On This Day in History: MTV debuts Beavis and Butthead
On this day in 1993, Music Television Network (MTV) aired the first episode of the popular animated series Beavis and Butthead.
On this day in 1993, animated series Beavis and Butthead debuted on Music Television Network (MTV).
The series, which followed two teenage boys living in a fictional town of Highland, offered audiences crude and buddy humour made famous by shows like Wayne’s World.
The titular characters spent most of their time watching TV, eating junk food, talking about girls and most importantly, commenting on MTV music videos and clips. Their funny commentary solidified the show’s signature bone-style humour and sarcasm.
The network signed on for 65 episodes on weeknights but critics were divided in their response. Some praised the show for maximising on their own core demographic of young men who watched music videos. Other critics found the humour the lowest common form and signalling a decline in TV quality.
Either way, the show went on to become the network’s highest-rated series up to that point.
