Those who remain nostalgic about late 1990s nights spent watching MTV may have felt conflicted about Comedy Central’s decision to nab Mike Judge for a “reimagining” of Beavis And Butt-Head. The seminal MTV animated show will receive tweaks, obviously, and Comedy Central’s announcement suggested that the two juvenile delinquents have graduated into adulthood, and “[t]he Gen X defining leads are back and entering a whole new Gen Z world.” What does that mean, though?
I was kinda pulling for time travel rather than aging the duo, although the fish-out-of-water concept might not be the best option for longevity. The reimagining’s already set for at least two seasons, and Judge has stressed that “[i]t seemed like the time was right to get stupid again.” Hmm, stupid is a broad term, but it should include the pair rocking out to music videos, right?
Well, Vulture spoke with Chris McCarthy, President of Entertainment & Youth Group at Comedy Central, and the prioritization of music video interludes doesn’t sound good. It also sounds like Beavis and Butt-Head found women who wished to procreate with them, and now they’re facing real adulting challenges:
“[I]n the case of the new Beavis and Butt-head, McCarthy says Judge is looking at a show in which the iconic duo moves beyond riffs on music videos and pop culture: ‘The story that we’re talking about working with Mike is: What happens if they grow up? And what happens if they have kids?'”
Does “moves beyond” mean that the show will leave music videos in the dust, like MTV arguably has? Artists are obviously still making videos (thank goodness for YouTube), but do Beavis and Butt-Head now have other focuses in life? No time for headbanging? Say it ain’t so. I might be reading too much into things, but it’s still strange to think of these guys holding down full-time jobs and making mortgage payments and grounding their own kids.
Perhaps Judge only intends to downplay the videos and use them sparingly. That would be preferable to abandoning one of the original series’ mainstays, which would be as disappointing as writing Cornholio out of pop culture history. In the meantime, Comedy Central’s also still planning a Daria spinoff (called Jodie) that’ll be voiced by Tracee Ellis Ross, and that’s part of Comedy Central’s decision to get more serious in the already crowded adult animated market.
(Via Vulture)
