Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection

Unlike the first volume, where Mike Judge edited dialogue bits out of more than half the episodes, the dreaded "director's cuts" are nowhere to be found. Some reviewers here have suggested that this volume also contains altered versions of the cartoons, but all that is missing from them (as usual) are the music videos. The harsh fan reaction regarding the edited first volume apparently got back to Mike Judge, because he made the right decision to keep this batch in their original form.

Contrary to some reviewers' claims, even after Volume 3 all the episodes will not have been released to DVD. Mike Judge has made it clear that Volumes 1-3 will contain roughly two-thirds of the total episodes. He considers the rest to be too poor to be included.

I happen to agree with Mike Judge that, generally speaking, the later episodes are actually better than the earlier ones. But I still strongly disagree with his decision to leave approximately one third of the episodes unreleased.

I'm glad the episodes collected here are complete. As for the bonus features, they are okay - I'm not sure there's really enough to justify the third disc. The main featurette (Taint of Greatness Pt 2) is only about 20 minutes long - several minutes shorter than part one - and is very heavy on episode clips. The selection of music videos is probably the only feature that most people will return to.

For those who have the Time-Life DVDs, you will find many duplicate episodes (though not quite as many as with the first volume).

Fans will be happy to hear that creator Mike Judge has not made any cuts to the episodes that comprise volume 2! As Beavis would says, "Cuts suck! THEY SUCK, SUCK, SUCK!"

Here is a breakdown of what the volume 2 box set will contain:

Disc # 1: Episodes

- Plastic Surgin'
- Stewart Moves Away
- Top O' the Mountain
- Bad Dog
- Lightning Strikes
- Party
- What's the Deal
- Wet Behind the Rears
- Animation Sucks
- Candy Sale
- Here Comes the Bride's Butt
- Pregnant Pause
- Oil Change
- History of Women
- Beavis, Can You Spare a Dime?
- Premature Evacuation
- Bang the Drum Slowly Dumbass
- Close Encounters
- Vidiots
- Tired


Disc # 2: Episodes

- Whiplash
- Spare Me
- Womyn
- Murder Site
- Another Friday Night
- Patsies
- Spanish Fly
- Sexual Harassment
- Green Thumbs
- Bus Trip
- Blood Pressure
- Feel a Cop
- US History
- Date Watchers
- Gang of Two
- Stewart is Missing
- Prank Call
- Babysitting
- Buttniks
- Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest


Disc # 3: Bonus Features ("Hee, he said 'bone'!"):

- Music Videos:

- Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
- Seaweed "Kid Candy"
- Pantera "I'm Broken"
- Mercyful Fate "The Bellwitch"
- Compulsion "Delivery"
- Madonna "Secret"
- Six Finger Satellite "Parlour Games"
- Pizzicato 5 "Twiggy, Twiggy"
- Rush "Stick It Out"
- Radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees"
- Extreme "Hole Hearted"
- Helium "Pat's Trick"
- MC 900 FT. JESUS "If I Only Had A Brain"


- Featurette: Taint of Greatness: The Journay of Beavis and Butt-head, Part 2

- Special Guest Appearances:

- Butt-Bowl '94
- Butt-Bowl '95
- Butt-Bowl '96
- Calvin Klein Ad Parodies
- MTV's 20th Anniversary Special
- Moron-A-Thon Clips featuring Snoop Dogg
- Unaired I Love the 90s Segment

- Beavis and Butt-head Promos

- Interactive Link to Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt's The Animation Show website

Here is another round of Beavis and Butt-Head's trademark stupidity! Thankfully with this second collection of (selected) Beavis and Butt-Head classics, Mike Judge left the episodes intact.

