Beavis and Butthead (last time, I swear)

Cafe Society
1

Not that I wish to reopen (“You typed 'reopen”! Huhhuhhuhuh!") old wounds, but I just saw the entry for Beavis and Butthead on http://www.jumptheshark.com (“You typed 'jumptheshark”! Huhhuhhuhhuh!"), and I’m really sorry, but that damn monkey just won’t get off my back (“You typed ‘back’! Huhhuhhuhhuh!”)

I’ll get right to the point…I find it absolutely mind-blowing that this show continues to get such universal adoration. I have yet to see ONE criticism of this show anywhere (that wasn’t just a “TV is evil” tirade) including the Web, and believe, me, I looked. Nobody hates this show. Nobody. For any TV show to have absolutely no detractors is amazing in itself, but I could not dream of a show more undeserving than Beavis and Butthead.

It seems that most people, even on these boards, can’t understand how anyone could not like B&B. Well, I never thought I’d have to do this, but okay, I’ll spell it out for y’all:

  • The endless, mindless chuckling. Madness. Irritating. Pointless. Irritating. Wasted far too much time. Did I say irritating?

  • The music video critiques, punctuated by liberal use of the words “cool” and “suck”, which was presumably incredibly witty and cutting-edge.

  • The, ahem, “satire”. Which consisted of B&B spewing out endless insults and doing a bunch of crazy stunts. Ha ha! Lookit what losers they are! They’re such big losers, MTV centers every episode around them and shows everything they do!

  • The supposedly funny gags. You know, things like setting a cat on fire or…dropping a heavy object on something from a bridge. Nearly all of it with no repercussions whatsoever for the idiots. (Look, if you wanna hold them up as what kids are not supposed to do, it’s best not to make it look like real-life kids can get away with it, all right?)

  • The dialogue. Ugh. Jokes that were stale about halfway through elementary school being touted as acceptable form of entertainment. Puh-leeze.

No, it wasn’t the violence; there’s nothing wrong with violence so long as it’s handled right. It wasn’t the politics; The Simpsons handled this volatile subject brilliantly on many occasions. It wasn’t the stupidity; some of my favorite comedies had an abundance of dumb, goofy humor. It wasn’t the animation; South Park, which was even more crudely animated, used to be great (why I don’t think it’s great anymore is another thread). It was the lack of any reason to keep watching. It was the inability to resist the monumental urge to change the channel. This was, without a doubt, the most unwatchable program I’ve ever seen. I could NEVER sit through a whole episode. Even Married With Children wasn’t this intolerable; I watched at least four episodes in their entirety.

As Roger Ebert wisely noted in his review of Malcolm X, it has to be entertaining before it can be anything else. I do not find insane chuckling entertaining. I do not find half-baked music video reviews entertaining. I do not find the antics of a couple of complete reprobates, presented in ANY context, entertaining. Granted, it’s possible for almost any subject to be made entertaining, but simply throwing it all together and expecting us to like it isn’t the way to do it.

And nobody else found B&B irritating. Nobody else found it unfunny. Nobody else thought it was anything other than the pinnacle of entertainment. Nobody was happy to see it go. Not. One. Single. Person.

“But Darrell, it has masturbation jokes! And dead-end jobs! And flatulence! And these are all screamingly funny! Don’t you understand?” Well, no, I don’t. And I don’t see why I should be the one making the effort. When I watch a program, I expect it to entertain me, not the other way around. Good lord, I have enough problems in my life without having to psych up for a lousy cartoon.

Well, I’ve spelled out my concerns, and now I’m praying that someone could put my mind at ease. I know that some of you liked this cartoon. I don’t have a problem with that. What I want to know is why everyone else does. Why no one ever thought it was irritating. Or unfunny. Or a waste of time.

I need answers, dammit. This is driving me crazy. Help me…please.

(Oh, and mods, I know this is a bit “ranty”…though not as virulent as it could have made it, believe me…so move it to the Pit if you have to.)

2

Are you kidding me? I thought it was hilarious. I found the incessant chuckling to be funny. I found the dumb gags and toilet humor to be funny. I thought the show was great. But that’s just me. I’m surprised that you didn’t find more people panning the show though. I suppose it might be because serious critics didn’t bother with it. If you loved it then you loved it. If you hated it and were to write a review or some such thing about it then you would probably lump it into “a what’s wrong with TV” type article. The people who didn’t like it, didn’t feel it had enough merit on its own to dedicate a whole thing to it, and so just lumped it in with their critiques on the other crap on TV.

