Sprout

Sprout is an episode of Beavis and Butt-head which aired on January 17, 1996. It was Daria's second-last speaking appearance on the original version of the show, and the last until November 1997 - making this the last B&B appearance before Daria started.

Synopsis[edit]

In class, Mr. Van Driessen asks who knows where food comes from - Butt-head answers "the store!", and is quite stunned to hear this was a good answer. Van Driessen says that the store has replaced the primal experience of agriculture, and so the class will be growing plants. When he asks Beavis and Butt-head what plant they would grow, Beavis replies "nachos!"; despite Butt-head saying they can't be grown and the teacher explaining they come from corn, Beavis demands to grow nachos and neither boy views it as a smart thing to make your own nachos from corn when you can buy some from the store right now. "This is school, they have to do everything ass-backwards" explains Butt-head.

The duo works on planting their nachos later, by putting a packet of corn seeds onto the ground; when the packet does nothing, Butt-head declares the seeds suck. At this point, Daria turns up.

Daria: I knew you guys would screw this up. I just had to see for myself.
Butt-head: What do you know about nachos, Daria?
Beavis: Yeah! Diarrhea! Heheheh.
Daria: Not much, but I do know you're supposed to plant the seeds.
B&B: *stare at her blankly*
Daria: In the ground?
B&B: *stare at her blankly*
Daria: I know it sounds crazy, but I've seen it work. Then you have to give them water, and then some plant food. And it helps if you talk to them too. In the meantime, I hope you guys don't starve to death. *leaves*
Beavis: Hehehe. Stupid Diarrhea! Hehehehehe!
Butt-head: Really. Huh huh. Well, you heard her, dude, let's get 'em in the ground.

The lads quickly stomp on the packet until it is embedded in the dirt. Beavis mentions that Daria told them to water the plant, but Butt-head sagely points out that water sucks; Beavis concurs and instead, they feed their corn with orange soda, burgers, and chips. When nothing happens instantly, they get bored and leave.

Later, the patch of grass is decaying and surrounded by flies, though one tiny green shoot can be seen. Seeing no corn and reasoning food & water can't work because they already tried that, they get pissed off; Butt-head starts yelling at the seeds to start growing, going off what Daria said. When that fails to work, Beavis throws a fit and starts beating up the plant; Butt-head joins in.

When the assignment is done, Van Driessen wonders why the lads' corn isn't present. They lie that they already made it into nachos. When he calmly asks what really happened, they explain the plant had a "bad attitude about growing" and was a problem plant. Van Driessen goes along with it but asks what that horrible smell is - Butt-head cheerfully explains "after it stopped growing, Beavis fertilised it! Huh huh huh huh!"

Trivia[edit]

Daria has deliberately gone to find out what Beavis and Butt-head were doing because their failure is amusing to her. Several times, Daria has willingly gone over to them for her own amusement; in Lawndale, she would instead try to avoid the local idiots. The change is notable but no reason is ever given for it. CF theorised that the younger Daria, lacking friends, is seeking out the other local outcasts (the idiots at Lawndale are popular kids).

Daria's plant was a rose.

Tracy Grandstaff has gotten closer to the Daria Daria's voice, though it's still not as flat and grating as it would be by "Esteemsters".

This is Daria's only speaking appearance in 1996 and her last appearance before "Beavis and Butt-head are Dead" - a contrast to eleven episodes across 1993 and 1994. By this point, MTV was already producing Daria and in circumstances that had annoyed Mike Judge (who felt MTV were deliberately leaving him out); either reason may explain Daria's lack of appearance this year (though she continued to appear in the comics)

External Links[edit]

Beavis and Butt-head and Daria by CF: Essay on Outpost Daria (via Wayback Machine)