Daria: "Depth Takes A Holiday"

Premiered March 10, 1999

Jane: "The more debased [the holidays] become, the less reason to celebrate them, and the less reason for my family to get together, until presto! I'm finally alone on Thanksgiving with a TV dinner."
Daria: "Sometimes I wonder if you're too cynical, even for me." 
Jane: "Really?  You think?"
Daria: "No, I was being sarcastic."

In this episode from season 3 of the series, Daria (Tracy Grandstaff),  our deadpan heroine,  finds herself face to face with teen personifications of Valentine's Day (an oversized Cupid) and a St. Patrick's Day leprechaun while walking home.

Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day claim that they've come to Lawndale in search of Christmas, Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day, who've left their home on Holiday Island to start a band with a hip-hop punk electronica vibe in Daria's hometown.

Daria is unconvinced by this, so the anthropomorphic holiday personifications attempt to convince her using various strategies including breathing green beer fumes in her face ...

Causing her to reveal the name of "that particular someone who makes [her] feel like Queen Cleopatra" ...

and zapping her parents Jake (Julian Rebolledo) and Helen (Wendy Hoopes) with Cupid's love taser!

This is enough to convince Daria that something is up and she heads to see her best friend Jane (Hoopes again!) where she meets the three errant holidays, who've come to jam with Jane's brother/Daria's crush Trent (Alvaro J. Gonzalez).  

Daria offers to take them all out for pizza to talk things over.    Christmas, Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day say they don't want to return to Holiday Island (which can be reached via a wormhole behind a Chinese restaurant, naturally) because it sucks.   Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day show up and warn that there could be dire consequences if the three do not return, to wit, their respective holidays will cease to exist.

Daria and Jane aren't convinced this would be the worst thing ever,  so Cupid and St. Patrick's Day take them to the mall to see that Christmas and Halloween sales are dying as are steak and kidney pie sales due to the loss of Guy Fawkes Day (aka Bonfire Night).   Daria and Jane remain unimpressed. but Christmas, Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day are proving to be annoying houseguests and an overly amorous set of parents prove to be the last straw.

The gang travels to Holiday Island which turns out to be suspiciously like high school and in the absence of the "cool kids" has been taken over by President's Day.  

Meanwhile, Daria's younger sister Quinn (Hoopes again!!) is concerned about her parents' amorous behavior because she thinks they're planning to have another child and is willing to do anything, including risking being kicked out of the Fashion Club, to stop this horrible up-cutes-manship from taking place.

Will Christmas, Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day be cancelled?   Will Daria and Quinn get a new younger sibling?

RigbyMel says:

I am a big fan of Daria generally.  It was regular must-see viewing for me in the 1990s and overall, I find the series holds up very well.  "Depth Takes A Holiday" is an unusual and somewhat surreal episode, though.  The series tended to keep itself on the ridiculous/sarcastic but sort of realistic side of things most of the time and this is a departure into pure fantasy.

There are a lot of folks who really dislike this episode for that reason.    However, if you're willing to go along with the premise, it's quite fun.

Halloween, Christmas and Guy Fawkes Day have a disagreement at band practice

The teen characterizations of the various holidays are amusing.  Cupid is an overgrown frat boy in a diaper who speaks with a Barry White type voice when using his powers.  St. Patrick's Day is a short excitable fellow clad in a green hat and be-shamrocked Hawaiian shirt.

Christmas wears a red shirt, green trousers and a Santa hat and demands sugar cookies.   Halloween is an orange and black clad Goth chick (naturally).    Guy Fawkes Day is portrayed as a Sid Vicious like punk -  which is a bit of an oddity for a UK celebration (also known as Bonfire Night) based on a failed 17th century attempt to blow up Parliament.   Maybe it's meant to be some kind of commentary on what teenagers interpret anarchy to be?

The show's trademark snark is used to good effect -- there are some awesome/depressing comments about similarities between high school and "real" life, as well a one liner from Jane about the consumption of out-of-season nog that never fail to amuse me.

We learn that in the absence of the "cool kids" at Holiday High,  Presidents' Day has staged a bit of a popularity coup and we see them bossing around Memorial Day and Arbor Day, which is a nice touch.

Although "Depth Takes A Holiday" is a bit of an oddity in the Daria-verse, it's still pretty snark-tacular and definitely worth a look if you are a fan of 1990s pop culture and holidays.

