FAME '10 Decades Project - 1990's

Beavis and Butt-head is an animated televison series created by Mike Judge. Judge's short film"Frog Baseball", starring the characters Beavis and Butt-head was featured on Liquid Television, a show featuring short animated and live action material that could be considered the precursor to Cartoon Networks's Adult Swim. MTV signed Judge to create the series, and it aired from March 8, 1993, to November 28, 1997. The series has retained a cult following. It is rated TV-14 when reruns are aired in the United States.

The show centers on two socially inept rock-loving teenage boys, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who live in the fictional town of Highland. They attend high school, where their teachers are often at a loss as to how to deal with them, although in many episodes, the two skip school. They occasionally work part-time at Burger World, and sometimes other side-jobs when people mistake their odd behavior as outgoing and assertive. Comedy is derived from their utter lack of conventional values such as work ethic. They are extremely obnoxious, misogynistic, and rude to almost every other character in the show and even to each other. They do not seem to realize this, however and seem to function on an instinctual level. They survive their often hazardous misadventures without serious consequences, though others around them don't fare as well.

Mixed within each episode are segments in which Beavis and Butt-head watch music videos and provide humorous and bizarre commentary, improvised by Judge.

In 1996, the series was made into an animated feature film, Beavis and Butt-Head do America.

The two characters' lives revolve around TV, nachos, heavy metal, and their utterly fruitless efforts in trying to "score with chicks", making money, and other stuff that's "cool". Since their parents are never to be seen, it is implied they were "raised" by the TV.

Beavis typically wears a blue Metallic T-shirt (in an earlier episode "Blood Drive", a Slayer T-shirt), while Butt-head is usually seen wearing a gray AC/DC T-shirt. (On some merchandising items, their shirts were either blank or read "Skull" and "Death Rock" due to copyright issues). They live in "Highland" which is said to represent Richardson, TX. Also, their High School "Highland High" is said to represent Lake Highlands High School, which is also in Richardson,TX.

Their family names are never mentioned on the show individually, but in Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Butt-head comments that his first name is Butt and his surname is Head. Though the parents of the two are never seen in the series, Butt-head regularly uses "your mama joke" to belittle Beavis, and other references to family members, including uncles and grandparents, are made by both. The film features a scene where they meet two middle-aged adult males who bear a strong resemblance to the duo, and it is implied they are most likely their fathers when the two men say they scored with "two sluts from Highland". The larger man insists he was the only one to "score" with "both of 'em!" They are also known for the names they insult each other with including: Asswipe, Buttmunch (sometimes Assmunch), Buttdumpling, Dillhole, Bunghole, Chode-smoker, and many others. They are also said to be perverted because they frequently point out sexual things in what people say unintentionally. These responses include: you said "nuts", you said "load", etc.