My two cents.

3

I HATED B&B. I still have a hard time watching King of the Hill because of Mike Judge’s association with it. B&B marked a new low in my enjoyment of MTV (it’s called MUSIC television, play some damned music), although they have surpassed that low many times over. It just wasn’t funny. I’m thankful that it is long gone.

4

*** DISCLAIMER ***

The following statement is simply an argument. This is NOT an opinion which would, could or should be defended. The following statement is not intended to offend people whom dislike B&B. I DISLIKE B&B.

*** END DISCLAIMER ***

The problem with “stupid comedy” is that most educated are riding to high up on their…

The problem is not that some jokes are designed to be juvenile. The problem is with juvenile people who think that immaturity is a bad thing. People who cannot accept a bad joke as simply a bad joke.

I know lots of people who dislike B&B. Many people dislike the Simpsons. We cannot assume that the lack of negative written opinions, directly relates to the popularity of the show.

I feel a cliché’ coming on… hold on… here it comes…

There is a fine line between love and hate.

Think about it.

5

I’d like to point out that this is like saying the Simpsons are not funny because Bart says “Don’t have a cow, man!”

Yes, the early B&B started out that way, but it really changed. I think the early ones are just painful to watch but the later ones were funny.

6

Every time I hear Hank Hill’s voice, I think, “Gee, why did he recycle Tom Anderson’s voice from Beavis and Butthead?”

7

I could understand why people didn’t like Beavis and Butthead… Not a lot of people understood the humor, and some who did and still hated it. I think as kid, (I was 12 when it started), the show ACTUALLY had a GOOD influence on me. It reminded me of how stupid people my age then could be. These are two loser kids, who will never get a good job, who will never get proper nutrition, and of course, never get laid. If anyone had seen King Of The Hill, they would know it’s nothing like B&B. It’s not like Beavis & Butthead were heroes, yet in some ways they were likable, (well Beavis was). It was, IMHO, genius because it made fun of it’s target audience. Little did kids know that they were being mocked. If there were people who imitated B&B and like… set themselves on fire… well, it weeds out the stupid people. I was like Beavis and Butthead before I started watching it. My friends and I would walk up and down my street vandalizing people mailboxes and throwing raspberry yogurt on the sides of their homes, and we would laugh… we sat on the phone all day telling each other what TV channels had funny looking people on. Watching it showed me how idiotic I was acting. I LOVE the show! I LOVE King Of The Hill, and Office Space too

8

It was SATIRE.

I loved B&B, precisely BECAUSE I knew people like this in high school-and that was the scary part.

And yes, the later episodes WERE much better. And another thing-it allowed the spin-off-DARIA, my all time FAVORITE.
Good lord, Daria, for crying out loud!!!

Okay-
Did you notice that when Beavis was away from Butthead, he actually had things go better for him?

That Dooley on King of the Hill talks like Butthead?

The obscure videos? Come ON-yes, they showed videos, and yeah, they totally copied MST3K-but the videos…my GOD, the videos!

That Stuart’s dad was originally a teacher at Highland High?
(see the episode where they aren’t allowed to laugh).

That Stuart’s Mom always wore exercise clothes at first?

9

Beavis & Butthead was funny BECAUSE it was so pointless and stupid. It was meant to be dumb. It’s how typical dumb high school kids act, times, like, 20!

10

I saw Daria the other day, and it was almost a drama over comedy. I LOVE that show… are there any new ones on. I hate MTV, so I don’t know what’s goin down. I HATE IT!!

11

“Your wife divorced you.”

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-Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh… Sth’like, we like… rule, or somethin’. Huhuhuhu

-Hehehehehehehehe… yayayaya… me too, me too!

-Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu… and like, that DKW guy, he like sthucks for like thinking that we sthuck, or somethin’. Huhuhuhuhuhuhu.

-Heheheheheheheheh… yayayaya! He SUCKS! GAAAAAAAAH!

-Sthettle down, butt-monkey! Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh.

-Heheheheheheh… oh yeah. Heheheheheheh.

-Huhuhuhuhuhuh… Stho, like, I think he’sth like, old, or sthomethin’. Old people sthuck. Huhuhuhuhuhuhu.

