Beavis and Butt-Head

Beavis and Butt-Head
File:Hugegulp.jpeg Beavis (right) and Butthead (left).
Created by	Mike Judge
Starring	Mike Judge Tracy Grandstaff Adam Welsh
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	199
Production
Running time	18-20 minutes (per episode)
Original release
Network	MTV/VH1
Release	March 4, 1993 – November 28 1997

Beavis and Butt-head is an animated series that aired on the cable television channel MTV from 1993 to 1997. Each show contains short cartoons centering around a pair of post-pubescent teenagers by the names of Beavis and Butt-head who live and go to school in the fictional town of Highland. These cartoons were broken up by short breaks in which Beavis and Butt-head watch music videos and poke fun at them.

Origins

Beavis & Butt-Head were created by Mike Judge. Judge has said that he imagined Beavis and Butt-Head as slacker students at the real-life Highland High School on Coal Avenue in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he lived. Specifically, he first created Butt-Head as his idea of the archetypal slacker high school student, incorporating the look, name, and voice of a friend who invited anyone to kick him in the rear-end, and calling himself "Iron-butt."

When attempting to conceive the look for a companion to Butt-Head, it is rumored that Judge combined the look of a nerdy classmate he knew from high school and his own bad artistic rendering of Barry Manilow. He named him "Beavis," (though unconfirmed by Judge, considered by some to be a slang word for "penis") and modeled the voice after his own interpretation of what a typical "frybrained teenager" would sound like, incorporating the raspy laugh of the aforementioned classmate.

It is a popular myth at the University of California, San Diego (where Judge attended college) that the appearances of Beavis and Butt-Head were modelled on faculty at its Department of Physics. Their real-life models are said to be David Kleinfeld and James Branson.

The characters

Beavis and Butt-head's lifestyles revolve around TV, nachos, Fruity Whips, shopping malls, heavy metal music, and trying to "score with chicks". Both Beavis and Butt-head are revealed in one episode to be highschool freshmen. Their ages are never specifically given, aside from one episode where Beavis meets Saint Peter. Some fans felt they look about 16 or 17, which may imply that they got left back. However, there is other evidence that they were probably younger than that, as shown below. Beavis wears a blue Metallica T-shirt, while Butt-head wears a gray AC/DC T-shirt. (On some merchandising items these were changed to shirts saying "Skull" and "Death Rock" due to trademark and licensing legalities.)

Beavis has blonde hair, an underbite, and a fixated stare on his face which almost never looks straight but to the side. Beavis grunts when he laughs and his voice is reminiscent of horror film characters played by actor Peter Lorre. According to an episode in which Saint Peter states the age of Beavis (when referring to dates seen in a book that chronicles Beavis's entire life), his birthday is deduced to be October 28, 1979, which would have made him 13 when the series premiered, but, like most sitcoms and just about all cartoons, there is always a lack of continuity throughout the series.

Butt-head has brown hair, dental braces and his eyes are squinted. His top gums are often exposed and he speaks nasally with a deep voice and a slight lisp, repeatedly punctuating his speech with "uhh..." Butt-head's exact birthdate is not known. An episode that first aired in 1994 in which he crudely alters the year on his birth certificate to read "1978" in order to attend a driver's education class offers the only evidence, so, again, he was probably born the same year as Beavis.

Both Beavis and Butt-head constantly snicker.

Their full names were never mentioned on the show. However it was suggested, in the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-head Do America, that Butt-head's name is actually "Butt Head". An old lady asks him his last name. He tells her it's "Head", adding "My first name's Butt". In an episode of the TV show, he mentions having a cousin named Richard Head, a play off of Dick Head. In another episode contradictory to this, he forges his mom's signature on a permission slip as "Mrs. Butt-head."

Butt-head seems calmer and marginally more intelligent than Beavis. Butt-head is oblivious of subtleties, while Beavis is oblivious of the obvious. Ironically, however, when discussing various subjects that neither of them understand, Beavis often guesses the true mechanisms at work, leading to Butt-head smacking him and correcting him with some nonsensical explanation that Beavis winds up agreeing with.

Supporting characters

The series has featured many recurring characters, most of whom appeared in minor roles in the early days and whom were not initially given names.

