Strickland Propane
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Strickland Propane is a fictional propane and propane accessories supplier in the animated series King of the Hill. Buck Strickland owns the company, headquartered at 135 Los Gatos Road in Arlen, Texas, though he delegates most of the day-to-day responsibilities to his 41-time employee of the month, assistant manager Hank Hill. Strickland sells propane and propane accessories, including grills by the Vogner[1] Company such as the Vogner Char-King, Char-King Imperiale and Vogner Citizen, which are showcased during the annual "Grillstravaganza" sale. The company slogan is "Taste the meat, not the heat," and refers to the way that propane does not alter or mask the taste of meat while grilling, unlike charcoal. Strickland has five branch offices in Texas, known as Strickland Propane, and Strickland North, South, East, and West. It is unknown how far these branches are from the Arlen headquarters, though Buck has said that North is in "charcoal country" which he thinks is the reason for the low sales numbers at that branch.
For a brief time, Strickland Propane sponsored the "Propaniacs", a traveling comedy troupe formed by Bobby Hill, Luanne Platter, Joe Jack, Donna from Accounting, Dale Gribble, and Hank (although Peggy insists on calling them the propane maniacs). Hank and Buck conceived of the idea after Bobby prevented a customer walkout at a "Grillstravaganza" sale with his comedic antics. Buck decided to take the group on the road to spur sales in the other Strickland branches. The group was officially forced to disband when a sketch about Joe Jack as a large baby in a diaper unintentionally offended the Texas propane commissioner, who was in fact incontinent.
Strickland's primary competitor is Thatherton Fuels, owned and managed by former Strickland employee M. F. Thatherton. Their slogan is "We sell the heat... with warmth". Hank always becomes agitated up on spotting his rival, exclaiming "Thatherton!" in an annoyed tone.
In Episode 2.23 ("Propane Boom," broadcast May 17, 1998) fictional superstore Mega Lo Mart began selling propane. Due to its size, Mega Lo Mart was able to sell propane at prices too low for Strickland to compete. This forced Buck to close down the Arlen branch. Following a propane-fueled explosion at its store, Mega Lo Mart stopped selling propane, and Strickland resumed business as usual.
[edit] Current employees
- Anthony – Unknown.
- Bob Cecil – Bobtail truck driver.
- Enrique – Immigrated from Mexico, now works at Strickland. Became very attached to the Hill family during a separation from his wife, but they appear to have reconciled ("Enrique-cilable Differences"). Voiced by Danny Trejo.
- Melinda Grab – Slacks off a lot at Strickland; takes breaks whenever she can. Voiced by Brittany Murphy.
- Hector – An unseen employee who wouldn't wear antlers one year for the Strickland Christmas photo, and whose "sales haven't recovered since."[2]
- Hank Hill – Assistant manager.
- Donna – Actually, referred by some as "Donna #2"; Current bookkeeper and accountant of Strickland. Was hired after the termination of Peggy Hill, who was hired after the termination of Donna #1. Voiced by Pamela Segall.
- Joe Jack – Delivery truck driver. He is Strickland Propane's least selling employee and refers to his peers as "honey" regardless of the sex of the peer. Voiced by Toby Huss.
- Jason – Document arranger; Buck Strickland gives most of his papers to Jason to fill out. Voiced by Jim Dauterive.
- Maria Montalvo – Accessories associate. Voiced by Bertilla Damas.
- Roger "Booda" Sack – Formerly an abrasive comedian/driving instructor; now, employed as a tank wipe. Hank got him a job at Strickland after he was fired from his job at the traffic school. Voiced by Chris Rock in his first appearance; later by Phil LaMarr.
- Cyndi Smith – Unknown.
- Buck Strickland – Owner & Manager. Delegates much of his duties to Hank. Spends much of his time with his various mistresses and otherwise enjoying himself around town in his Cadillac Seville STS .
