roca Televisón
|SpaAM=Rock Television
|Ger=Die beste Show
|GerM=The best Show
|Ita=La Tv rock della pietra
|ItaM=The Stone Rock TV/The rocking TV of the Stone Age
|Fre=La télé réalité
|FreM=Reality TV
|Por=Rock TV
|PorM=-
|Rom=Rock TV<ref>May 20, 2015. [http://ok.ru/videoembed/26893486724 "Rock TV", dubbed in Romanian by KidsCo]. ''Odnoklassniki (OK.ru).'' Retrieved January 4, 2016.</ref>
|RomM=-
}}

==Trivia==
*The family [[Bowser|King Koopa]] spies on in his flashback strongly resembles [[Norman]]'s family from ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' episode "[[Mush-Rumors]]", except [[Missy]] is missing.

==References==
<references/>

{{SMW TV}}
[[Category:Super Mario World episodes]]
[[it:La TV Rock della pietra]]