Mike Judge's Favorite Beavis And Butt-Head Complaint Helped Him Create A King Of The Hill Character
When it comes to Mike Judge's greatest work, it's hard to argue against anyone who points to "Beavis and Butt-Head" or his other hit animated series, "King of the Hill," as his two creative opuses. Sure, he has other famous works — "Office Space" and "Silicon Valley" — and of course, the 2006 sci-fi comedy "Idiocracy" starring Luke Wilson and Terry Crews.
But in terms of pop culture legacy, Judge's biggest hits have almost inarguably come courtesy of Hank Hill, Butt-Head, and the Great Cornholio. And what many people may not know is how much the two shows have actually influenced one another. In fact, it might surprise some fans to learn that one of the most iconic characters from "King of the Hill" is actually the product of a complaint lodged against "Beavis and Butt-Head" back in the day.
According to Judge, the "Beavis" diss came over in a phone message, which he still has digitized to this very day. "I still have the tape," the 59-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent feature piece, which outlines the surprising inspiration.
An angry caller helped Mike Judge create Boomhauer
First told on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" years ago, the story behind the creation of Jeffrey Dexter "Jeff" Boomhauer III — aka Boomhauer (Mike Judge) — is a hilarious one. According to Judge, it was an upset "Beavis and Butt-Head" viewer who thought the show was named "Porky's Butthole" that inspired the legendary "King of the Hill" character. "I got a voicemail once from this just deranged hillbilly guy," Judge explained to Kimmel. "He thought the name of [Beavis and Butt-Head] was Porky's Butthole...The message is incomprehensible."
Years later, Judge again reflected on the incident while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter. Interestingly, Judge recalled getting a number of odd voicemails over the years. However, the "Porky's Butthole" guy was one of his favorites. "I was thinking about putting it out because I've gotten a lot of questions about it, but then I thought maybe this guy's not all there and that would be mean," Judge said. "It is definitely my favorite complaint. I still get complaints, but they aren't quite as interesting as they used to be...I used to get pretty serious death threats. One person even wrote an entire poem that rhymed about how he or she was going to kill me. That was probably my least favorite."
Judge's inbox is likely to get an extra dose of "Porky's Butthole" fanmail in the coming weeks as his new series "Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head" is set to hit Paramount+ on August 4. "The iconic animated duo of Beavis and Butt-Head are back and dumber than ever!" a description for the upcoming series reads on YouTube. "The '90s pop-culture phenomenons return, voiced by creator Mike Judge, to confound common sense, torment each other, and showcase some of the dumbest comedy imaginable."