This week MTV announced that they will be bringing back Beavis and Butthead. Mike Judge must not have much going on now that King of the Hill is off of the air. Beavis and Butthead has been off the air so long that the last time a new episode aired MTV still showed music videos. Beavis and Butthead were seen by some as the start of the non music video version of MTV. Some might remember the format of the show, it was part cartoon and then part music video, where the two characters would comment on the video that was being shown. MTV’s reboot of the show will be the same but with current music videos. So instead of mocking Running Man they will be joking on Lady Gaga. The good news is MTV will be showing music videos again.
The Real reason I bring this up is not to talk about why MTV has decided to go back to an old cartoon from the 90’s. Will Beavis and Butthead be as successful in the 2010’s as it was in the early 90’s? Will fewer parents keep their kids from watching the show because of its crudeness? I remember staying up late as a kid and watching Beavis and Butthead with the volume turned down low so my parents wouldn’t hear what I was watching. First of all when I was growing up I wasn’t even allowed to watch MTV because of such distasteful videos as Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” Can you imagine if that video was shown today, would anyone even care? But this got me thinking of other animated television shows that our parents didn’t let us watch as kids. Unless you were that kid who had all his friends over to watch these shows because your parents didn’t care, then I would like to thank you. So that brings me to my top 5 cartoons parents don’t let their kids watch, in no particular order.
1) The Simpsons – When this show first aired it was based on Bart Simpson, a “foul” mouthed kid who talked back to his parents. In later seasons the focus of the show moved from Bart to Homer and when I watch it today I laugh at the fact my parents wouldn’t let me watch this when I was younger. The Simpsons is one of the smartest cartoons on TV. The show has been on the air since December of 1989 and shows no signs of stopping. I think a lot of us who couldn’t watch it when we were young are now keeping it on the air.
2) South Park – I was in high school when this show first aired. The poor animation only adds to the humor of this show. The show is ridiculous but smart and is very topical. The creators are not afraid to go after anyone. Some of the funniest episodes attack the Scientologists’, Brittany Spears, Tiger Woods, Mel Gibson, Al Gore (Man Bear Pig), The Nagger Guy Episode, The Richers (When they chased all the rich black families out of town and Gingers. I remember watching the first Christmas episode that aired on TV with Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo at my Grandma’s house with my cousins on Christmas Eve. My parents and Aunt and Uncle were trying to get us to turn the channel before my Grandmother came in the room, but it didn’t happen and we laughed our butts off, the family still talks about that Christmas.
3) Beavis and Butthead – This was one of Mike Judge’s first projects. If you listen closely their neighbor’s voice sounds awfully familiar. It’s the same voice as Hank Hill from King of the Hill. Beavis and Butthead were morons who got in trouble. I think this shows biggest problem was it was aired on MTV. The language might have pushed the limits but nothing like South Park. Either way my parents did not like this show.
4) The Family Guy – This show aired after my parents stopped caring what I watched, but I know watching it that if it would’ve been on TV 5 or 6 years earlier it would’ve been a definite no go. The topics approached are also fairly current but a show where the baby is always trying to kill/get rid of his mother. My mom would’ve hated this.
5) Ren & Stimpy – Some people may not even remember this show. It was a cartoon on Nickelodeon. The thing these guys did wrong was fart. It was a cartoon based on fart jokes. It was a dog and a cat that farted. I remember I owned the video game for the Sega Genesis and you made the characters fly by farting. Ren & Stimpy also had this "commercial" that would play called "Dont Wizz on the Electric Fence: The Game." The funny part is no matter how hard my parents may have tried to keep me from watching these shows it didn’t really work. The Simpsons is one of my favorite shows and I own many of the seasons. South Park also offers a nice family memory as I explained above. So maybe our parents should realize that these shows weren’t that bad.
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