"Comedians" is the first episode of the third season of ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

'' and the 30th episode of the series overall. The episode sparked controversy after a 5-year-old boy burned down his trailer home in Ohio, killing his 2-year-old sister who was sleeping in the next room. It was suggested that the boy was inspired by the episode, in which Beavis and Butt-Head burn down a

comedy club A comedy club is a venue where a variety of comedic acts perform to a live audience. Although the term usually refers to establishments that feature stand-up comedy, stand-up comedians, it can also feature other forms of comedy such as improvisati ...

. This, however, has been disproven.

Plot

Beavis Beavis () is a fictional character who serves as one of two protagonists from the MTV/Paramount+ animated series ''Beavis and Butt-Head''. He is voiced by the show's creator, Mike Judge. In the movie ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe'', Bea ...

and

Butt-Head The following is a list of characters appearing on the MTV cartoon series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', each with a description. Some of these characters appear in only one or two episodes. The episodes in which they are known to appear are listed i ...

are sitting, watching television when they see a commercial for a documentary about a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

(

Andrew Dice Clay Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, deliberately offensive persona known as "The Diceman". In 1990, he became the f ...

) who lives an affluent lifestyle from his earnings. Although Beavis would rather go to Stewart's house and burn things, Butt-Head decides that they should go to the

to become "stand-up

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

s". They arrive at the club (named The Laff Hole), and Butt-Head goes on stage first, but only Beavis finds his jokes funny and he is eventually booed off stage. Beavis is next, and the audience exits quickly, leaving only Butt-Head to watch him. Inspired by an earlier act, Beavis attempts to juggle burning newspapers, but ends up burning the club down. The pair watch the fire spread from outside while they declare how funny and cool they both are.

Music videos

* Primus - " My Name is Mud" * Tiffany - "

I Think We're Alone Now "I Think We're Alone Now" is a song written and composed by Ritchie Cordell that was first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. It was a major hit for the group, reaching number 4 on the US Hot 100 in April 1967. It finished at No. 12 on ' ...

" *

Vince Neil Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist of heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, which he fronted from their 1981 formation until his departure in 1992. Neil reunited with the ...

- " Sister of Pain" *

Belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, ce ...

- " Feed the Tree"

Controversy

On October 6, 1993 (exactly one month after the episode had aired), Austin Messner, a 5-year-old boy from

Moraine, Ohio Moraine is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. Situated on the banks of the Great Miami River, Moraine is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio and a part of the Dayton metropolitan area. The population was 6,393 at the 2020 census. H ...

, burned down his family's trailer with a cigarette lighter, killing his 2-year-old sister. The boy's mother claimed that he had been watching the show prior to the incident, a claim refuted by neighbors who stated the family did not have cable. Regardless, this episode in particular was blamed, due to the similarities between the plot and the incident. The following week,

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

decided to move the show to 10:30 PM instead of 7:00 PM and also decided to delete and omit fire references in future episodes. They extensively edited the episode before pulling it from broadcasting and locking it away in the MTV vault. In 2008, Messner himself would confirm that his family did not have cable at the time since it was unaffordable due to his mother's drug addiction, and that he had never seen an episode of the show, nor planned to.

References

External links

* {{Beavis and Butt-Head Beavis and Butt-Head episodes 1993 American television episodes Animation controversies in television Stand-up comedy Television episodes pulled from general rotation Television controversies in the United States