[edit] Former employees
- David Kala'iki Ali'i – Also known as "The Flyin' Hawaiian", David was the star player on Arlen High's football team until an 'F' from a substituting Peggy got him suspended from the team. He was brought into Strickland Propane on work-study as a way to get an easy A so he could play again. Known for his misspelling of propane as "propene", and thanking God he didn't get "blowed up". Voiced by Brendan Fraser.
- Debbie Grund – Debbie was Buck's personal secretary and mistress, though he called her "systems manager" after he heard Kahn use the title ("De-Kahnstructing Henry"). She was a tank wipe for a short time when Miz Liz took over Strickland Propane. Other than this her duties seemed light. She died of an accidental gunshot wound after placing a shotgun in a dumpster and then attempting to climb into it awkwardly ("Hanky Panky"). (voiced by Reese Witherspoon). (Deceased)
- Donna from accounting – Was a member of the Propaniacs. Was fired for stealing company accessories. A running gag in the show was that every character always referred to her as "Donna from accounting" instead of just her first name.
- Tammy Duvall – Lived with the Hills and briefly worked at Strickland before returning to prostitution ("Ho Yeah!"). Voiced by Renée Zellweger.
- Bobby Hill – Worked at Strickland Propane and was paid in fruit pies while assisting the incompetent and drug addicted Leon Petard. Also worked at Strickland briefly for one summer, as a sales associate during Grillstravaganza ("The Miseducation of Bobby Hill").
- Peggy Hill – Worked at Strickland Propane while she was trying to find another job.
- Leon Petard – A drug addict who was initially hired by Hank instead of Maria Montalvo. Hank mistook rehab facilities for education/employment references, and was conflicted about hiring a woman. Leon was a poor employee due to his drug use, and Hank fired him. However, before the firing became effective, Leon entered rehab and became protected under the ADA. Hank was forced to make concessions for the comfort of Leon, and consequently, the other employees began claiming disabilities and demanded concessions. After Leon decided to rename himself "Hank Hill", the real Hank quit Strickland (leaving only 14 employees, one less than required for enforcing the ADA), allowing Buck to fire Leon ("Junkie Business"). Voiced by Brent Forrester
- Rich – Worked as a new employee at Strickland Propane whose constant double entendres and sex jokes made Hank and the other workers uncomfortable ("That's What She Said"). Though at first everyone (except Hank) thought the jokes were funny, eventually everyone got tired of Rich and his unending mischief. They played along for a while because Buck liked Rich's humor, although after Hank stood up to Rich and everyone else sided with Hank, Buck quickly switched sides as well, declaring that he never liked those kinds of jokes either. It is implied that Rich quit afterwards. Voiced by Ben Stiller.
- Kahn Souphanousinphone – was Hank's manager at Scrubby's, a local car wash station he bought as part of a get-rich-quick scheme, which Buck purchased and made it part of the "Strickland family". Buck later sold off the station and Hank went back to the Strickland Propane office ("The Year of Washing Dangerously").
- Miss Elizabeth Strickland – a.k.a "Miz Liz", Buck Strickland's wife. Briefly managed Strickland during a fight for assets between her and Buck following her discovery of his affair with Debbie ("High Anxiety"). Voiced by Kathleen Turner.
- M. F. Thatherton – Worked at Strickland Propane eight years before the show began. He then told Hank in the men's bathroom that he was going out on his own. He opened up Thatherton Fuels across the street from Strickland Propane. Voiced by Burt Reynolds.
- Lloyd Vickers – A business school graduate who worked at Strickland Propane, then was fired because of his incompetant handling of Joe Jack and the other truck drivers when he (and not Hank) ran Strickland Propane when Buck was ill ("Snow Job").
- Travis – a retired employee who wanted to become a pilot, but lost track of the time, and worked for Strickland Propane for 40 years, with only 3 sick days. He is a diabetic, and was replaced by Rich. Joe Jack once told Rich that "whistling was Travis's thing".
[edit] Reference List
- ^ Spelling in "The Miseducation of Bobby Hill"
- ^ Hank's Bad Hair Day
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