Mike Judge's Beavis And Butt-Head: Season 2

[Tobacco Farmers]

In a way, this was like the sewer episode from before. Aggressively typical, but not bad.

The music video segment got more laughs from me.

Something I can say about the aged Van Driessen. Each episode, he makes it more and more clear with his tone that he just... doesn’t like Beavis & Butt-Head all that much anymore lol.

My favorite thing from this would have to be the ending, but even that itself is flawed.

This show for whatever reason has been too afraid of any serious confrontation between the boys and any of the adults. The old show was fearless when it came to them always getting their asses kicked.

They finally had a slapstick showdown at the Highland garden, but they kind of overdid it once they started joking about tumor induced injuries. Smacking them both with shovels was already enough, they should’ve just left it at that.



[Married]

Love how these Old Beavis and Old Butt-Head shorts always consists of them fuckin’ around with local officials.

There’s some good KOTH fame with this cartoon. Toby Huss is already a known veteran of both, but the County lady (Ashley Gardner) is one I could instantly recognize as Nancy Gribble.

Also a surprise hearing Rachael MacFarlane provide additional voiceover work.


Beavis & Butt-Head having a gay marriage episode without it even really *being* a gay marriage episode was refreshing. 

It’s more of a shock to me that Beavis and Butt-Head even know how to drive. They don’t know the essentials, such as paying parking tickets. But they obtained a license!


The NYC apartment video tour segment would have won me over. Had it not been for the fact they hammered in that imitation for too long.

They finally gave an explanation on why the hell they have that old man fishing portrait.

[Sad Boys]

I liked the very start when they were just kicking lockers.

I was thinking for a sec that the whole cartoon would be them wanting to repeat sad phrases to chicks.

Instead, Highland High sent them to an institution again.

Van Driessen immediately pointing out depression in the boys seemed on-brand. It’s sorta like how they poked fun at him in the classic Cornholio episode, where he wags his finger about sugar not causing hyperactivity. In this instance, he’s allowing something as serious as depression to be misdiagnosed.


The last time the boys were sent away like this, it’s because they were shown to be a danger to themselves.

This time around, about the same. Except Beavis had the most out-there misunderstanding I’ve ever heard, while still combining it with the ol’ “jacking it in Anderson’s shed” bit.

Something about this series... I’m certain Beavis damaged Judge’s vocal cords a long, long time ago.

Judge has not been able to naturally do the Beavis scream without wear-and-tear since like the mid 2000s. And Beavis still screams a lot during this show! Once that obviously worn out yell starts going with the slapstick, I still get a great laugh from it sometimes. If anything else, I gotta say bravo on that.


The Help video segment was one of those prolonged things were Beavis & Butt-Head just go to town talking about one sex related thing. Butt plugs.

Had a couple great jokes in there, like the thought of a guy getting a vasectomy on stage and having tomatoes thrown at him.

It’s always been sort of an unspoken rule that the two can be depicted as somewhat more intelligent once they’re in the video segments. So a part of it I guess might seem uncanny.



[Are You There, God? It’s me, Beavis]

Having the Beavis we know deliberately praying to God is about as out of place and weird as Butt-Head doing the same just episodes prior. Have to dock points again because way too much reflection is showing. 

I get the joke is “it’s not puberty! He’s really messed up!” There’s still too much intent with Beavis having to confront anything this way. Skunk attack or otherwise.

And while I was just talking about Mike Judge’s voiceover deliveries, this episode gave me final confirmation that Buzzcut will not be returning.

I mean, I get it. Even with Anderson/Hank you can blatantly hear the age showing, as heard with Beavis pouncing on Anderson at the end of this episode. And we know Buzzcut was the most wound up of them all.

Still bums me out. In the 2011 revival, Todd sounded absolutely awful, but they brought McVicker back to spite the implied demise. In fact, they tried giving everyone a shot.

I get it goes against their planning with the show but it only makes their world further empty. Especially when they occasionally bring up “oh, but we have multiple universes.”



Episode in general isn’t too bad. Rabid Beavis was able to receive ultimate revenge and had Butt-Head running away screaming.

[The Day Butt-Head Went Too Far]

I’m gonna look past any of the strange awareness Beavis exhibits in this episode, as both the buildup and payoff with Beavis’ sunburn slaps were actually very funny. Really, that’s all it takes.

If it wasn’t for the music video segment in this episode, I would’ve never watched the controversial thing from like a year back where the rapper gets busy on Satan or whatever. Surprised they didn’t go all in mocking that alone, but with the Darth Maul quip, less is more.



[This week’s Tom Anderson’s War Stories]

Same amusing premise I was talking about before. This battle takes it a little more to the extreme as they’re all sitting ducks thanks to Tom. Only this time, we didn’t get an exact number on casualties.


[Spring Break]

Episode sounds good on paper, but I guess overall I wasn’t too impressed.

Beavis directly references the “7/11 was an inside job” joke, and I responded with a blank face as I’ve heard that enough times before. One of those jokes where I wanted to laugh but I just couldn’t. 


This is the second time within this new series where Beavis and Butt-Head just flat-out die at the end. That was interesting. I’m wondering if they’re gonna make that more common, it was a mostly rare occurrence in the old show.

[The Warrior]

This was a cartoon I was loving and digging all the way through, and then the ending let me down.

It’s great for some Beavis & Butt-Head episodes to have anti climatic endings. But when you’re hyping up a jock to kick Beavis’ ass, and then just end up with the same ol smacking match between to the two boys, not even having the jock appear again.... I don’t know.

Beavis being scared shitless of that kid, on top of Butt-Head taking on the role of a fighting coach still ranks this one fairly high for me.



[Vasectomies]

*softly spoken Butt-Head*
”Gorillas are not monkeys, Beavis, they’re apes.”


