"King of the Hill" (1997) TV series 1997-????

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Creators:

Greg Daniels
Mike Judge

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

Release Date:

12 January 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Plot:

Show about a rigid redneckish propane salesman with a good heart and wacky friends and family.

Plot Keywords:

Texas | Propane | Beer | Father Son Relationship | Neighbor

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 wins & 40 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 5	8:30 PM	Fox	Serves Me Right for Giving Gen. George S. Patton the Bathroom Key	#13.15
Sun. July 5	10:00 PM	TOON	Square-Footed Monster	#13.3

Cast

Mike Judge	...	Hank Hill / ... (252 episodes, 1997-2009)
Kathy Najimy	...	Peggy Hill / ... (245 episodes, 1997-2009)
Pamela Adlon	...	Bobby Hill / ... (244 episodes, 1997-2009)
Johnny Hardwick	...	Dale Gribble / ... (242 episodes, 1997-2009)
Stephen Root	...	Bill Dauterive / ... (241 episodes, 1997-2009)
Brittany Murphy	...	Luanne Platter / ... (215 episodes, 1997-2009)
David Herman	...	Additional Voices / ... (134 episodes, 1997-2009)
Toby Huss	...	Kahn Souphanousinphone Sr. / ... (127 episodes, 1997-2009)
Ashley Gardner	...	Nancy Hicks Gribble / ... (115 episodes, 1997-2009)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:12 (some episodes) | Australia:PG (some episodes) | USA:TV-14 | Australia:M (some episodes) | Denmark:15 | Australia:G (some episodes) | USA:TV-PG (some episodes) | Argentina:16 | Singapore:Unrated (with warning)

Company:

Deedle-Dee Productions

Trivia:

Dale Gribble's last name is a tribute to Mike, who died of cancer in 1994. Gribble, along with Spike, founded the "Spike and Mike" Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in San Diego. The Festival is considered the birthplace of "Beavis and Butt-Head" (1993), since Spike and Mike produced Mike Judge's first two Beavis and Butt-head shorts.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In Propane Boom I, Bobby asks Hank if he should throw out a certain tissue box. Bobby said the tissue box was not from Mega Lo Mart, despite the fact that the box clearly says "Mega Lo" on it.

Quotes:

Bill Dauterive: I think it's nice that you're going away, Hank. You need a good vacation with your new best friend Kahn. Who you love so MUCH.
Hank: Yes, Bill, I love Kahn. Maybe if this trip works out I'll marry him and live in Mexico forever. Is that what you wanna hear?
Bill Dauterive: [Voice breaking] No.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Showbiz Today: (1997-01-11)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Yahoos and Triangles

It's alright to be a redneck

Hank Hill, the hero of "King of the Hill", is the last of a dying breed in many ways. He's reasonably honest, reasonably moral, he works hard, he believes in American craftsmanship, and he loves his dysfunctional family. And he's a conservative. He's a bit repressed emotionally though; annoying him or getting him mad is easy, but expressing those tender emotions like love is hard for him, due mostly to his upbringing by his dysfunctional and tyrannical dad Cotton, an obnoxious old man who lost his shins in WWII and somehow had his feet sewn into his knees. Hank's conservative point of view doesn't always make him easily sympathetic in some cases though.

Hank's wife, Peggy, is a warm, loving and caring person at heart, but she's also a megalomaniac. Peggy is an over confident and under educated substitute Spanish teacher, quite rare in this day and age of "Women power". Peggy always strives to do her best, which isn't bad in and of itself, but her pride tends to exude control over her decisions which leads to Peggy making a fool of herself.

Hank's son Bobby is a dense, effeminate couch potato who's watched too much TV. Full of under developed desires and longings, Bobby is easily impressionable and easily gets caught up in fads when they shove their message in his face hard enough. As Hank puts it, "That boy ain't right." His initial goal is to be a stand up comic, but he later decides to be a magician. His friends are Connie (later a girlfriend) and Joseph.

Hank also has a live in niece, Luanne. She was raised to be trailer trash by her dysfunctional parents (her dad is Peggy's brother) and initially longs to be a Hollywood hair stylist. Like Bobby, Luanne can be easily caught up in fads.

Hanks friends are Dale, Bill and Boomhauer. Boomhauer is a motor mouth Lothario whom no one can really understand. Bill is a faded high school football star turned army barber who's wife has left him and appears to have a thing for Peggy. Dale is an exterminator and conspiracy theorist who's so wrapped up in his conspiracy theories that he would never suspect that his newscaster wife Nancy is having an affair with her Indian therapist John Redcorn and/or that his son Joseph is actually the son of John Redcorn and Nancy. The only other person who doesn't seem to notice this is Joseph himself. Hank's neighbor is an Asian man named Kahn (Connie's dad), the classic feuding neighbor scenario.

Despite the many frustrations Hank endures and the compromises he has to make, he trudges on, clinging to his ideals and doing the best he can.

Part of why this is still better than the Simpsons is that unlike the Simpsons, this show doesn't rely on anyone character to supply all the laughs and it doesn't rely on larger than life animated sight gags for all the laughs either. Hank is also probably the only TV Dad to have the dignity of being right anymore. And unlike Homer, even when Hank's efforts get ridiculous they're never as outlandish and moronic as the former's.