Are Beavis and Butthead Dads Now? An Investigation

Beavis and Butt-Head are definitely making their triumphant return to television, but it’s also being reported in some quarters that the boys are dads now, that they finally scored, to use the parlance of their time. Is it true? Let’s look at the evidence.

On July 1, Comedy Central sent out a press release announcing the reboot of the show. The highlight was creator Mike Judge’s single-sentence quote, “It seemed like the time was right to get stupid again,” which, yeah, 2020 agrees with you.

Anyways, here’s the passage from that release that seems most relevant to the question of Beavis and Butt-Head’s potential paternity:

In this new iteration, “Beavis” and “Butt-Head” are entering a whole new Gen Z world.

Comedy Central has ordered two seasons of the new series with meta-themes relatable to both new and old fans – Gen X parents and their Gen Z kids.

You could read this as the boys being dads, but that’s a pretty huge leap. It seems more about the demographics the network wants to tap into, not the relationships of the characters on the show. It’s just as likely that Beavis and Butt-Head will make fun of Gen Z culture from the couch as it is that they’re raising Gen Z kids.

The other relevant piece of evidence is a Vulture story about the future of Comedy Central published on July 7. Chris McCarthy, the president of entertainment and youth brands for ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, which makes him the head of Comedy Central, said this about the reboot:

And in the case of the new Beavis and Butt-Head, McCarthy says Judge is looking at a show in which the iconic duo moves beyond riffs on music videos and pop culture: “The story that we’re talking about working with Mike is: What happens if they grow up? And what happens if they have kids?”

“What if” is a long way from definitive, particularly when McCarthy is discussing what they’re “talking about,” not what is certainly going to happen.

Additionally, if you couldn’t tell by his highfalutin title, McCarthy’s job is to manage the big picture on multiple networks, not the plot specifics of one title. It’s certainly still possible that we’ll meet Beavis Jr. and Butt-Head Jr. when the show returns, but the evidence at this point is pretty thin.

What’s clear is that anticipation for the reboot is high. In addition to the prematurely confirming the boys’ fatherhood, many were fooled into thinking a fan-made video of the boys giving a press conference, albeit a very well-done one, was real.

And who knows, maybe fans were simply caught up in a game inspired by another Mike Judge title?