• Tom Anderson. The near-sighted, elderly neighbor of Beavis and Butt-head. Most often, he hires them to do odd jobs, which results in them destroying his yard, home, or personal belongings. Due to his poor eyesight and mild senility, he never recognizes the two when they return for more chaos. He often reminds others that he's "a veteran of two foreign wars" (likely World War II and the Korean War, which would imply that he is at least into his very late seventies or early eighties as of 2005, and would have been in his mid sixties to early seventies during the show's run). This character would be retooled as the basis for Hank Hill in Judge's next show "King of the Hill".

• David Van Driessen. A teacher at Highland High school, and arguably the only person who cares about Beavis and Butt-head. Van Driessen is a hippie with a forgiving nature and gentle demeanor. His attempts to teach Beavis and Butt-head useful life lessons end in disaster. He has been shown teaching classes on Biology, Art, Animation, Economics, Health, History, Literature, etc. No matter what he says, Beavis and Butt-head fail to pay attention until he makes an accidental reference to sex.

• Bradley Buzzcut. Another of the duo's high school teachers, he is loud-mouthed, angry and antisocial. Buzzcut is a former Marine, and, with the possible exception of Principal McVicker, hates the duo more than any other character. He is often charged with administering discipline. Like Mr. Van Driessen, he teaches a number of classes, including P.E., Health, and Math.

• Principal McVicker. Principal of Highland High is, arguably, Beavis and Butt-head's arch-enemy. The two have unintentionally ruined his life, and have driven him so far to the edge of sanity that he has a drawer of stress medication, drinks while at school, and occasionally wets his pants. He often stutters, stammers, and shakes. Many episodes begin with Beavis and Butt-head in his office. They refer to him as "McDicker."

• Daria Morgendorffer. Daria is a vaguely alt-rockerish, nerdy girl. She is one of the show's recurring characters. She holds Beavis and Butt-head in disdain for their stupidity, but she also seems to find them morbidly fascinating and offers help and advice. The duo nicknamed her "Diarrhea." She eventually went on to star in her own spinoff series, Daria.

• Stewart Stevenson. A nerdy, short kid who looks up to Beavis and Butt-head, and thinks they are his best friends. Stewart wears a shirt with the logo for "Winger" on the front. He often tries to hang out with them. Stewart's father thinks Beavis and Butt-head are a bad influence.

• Mr. Stevenson. Father of Stewart. He hates Beavis and Butt-head, but is friendly to them on occasion. His love of pornography provides Beavis and Butt-head with most of their access to naked women. Mr. Stevenson was, at one point, a teacher at Highland High, but eventually he was no longer depicted in this position. In one episode it is revealed that he began suffering from impotency soon after Stewart was born.

• Mrs. Stevenson. Stewart's mother and good-natured housewife. Mrs. Stevenson is depicted as something of an airhead, and usually likes Beavis and Butt-head, being somewhat oblivious to their antics. The duo, in turn, are fans of her large breasts. She has a thick Wisconsin or Minnesota accent.

• Todd Ianuzzi. Todd is a white trash thug who leads a local street gang and appears to be in his late teens or early 20s. He is rude, arrogant, and violent. Because of this, Beavis and Butt-head look up to him, and aspire to be members of his gang some day. Todd despises the two and tends to take advantage of them when he needs something, such as money or a place to hide from other gangs or the police. Todd's face is covered with acne and he always wears mirrored sunglasses. He drives a primer patched green hotrod, often onto lawns, through garbage cans and over Beavis and Buttheads bikes. He wears a mechanic's shirt with the sleeves torn off and his name on it.

• Todd's Gang. Todd's gang consists of four standard issue teenage hoodlums.

• Gina. Todd's girlfriend appears several times. She works in a beauty salon and has a heavily hairsprayed 80's metalhead appearance.

• Kimberly. A pretty girl who is often the object of unwanted physical attention from Beavis and Butthead. She refused to perform CPR on them when they almost drowned during Buzzcut's swimming class. The duo filed an unsuccessful sexual harassment suit against her for turning them on (or giving them "stiffies").

• Cassandra. Like Kimberly and Daria, a female classmate of Beavis and Butthead. She wears glasses, Dr. Martens boots, and a shapeless blue dress. She usually has no direct interaction with Beavis and Butthead, appearing mainly as the show's other parody (besides Mr. Van Driessen) of hippie or New Age thought.

