HMT-Roger

A lot has changed since Beavis and Butt-Head last chortled in stoner stupidity at the state of the world, back in November 1997. The animated duo returns this week, mumbling and grumbling, to a post-South Park, post-Family Guy world of prime-time animation, where their brand of stoner stupidity and dude bonding will seem downright quaint.

There will be little mention of how much time has passed since Beavis and Butt-Head forced their inane laugh on a willing audience, says Beavis creator, head writer and voice-actor Mike Judge.

Some things just don’t change, in any event. Scoring, for example.

“They have not scored,” Judge said. “And we’ll try not to talk about how long it’s been.”

The “new” Beavis and Butt-Head will find plenty to complain about, though, especially the state of programming on MTV. The dim-witted, inarticulate pair were once the bane of TV-content pressure groups on both sides of the continental divide. Now Beavis and Butt-Head find themselves in a world of Kardashians, bitchy housewives and a tanned, gelled, dysfunctional clan of chowderheads in Jersey idolized by millions.

Some might say Beavis and Butt-Head’s candid, honest commentary has never been needed more. Others may simply despair that social commentary is being left, once again, to a pair of animated cretins.

Either way, Judge felt the time was right. King of the Hill, which Judge created and helped write, came and went in the time since Beavis and Butt-Head last spoke.

“I had just done King of the Hill, and I realized I enjoy doing this,” Judge explained. “A number of factors came together. ... I’ve seen a lot of animated shows being developed. I realized I had a couple of good characters there, and maybe I should just do it again while I still can. It still works, I think. It feels that way to me, anyway. I’m a better director than I was back then. We have better resources. It felt right.”

It was a no-brainer, in other words.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/enterta...#ixzz1bkB8t57S