David Van Driessen
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David Van Driessen (born 1961) is a character in the TV series Beavis and Butt-Head. He is the boys' teacher and is characterized as an extremely liberal hippie. (Specifically, he shows his liberalism the most in talking protecting the environment, pacifism, aid towards foreign countries, and feminism.) His voice was provided by Mike Judge.
He has a goatee beard, long hair, and wears a peace sign t-shirt and flip-flops. He generally speaks in a soft, gentle voice, encourages his students to get in touch with their feelings, and often plays the guitar. He has a habit of ending nearly every sentence with "M'Kay?" instead of "Okay" (possibly later inspiring Mr. Mackey of South Park, although Matt Stone and Trey Parker have cited a real-life inspiration.) Van Driessen has had many near-death experiences during the course of the show.
In the second unaired pilot episode, Van Driesen appears singing and playing his guitar at the monster truck arena as a half-time show, however, Beavis and Butt-Head do not seem to recognize him, probably because he hadn't been thought to work as a teacher yet. He is also presumambly killed in this episode, when he is run over by one of the trucks, placing the episode as non-canon.
Most of the teachers at Highland High School despise Beavis and Butt-Head, but Van Driessen sympathizes with them and believes them to be somehow capable of salvation. His attempts to appeal to their better sides, however, invariably fail. In one episode, Van Driessen tries to show Beavis and Butt-Head the concept of the work ethic by paying them to clean his house. The pair do a terrible job, attempting to clean Van Driessen's priceless collection of 8-track recordings by throwing the cartridges into a sink of soapy water, then putting them in a toaster to dry them. The end of this episode marks one of the few times we hear Van Driessen get fed up with Beavis and Butt-Head. In another episode, after driving Mr. McVicker insane, Van Driessen takes them to the mental hospital to see what their actions have done to McVicker, only to be driven mad by their constant laughing himself.
In the episode Beavis & Butt-Head Are Dead, where the boys are mistakenly assumed to be deceased when Beavis informs the school he and Butt-Head are dead—simply to avoid having to go to class—Van Driessen is the only teacher who expresses sadness. All his colleagues celebrate with a party.