• Billy Bob. Billy Bob was an earlier recurring character who stopped appearing in the later seasons. Depicted as an obese redneck, Billy Bob does not wear clothes for some reason, and is often shown in only a cowboy hat and briefs. He often smokes a cigar. He is not to be confused with Bob, a heavyset cowboy who owns Bob's Fancy Skeet.

• Kimberly. A pretty girl who is often the object of unwanted physical attention from Beavis and Butthead. She refused to perform CPR on them when they almost drowned during Buzzcut's swimming class. The duo filed an unsuccessful sexual harassment suit against her for turning them on.

• Burger World Manager. The duo refer to him as "That Manager dude." He shows more patience with the two than some of the other characters, but he often gets tired of their incompetence and goofing off on the job.

• Clark Cobb. The owner of Cobb's Family Hardware and a card-carrying member of the Christian Businessmen's Association. He has a sock puppet named Socko, which he uses to try to teach evangelical lessons.

• Maxi Mart Owner. This working stiff wears a "butt cut" hairstyle, has an ornery nature, and is one of the local business owners habitually annoyed by Beavis and Butthead. The duo often loiter in his convenience store, Maxi Mart, while trying to pick up chicks. He occasionally gets back at them by selling Butt-head old, stale, roach-infested nachos in one episode, and by selling both Beavis and Butthead used forks and stale donuts in another.

• Madame Blavatsky. Madame Blavatsky was a sham fortune teller who spoke in a faux-Romanian accent. She attempted to tell Butt-head's future once, only to have Beavis seize her crystal ball and give predictions of a war, which turned out to be the reflection of a news broadcast from the T.V. behind him. Her character is based on the real person of Russian origin, Elena Blavatsky.

• Rabid Ron. A local radio host for a station called KT&A whose show was ruined after Beavis and Butt-head won a guest DJ spot and gained popularity with his audience by tactlessly ridiculing Ron on air for being a 40'ish Heavy Metal poser. He would subsequently retool his on-air persona as an imitation of the two youths.

• Mr. Manners/Mr. Candy. Mr. Manners was an educational speaker who came to Highland High to teach the kids proper manners. During his instructional session, Beavis and Butt-head clashed with him, resulting in a fight between him and Mr. Van Driessen. He eventually returned as Mr. Candy, promoting a candy-bar-selling drive for the school, only to get into a fight with Mr. Buzzcut. This character was voiced by actor David Spade.

• Mrs. Dickie. One of the few female teachers at Highland.

• Hiro. A Japanese exchange student who befriended Beavis and Butt-head. They turned him into an irresponsible metalhead.

• Lolita and Tanqeray. Two trailer-trash vamps. They usually took advantage of the duo's attraction to them to manipulate them out of their money or concert tickets, etc. They almost made out with Beavis and Butthead on the set of a youth talk show because "they were feelin' horny" but ended up making out with stage hands instead when the duo were momentarily distracted. It is also implied that the two once appeared in a sexually explicit video of some sort.

• President Bill Clinton. President Clinton appeared in a two-part episode, as well as the movie. Both times, he met Beavis and Butt-head and befriended them.

• Redneck woman. This woman has never been named, but appeared a number of times, most notably in an episode where Beavis and Butt-head dial a phone-sex hotline. She is usually depicted in a messy trailer with a husband who silently watches TV in the background. Her husband is a skinny middle aged man in his underwear with a gut, a cap, sunglasses and a cigarette who appears to be the physical prototype for Dale Gribble from King of the Hill.

• PATSIES. The group P.A.T. (Positive Acting Teens) consists of goody-goody honor-student caricatures. The two most prominent members are "good versions" of Beavis and Butt-head.

• Earl. A fellow student, he has buzzcut hair, a tough angular face, and a black shirt buttoned tightly at the collar. He often sits in the front row of class, usually looking at pictures of nude women in a men's magazine. Thru most of the shows, Earl is obviously a teenager, and no bigger than Beavis and Butt-head. However in one of the last episodes, Earl has obviously gone thru a growth spurt and is now a (formidible) young man, leaning against his car. Spotting Earl's new ear ring, Beavis and Butt-head pass the comment of "Cool!" a bit too avidly, at which point Earl decks Beavis and Butt-head with a lightening one-two punch worthy of the best professional boxers. Needless to say, Beavis and Butt-head still don't comprehend "Adulthood."

