Why We Have Portugal. The Man To Thank For The Return Of Beavis And Butthead
Since his breakthrough in the early 1990s, Mike Judge has been responsible for some of the most beloved projects in pop culture history. The man has given the world a multitude of gifts, including the films "Office Space," "Idiocracy," and "Extract," in addition to the series "Silicon Valley," and "King of the Hill." However, it's Judge's landmark series "Beavis and Butt-Head" that he is perhaps most synonymous with creating. For eight seasons, 222 episodes, and the feature film "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" the titular teens served as idiotic arbiters of pop culture, and provided a perfectly vulgar satire on the behavior of American youth.
It's been over a decade since we last saw the duo, but Mike Judge is back, with upcoming new episodes in addition to the cinematic sequel, "Beavis and Butt-Head Do The Universe." It'd be easy to dismiss the return as the result of the 1980s nostalgia boom seen in projects like "Stranger Things" and the "Ghostbusters" films finally shifting into the 1990s, but the reality is a bit more unconventional and unexpected. I know, that sounds impossible when discussing the work of someone who thrives in the absurd and unpredictable, but it's what happened! Believe it or not, but if it wasn't for Coachella, "Beavis and Butt-Head" may have remained a retired relic of yesteryear, and we have the band Portugal. The Man to thank for making it happen.
Reviving the voices of old favorites
According to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mike Judge is apparently elated to be returning to the world of "Beavis and Butt-Head," and even more thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the news of their return. Judge not only writes, directs, and produces the series, he's also the voice actor for the leads. "It's really fun to do," said Judge. "I hadn't done it in so long." While many people likely spend their free time trying to perfect their cartoon imitations (my Bobby Hill is getting fantastic, for the record) Mike Judge is not one of those people. "It's not like I sit around and do the voices in my spare time or anything but the band Portugal. The Man asked me to do an intro thing for them at Coachella," Judge said.
Judge had previously used a few songs by the band for episodes of "Silicon Valley," so he agreed to lend his talents for their Coachella intro. "I did it and thought it sounded like Beavis and Butt-Head," he said, and the experience apparently reignited the love he has for voicing the characters. "Paramount wanted to do [the series] so I thought why not," he said. "It has been a long time. There are people working on the [new] show that weren't born when it first started."
So there you have it, "Beavis and Butt-Head" live again because a band wanted an intro and called up the voice of their formative years.
"Beavis and Butt-Head Do The Universe" drops on Paramount+ on June 23, 2022.