Beavis and Butt-head haven't exactly been hot tech news, since they had their own handful of PC- and videogames in the 90's. Those were all either junk, or mediocre at best (such as the point-and-click "adventure" game Virtual Stupidity for the PC/Windows platform). It may sound like contradiction, but the genre of gaming that requires the player to actually think, and to focus on solving puzzles rather than going bananas on a gamepad, has thus far proved to be the most suitable one for Beavis and Butthead! Thanks to its large storage capacity, the PC-CD format also enabled the game developers to include cut scenes and voice acting that were very true to the actual show. This certainly helped raising the overall impression of the game, compared to the videogames that were still mostly cartridge based at that time, only using synthesized voices and simple animations.
BUT, enough of that... as you may have heard, MTV's mischief making teen misfits Beavis and Butt-head will come back with brand new episodes, starting very soon! Mike Judge - the creator, as well as the voice of Beavis, Butt-head and many other characters of the show, has reportedly stated that television is getting too smart these days, which hence called for a return of the show.
Those of you who attended the comic book convention Comic Con this year, probably got treated with this brand new clip from the brand new Beavis and Butt-head season. But if you didn't (like myself), you can watch it right here, below!
Still fifteen
As expected, B&B haven't aged notably since the television cartoon went on a 14 years long hiatus, back in 1997. The cartoon's visual style has not been tampered with much either, except for a slightly more polished look, reminiscent of the 1996 feature film "Beavis and Butt-head Do America". The shaky drawings seen in the initial seasons, seem to be history by now.*
With or without music videos
Music videos replaced by reality TV! Beavis and Butthead's return does NOT imply that the MTV we all know from the 90's will. Back then, when MTV was strictly a music channel, a considerable portion of the episodes were just B&B sitting in their shabby sofa commenting music videos, rarely in a very flattering manner. And that was a big part of the show, that was quite enjoyable in itself.
Insulting reality TV participants instead of rock stars
There won't be much headbanging going on for these
fellas in the 2011 season...
Clearly the change that MTV has undergone over the years, has even affected the world of Beavis and Butthead. So the new B&B is a different story, yet exactly the same. As can be seen in the teaser video mentioned earlier, B&B are still sticking to MTV as their favoured TV channel. With or without music videos. With reality shows being the channel's bread and butter nowadays, this is clearly what these two headbangers have to settle for also. Although it's early to judge - after watching merely a snippet of this renewed segment - I just don't see the same kind of amusement hearing B&B smearing and beating down on sad, promiscuous teenagers, that are already being exploited more than enough to begin with. That just seems cold and heartless to me. Not only that; I'd guess these reality TV participants are complete strangers to most viewers, except for the handful of people who are actually watching these lame dating and reality shows regularly. Even if they should be famous at the moment, they will most likely be forgotten the second after the show's over. In contrast to Beavis and Butthead themselves, still remembered by anyone growing up in the 90's. As far as I'm concerned, Mike Judge might as well have taken the pxxx on his hairdresser or his local grocery store clerk. That would've made just as much sense...
~the Jo
(* The most notable changes already happened between the first two seasons, where the initial (in many ways) raw episodes, both in terms of graphical quality as well as adult content, of 1993, received a notable facelift for the next season starting the year after. ...Along with a more strict content control, as a result of concerned parents' pleads and complaints.)
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