• Betsy Weiner. This character appeared in an episode in which Beavis and Butt-head injured themselves attempting to recreate Benjamin Franklin's famous kite experiment. While they were in the hospital, she interviewed Butt-head about what happened. She is meant as a parody Tipper Gore and other censors. She is portrayed as twisting the facts to suit her agenda.

• Janitor/crazy farmer. The janitor of Highland High is in differing contexts. At times, he is simply a janitor. Other times, he is portrayed as a slow-witted, bluish grey skinned farmer who is dangerously senile. In the episode "Cow Tipping", he attempts to decapitate Beavis with a chainsaw. The Janitor and the Farmer may be the same person, or may simply be related. There is likely no explanation for the unusual nature of the Farmer, and is most likely meant to provide a creepy effect.

• Spanish Teacher. Highland High's Spanish teacher is a middle-aged Hispanic man who hates Beavis and Butt-head, much like the other teachers. He had a number of early appearances, he faded into the background and his appearances became much rarer as the show progressed.

• Bill. An old man who owns the bar that Tom Anderson frequents. Both of them were in the military. He once unwittingly contributed to their antics. When Bill asked Anderson to watch the bar for a few hours, Anderson put Beavis and Butt-head in charge of a yard sale he was holding at the time. While he was gone, the two sold everything inside his house for almost a hundred dollars.

• Collette. Tom Anderson's poodle. She appeared in a few episodes, but the most well known was when the duo attempt to give her a bath by putting her in a clothesdryer. The duo broke all of her teeth when they made her fetch a plate.

• Captain Dick Jackman. A TV news anchor who also hosts a show called "Teen Talk".

• Killer. An unnamed serial killer who once escaped from the local prison. He has a jailhouse tattoo of the word "killer" on his forehead, which Beavis and Butt-head misread and assume is his name, "kyler". After being diverted from killing the two by having a confusing conversation about tattoos, he gives them tattoos on their butts, of a picture of a butt with a picture of a butt on it.

• Mikey. A deranged lunatic who enjoys hanging out with Beavis and Butthead behind the gas station.

Questionable content

Mike Judge created the Beavis and Butt-head characters for an animated short for the Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation. This short, named "Frog Baseball", was aired on MTV's independent animation showcase Liquid Television, and featured the two playing baseball with a living frog as the ball.

The duo introduced slang terms into the lexicon including "buttmunch", "fartknocker", "bunghole", "choad", "ass munch", "TP", "spank the monkey" and others. Early episodes gave them a juvenile obsession with fire and dangerous behavior. The show was blamed for child deaths as the result of fire and dangerous stunts. The references were excised from further broadcastings, being replaced to some extent with simply silly stunts, bad pick-up lines, etc. References to fire were cut from earlier episodes in reruns. Other episodes MTV opted to not rerun them.

Jabs at the controversy were made in subsequent episodes.

• Beavis tries to light a cigarette but cannot get the lighter to work.
• In one episode, Beavis chants "liar, liar", saying it as "liar, liar, pants on...heh...woah!"
• Beavis shouts "water" in the same manner as that in which he would shout "fire".
• Beavis watches the video "California" by the punk-rock band Wax. It includes slow-motion footage of a man running while covered in flames. Beavis remains sublimely transfixed throughout the video, capable of uttering nothing more than "Oooooh... Aaaaaah..."

Early episodes with the controversial content intact are rare and traded on home-made tapes made from the original broadcasts. In an interview included with the recent Mike Judge Collection DVD set, Judge says he is unsure if some of the earlier episodes still exist in their uncensored form.

MTV also responded by broadcasting the program after 11:00 P.M., and adding a disclaimer reminding viewers that:

Beavis and Butt-head are not role models. They're not even human, they're cartoons. Some of the things they do could cause a person to get hurt, expelled, arrested... possibly deported. To put it another way, don't try this at home.

