"Beavis and Butt-Head are not role models. They're not even human. They're cartoons. Some of the things they do would cause a real person to get hurt, expelled, possibly thrown out of the country. To put it another way: don't try this at home." So read the disclaimer that introduced the controversial cable cartoon show, The Beavis and Butt-Head Show, which aired on MTV (see entry under 1980s—Music in volume 5) between 1993 and 1997. The show's main characters are two crudely animated adolescent boys, complete with acne and braces, who spend much of their time making fun of the music videos they watch on television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) and fantasizing about being rich, sexy, and cool—states they clearly will never attain.

The Beavis and Butt-Head Show was a harsh satire of the awkwardness, anger...