RigbyMel's rating:

3 episodes of "Sick, Sad World"

Beavis and Butt-Head: "Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest (aka Butt-O-Ween)"

Premiered October 31, 1995.

Beavis: That sucks that we're like, too old to get candy.
Butt-Head: No way Beavis, they're aren't any laws about Halloween.

It's Halloween in Highland and kids are trick or treating.

Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Mike Judge) hadn't realized this. After getting clocked for taking candy from kids, they become angry that they're now too old to get free candy.

Beavis and Butt-Head decide to create make-shift costumes and go trick or treating anyway.  The boys are rebuffed at every house, everyone says they're too old for Halloween.

When they arrive at the home of their neighbor Tom Anderson (Judge again), he's going to turn them away too, but his phone rings.

While Anderson is distracted, Beavis finds a bowl of Halloween candy and consumes every piece of it in seconds.  Beavis is suddenly transformed into his hyperactive alter-ego, the Great Cornholio!

As Cornholio, he continues to roam the streets of Highland, terrorizing children and eating their candy.  (As well as pissing off Butt-Head who still hasn't gotten any candy.)

Beavis & Butt-Head meet ... The Great Pumpkin? 

Beavis and Butt-Head later encounter local tough guy Todd (Rottilio Michieli).  Butt-Head wants to hang out with Todd and his crew, but he ends up being thrown in the trunk of Todd's car.

The night grows late and the trick or treaters are fewer and further between.
Cornholio and Butt-Head find themselves in a deserted field near a graveyard ...

RigbyMel says:

I remember watching this when it first aired.  I always enjoyed Beavis and Butt-Head in small doses (and my younger brothers were HUGE fans).  Having been on the receiving end of the "aren't you too old to be trick or treating?" wheeze from adults, I can understand the duo's frustration.  Their methods, however, are ... questionable.

The Halloween hijinks and mayhem are right in line with what you'd expect from two dim-bulb. miscreants such as Beavis & Butt-Head.  It's a nice touch that they initially didn't even know it was Halloween and mistake trick or treaters coming to their door for salespeople giving out free samples.

The Doofus Duo shows off their "costumes"

Their eventual "costumes" are painfully uninspired  -  Beavis puts his underwear on his head and says he's a "nad" and Butt-Head elects to pour hot melted cheese over his head in order to be nachos. (Ouch!)

Beavis terrorizes the Red Ranger (and his parents)!

We see 90s relic kids out and about dressed as Power Rangers (both Red and White Ranger costumes are seen during this cartoon), which may add a twinge of nostalgia for cartoon viewers of a certain age.

It's also evident that Mike Judge (who created the series and voices the titular morons) had a lot of fun doing the voice-over work for our "heroes" in this episode.   Some of Cornholio's rantings are particularly inspired.

Cornholio strikes fear in the hearts of the hapless Stewart Stevenson and friends

The only issue I have with this special is the ending -- which feels like it flew in out of a (mild SPOILER) slasher movie.   I think it could've ended a minute or two sooner to no ill effect.

If you're a fan of Beavis & Butt-Head and want to revisit the 1990s (or see a Halloween special very much situated in said decade) "Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest" is worth checking out but I cannot quite give it my highest rating.

RigbyMel's rating:

3 jack o'lanterns

J.A. Morris says:

Beavis and Butt-Head was a polarizing series two decades ago.  It's funny to think about that now, since they seem so tame by today's standards.  It might sound simple, but if you enjoyed Beavis and Butt-Head, you'll like this episode, since it's a typical episode with some nice Halloween elements thrown in to the mixture.

The boys' hippie teacher Mr. Van Driessen sports a Nixon mask--the scariest thing he can think of!

I enjoyed "Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest" and laughed out loud more than I expected.  Beavis' talking into the mirror, rehearsing his "How's it goin'...I'm a nad" introduction is particularly funny.

I agree with RigbyMel about the joy on display when Mike Judge is voicing Cornholio.  I would guess that lots of Cornholio's rants were ad-libbed on the spot by Judge.

I also share my co-blogger's disappointment with the ending.  It seems like Judge and company just ran out of ideas.  But that's not enough to ruin what comes before.

This episode can be streamed on Amazon  and has been released on dvd.

"Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest" is a very funny Halloween episode.  If you were in high school or college (like I was) during Beavis and Butt-Head's heyday, this will be a nice way to get reacquainted with the boys, and newcomers will also likely enjoy it.  The lackluster ending means "Bungholio" gets slightly less than my highest rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 and a half jack o'lanterns