MTV Is Turning 40 — Here's How Beavis, Butt-Head And Daria Disrupted Cable

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/30/ [login to see] /mtv-beavis-butthead-daria-aeon-flux-liquid-television
From the moment MTV launched on Aug. 1, 1981, it was bound to rattle the nerves of parents and moral crusaders. In its first decade on air, provocative videos and performances from pop stars including Madonna and George Michael invited attention and ignited controversy.

Though it's fairly established by now that the cable channel turned entertainment brand stopped being the home of music videos some time ago, its contribution to the television landscape transcends music and reality TV. By the 1990s, the network's biggest stars also included its resident pair of animated knuckleheads: Beavis and Butt-Head.