By: History.com Editors

1993

“Beavis and Butt-Head” premieres on MTV

History.com Editors

Published: November 13, 2009

Last Updated: March 02, 2025

On March 8, 1993, the Music Television Network (MTV) airs the first episode of the animated series "Beavis and Butt-Head," which will go on to become the network’s highest-rated series up to that point.

Beavis and Butt-Head offered audiences rude and crude buddy humor in the tradition of The Three Stooges, Cheech and Chong, and Wayne and Garth of "Saturday Night Live" and the Wayne’s World movies. The titular main characters were two teenage boys living in the fictional town of Highland; they attended Highland High (based on a real school in creator Mike Judge’s hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico) but spent most of their time eating junk food, talking about girls and–most importantly–watching music videos. "Beavis and Butt-Head" alternated between animated storylines and clips of actual music videos, which Beavis and Butt-Head commented on in their signature bone-headed style, punctuated by sarcastic comments and grunt-like laughter.

Judge first drew his two main characters for an animation festival, where an MTV producer spotted them and picked up an episode for its animated showcase "Liquid Television." After signing Judge on for 65 episodes, the network began airing the show on weeknights at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Critics were divided in their response: Some praised Judge and MTV for effectively skewering a big part of the network’s own core demographic—young men who watch music videos—while others cited "Beavis and Butt-Head" lowest-common-denominator humor as evidence of an overall decline in the quality of television.

Despite the mixed critical response, the show earned MTV’s highest ratings. It also sparked a heated controversy over the influence of TV programs on impressionable young children, especially after an incident in 1993, when a mother blamed Beavis and Butt-Head’s well-documented pyromaniac tendencies for inspiring her five-year-old son to set a fire that killed his two-year-old sister. In response to the uproar over this tragedy, MTV pulled four episodes off the air, cut all references to fire and moved "Beavis and Butt-Head" to the 10:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. time slot, claiming they were simply targeting an older audience.

Regardless of its dubious influence on young audiences, the success of "Beavis and Butthead" prompted MTV to launch a spin-off program featuring the boys’ nerdy female classmate, Daria Morgendorffer. "Daria" first aired in March 1997, eight months before "Beavis and Butt-Head" ended its run. Judge later created the Emmy-winning animated series "King of the Hill" for Fox and directed films for the big screen, including a feature-film version of the series, called Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) and the cult hits Office Space (1999) and Idiocracy (2006). He also co-created the HBO series "Silicon Valley," which premiered in 2014.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on March 8th

1782

Pennsylvania militiamen murder Patriot allies

On March 8, 1782, 160 Pennsylvania militiamen murder 96 Christian Indians—39 children, 29 women and 28 men—by hammering their skulls with mallets from behind as they kneel unarmed, praying and singing, in their Moravian Mission at Gnadenhutten in the Ohio Country.

1917

February Revolution begins, leading to the end of czarist rule in Russia

In Russia, the February Revolution (known as such because of Russia’s use of the Julian calendar) begins on March 8, 1917 when riots and strikes over the scarcity of food erupt in Petrograd. One week later, centuries of czarist rule in Russia ended with the abdication of Nicholas II, and Russia took a dramatic step closer toward communist revolution.

Wars and Conflicts - The Russian Revolution -

1918

Russian Bolshevik Party becomes the Communist Party

On March 8, 1918, the ascendant Bolshevik Party formally changes its name to the All-Russian Communist Party. It was neither the first nor the last time the party would alter its name to reflect a slight change in allegiance or direction; however, it was the birth of the Communist Party as it is remembered to history. With this change, the cadre that had brought down both Czar Nicolas II and the Provisional Government that followed his abdication announced itself to the world as a communist government, and it would unilaterally rule the emerging Union of Soviet Socialists Republics until 1991.

1950

VW bus, icon of counterculture movement, goes into production

Volkswagen, maker of the Beetle automobile, expands its product offerings to include a microbus, which goes into production on March 8, 1950. Known officially as the Volkswagen Type 2 (the Beetle was the Type 1) or the Transporter, the bus was a favorite mode of transportation for hippies in the U.S. during the 1960s and became an icon of the American counterculture movement.

1951

The Lonely Hearts Killers are executed

The Lonely Hearts Killers, aka Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez, are executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York. The couple had schemed to seduce, rob and murder women who placed personal ads in newspapers. Beck and Fernandez boasted to killing as many as 17 women in this manner, but evidence suggests that there may have been only four victims.

1957

Egypt begins to reopen the Suez Canal after crisis

Following Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Egyptian territory, the Suez Canal is reopened to international traffic. However, the canal was so littered with wreckage from the Suez Crisis that it took weeks of cleanup by Egyptian and United Nations workers before larger ships could navigate the waterway.

1965

U.S. Marines land at Da Nang

The USS Henrico, the USS Union and the USS Vancouver, carrying the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade under Brig. Gen. Frederick J. Karch, take up stations 4,000 yards off Red Beach Two, north of Da Nang.

1971

Ali battles Frazier in “Fight of the Century” for heavyweight championship

On March 8, 1971, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier meet for the “Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bout marked Ali’s return to the marquee three-and-a-half years after boxing commissions revoked his license over his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. It was also Ali’s first chance to win back the heavyweight championship, which had been stripped by the WBA (World Boxing Association).

1981

Japanese power plant leaks radioactive waste

A nuclear accident at a Japan Atomic Power Company plant in Tsuruga, Japan, exposes 59 workers to radiation on March 8, 1981. The officials in charge failed to timely inform the public and nearby residents, endangering them.

1983

Reagan refers to U.S.S.R. as “evil empire,” again

Speaking to a convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Florida on March 8, 1983, President Ronald Reagan publicly refers to the Soviet Union as an evil empire for the second time in his career. He had first used the phrase in a 1982 speech at the British House of Commons. Some considered Reagan’s use of the Star Wars film-inspired terminology to be brilliant democratic rhetoric. Others, including many within the international diplomatic community, denounced it as irresponsible bombast.

2014

Malaysia Airlines flight vanishes with more than 200 people aboard

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, loses contact with air traffic control less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, then veers off course and disappears. Most of the plane, and everyone on board, are never seen again.

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Citation Information

Article title
“Beavis and Butt-Head” premieres on MTV
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 23, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
March 02, 2025
Original Published Date
November 13, 2009

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