The Triumphant Return of Beavis & Butthead?

Last night two television icons returned to MTV after nearly 14 years. That's right...Beavis & Butthead are back. Originally airing from 1993 - 1997, Beavis & Butthead were a pop culture phenomenon. Each half hour episode featured the boys in two different adventures with titles such as "Couch Fishing" or "The Great Cornholio". Whether the boys were in class with Mr. Van Dreissen, visiting an army recruitment center, or working at their part-time job flipping burgers and frying rats at Burger World, you knew you were going to be exposed to the crude humor and unique world view of the two dim-witted burnouts. Of course the best part of each episode was when the boys watched and commented on the various music videos that ran on MTV. The show became so popular that back in the day you could find Beavis & Butthed comic books, video-games, CDs (That's what we old folks listened to before MP3s kiddies), a full length feature film, hats, t-shirts, and other random knick-knacks. I am not ashamed to admit I was totally addicted to this show and had every episode taped on VHS (That's what we watched movies and TV shows on before DVDs kiddies...man a lot has changed). So the boys are back, but  how do the new episodes hold up, and can Beavis & Butthead take the entertainment world by storm again?

In terms of holding up to the old episodes, the answer is a resounding yes. After watching it last night, besides the references to Harry Potter and the Twilight movies, I felt as if I was just watching an old episode that I hadn't seen. The format of the show remains the same. In last nights episode the boys, after seeing one of the Twilight movies, decide they need to become werewolves or vampires to get chicks and later Butthead continuously makes fun of Beavis for crying while watching an episode of "The Bachelor". The episode even featured old favorites like hippie teacher Mr. Van Driessen, Vietnam war vet and gym teacher Coach Buzzcut, and the boys favorite punching bag, Stewart. And yes, Stewart is STILL rocking the Winger shirt.

I DID notice two things pretty interesting about the new episode. First, it was missing the old warning that played before the old episodes started. You know the one....

"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."

MTV used to put that warning on before every episode of the old show because of the bad press they got after a child supposedly set fire to the mobile home he lived in after watching the show. Also because of this, Beavis was banned from saying one of his more famous quotes "Fire! Fire! Fire!". Well I guess a lot has changed because even though I was disappointed the classic warning was gone,  I was happy to see that Beavis is allowed once again to shout "Fire! Fire! Fire!"

There are some other things that have changed in the last decade as well. Some are little things like the computer on Van Driessen's desk and the references to current shows and movies. Another thing is what the boys watch on TV. Yup, you read that right, the best part of the old show remains intact. The boys sit around and watch music videos while making smart-ass comments. I was afraid that since MTV doesn't really air music videos anymore, and the old episodes that are out on DVD cut most of the videos due to legal reasons, that this part of the show would be gone. But the the first new episode featured videos from MGMT, Skrillex, and LMFAO. Also, probably because MTV doesn't air many music videos anymore, the boys watched other MTV shows like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom. In fact one of the funniest parts of last nights episode was Beavis & Butthead's comments while watching MTV's "True Life: I'm Addicted....To Porn".

Another difference from the original episodes is that most of the animation is much better now. It's in HD so of course it's sharper, and it just seems like they are using more colors and it's drawn better. I say most of the animation, because during the parts where the boys comment on what they are watching on TV the animation looks old, like they are using the old animation style or recycling old footage. It in no way ruined the show, but it was noticeable.

So the boys are back. Now maybe it's because I wasn't expecting it to really hold up to the old episodes, but the first new episode was great! Unlike most other shows and movies that return after over a decade of hibernation, I felt like Beavis & Butthead didn't suffer at all. I just kept thinking to myself how amazing it was that it was the exact same show I enjoyed when I was 18. Which brings us to the second question. Can the boys make it in today's entertainment world? I don't know if the kids & teens (Do kids & teens STILL watch MTV?) who made Teen Mom and Jersey Shore hits are going to watch Beavis & Butthead. In all honesty I don't even know what kind of viewer MTV caters to anymore. I haven't watched the channel in years, except when my wife watches Teen Mom. I think the key to Beavis & Butthead being a success again is making sure that my generation realizes it's on MTV and that it's still as entertaining as it used to be.

So to sum it all up, if you weren't a fan back in the day and thought the show was juvenile and crude, don't bother with the new episodes. If you LOVED the show because it was juvenile and crude, then you are in luck because your two favorite dim-witted burnouts are back. And if you missed it you can watch the first new episode below. I, for one, am looking forward to relapsing back into my Beavis & Butthead addiction. Huh-huh Huh-huh-huh....I said dick.