Beavis and Butt-head, along with Ren and Stimpy and The Simpsons, pushed the boundaries of cartoons away from clean material for small children. They were famously lambasted by Democratic senator Fritz Hollings as "Buffcoat and Beaver" which would subsequently become a running gag on the show of adults mispronouncing their names (Ex.: Rush Limbaugh's parody "Gus Baker" in the episode "Right On"}. Critics, though split upon the cultural merits of the cartoon, often compared the dialogue to that of Samuel Beckett. Social commentary was a recurrent theme throughout the series.

Beavis and Butt-head have been compared to idiot savants, because of their creative and subversively intelligent observations of music videos. This part of the show was mostly improvised by Mike Judge (who performed both characters simultaneously) and are considered by many to be the show's highlight. With regard to criticisms of Beavis and Butt-head as "idiots", Judge has responded that a show about straight-A students just wouldn't be funny.

Recurring themes

The series has a number of recurring elements.

They cause havoc at their place of employment, Burger World. Beavis and Butt-head spend little time working, and when they try to work, they are often too incompetent to even take a customer's order. They often enjoy frying things other than food such as earthworms, dead mice, and their own fingers. The boys have also unintentionally had brief stints as secretaries and telemarketers.

They cause trouble at school. They are usually pitted against their teachers and other school officials. Principal McVicker, whom they occasionally refer to as "McDicker", is visibly agitated by the duo's antics. At the end of the final episode, Beavis and Butt-head's antics exasperate McVicker to the point where he suffers a heart attack.

One of their most prominent goals in life is to "score" with chicks. Throughout the series neither of them meets with any success. They occasionally spend Friday nights at the local Maxi-Mart, attempting to pick up on any female they encounter. This continues until the manager runs them off.

Beavis often transforms into his alter ego, the Great Cornholio. Beavis's transformation into Cornholio is indicated by pulling the back of his t-shirt over the top of his head, holding both arms up, pacing back and forth, proclaiming largely nonsensical utterances in an exaggerated Spanish-sounding accent, such as "I am the great cornholio! I need TP for my bunghole! Are you threatening me?" This transformation is prompted when Beavis rapidly consumes a large amount of sugar, caffeine, or other stimulants. In one episode, the duo wander into a Bohemian coffeehouse, where an open-mic poetry slam is in session. Beavis takes a turn at the mic after ingesting a large amount of cappuccino, and the audience hails his antics as performance art. In one episode, he transforms into Cornholio while at Burger World. An INS official visits for a surprise inspection, searching for illegal aliens. Beavis' pseudo-Hispanic ramblings prompt the INS officer into thinking he is from Mexico, and Beavis is deported. Beavis assumed the Great Cornholio persona for the climactic scenes of Beavis and Butt-head Do America. In a scene archtypical of the Great Cornholio's manic genius, he finds himself alone in the White House, confronting a portrait of President Nixon in his famous 2-armed "V for Victory" pose. His response epitomises a first impression of President Nixon, boldly, respectfully, and with high alertness for how President Nixon might respond.

Locations

There are several prime locations featured in the series. All these locations are located within the fictional town of Highland, which, though never stated explicitly, is alluded to be located in Texas or possibly New Mexico.

• Living room. Much of the action, and all of the video segments, take place or begin here, with the two sitting on the couch, watching TV.

• Highland High School. Probably the most visited location in the series.

• Burger World. The fast food restaurant where Beavis and Butt-head assume grill and drive-thru/front register duties respectively.

• Tom Anderson's house. Anderson's house is continually vandalized and destroyed by Beavis and Butt-head. It is a typical middle class suburban home.

• Maxi-Mart. An obvious parody of 7-11 and similar outlets. In contradiction to the continuity of the series, it has been shown as being called "Qwik-Mart" in a few episodes.

• Open field. A grassy field backdropped by a large water tower. This is where Beavis & Butt-head can be found carrying out destructive experiments or setting things on fire.

• The Mall. Turbo Mall 2000.

• Stewart's House. Beavis and Butt-head occasionally visit Stewart's house. Their visits often entail damaging something in the house.

Holiday specials

At least three holiday specials were produced -- one for Halloween and two for Christmas.

