If the world were a fair and equitable place, “King of the Hill“ would never have been cancelled. The animated comedy series from Mike Judge and Greg Daniels is easily one of the best television shows of all time, including live-action programs. Its original run from 1997 to 2009 is virtually unmatched in terms of the consistency of its quality. Other animated programs can’t lay claim to that feat. “South Park,” “The Simpsons,” and “Family Guy,” even with more seasons under their belts, really can’t claim that they put out 13 consecutive seasons of quality shows, but I dare you to find a weak season of “KOTH.”
Maybe if it had gone on longer it would’ve been subject to the same kind of deterioration we see in other long running shows, but if this revival season is a kind of litmus test for that, then this show never should’ve left the air 16 years ago.
For the most part, I’m not a fan of revivals. I think that too often we get tino the habit of thinking that more is better. We also struggle with the concept that everything has its natural endpoint. Sometimes, like life itself, things have to come to an end and that’s perfectly fine. This is one of the reasons why I was so adamantly against the revival of “Frasier.” The show had already run out of stories to tell after 11 seasons. It had nothing more to say and neither did the characters; their journey was older. But with “King of the Hill,” there was always more potential there because of the characters and the satire.
These are things that are not lost in the season 14 revival. I’m happy to say that the rich character building is back, and while the series still takes its potshots at society through the lensof Hank’s compassionate conservative values, that does not come at the expense of honest character development. Returning to “KOTH” feels like you’re just diving back into the show following an in-universe time jump, and you’re right back where you should be.
In the lead-up to the new season, there was the announcement that the series would not pick up where it left off, but jump ahead eight years. Bobby is now 21 and running his own restaurant, while Hank and Peggy have been away in Saudi Arabia with Hank working the propane business out there. We meet back up with Hank and Peggy as they’re returning to Arlen, Texas for the first time in several years. That first episode is about what I expected, a lot of commentary on how much things have changed in society since “KOTH” aired its last episode. What sold me on it though was how true the show stayed to its roots, and how much heart it still has.
There’s a lovely scene in the season premiere where Hank is starting to doubt whether or not it was a good idea to come back to Arlen to retire. What ends up changing his mind is when he starts interacting with people outside the Megalomart. Some girl scouts, a guy buying tools, etc. All of it reminds him that despite the changes that have happened in America, the people are still what makes America a beautiful place. Sure, Hank may have some old fashioned values that are a bit dated, but he’s not a mean-spirited person. He can be a bit gruff, but if you show kindness and respect, he will show the same towards you regardless of who you are.
This spirit is what carried Hank through the original run, and what carries him here. He might have trouble showing his love for others, but there’s no doubt that his heart is full of love for good, honest people. It’s also why his relationship with Bobby is as a strong as it is. We get to see their interactions in a new light where even though Hank doesn’t quite understand some of his boy’s interests and tastes, he has immense respect for his work ethic and how he’s using his talents to be successful. Since Bobby’s living on his own with Joseph, we don’t see as many scenes between him and Hank, which is a natural progression of parent and child relationships. We get to see Bobby being his own young man and navigating life while Hank navigates the life of a retiree.
This leads to episodes that drift away from commenting on how life is today to the traditional fare of weekly shenanigans and awkward situations Hank, Bill, Dale, Boomhauer, and everyone else gets themselves into. I don’t want to dive too much into spoilers, but I’ll give one example of an episode where we discover that Hank has developed a taste for soccer. In real life, the sport has grown in popularity since 2009. So even though there’s some social commentary about the sport’s growth in the states, the episode is mostly a character piece about Hank coming to terms with his tastes evolving when compared to his friends.
As much as credit deserves to be given to Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for bringing the series back, a lot of credit also has to be given to showrunner Saladin K Patterson. (Patterson has worked on two of my favorite shows of all time, “Frasier” and “Psych.“) Both programs are stellar examples of character driven comedies and it’s clear that Patterson gets that. He helped shepherd “Frasier” into its pivotal eighth season, the first one after most of the original writing and production staff left. He has a wonderful talent for being able to hop into something, inject something new, but keep the spirit of the characters alive.
Speaking of which, I’m glad to see “KOTH” kept many of its tertiary characters alive and well when they just as easily could have axed them. There could have been controversy over some of the casting choices, like how Toby Huss, a white man, was voicing Khan Souphanousinphone. They could have axed him from the show like “The Simpsons” did with Apu. But doing so would’ve removed possibly the only Laotian character in the history of primetime television from the airwaves.Instead, they kept the character and recast him with Ronny Chieng in the voice role. It’s a step in a positive casting direction while still paying respect to a character that helped make the show a lot more dynamic.
It’s going to be harder to see how things unfold with characters whose performers have passed away. We lost Tom Petty and Brittany Murphy who were the voices of Lucky and Luanne respectively. I don’t know if the characters will ever return in any form, if they’ll ever be acknowledged again, or if the characters will mee the fate of their actors. Johnny Hardwick, the voice of Dale Gribble, passed away after recording some episodes, and Huss stepped in to replaced him to fill out the season. Is that going to be a permanent recast or will we see the end of Dale? Sadly, we also tragically lost Jonathan Joss, the voice of John Redcorn. Will he be recast?
It’s a testament to how well developed all of these characters are that I don’t want to see any of them go. I still miss the episodes where Hank’s father Cotton was still alive. He was often time mean-spirited and abusive, but he was an important foil for showing Hank and others the problems with being too stubborn and backwards. The secondary and tertiary characters are essential to the dynamic of this show and I hope it continues to find a way forwards despite the tragic losses the cast has suffered.
Setting all of that sadness aside though, this new season of “King of the Hill” is reason to celebrate. Everyone involved pulled it off to make a season that seamlessly flows from one to another despite a substantial gap in time. Maybe the cancellation was good in that regard. Would we have seen Bobby as a 21 year old had the show continued on? Probably not. It’s likely everyone would have stayed in “Simpsons Mode” so to say; never or only barely aging. The time away gave everyone a perfect excuse to age up the characters and let us see a new chapter in everyone’s lives.
Above all, we’re reminded “KOTH” is such a unique show because it has so much heart. These characters are crafted with love, the poking fun at southern culture is done with love and respect, and the values of respect, friendship, and family are held on high without being shoved down your throat. This may be the best revival yet of a program. It was one that I thought I wanted when it was announced and after having finished it, I came to realize just how much I needed it.
Catch the revival on Hulu.
