Moviefone Editorial

Tag: mike-judge

  • Comic-Con 2022: ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ Return With New Series

    A couple of giggling idiots making nonsense comments about pop culture or music could be the poster children for today’s social media. But Beavis and Butt-Head, the titular duo of creator Mike Judge’s famous set of shorts and TV series, began life in 1992.

    The pair, who originated in a single short film by Judge called ‘Frog Baseball’, soon became popular, appearing on MTV to critique (in the loosest sense of the word) music videos and scored their own series running between 1993 and 1997, and 1996’s big screen adventure ‘Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe’.

    Following a one-season revival in 2011, they returned in a big way this year thanks to Paramount+ movie ‘Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe’ and that’s just the tip (cue incessant sniggering from the boys) of Judge’s plans.

    We’ve known for a while that Judge intended to bring the pair back to the small screen for another new series, and he came to the San Diego Comic-Con with a couple of clips from the show, which you can see on this very page.

    new ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ series
    The new ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ series will premiere on Paramount+ on Thursday, August 4th.

    Talking to moderator Paul Scheer for a panel interview, he explained that the latest return was thanks to one of his other jobs. One of the bands who contributed to TV series ‘Silicon Valley’ asked for a ‘Beavis’ segment to run during the musicians’ Coachella show. Creatively inspired again, Judge started coming up with fresh ideas.

    He didn’t, however, want to change what works about the rock-loving imbeciles. “There was always a temptation to make them smarter, and I’ve always resisted it,” Judge said at the panel. He explained that this had been a topic of discussion when he heard a pitch that someone made while he was working on ‘Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe’. “I had to say, ‘Beavis and Butt-Head really don’t read very well, so that’s not gonna work.’”

    And even though the show will, like the recent movie, explore how the characters look and act in middle age, there is no move to update the animation style. “We talked about all that stuff, and it comes back to, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’” Judge said about the basic character design. “I’d like them to look better, but every time we tried to make them look better, it would make them less funny.”

    In addition to discussing his beloved characters, Judge also shared that a new series of ‘King of the Hill’ was looking likely and that there will be more from the character of Daria, who was spun off from the original ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’.

    The new ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ series will premiere on Paramount+ on Thursday, August 4th.

    new ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ series poster
    The new ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ series will premiere on Paramount+ on Thursday, August 4th.

     

  • 14 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Office Space’ on its 20th Anniversary

    14 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Office Space’ on its 20th Anniversary

    Fox

    Long before “The Office” became a huge phenomenon, director Mike Judge showed us just how ridiculous the life of a corporate drone could be in “Office Space.” To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the endlessly quotable comedy gem, here’s some fun trivia to tide you over to you get your stapler back.

    1. “Office Space” is actually an adaptation of a series of animated shorts Judge created featuring the Milton character. They originally aired on “Saturday Night Live” and MTV in the early ’90s.

    2. The film is also very loosely based on a short story by “Moby Dick” author Herman Melville called “Bartleby the Scrivener.”

    Replygif

    3. Actor David Herman was determined to appear in the move despite being locked into a contract with “MADtv.” Herman’s solution was to get himself fired by shouting all his lines at a table read.

    4. The role of Joanna had to be expanded after the very bankable Jennifer Aniston was cast, which resulted in the memorable scenes where Joanna argues with her manager about flair.

    Fox

    5. Matt Damon was Fox’s top choice to star as Peter Gibbons. Judge insisted that Peter needed to be played by an actor with less star power.

    6. Judge was inspired to write the iconic printer scene after struggling with a faulty printer during the making of “Beavis and Butthead Do America.”

    7. That printer scene has proven so popular that it’s been parodied in everything from an episode of “Family Guy” to one of Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign ads.

    Fox

    8. While the film wasn’t a box office success during its theatrical run, reruns on  Comedy Central are largely credited with transforming “Office Space” into an enduring cult hit.

    9. Actor Gary Cole revealed the original cut of the film included a scene where his character Bill Lumbergh gets angry at seeing his Porsche towed. This scene was removed in order to maintain Lumbergh’s perpetually emotionless state.

    10. Judge was very displeased with the studio’s choice of poster, even blaming it for hurting the box office gross. He was able to convince Fox to add an image of Milton to the cover of the home video release.

    Fox

    11. The restaurant Chotchkie’s is meant to be a parody of the T.G.I. Fridays restaurant chain, though the scenes were actually filmed inside an Austin, TX-based restaurant called The Alligator Grille.

    12. Stapler manufacturer Swingline didn’t actually make a red model like the one seen in the film, but they eventually made one available in 2002 in response to growing demand.

    Miramax

    13. According to Judge, there have been discussions about possibly continuing “Office Space” as either a sequel or a TV series. For now, Judge describes 2009’s “Extract” as a “companion piece” to “Office Space.”

    14. All the license plates featured in the movie are fake, in order to avoid revealing the state in which the movie takes place. However, Peter’s personnel file lists his home address as being in Illinois.