MTV contracted Eric Fogel to create a series of shorts called The Adventures of Mutilator, Hero of the Wasteland (1991), which were intended to air as a segment on Beavis & Butt-Head (1993), but then the show was blamed for instigating teenage violence. Fogel realized his shorts were going to be scrapped, so he flipped through his sketchbook, came upon a picture he'd drawn of big-headed Jim, quickly concocted a concept, and drew some preliminary sketches for the show. As he was pitching it to MTV execs, Mike Judge wandered into the room and began roaring with laughing at the sketches. A few weeks later, "The Head" was in production, and Fogel credits Judge's reaction for persuading MTV to greenlight the show.
After the show ended, MTV Books released the graphic novel "The Head: A Legend is Born." The story functions as a wrap-up to the series, although it was announced prior to the second season premiere, so that probably wasn't the original intent.
The first 3 minutes of the show aired repeatedly as a teaser on August 13 & 14, 1994, during "MTV's Animation Weekend," which heralded the premiere of the short-lived series The Brothers Grunt (1994).