The Halloween special involved them attempting to trick-or-treat, in ridiculous costumes. Butt-head pours melted cheese on his head and becomes "nachos", while Beavis wears a pair of underwear on his head and is a "nad". Beavis and Butt-head eventually become separated. After stealing some kids' candy, Beavis turns into the Great Cornholio. Butt-head is taken to the country and deserted by Todd and his gang, where he is confronted by the crazy farmer. Eventually Beavis wakes up after his sugar high to find himself hanging in the farmers barn. At the end of the episode it is implied (but not shown) that he is killed by a now blue skinned Butt-head and the farmer who are both wielding chainsaws.

The first Christmas special featured the pair sitting in front of the television providing crude commentary on various aspects of Christmas.

The second Christmas special consists of two segments that parodied popular Christmas stories. The first was a parody of A Christmas Carol, featuring Beavis as Ebeneezer Scrooge. The second was a send up of It's A Wonderful Life, with an angel named Charlie trying to convince Butt-head to kill himself for the good of all mankind. The special also contained short segments where Butt-head dressed as Santa and read letters from viewers, while Beavis was dressed as a reindeer whom Butt-head occasionally struck with a bullwhip. The running joke during these segments was that in every letter written by a girl, she wants Beavis, which pisses off Butt-head and leads him to hit Beavis even more with the bullwhip.

All of the letters read by Santa Butt-head were actually sent in by MTV viewers, as several months before the special aired, MTV had a commercial encouraging viewers to write letters to Santa Butt-head, and provided an address to which they could be sent.

Music videos

For a full list of musical artists on Beavis and Butt-head, see List of musicians appearing on Beavis and Butt-head.

One of the most well-known aspects of the series was the inclusion of music videos, which occurred between animated segments. The duo would watch and make humorous observations, or simply engage in nonsensical dialogue.

Bands they liked were also mocked. They were disappointed by AC/DC, despite the fact that they were as fans of the group. Upon seeing a video by Def Leppard, Butt-head remarks that "Spinal Tap really sucks". At times, the criticism reflects their young age and ignorance of music history. Upon seeing a video by Black Sabbath, they decide that the band's vocalist can't be Ozzy Osbourne, because "Ozzy's an old fart!" They've also continuously said that Grim Reaper sucks.

Beavis and Butt-head expressed enjoyment rarely. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain is said to have been ecstatic at having the video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" praised by Beavis and Butt-head and deemed it a great compliment. Hum apeared to be responsible for their favorite video ever when they mistakenly thought the song "Stars" was over long before the actual end of the song. Beavis became hyper with joy saying "Yeah!, Megadeth !" while watching the video "Sweating Bullets" and Butt-head told Beavis that Dave Mustaine's singing voice was similar to Beavis's speaking voice. White Zombie, Type O Negative, Onyx, the Violent Femmes, the Beastie Boys and Pantera were also among the few groups for whom Beavis and Butt-head expressed appreciation, and the one group that earned their fondest reviews was Gwar. Beavis voiced his estimation that every video should be like a Gwar video. Ironically, a large number of fans of the group Army of Lovers attest to having discovered the group from the appearance of a video of theirs on Beavis and Butt-head, in which both of the boys expressed frustration with the frequent shifts between scenes they deeply enjoyed and scenes they found disturbing. Beavis and Butt-Head treat Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead fame, like a V.I.P. whenever he appears. One occasion of this was when Lemmy walked into a Ramones video and Beavis says to Butt-Head, " Whoa! Butt-Head, look! It's Lemmy! It's Lemmy! What's he doing there?!" Butt-Head responded, " He's Lemmy, dumbass. He can walk into any video he wants."

Beavis and Butt-head had especially severe reactions when confronted with videos they found particularly awful. As soon Butt-head realized he was watching a Michael Bolton video, he announced that he had soiled his pants. The ultimate put-down was to simply look at each other, each with a look of horror and then switch the channel without saying a word. Only Vanilla Ice and Milli Vanilli were considered so egregious as to deserve this fate. (Although in a later episode, they did watch another Vanilla Ice video, giving it the full round of criticism.)

The duo would occasionally engage in physical humor during the videos. These antics ranged from simple comic violence, such as slapping, punching, and kicking one another, to the duo's memorable dances, which ranged from a few simple arm motions, to one dance where Butt-head jumps back and forth across the room.

