Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection Volume 1

It's been years since Beavis and Butt-Head have been on the airwaves and they haven't exactly been reminisced about too often, thanks to the success of creator Mike Judge's more sophisticated King of the Hill. This collection of 40 episodes comes with a note from Judge explaining why he decided to handpick selections rather than start from the very beginning and work his way to the end, and it's quite simple really: the early episodes are completely "awful and embarrassing." So rather than having to sit through a dreadful animation of two lowlifes playing frog baseball, we get crisper and cleverer moments when attempts were actually made at comedy, rather than two teenagers just laughing annoyingly. Overall, the series was pretty good, especially in the later years when you could tell Mike Judge was blooming into a gifted comedic writer with a talent for the majority of the voices that appeared on the show. It certainly doesn't run as deep as King of the Hill or reach the levels of laughter that Office Space does, but it's hard not to have a soft spot for Judge's first children. The DVD includes a small featurette on the creation and success of the show, which reminds us of how truly massive Beavis and Butt-Head had become and how it completely offended some people. Judge rolls down a list of words that were censored by MTV, which led to more imaginative put-downs being written, as well letters are read from angry elementary students threatening the lives of those working on the show, that they "know where you live" and that they "have guns." Very disturbing, as is a focus group of dirty teenage boys offering to pay money for a screening copy of the frog baseball episode. There's also a Thanksgiving special with Kurt Loder that's quite stale, as well as some clips from their appearances on MTV's Video Music Awards that offers a quick laugh as David Letterman sits between them. Other than that there's little that's greater than the actual episodes and the great music video commentary these two will be most famously remembered for. Plus: promos and montages. (Paramount)