Sperm Bank was the funniest episode from the old show that went into those awkward discussions of fertility.

And while this episode isn’t the same as having them simply donate sperm, it’s interesting to show a slightly less crass variation.

Where the boys have some thoughts about having children, instead of destroying tubes of sperm and laughing at Stewart’s dad for not getting it up.

The ‘93 episode was funnier just by how off the rail it was, but the duo having second thoughts about another dumb idea of theirs in this particular instance made for a poignant scene.


I’ve shat on this show a few times just within this new season about how they show semblance of consciousness with the two characters, and this is a good example of them actually pulling it off successfully in my eyes.


Sweet ending too lol.

[Stolen Valor]

Anderson first appearing in this Old Beavis & Old Butt-Head cartoon caught me off guard from the jump.

Though really, both of the universes we see between old and new take place in 2023.

Still find it odd. The cartoons with the middle aged duo are meant to be a little more reserved and bittersweet. The one with Stewart gave you a harsh idea about their past, but uh... Anderson’s just here. As normal as can be.

Maybe they’re depending a little too much on Tom this season. I mean I’m not head over heels for new Van Driessen episodes or anything. I guess they gotta do what they can with the only other major character they have after writing off everyone else.



You could say this is the first time with this new series where Tom obtains a victory. Lately we’ve seen just how deplorable/useless he turned out to be in the war, and this episode reminds you that he still keeps good company with his fellow vets in spite of all that.

While it is funny to give him the Carl Brutananadilewski treatment, I also think it’s good for Tom to maintain some of the things that give him life.

Now we can say Anderson’s laid out some punches on our boys, which is pretty weird. Maybe this would’ve gone down more seamlessly if he complained about Beaufort & Bernardo, to imply he’s being tormented by the younger ones on the side.

(maybe they can crossover for real soon!)

Good episode, albeit a little strange.



[Breeding Frenzy]

That teddy bear’s taking a dump.


This one left me generally even more conflicted. 

It’s typically funny anytime animals are brought into these shenanigans. The backyard scene with the raccoon only further awakened my phobia with rodents.


Beavis & Butt-Head trying to get a raccoon to have sex with a poodle would be a hilarious concept. But I did not at all like when the raccoon attacked another innocent dog. The pest should’ve attacked Beavis again instead.

I don’t wanna sound like too much of a prude about it. “Washin’ the dog” was one of the funniest things they ever did.

I just found the end to be too unpleasant, although the living room scene before the credits *kinda* saved it a little.


The video segments lately haven’t been anything of note, except the last one they did here was brutal. They just unloaded on some woman for being too happy and energetic, then Butt-Head called her an asshole. Which yeah her content sucked, but they just pummeled her lol. 

Wonder if we’ll get any more mean ones like that.

[Hoarders]

So, the girls of Highland High like hoarding shows? Strange.

It’s funny having these two hop on this trend.

On one hand, I feel sorry for the poor bastards who destroy their lives hoarding trash. But only the geniuses of A&E would believe a female hoarding 100 jars of poop somehow makes for quality television.

I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed Beavis & Butt-Head cleaning their house to a T, as preparation for all the trash they’d scatter around immediately after. It’s always amazing when they go the extra mile to show you just how much they waste their own time.

Beavis unsurprisingly develops a hoarding complex of his own once they’ve boxed themselves in, and boy does he show some expression. It’s crazy how off model the two can get now.

As for the two dying, now I see what the skeletons in the promotional art for this season were referencing.

The video segment of the knitting guy was great. I like the idea of them laughing and calling an old man pathetic because he’s got this knitting hobby on the internet.




[Needle Dicks]

Who knew the joke title of this cartoon would lead to a literal payoff?

This one overall wasn’t that special. Hearing Butt-Head scream at the doctor from across that clinic hall was what got the biggest laugh from me.

The “how to scream” video segment I think was better than the episode. It’s good to see a rare occurrence where Beavis is the one getting Butt-Head riled up with insults, and not the other way around.

[The Ciabatta Zone]

”You wanted to be the hamburger, and I wanted to see you get your ass kicked.”

I loved this one. I really did.

Butt-Head has to do one of the most humiliating jobs in the book, and Beavis is compellingly jealous because it’s the closest to action Butt-Head’s ever received. 

I was actually annoyed this cartoon needed to be crammed with two different video segments I didn’t care for. Who knows what else they could’ve accomplished.

And for how hilarious it is to see Beavis get smacked around, he truly is the better person at times.

It was pathetic for Butt-Head to brag about coppin’ a feel in the hamburger suit, but it’s also pathetic on some level for a guy to wanna fight with a hamburger.

There was no scene anyway where the girl was uncomfortable with Butt-Head. She sat on him cuz she thought it was funny.


[This Week’s Tom Anderson’s War Stories]

This Korean Farmhouse bit I found to be overkill, no pun intended.

The previous ones worked because Tom was oblivious to his surroundings.

I just found it odd how even in combat, he shows hardly any expression to the farmer getting killed. No “BWAHAHAHAHHHH” or nothing. He’s robotic at times, but not that robotic.

I think they would’ve hit this home a little better if Tom tried eulogizing the farmer in some sick way by saying his plumbing problem was somehow responsible.

Whether Anderson’s the good guy or the bad guy in a cartoon, you gotta give him a little more to go on for him to work.


[Warehouse]

It’s all come down to this. The next long running cartoon to spoof Amazon.

I hate the warehouse conditions way too much for me to find any parodies on it to be cutting edge satire, but I like this one on principle for Old Beavis & Old Butt-Head because they set the building ablaze in 90s cry-for-help fashion.

That’s about it.

And the gas station scene made me laugh.