On November 27, 1997, one day before the original series finale of Beavis and Butt-Head, MTV aired a special holiday presentation titled “Beavis and Butt-Head Do Thanksgiving.” MTV News anchor Kurt Loder hosted the half-hour show, which aired at 11:30 a.m. instead of the duo’s usual 10 p.m. time slot in order to cover the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Beavis and Butt-Head were supposed to be Loder’s special correspondents for the parade, but as you can probably guess, they’re not very helpful at all. The show is also done in the Who Framed Roger Rabbit? style, with the animated pair appearing in live-action scenes alongside real people.
Loder first finds his two reporters outside of a porno shop in Times Square, a place they remind him he’d shown them the night before. Flustered, he urges them to get over to the parade and check in with him later. By the time Loder catches up with them, they haven’t made much progress. Standing behind a crowd of people blocking their view, they offer to interview the spectators’ butts, with Beavis doing an impression of what that might sound like. Loder quickly realizes that things aren’t getting any better and asks them to come inside.
Back at the studio, Beavis and Butt-Head are more interested in talking about which MTV employees Loder may or may not have had sex with than any of the things he tries to ask them about. They’re also not impressed with the big balloons or the marching band passing by outside the window. As Beavis puts it, “If you’re gonna make something big, it should be cool, like a big chick. Like those chick balloons at the porno place.” The idea then makes him think of something those dolls could potentially be used for.
As the two of them continue to watch the parade from the studio, Beavis wonders what so many people are doing outside if Thanksgiving is meant to be spent at home with family. They discuss the possibility of all the onlookers being homeless before Loder interrupts them to point out that there’s a giant Beavis and Butt-Head balloon outside the studio this year. Butt-Head isn’t happy with the way it turned out, but Beavis thinks his half of the balloon looks sexy. “Mine is, like, bigger than life, except for one part,” he says.
Later, as they all sit down to Thanksgiving dinner and discuss the final episode of Beavis and Butt-Head, Loder tries to have a serious moment with the boys about how they think everything sucks, telling them, “You just have to open yourselves up to the possibilities of happiness.” Butt-Head: “You said penis.” The duo finally wraps things up with a Thanksgiving prayer: “God is great, God is good,” Beavis begins. Butt-Head continues, “And we thank him for our morning wood.”
Check out “Beavis and Butt-Head Do Thanksgiving” for yourself below.
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