-Heheheheheheheh… YAYAYAYA!! THEY SUCK! hehehehehehehehe.

-Huhuhuhuh, Dammit, Beavisth, shut up, before I punch you in the nadsth. Huhuhuhuhuhuh.

-Heheheheheheh.

-Huhuhuhuhuh… Stho like, we don’t suck, we like rule, or sthomething. Sth’like, old people like DKW sthuck, cuz they’re like, old.

-Yayayayayaya! Me too, me too! Heheheheheheheh.

-Dammit, monkeysthpank, you’re a dumbass! Huhuhuhuhuhuh.

-Hehehehehehe… ohhhhhh… yeeeeeah. Heheheheheh. Thank you drive through.

Note: I’m not saying that DKW sucks, but I’m pretty sure that B&B would say it. :smiley:

The point of this post? Wha…? Errrrrr… I’m sure it’s in there.

13

How can you not like B&B…

  1. … We’re gonna sthcore. (thanks ** Zaphod ** good job)

  2. Cornholio - the episode in the coffe house was my fave. You the one where Bevis drinks a whole pot of Crappuccino

  3. ** FROG BASEBALL !!! **

14

Wait a minute, everyone loves Beavis and Butthead? Last I heard, there were hordes of outspoken parents, educators, and the like condemning it for everything under the sun. Sure, this was five or so years ago, but certainly not everyone loved it.

In terms of critic response, it seems to have been a mixed bag. Television isn’t really critiqued in the same way that movies are, but it seems that it received both praise, panning, and indifference.

I liked the show alot, although I sometimes felt it was too mean-spirited. Thinking back on it, the music video response was just about the best part of the show, but at the time it seemed almost like filler as you waited for the “dramatic” segments to come back on.

On a hijack, anyone remember “The Brothers Grunt”, the short-lived Beavis ‘n’ Butthead…knockoff, I guess I’d call it. At least, they ganked the music-video segments.

15

For the love of all things holy…
DKW, if you thought Beavis and Butt-Head was moronic, stay far, far, far away from The Brothers Grunt.

Just for the record, I personally dug B&B and found it to be a great escape from… well, thinking. I hope they follow through on a second movie.

16

First off, thanks for the measured responses, which were honestly better than what I expected (especially in This Time Of Crisis). I started an almost idental thread on IMHO a little over a year ago, and the best anyone could come up with was “I just like it; I can’t explain it to you.”

And you all can’t imagine how relieved I am that some of you didn’t the show. On its own merits. Or lack of thereof.

Zaphod B - Point taken…whatever it was. :stuck_out_tongue:

Neurotik - Oh, THAT was it. Sheesh.

Okay, I can understand how most serious critics wouldn’t think very highly of this cartoon, but to the point of ignoring it altogether? (Cf. this to the buzz South Park got right out of the gate.) Like it or not, Beavis and Butthead eventually became a phenomenon, and to not even bother taking a look strikes me as downright unprofessional.

mouthbreather - On that I must respectfully disagree…IMHO, The Simpsons’ overreliance on catchphrases is definitely one of the lowlights of the show. (Which, I suspect, is why some of them were eventually phased out.) As inane as they are, however, they only last for a few seconds an episode, something that could not be said for the chuckling in B&B.

occ - Oh dear, I knew I should have been a little clearer on this point. Ahem…yes, there were a number of parents, teachers, citizen groups, etc. who condemned B&B for all kinds of horrors (including one highly-publicized burning incident). But they didn’t hate the show because they thought it was irritating, or pointless, or unfunny, they thought it was a bad influence] on children. This was a ridiculous argument, especially considering who they were talking about. Anyone who thinks those guys are worth emulating has far more serious problems than bad taste in television.

In response to these dumb, half-baked, knee-jerk protests, MTV ended up changing things that didn’t need to be changed (toning down violence and junk) while doing nothing about the real problems with the show (um…way too irritating?).

I never thought B&B was a corrupting influence. I did, from beginning to end, think it was a horrible excuse for entertainment and a complete waste of a time slot. And until I started this thread, I could find no one else who shared both these beliefs.

I know, it’s hell being so dang ionoclastic sometimes.

17

Just for the record:

The incessant chuckling in B&B is MEANT to annoy you. The whole point is to make you think “omfg, what a couple of freaking idiots” (assuming you think in Internet abbreviations), and pretty much make you want to punch them both out. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the show’s “charms” (if I may call it that).