Beavis and Butt-head: The movie

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Poster for Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

Beavis and Butt-head Do America, was released in 1996. The movie features the voices of Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Cloris Leachman, Robert Stack, Eric Bogosian, Greg Kinnear (in an uncredited role), and David Letterman (credited as Earl Hofert). The film's plot follows Beavis and Butt-head on a journey to retrieve their stolen television set. They travel across the United States and become involved in a biological weapon smuggling scheme that they remain unaware of throughout the film. The journey takes them to Washington, D.C. where they meet President Clinton (voiced by Dale Reeves). Tom Anderson, David Van Driessen, and Principal McVicker have cameos. Template:Spoiler In one scene, Beavis and Butt-head befriend two characters, one of which is voiced by David Letterman. The characters are older look-alikes of Beavis & Butt-head, and are more or less established to be their fathers when they tell a story of how they "scored" with "these two sluts" several years ago when they were in Beavis & Butt-head's hometown of Highland as roadies for Mötley Crüe (the mothers of Beavis & Butt-head, though never seen, were referred to on the television show, but no father figures were ever mentioned).

There is some debate as to whether or not it is revealed that Beavis and Butt-head are actually biological half-brothers, and that the two have lived their entire lives unaware of this fact. The older Butt-head look-alike states that he had sex with both "sluts" on their visit through Highland and dismisses the older Beavis character's claim of having sex with either. However, they were earlier identified as potential biological fathers when the FBI uses 'specimens' left in Anderson's camper matching them with prison sperm donors. Beavis & Butt-head are oblivious to clues that point out that they have finally met their father(s).

The Beavis & Butt-Head Experience album

A CD appeared, named The Beavis & Butt-head Experience featuring many hard rock and heavy metal bands, such as Megadeth and Nirvana. Moreover, Beavis and Butt-head do a duet with Cher on "I Got You Babe" and a track by themselves named "Come To Butt-head".

Other appearances

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Beavis and Butt-head reading a Beavis and Butt-Head comic.

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Two characters resembling the duo on Step By Step. Some like to consider this a live-version cameo of the "actual" characters.

• Beavis and Butt-head made an "appearance" on the Late Show with Dave Letterman. Prior to this, creator Mike Judge was a guest on the same show, and showed Dave a brief short in which Beavis & Butt-head were drawn with the physical characteristics of Paul Shaffer and Letterman.
• The characters were presenters during the 1997 Academy Awards telecast.
• Beavis and Butt-head have also appeared in a comic book series released by Marvel Comics, and many video games, like Virtual Stupidity, Bunghole in One and Beavis and Butt-head Do U.
• They appear in voice only in the live-action film Airheads. When a radio DJ is taking call-ins, Beavis and Butt-head call. Mike Judge supplied the voices himself for the movie.
• On an episode of the ABC sitcom Step by Step, there are two male actors who resemble Beavis and Butt-head and act like them too.
• On a Christmas-themed episode of Saturday Night Live, the characters appeared on the show's Weekend Update sketch and conversed with Norm MacDonald. Situated outside of Rockefeller Center, Butt-head was dressed to resemble Santa Claus while Beavis donned a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer costume.
• In the 1999 Hugh Grant film Notting Hill, Beavis and Butt-head's image is seen on a stained glass window.
• Butt-head made a brief cameo in the MTV animated series The Head.
• Beavis & Butt-Head appeared on the MTV series Celebrity Deathmatch, in which both men fought each other. Their voices were performed by Mike Judge.
• On the Adult Swim sketch show Robot Chicken, a featured parody of the Cartoon Network animated series Teen Titans has Beavis and Butt-head joining the team. Their attitude lands them and the team in trouble. They are chauvinistic to Starfire and insult Raven's gothic nature. They also sing the theme song from the Batman television series when Robin is around. Mike Judge did not voice the duo in this parody.
• Beavis & Butt-Head presented an award at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.
• On the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Beavis and Butt-head appeared in a couple of Viewers Choice award skits, saying to "Vote to put Beavis and Butt-head back on MTV!"
• In an episode of the TV show Friends where two of the male friends dedicate themselves to not leaving two overstuffed recliners situated in front of a large TV, they are shown at one point watching Beavis and Butthead and inadvertantly imitating them.
• Beavis and Butthead also appear in an episode of Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse, where Colin Powell is depicted answering questions from teens on a MTV talkshow. As he becomes increasingly irritated by the teenagers he begins to imagine that the whole audience has morphed into dozens of Beavis and Buttheads.
• Beavis and Butthead appear in the movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, when Dr. Evil has threatened the United Nations and attempts to end transmission, he accidentally switches to Beavis and Butthead, in which Beavis enthusiastically says, "Hey, Butthead, this chick has three boobs!" Butthead replies, "How many butts does she have?"

