{alltv} New Beavis and Butt-head sure to be classic TV

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - From The Beverly Hillbillies to, uh, Beavis and Butt-head? The creator of Beavis and Butt-head, Mike Judge, sees a direct connection.

The subject came up at the Television Critics Association tour because Beavis and Butt-head, those two animated morons who really did change TV, are coming back. The new Beavis and Butt-head will debut later this year on MTV on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

But calling it "the new" Beavis and Butt-head really is a misnomer, and that's the comedic point.

We reminded Judge of an observation David Letterman - a noted Beavis and Butt-head fan - made back in the early 1990s, while interviewing Judge as we recall. Letterman said something along the lines of, "The thing about Beavis and Butt-head is, you get the impression they're just idiots and they never are going to be anything else."

So with Letterman's theory as a foundation, we suggested to Judge that Beavis and Butt-head's complete lack of development actually is at the heart of the humour here. It's why they can be just as funny today, commenting on Jersey Shore and 16 and Pregnant, as they were carving up music videos in their original run from 1993 to 1998. "Yeah, yeah, definitely - I think (Beavis and Butt-head) are kind of a comforting antidote to a lot of TV in that they're not going to grow, they're not going to learn anything," Judge said.

"One of my favourite shows was The Beverly Hillbillies. I still love watching it, because they're not going to learn anything. Maybe it's in the subtext that they care about each other, but there's never going to be a time where there's some emotional moment between any of them, really."

Judge said he still is stuck in the era of classic TV in the way he thinks about things, and he places classic TV into two categories.

"To me there's the category of The Beverly Hillbillies, and then there's the other category that has Leave it to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show and shows like that. Beavis and Butt-head is in The Beverly Hillbillies category, and King of the Hill (another animated show Judge created) is in the other category.

"(Beavis and Butt-head) weren't necessarily of that time (the 1990s). They're staying the same, they're not going to grow, they're not going to have a different take on anything. It's fun and that's kind of why I wanted to come back."

And yet, while Beavis and Butt-head certainly are coming from the same place as characters, they do have a whole new palate of abominations to rip apart.

A sizzle reel of highlights from the new Beavis and Butt-head was available for TV critics to screen, and we have to say, we laughed out loud at least a half-dozen times. Beavis and Butt-head are watching a Jersey Shore episode where one of the girls is working on a big "hookup chart" to track who has had sex with each other within their group. Two of the comments made by Beavis and Butt-head:

"If they trace this back far enough, you could find out where herpes began."

"That's what your family tree would look like if your family were made of whores."

In another episode, Beavis and Butt-head become aware of the Twilight movies.

Surmising that chicks dig vampires and werewolves, Beavis and Butt-head endeavour to become "undead," but wind up being bitten by a vagrant with Hepatitis C. New situations, same cluelessness.

Jed, Granny, Elly May and Jethro would be proud of Beavis and Butt-head.