You know, a kid finds a dead bird, you give him 20 bucks for it

So today I was watching, what i believe, to be the most underrated cartoon in the existence of mankind.

I know, everyone's thinking HENTAI, he's talking about HENTAI, but, regrettably I'm not. Seeing a Japanamated Jasmine engaging in anal sex with Goofy just doesn't do it for some (myself included) i guess.

I'm talking about the erstwhile, the classic, MTV vehicle for moronic mischeif, Beavis and Butthead. I, personally, am a proud owner of all three DVD volumes of Beavis and Butthead, and, am slightly offended whenever anyone dismisses Beavis and Butthead as little more than celluloid garbage. Yes, the plotlines are fiber-thin, yes there is no redeeming educational or artistic value but you know what, sometimes those things aren't needed to enjoy something. Anyone that liked Independence Day will know what i'm talking about.

However, admitting that Beavis and Butthead has no "educational or artistic value" ignores the aspect of the show that even creator Mike Judge believes redeems it (or, at least, elevates it above the "celluloid trash" label). That aspect is, social commentary. For an example of this one only needs to watch the episode of Beavis and Butthead in which America's (at least at one point in time) two favorite neandrathals watch a discovery channel special on Benjamin Franklin and immediately decide to imitate Franklin's iconic lightning striking a key experiment. Beavis and Butthead are, predictably enough, struck by lightning and immediately taken to the ER, where a stereotypical crusader against violence in television accosts the two asking them what they were imitating when they were fried by lightning. Getting no answer (beavis and butthead are, after all, bumbling idiots) she assumes that their inspiration was evil, diabolical, music videos.

In fact the whole concept of Beavis and Butthead could be viewed as a sort of social commentary. The irony of the show is that no matter how stupid its main characters act there is, in all probability, someone just as stupid in the real world. After all, haven't we all known, as some point in time, someone stupid enough to stick a firecracker up their ass? And if you don't know someone like that how can you say you've truly lived? You see Beavis and Butthead's animated idiocy and you think, damn how stupid can you get, all the while conveniently forgetting that, after about eight shots of tequila, that tractor tire does look stable enough to ride down dead man's bluff.

It is things like this that i believe should place Beavis and Butthead into the higher echelon of animated television. Not on the level of the Simpsons (circa 1997), perhaps, but definitely up there with the Family Guy's of the world. Now go watch the episode where they decide which dog to adopt from the pound based on whether or not he bites Beavis' hand.