Spinoffs

A spinoff show based on their classmate Daria Morgendorffer, Daria, was also created. Mike Judge was not credited as a producer of this series and said he was not involved with it at all except to give permission for the use of the character. The Daria character had been created for Beavis and Butt-head by Glenn Eichler, who became a producer for Daria. In the first episode of Daria, Daria and her family move from Beavis and Butt-head's hometown of Highland to Lawndale. None of the other characters from Beavis and Butt-head ever appear on Daria.

King of the Hill was created by Mike Judge and at least owes its start to the success of Beavis and Butt-Head. Lending credence to its status as a spinoff the main character, Hank Hill, sounds just like and looks rather similar to Mr. Anderson. Indeed, the show was preceded by rumors, before Beavis and Butt-head stopped airing, that Judge was going to do a spin-off show about Mr. Anderson.

Video and DVD

All VHS collections of episodes are out of print. They were compiled into two sets of three multi-episode Time-Life DVD releases called "The Best of Beavis and Butthead", which are also no longer available. A set of three DVDs from Time-Life containing the same content as the first 3 VHS editions was released in December 2002. The remaining 3 VHS programs were also released on DVD soon afterwards but were not equally advertised (if at all) and are subsequently rarer.

A two-disc DVD set titled The History of Beavis and Butt-head was scheduled for release in September 2002, but was cancelled at the last moment. Many copies were mistakenly put on store shelves on the scheduled release date, only to be immediately recalled. The set started selling on eBay at very high prices, sometimes over $300 USD. According to creator Mike Judge, the History set was made up of episodes that Judge had previously rejected for home video release and was prepared without his knowledge or consent. Judge said in an interview, "it was basically all the worst episodes, with some exceptions." Judge owns approval rights for video releases of the series, and the History DVD set was recalled at his demand.

On November 8th, 2005, MTV and Paramount Home Video released the three-disc The Best of Beavis and Butt-Head Volume One: The Mike Judge Collection. The DVD set includes approximately eleven music video segments from the original shows. All prior VHS and DVD releases have lacked these segments except for the VHS release of Beavis and Butt-Head Do Christmas, and the last disc of the second and last Time-Life set, presumably due to the difficulty involved in acquiring music rights for the videos. This last disc, entitled "Hard Cash", appeared to have made room for four music videos since it contained half the episodes (one VHS worth) of most of the other volumes (typically the combination of content formerly occupying two VHS tapes). A second Mike Judge Collection is planned for 2006, although an exact date has yet to be announced.

Social influence

The show became the focus of criticism from social conservatives, such as Michael Medved, who depicted it as "the epitome of mindless and amoral entertainment," while others, such as David Letterman, and the conservative magazine National Review, defended it as a cleverly subversive vehicle for social criticism and a particularly creative and intelligent comedy. Letterman even voiced a character ("Mötley Crüe Roadie #1") in the Beavis and Butthead movie and used his regular pseudonym Earl Hofert in the credits.

See also

• List of Beavis and Butt-head episodes
• List of characters in Beavis and Butt-head
• List of musicians appearing on Beavis and Butt-head
• King of the Hill, the next animated television series created by Mike Judge.
• Office Space, a cult film by Judge.

External links

• Beavis and Butt-head at IMDb
• Beavis and Butt-head Do America at IMDb
• Beavis & Butt-head at EPisodeWorld.com
• Beavis and Butt-head at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Onion A.V. Club interview with Mike Judge in which the History of Beavis and Butt-Head DVD recall is discussed
• Beavis & Butt-head, Vol. 1
• Beavis and Butthead in Virtual Stupidity at home of the underdogs
• Beavis and Butt-head Central
• Beavis and Butt-head Do Web