Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Why "Beavis and Butt-Head"? (video)

Mike Judge/MTV, Taint of Greatness (documentary) via Unimportant Entertainment; Seth Auberon, Sheldon S., Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Beavis & Butt-Head (Documentary 01)
Beavis and Butt-Head is an adult-themed American animated sitcom created and designed by Mike Judge.

The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge that originally aired on Liquid Television. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. The series first ran from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997.

It was later renewed for an eighth season, which aired from October 27 to December 29, 2011. In 1996, the series was adapted into an ill-conceived and poorly received money grab animated feature film, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.

The show centers on two socially incompetent teenage delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who attend Highland High in Highland, Texas. They have no apparent adult supervision at home, are dim-witted, under-educated, and barely literate.

MTV's Beavis & Butthead (Documentary 02)

Both lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. They usually deem things they encounter as "cool" if they are associated with heavy metal, violence, sex, destruction, or the morbid and macabre.

While they have no experience with girls, the two share an obsession with sex. They therefore tend to chuckle whenever they hear words or phrases that can in any way be interpreted as sexual or scatological references.

Each episode features frequent interstitial scenes in which they critique music videos using commentary improvised by Judge (in Season 8, they also comment on clips from other MTV shows such as The Jersey Shore and True Life, plus shows from other Viacom-owned networks such as Spike TV).


MTV's Beavis & Butthead (Documentary 04)

The remainder of the episodes depict the duo embarking on some kind of scheme or adventure. Their teachers at Highland High are often at a loss as to how to deal with them, and in many episodes they skip school altogether.

Their actions sometimes result in serious consequences, often for others, for which they themselves show no remorse. It's comic gold.

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