The Not So Great Cornholio

There’s a new “Beavis and Butthead” cartoon coming to MTV.  Oh, joy.  This time around, instead of mocking music videos, they’re going to be mocking YouTube videos.  Just like Tosh.0, so it’s original.



Please excuse my sarcasm. 

Isn’t it the job of YouTubers to mock pop culture?  Likewise, it’s the job of the  professionals to come up with fresh material.  For one thing, if there’s no one creating fresh material, it’s only a matter of time until we’re mocking parodies of parodies of parodies.  This is the mind’s equivalent of eating someone else’s chewed up food, assuming their food came out of yet another person’s digestive tract.  I’d prefer a little original media, thanks.

Anyway, I see a silver lining here.  If traditional media has reduced itself to amateurish giggling and grunting, that leaves a void.  There is a lack of clever and classy material.  At the same time, tools like iMovie and YouTube mean that media production and broadcasting is in the hands of clever and classy people like you and me.

What say we leave Beavis and Butthead to their… whatever it is that they do.  In the meantime, let’s go make some shows worth watching.

-Tamara Hecht

  • http://www.megamistudios.com Rob

    I’m sorry Tamara, I’d comment on this, but then I’d be commenting on your commenting regarding the show. Maybe we can get someone to comment on my comments regarding your comments?
    And so the cycle goes.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/tamara126 Tamara Hecht

    Eh, okay, good point. My problem isn’t the presence of references, though. It’s that there seems to be less and less of an alternative, ie. original stuff. References and commentary are fine so long as there is new stuff coming in too. My fear is that we forgot about the new stuff (or just got too lazy/cynical to bother).
    There’s a kids’ movie called “Doogle,” in which just about every line is a reference to a song or movie. Imagine if every movie did that. How long could it keep going for, until we had a generation of content creators that don’t even KNOW the originals.
    I could tell you the entire plot of “Gone With The Wind” and I’ve never seen or read it. “The Exorcist” and “Psycho” weren’t scary for me because I knew what to expect. My first experiences with “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” weren’t the films, but rather the references on “Garfield,” “The Simpsons,” and “Alvin And The Chipmunks.” I don’t see too many potential classics coming out today that I can get a first-hand crack at an epic movie moment, and if studios keep churning out reference-laden in-jokes at the expense of original plots, I’m not going to get that chance.
    It looks like we’re shifting into a culture that doesn’t care for innovation or even dignity. Ours is a culture of memes, which are fun, but not really meaningful in and of themselves.
    I will be back next week with something less snippy. XD

  • http://www.stevensavage.com/ Steven Savage

    Actually this is a trend that’s more than just Tosh.0. Hell, Beavis and Butthead may be funny at this, certainly funnier than Tosh.
    The problem is this is happening all over. How many news shows now use internet clips and twitter questions? It’s a giant mirror without any actual content, Narcissus starting at a screen.
    So this trend is really just more than B&B.
    Of course it’s not like MTV does music videos for them to mock ANYWAY.

  • http://www.megamstudios.com Rob Barba

    Well, as to everything being derivative, I recall someone called this the Teen Talk Barbie Rule: Math is Hard, Let’s go Shopping; or in this case, Originality is hard, let’s go to the tried-and-true license.
    It takes small and nimble companies (or big companies willing to pretend to be small and nimble) to foster originality. Not all of it is laziness; at the end of the day, you still have to answer to the shareholders (and that’s a whole different problem I care not for). Not saying that it’s good, rather that it just is.
    Besides, when Hasbro decided they were going to launch a new version of My Little Pony, everyone just expected another 30-minute toy commercial. The rest, as everypony says, is history.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/tamara126 Tamara Hecht

    Bingo. So if anyone is going to come up with something better, it’s independent creators.
    Also, thank you for using the word “everypony.” It just made this blog 20% cooler.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/tamara126 Tamara Hecht

    Bingo. So if anyone is going to come up with something better, it’s independent creators.
    Also, thank you for using the word “everypony.” It just made this blog 20% cooler.

  • Scott D.

    Fortunately, with the Internet and web hosting relatively cheap, anyone can put their work online. Mind, this gets into Sturgeon’s Law territory and the effort of finding the diamonds in the rough.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/tamara126 Tamara Hecht

    I could argue that “anyone” can get their stuff on TV as well. Sure, it’s a select group of people with connections, but who determines who is in that select group? You have to be born into the right family or luck into the right situation. Therefore, it’s just as random as the world at large.

  • Scott D.

    With the Internet, though, there isn’t really a barrier anymore. The technological knowledge has been reduced greatly. Most equipment (cameras and other recording devices) have been reduced to point and click. The hard part is the originality. Fake that, and anyone can be a minor Internet sensation.
    Gaining an audience, however, is the next challenge. Oddly, the new B&B might work in people’s favour. In the 80s and 90s, music videos were where creativity bounded. Now, it’s on homemade YouTube videos. I’m starting to wonder if the new Beavis&Butthead is less mocking the mockers and more highlighting the lesser known creative types for a larger audience.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/tamara126 Tamara Hecht

    *praying this doesn’t double-post*
    You’ve got a good point there. Anonymous Internetters could definitely benefit from the attention, given that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. I have a feeling that the attitude may carry over, though, seeing as a lot of it is probably going to be troll baiting. I’m guessing. Okay, I’ll see what it actually is before making any more assumptions.