One of my favorite episodes is "Beavis, Can You Spare a Dime?', where the boys learn how to beg from a beggar on the street. It becomes hilarious when the boys attempt to apply what they learned. Butt-Head informs a woman approaching that he 'was born without any arms or legs' -- and he's standing before her physically sound! The woman scolds him, and tells him what he's doing is not nice. In "Premature Evacuation", Highland High is faced with a bomb threat. School principal McVicker announces for the building to evacuate. Only Beavis and Butt-Head remain and seek out the bomb, with their expected shenanigans. What often amazes me with Beavis and Butt-Head is that they have no regard for being tidy. As they probe the school kitchen in search of the bomb, opening cabinets, they sort through the items, and thoughtlessly drop them on the floor, allowing the contents to spill out. Then they just keep moving without giving their careless actions another thought! When Beavis comes across the 'bomb' ticking away, he and Butt-Head fight over it while slipping on some of the spilled contents of the food items they dropped on the floor. For our beloved morons, keeping an explosive is 'cool'. They give no thought that their lives are in danger as they wrestle with it in their grip. Even when a bomb specialist arrives and orders them to release it, Butt-Head tells him "Uh...No!"

"Blood Pressure" has become another favorite episode of mine. At a grocery store, the boys come across a blood pressure machine, which they think is a kiddie ride. Beavis gets entrapped as the blood pressure contraption (I don't know the actual name for it) on Beavis' wrist tightens as his blood pressure is taken. Thanks to his stupidity, Butt-Head is unable to read the instructions on pressing the `Release' button to free Beavis, whose blood circulation is getting cut. Beavis' gradual purple complexion reflects that. What's even more stupid (and hilarious), Butt-Head later shows the suffering Beavis a box of `Defends' (the parody version of Depends) adult diapers he came across in seeking help, and makes jokes about it. Poor Beavis attempts to laugh - then pleads with Butt-Head to go get help. "Uh - Oh, yeah!", Butt-Head utters, now remembering his mission to go find help. He shortly returns with a saw. How much stupid can you get?

This collection also contains the episode "Spare Me", where they create havoc trying to change a flat tire for two girls who feign interest in them. This episode has special meaning for me as this was the episode I watched by accident in late 2005, during one of B and B's "Moronothons" on MTV. Like most people, I never liked Beavis and Butt-Head, from the negative press I've seen and read about. But it was this episode that changed my attitude. I found myself gradually laughing at each calamity. Now, I'm a big B and B fan! I love them!

The last cartoon, "Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest" is the Beavis and Butt-Head Halloween special, and is a parody of the "Friday the 13th" movies. As most fans already know, Beavis later becomes his alter ego, Cornholio, after consuming a bowl of Mr. Anderson's Halloween candy, and leaving no candy for an annoyed Butt-Head.

Other pluses about this Volume 2 collection: After every two episodes, Mike Judge included the `station breaks', with the Beavis and Butt-Head 'cameo' logo often shown on the t.v. series before the commercials. The announcer often makes a fictional statement regarding B and B, such as: "Coming up: Butt-Head helps an old lady across Snake Canyon. Stay tuned." - with violin music played. I thought that was super! I love all the extras on Disc 3, including the `Moronathon' snippets with rapper Snoop Dogg (whom B and B like very much), and "I Love the `90's" featurette.

Best of all, I love the promo for the Volume 3 set, which depicts, like a drama, the boys' ups and downs of their friendship. This also shows episodes from B and B's last season. I later found out on Wikipedia.com the dramatic music is from the film "Brokeback Mountain". The next-to-last part of the promo, with the boys walking off into the sunset together (I won't reveal the episode), and with the clip of their first cartoon, and screen pairing, "Frog Baseball" adds a nice touch. Brilliant and well done, Mike! The preview for Judge's "Animation Show" is also nice, with the score from Bizet's "Carmen".

As I've mentioned in my review for Volume 1, the Mike Judge Collections will all become collectors' items. These dvds may not have all of the earlier episodes - yet. I'm still pretty hopeful Mike Judge will come around in due time and release them, after the fans' complaints and requests for them. But these dvds all have extras that the Time-Life "Beavis and Butt-Head" dvd sets completely lack. B and B's special appearances on MTV, promos, the music videos Judge was able to put on the dvds; even the B and B `station breaks', and the "Taint of Greatness" interviews with Judge discussing how the cartoon series developed, are gems! Thank you, Mike Judge.

I love this Volume 2 set. And, nope, I'm not selling mine, either! Sorry! Until my next review of Volume 3, which I happily own, happy viewing! Rock On, Beavis and Butt-Head! Love you!

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