Beavis and Butt-Head returned to screens on Thursday after 14 years and clicked on their TV to a very different world.
While they're still the same age, with the same clothes and overbites as when they disappeared in 1997, the format of the show (inane capers interspersed with sequences of the two characters making inane comments about music videos) now extends to their making inane comments about viral videos, movies and trashing other MTV programmes. The world has moved on, even if they have not.
But back in 1993, the lifestyle of these two archetypal dropouts - bad haircuts, bad attitudes and prone to bouts of extended sniggering - was an affront to many Americans' sense of decency.
The radio host Michael Medved decried the duo's antics as "the epitome of mindless and amoral entertainment".
Meanwhile, Beavis's delight in pyrotechnics and his excited screams of "Fire! Fire!" were canned after the first few episodes, amid concerns that the pair were promoting dangerous behaviour. (This only inspired the writers to come up with colourful ways they could get around the word ban.)
Was the show really that dangerous, or even entertaining? It's definitely part of a legacy (like The Simpsons) that redefined what cartoons could do and presented animation as a great vehicle for social critique.
But watching the first episode of the new series is a reminder of how different US pop culture is now, and it seems extraordinary that two MTV-watching slackers speaking in a Nirvana-inspired drawl could rouse modern America with their stupidity and cynicism. Incidentally, Beavis is free to yell "Fire!" in the new series.
Seeing them attempt to get bitten by a vampire because it'll help them to "score chicks" is great nostalgia, but now seems almost quaint.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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MATCH INFO
AC Milan v Inter, Sunday, 6pm (UAE), match live on BeIN Sports
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