‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ Reboot Seemingly Picks up Steam as Mike Judge’s HBO Shows Are Scrapped

HBO dropped two contracted with writer and producer Mike Judge, according to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, but that is likely good news for Judge’s other project — the Beavis and Butt-Head reboot. Judge had two series, QualityLand and A5 in the works for HBO, but both projects have reportedly been scrapped. Now, Judge will presumably focus on the reboot of one of his most beloved creations of all time.

Judge and HBO have a strong rapport following five years of Silicon Valley, which Judge co-created. However, he goes back even further with Beavis and Butt-Head, which he created himself. The duo was featured in the recent Super Bowl commercials for Paramount+, the new streaming service coming soon from Paramount+. The reboot will reportedly air on Comedy Central, and it already has a two-season order straight to series.

Judge’s deal with Comedy Central reportedly involves updating Beavis and Butt-Head for a modern audience and carrying their commentary forward. At the same time, Judge will work up new spinoffs from the series. He will write, produce and provide voices for the characters all on his own, as he did before.

Sadly, Judge’s other projects have fallen by the wayside. QualityLand was to be “the story of humanity’s struggle against the tyranny of convenience,” based on a novel by the same name written by Marc-Uwe Kling. Judge would have co-written and executive produced a pilot for HBO, along with his Silicon Valley partner Josh Lieb.

The other project was A5, which would have been a limited series about a bioengineer discovering the genetic root that “makes a person an assh—.” This show would have been co-written and executive produced with Etan Cohen, a writer that Judge worked with on King of the Hill.

Although HBO is dropping these shows, even the severing of these contracts likely works out well for Judge. He signed an extension of an eight-figure overall deal with HBO in March of 2019. Now that the network itself is planning its programming more closely with its streaming counterpart, HBO Max, it makes sense that other arrangements had to be made.

As for Beavis and Butt-Head, the revival is expected to premiere late in 2021, according to THR. Judge has said that the new episodes will enter a “whole new Gen Z world,” with the intent of reaching both old fans and new viewers. How younger generations will feel about this particular brand of irreverence is up for debate. Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.