Illustration by Andreas Hykade. Courtesy of Chris Robinson.

"Every being strives after pleasure, and it is in pleasure that happiness consists." -- Epicurus

"Oh that was only our Vince. He shoots himself occasionally." — Wendy of Rex The Runt

What I love about Rex The Runt is not the absurdity or surrealist tendencies -- The Simpsons occasionally provides a flicker of that as does my life in general -- but instead the very mundane shrug of its protagonists. I mean these dogs (Rex, Wendy, Bob and Vince) live a life completely devoid of pleasure. They are barely satisfied with their basic passions: "telly" and food. Now of course there's a little more to the show. Between channel surfing, they've: used a shrink ray to travel inside Vince's brain; traveled back in time; drilled a hole in the centre of the earth and subsequently used the now deflated planet as a spaceship; formed a band (with the exception of Wendy, they have NO musical talent) so that they could enter a talent contest (they lost) and pay a 10 quid bill; and Wendy momentarily became a TV star after she was acquitted of shooting Vince (she did shoot him but he's plasticine). You'd think these adventures would provide a level of excitement and pleasure, but they don't. Their reaction remains the same whether they are entering a black hole or taking a piss. Not only are they uninterested (even their voices are monotone and occasionally barely audible) but they also seem incapable of finding any sort of pleasure in life. It's this absence of pleasure that makes the series both funny (à la Buster Keaton) and disturbing (as a reflection of our own increasingly mundane lives).

If we believe Epicurus, pleasure is the key to a relatively pain free existence. Easier said than done of course because most of us haven't got a clue what defines pleasure. For many of us one of the biggest obstacles in life is the ability to string together more than a few moments of pleasure. Generally those moments are self-gratifying individual or 'moving' pleasures. Moving pleasure is something you are enjoying while in the process but which leaves you unfulfilled. According to Epicurus, the more satisfying type of pleasure is 'static.' With static pleasure you are left with no needs or wants, just pleasure. For example, compare 'playing' a hockey video game to actually playing hockey (street or ice). There is no comparison. The 'real' activity will pleasure you on both a physical and intellectual level. Generally you will feel exhausted and fulfilled. A video game will not achieve the same level of pleasure. It will leave you a need.

In this way Rex The Runt is less a mirror of our current society than a foreshadowing of our eventual digression. The quartet has become so dulled that they are unable to differentiate between television and the real world. As such, when given the opportunity, their ability to experience lasting, meaningful pleasure has eroded. In "Too Many Dogs," they travel back in time NOT to explore history and the foundation of the world or even acquire any sort of knowledge, but simply to figure out who ran off with half their house. In "Adventures in Telly: Part 3," they find themselves travelling in space. Rather than express any wonder or seek any knowledge about the universe they play ping-pong, complain of boredom, stop at a space service station and basically just can't wait to go home.