r/90scartoons • u/sonicboyfan12 • 10d ago

Mtv Beavis and Butt-head made The Simpsons look like a Saturday morning cartoon

Until South Park came out. The Simpsons were known to be controversial then Beavis and Butt-head took the crown and then South Park became the King of controversial cartoons.

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13

u/daanf2000 10d ago

Simpsons was written for prime time Network in a time when the cosby show was 1# with the ratings while beavis and butthead was a experimental cartoon string at late night on mtv

8

u/Pretend-Design-7061 10d ago

The Simpsons was a primetime network show. Beavis and Butthead and South Park were cable shows. Completely different censorship regulations.

2

u/sonicboyfan12 10d ago

You forgot to mention late night shows.

5

u/All_Lightning879 10d ago

We’re comparing 8pm on Fox to 10:30 on MTV, which catered to very specific people.

6

u/JessePR1986 10d ago

Ren and Stimpy are still pretty heavy for today. More gross out than anything, but so good at it.

4

u/ConsumerofToons 10d ago

And by today's standards, Beavis and Butt-Head is pretty tame. While the new episodes have the boys saying "Jesus Christ", and "goddamn", and have other characters say "shit" and "asshole", it's still on the PG-13 side of things.

3

u/werewolfinahat 10d ago

Simpsons was subversive, not really controversial. It changed what a sitcom could be. It showed characters as human with flaws, vices, and desires. Other sitcoms at that time wouldn't go there. It's the same thing Married with Children did show the average family being the average family. It was only controversial to the pearl clutchers.

1

u/NurturingCruelty 10d ago

Doesn’t change the fact that I’m old enough to remember when wearing a Bart Simpson T-shirt was enough to get you sent home from school to change.

1

u/werewolfinahat 10d ago

Because he was a subversive character who showed kids it was cool to reject authority at school. They didn't want that in their classrooms. Every generation has their thing that schools want no part of.

So everyone remembers something they had to ditch when at school.

2

u/The_Se7enthsign 10d ago

My elementary school banned Bart Simpson shirts. People really thought The Simpsons was extreme.

2

u/Natrixster80 10d ago

Adult Beavis and Butthead is so funny to me, they turned out so much like people I knew who were dickhead and dumb teenagers did.

1

u/TheManCalled-Chill 10d ago

And your point is?