Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head Season 3 proves that Beavis and Butt-Head will never not be funny. It’s not just that the duo are galactically stupid (they still are), but that Judge and company find their humor in the most simple and relatable ways. They’re not trying to be cool or edgy—even if the characters are—and so the show is often hilarious to the point of crying, because everyone is in on the joke.

Beavis and Butt-Head are at their funniest when the humor is pared down to just the dynamic between the two of them, or basic slice of life material, rather than the more outlandish scenarios they’ve sometimes stuck in or any kind of pop culture reference. Season 3 has a number of situations that anyone can relate to—and while the fans know Beavis and Butt-Head are going to screw them up royally, they won’t guess how. Judge and the writers have found some truly inventive ways to cause chaos. It’s not just having the characters be stupid; they find neat ways to stretch out that idiocy.

Middle-aged Beavis and Butt-Head return, too, keeping one of the elements that has made the new series stand out from the previous two runs. Their misadventures aren’t quite as funny as those of their younger selves, yet they still have some highlights. The season premiere feels like revenge for a Season 1 episode (to say more would be a spoiler), and the third episode of Season 3 features middle-aged Beavis and Butt-Head in one of the best visual gags in the entire season.

The one uneven spot in Season 3 continues to be the video commentary. The music videos are still infinitely better than the show’s YouTube choices. Having Beavis and Butt-Head comment on YouTube videos has always been hit or miss, because of the quality of the videos overall. It’s not enough to just put the guys in front of a bad video; it has to be a video that gives them (and the fans) good ideas. There are some that simply don’t offer enough laughs. But one of the early videos in Season 3 is on par with Beavis’ classic commentary on Pantera from the original series.

Of course, the show’s elastic continuity is still present—most notably in the fact that in the middle-aged episodes, their apartment building is back in one piece after being demolished in Season 2. But Beavis and Butt-Head has never taken itself seriously enough to have continuity, which makes everything just a little bit funnier, since audiences know that means anything is technically possible. Episodes end in ways that would mess up any other show.

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head Season 3 is simply letting Beavis and Butt-Head be themselves. It’s not trying to push the envelope further or outdo the previous season, and unlike the recent King of the Hill revival, there’s no attempt to make the series seem timely. That authenticity is what continues to make it so good. Beavis and Butt-Head are funny because they’ve never learned, but the writers have. They’re finding ways to explore the characters without fundamentally changing them, because they’re getting laughs out of how the characters just live their daily lives. At this point, Beavis and Butt-Head feel like old friends who will always have a spot on America’s couch.

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head premieres Sept. 3 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central, and streams on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Paramount.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.