Mike Judge know there will always be a limit to how much change viewers can expect to see for the animated leads of his upcoming Paramount+ series Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head.
Judge, who made MTVs Beavis and Butthead in the 1990s, sat down with moderator Paul Scheer before a panel Thursday in San Diego Comic Con to discuss what fans can expect when the new series releases on August 4. Judge admitted it crossed his mind to make his characters a little wiser, but he has steadfastly chosen to avoid doing so.
“There was always a temptation to make them smarter, and I’ve always resisted it,” Judge said. He explained that this topic had been discussed when he heard a pitch someone made while working on the recently released film, Beavis and Butt-Head do the universe. “I had to say, ‘Beavis and Butt-Head really don’t read very well, so that’s not going to work.'”
The series is set in the present, meaning the titular teens will not only be obsessed with music videos, as the pair did in the original show, but will also analyze TikTok and YouTube videos. Preview images shared during the panel included Butt-Head who criticized Beavis for secretly knowing all the names of the members of BTS along with the two boys. mock a TikToker that teaches followers how to make prison tattoos.
Additionally, the show will follow the film and further explore what Beavis and Butt-Head would look like in middle age. However, the team decided not to change their basic look for the recent projects, despite improvements in animation over the decades.
“We’ve talked about all those things and it comes back to ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,'” Judge said of the somewhat primitive character design. “I wish they looked better, but every time we tried to make them look better, they became less funny.”
Judge teased some favorite characters from the previous show who would appear in the new one, including hippie teacher Mr. Van Driessen and the elder Tom Anderson.
In response to a question from fans about whether King of the Hillco-created by Judge and Greg Daniels, would someday cross over with Beavis and Butthead, Judge admitted he had considered it before. “At one point I thought Hank Hill was Tom Anderson’s son,” Judge said before concluding that several companies’ shows made it a non-starter.
He also gave a short update on sequel speculation about development of a King of the Hill revival series. “King of the Hill has a very good chance of coming back,” said the judge. As for the animated series Mike Judge Presents: Stories from the Tour Buswho last aired new episodes on Cinemax in 2018, Judge said there is also talk of a return for a season focused on early hip-hop.
Judge spoke briefly about the possibility of more Dariastarring the popular character that originated on Beavis and Butthead in the 90s before getting her own self-titled MTV series. A spin-off with Jodie, voiced by Tracee Ellis Ross, was in development as a series and now Reportedly has been reconfigured as a movie.
It was unclear whether the judge was referring to: jodie or something with Daria herself. Judge teased cryptically: “There might be a little” Daria spin off.”