When someone blurts out, "Fire! Fire!," it is hard
to not think images of Beavis's bulging-eyeball, tense, clenched-fist
fascination of fire. And how can anybody forget Butt-head's heavily-aspirated laugh?
After a nearly 14-year hiatus, Mike Judge's loveable socially-awkward, porn-loving metal heads Beavis
and Butt-head returned to MTV last night. The animated series is back parodying youth culture, and the two teenage delinquents are still making constant sexual references and trying (and failing) to score chicks.
Beavis and Butt-head originally ran for
eight seasons, with over 200 episodes on MTV from 1993 to 1997. It generated controversy when it was accused of promoting violence after an incident in Ohio where a 5-year-old set fire to his mother's mobile home,
killing his toddler sister. The show was subject to censorship, being forced to
block out Beavis's "Fire!" reference (although the creators were able to find a
loophole by having Beavis scream things that sounded similar, like "Fryer!"
instead).
Everything looked as if the show continued exactly where it left off in 1997, except this time, the world of MTV has changed a bit. Beavis and Butt-head commented on segments of Jersey Shore and True Life: I'm Addicted to Porn as well as giving their notorious snarky music video critiques.
Show creator Judge kept the traditional format with two mini-plots in one 30 minute episode. He also kept some old characters like Stewart Stevenson, the Winger T-shirt-wearing wimpy kid who admires Beavis and Butt-head, the R. Lee Ermey-like Coach Bradley Buzzcut, and hippie teacher David Van Driessen, who is arguably the only person who cares for the duo.
The first half of the episode, 'Werewolves of Highland',
begins with Beavis and Butt-head watching Twilight
in a movie theater, laughing and making fun of the movie, which gets them
kicked out of the theater. Then they
decide on becoming vampires after discovering that it might help them score,
but instead end up willingly getting bit by a disease-ridden homeless guy.
"It'll be worth it when we're scoring," said Butt-head to Beavis as
they are clearly suffering from what looks to be some sort of serious illness.
But these guys are un-phased in their endless and always unfulfilling quest to
get laid.
While attempting to become vampires, the two end up in the hospital infected
with gangrene, gonorrhea, MRSA, and hepatitis A, B and C. The final scene shows them laying
side-by-side in hospital beds, laughing as the nurses attempt to change their catheters.
Somewhere in between plot scenes, there is the classic Beavis and Butt-head
music video critique, this time it's MGMT's video of their song, "Kids." The
video begins with fire and Beavis can be heard screaming his signature phrase,
"Fire! Fire!" Then it moves along to a baby wandering amongst zombies in
front of a huge windowed facade of a building, with a palm tree garden in front
of it. "Is this Florida? Yep it's Florida. Florida sucks." Beavis and
Butt-head assume it's taking place in Florida (because of the palm trees). It
was actually filmed in front of the Whole Foods in New Orleans, but who's
paying attention?
With the Beavis and Butt-head redux, Judge
takes jabs at MTV shows like Jersey Shore
and True Life instead of only music
videos. The reason for this has more to do with asking for permission prior to
airing music videos where before he could just play them without it, Judge
told Rolling Stone in August. He still voices the half-witted teenagers though,
who still sport their 'AC/DC' and 'Metallica' T-shirts, which also required
permission from the bands this time.
The show hasn't changed much, even after it's four-year run ending in 1997, but after 14 years, Beavis and Butt-head is renewing its cult following and par for course for the possible corruption of a whole new generation of
youth
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