“Beavis and Butt-Head” is the product of such a specific cultural moment that it may seem difficult to imagine the animated title characters continuing to exist in the 2020s. I had that same skepticism when the feature film “Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe” was announced in 2021, and even more so when it was announced that a new “Beavis and Butt-Head” series would follow the movie. While “Do the Universe” got a decent amount of attention when it was released on Paramount+, the series that launched a couple of months later hasn’t made nearly the same impact.
That’s disappointing because the return of “Beavis and Butt-Head” has delivered on the promise of “Do the Universe,” mixing the duo’s classic idiocy with updated buffoonery for the modern age. Maybe the show hasn’t quite found its audience on Paramount+ or linear cable channel Comedy Central, where the most recent third season initially premiered.
But the first two reboot seasons are now available on Netflix, and anyone who didn’t know that Beavis and Butt-Head are back can finally check out the hilariously moronic adventures they’ve been missing.
The appeal of ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ is timeless
Creator Mike Judge launched “Beavis and Butt-Head” with a short segment on MTV’s animated anthology series “Liquid Television” in 1992, and the show remains an indelible part of ’90s pop culture, especially via the music videos that the duo of dim-witted teenagers would mock during interstitial segments. While the original show ended in 1997, Judge already produced a one-season return in 2011, proving that he could keep the characters fresh for any era.
Of course, “fresh” is a relative term for the limited worldview of the crass best friends (both voiced by Judge) living in the suburban wasteland of Highland, Texas. The new episodes don’t deviate from Beavis and Butt-Head’s familiar fixations on setting things on fire, ineptly attempting to “score” with “chicks,” and eating nachos.
Those crude desires are just as applicable now as they were 30 years ago, but Judge still shakes things up by also featuring middle-aged versions of Beavis and Butt-Head in some adventures, along with the alternate-dimension “smart” versions that debuted in “Do the Universe.”
Although “Do the Universe” explicitly placed the teenage characters in the ’90s before transporting them to the 2020s, the reboot exists in an eternal present, no matter the age or dimensional status of the characters. Adult Beavis and Butt-Head have not matured, and their lives are even more hilariously pathetic — and sadly indicative of the state of American society.
Judge has always been able to blend social commentary with consistent smart-stupid humor, and the new “Beavis and Butt-Head” is still laugh-out-loud funny, whether it’s sending up Christian missionaries or just finding new ways to give the title characters horrific physical injuries.
‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ is as clever and funny as it’s always been
My favorite recent “Beavis and Butt-Head” episodes are the ones that take the characters in weirdly philosophical directions, as when Beavis encounters the living embodiment of his beloved fire, or has an identity crisis when a new student also named Beavis joins their school. Judge and his collaborators find ways to explore larger issues in the context of the stupidest people alive doing the stupidest things imaginable, and that makes them even more profound.
For anyone who grew up on Beavis and Butt-Head’s mockery of music videos, the new series also cleverly updates those segments, mixing current music video clips with snippets of videos from YouTube and social media. Beavis and Butt-Head are just as savage about modern pop stars as they were about the chart-toppers of the ’90s, but now they also have the opportunity to take down self-promoting influencers and inane YouTube stunts. It’s the perfect evolution of a key element of the show, balancing the classic approach with something that makes sense for the present moment.
That kind of balance is what makes the new “Beavis and Butt-Head” so successful. As he’s done with his equally strong revival of “King of the Hill” on Hulu, Judge preserves everything that worked about the original show and moves it carefully into a new era. I admit that I get a hit of nostalgia while watching Beavis and Butt-Head, still clad in their Metallica and AC/DC T-shirts, terrorize their military-veteran neighbor Tom Anderson or antagonize their hippie teacher Mr. Van Driessen.
But if nostalgia was the only thing that “Beavis and Butt-Head” had to offer, it would wear out its welcome quickly. After three seasons of the reboot, I’m still eager to see what these dumbasses do next.
Stream “Beavis and Butt-Head” on Netflix now
