Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-head Volume 4 DVD Review

04/01/2013

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-head

Volume 4

It’s been 14 years between Beavis and Butt-head episodes but creator Mike Judge hasn’t lost his touch with these snickering idiots. They may now be commenting on this decade’s atrocities to intelligence -- Twilight, Teen Mom, Supersize Me and, probably the worst of the offenders, Jersey Shore -- but the boys still remain basically the same lovable idiots in their out of date band t-shirts. For those who did watch and like the original series, I’m sure you’ll find everything you loved in this remake (bar Daria – Beavis is slightly confused about what happened to her) and it’s bound to bring about strong feelings of nostalgia.

This series of episodes is mostly entertaining, the premise often stemming from Beavis and Butt-head misunderstanding things, such as mistaking an abortion clinic for a whorehouse (‘Whorehouse’), believing they’ve actually travelled back in time on a school trip to a colonial village (‘Time Machine’), assuming they’re the last people on Earth (‘Doomsday’), imagining they’ll get to wash “dirty chicks” (Spill), and misconstruing the phrasing of marriage proposals (‘Daughter’s Hand’). But whether they’re accidentally getting jobs at an IT help centre (‘Tech Support’) or getting a number of serious diseases (including hepatitis A, B and C – ‘Werewolves of Highland’), they’re definitely not dated or stale. There are a couple of episodes that get stuck in their premise and drag a little, mainly ‘Drones’ and ‘Going Down’, but it’s always hard to consistently serve up zinging comedic experiences and each episode had at least one quotable line.

Instead of only commenting on MTV’s music videos like they used to, Beavis and Butt-head now have free reign of anything that airs on MTV. This leads to Beavis figuring out the difference between Guidos, Juiceheads and Gorillas only to promptly get confused and forget it, the discovery of the one girl in the world that deserves to be emo and the realisation that the girls on 16 and Pregnant aren’t bad actors, just bad people. I thought Beavis and Butt-head’s version of At the Movies was great (even if just the clips of The Human Centipede freaked me out) and I wish they’d had more of these (perhaps Judge can put more in for the next series – if there is one). I’m still giggling at Beavis and Butt-head’s idea for an interesting cross-over sequel.

At times I felt the idiocy of the characters gets in the way of Judge’s satirical comments and I crave a more intelligent and witty character like Daria, but I felt the same way in parts of Idiocracy and I’ve come to accept that’s Judge’s style of humour and also a comment on our world where there does seem to be a real shortage of mental power. Besides, I’m always going to side with the guys who are pointing and laughing at the empty-headed, even if they happen to be empty-headed themselves. For those of you that can’t stand the stupidity, it’s best not to watch.

Also for those familiar with Beavis and Butt-head and Daria, you’ll be aware that there have been some licencing issues in the past that prevented the DVDs, and Australian channels, from including all the music from the original episodes. Happily, this isn’t a problem this time around and you can watch or rewatch all their adventures exactly as they aired on MTV (and for those of you unfamiliar with this issue, believe me, it makes a difference!). Overall, Beavis and Butt-head is the kind of show I can watch over and over again, so it’s definitely worth having in my DVD collection.

Notable DVD Extras

• 2011 San Diego Comic-Con Panel with Mike Judge and Johnny Knoxville
• Beavis and Butt-head interruptions (where Beavis and Butt-head are edited into Jersey Shore clips):

o   Gym. Tan. Butt-head

o   Settle Down Snooki

o   Beavis and Juicehead

o   Vinny Reloaded

• Silence Your Cell Phone

Favourite Episode of the Season: ‘Holy Cornholio’. For those who are long-time fans or for those meeting Beavis’ alter ego Cornholio for the first time, this episode just hit all the right notes with the hilarious premise that a cult would believe a drugged up Beavis was their spiritual leader.
Score: 8/10

Written by Libby Popper