The success of Beavis And Butthead Do The Universe proves that King Of The Hill’s reboot can be a hit despite the show’s lengthy absence from TV screens. The work of cartoonist and satirist Mike Judge never seemed to arrive at the right time. While Judge’s cult hits Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill both earned committed fanbases, and the former spawned a movie spinoff, neither show reached the stratospheric popularity of The Simpsons or South Park during their initial release.
Not only that, but Judge’s movie career has also been a mixed bag. 2006’s Idiocracy was praised by critics but seen by almost no one, only to be retroactively criticized online when the movie did gain a cult following years later. Office Space earned a reputation as a cult hit but made little impact at the box office, while 2009’s Extract was largely forgotten. As such, the critical success of Beavis And Butthead Do The Universe bodes well for Judge’s upcoming King Of The Hill reboot.
With 95% from critics and 89% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes, it is fair to say that Beavis & Butthead Do The Universe is one of the few uncontested hits in Judge’s long career. Unlike the King of the Hill reboot, the movie arrived without much fanfare, and its status as a sleeper hit bodes well for that sitcom revival. Beavis And Butthead Do The Universe’s reception proves that Judge’s quintessentially 90s humor hasn’t aged badly despite many of his earlier ambitious efforts struggling to find audiences. Furthermore, the fact that Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill were similar in terms of the popularity levels and audience reach of both original shows also bodes well moving forward.
Both Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill were moderately popular cult hits, but neither show ever developed a large mainstream following despite their consistent popularity. Where a small, dedicated audience was enough to earn Bob’s Burgers a movie spinoff in 2022, in the pre-Internet media environment of the 90s, small followings like this were rarely enough to sustain a series. As such, it was an impressive achievement that neither show was canceled due to their failure to compete with juggernauts like The Simpsons, particularly when Beavis and Butthead was also embroiled in a handful of obscenity controversies during its original run.
However, with the benefit of a dedicated fanbase who continues to revisit his work, Judge’s King of the Hill reboot can go ahead with a major vote of confidence. The fact that the brazenly dumb, goofy humor of the satirical reboot Beavis And Butthead Do The Universe still managed to find an audience, let alone critical acclaim, in 2022 proves that Judge can still be relied on despite his biggest shows never truly breaking into the mainstream. As a result, King of the Hill’s reboot has an even better chance of success than ever before, thanks to the stellar reception of Beavis And Butthead Do The Universe.