| King of the Hill | |
|---|---|
From left to right: Ladybird, Bobby, Hank, Peggy, and Luanne |
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| Format | Animated sitcom |
| Created by | Mike Judge Greg Daniels |
| Voices of | Mike Judge Kathy Najimy Pamela Segall Adlon Brittany Murphy Johnny Hardwick Stephen Root |
| Opening theme | "Yahoos and Triangles" by The Refreshments |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 13 |
| No. of episodes | 242 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 min. per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original run | January 12, 1997 – May 2009 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
King of the Hill is an Emmy Award- winning American television animated series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It centers on the Hills, a suburban Methodist family proud of its Texas heritage. Unlike many animated sitcoms of its type that generally tend to feature unusual or impossible events, King of the Hill attempts to retain a realistic approach, seeking humor in the otherwise conventional or sometimes even mundane.
Judge and Daniels conceived the series after a successful run with Judge's earlier Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, and the series debuted on the Fox Network on January 12, 1997, becoming an early hit. The series' popularity has also led to syndication by many local affiliates and the FX network as well as a number of international networks. The show has risen to become one of FOX's longest-running series, and the second longest-running American animated series, behind The Simpsons. In 2007, it was named by Time Magazine as one of the greatest television shows of all time.[1] The title theme was written and performed by The Refreshments. King of the Hill has won two Emmy Awards and has been nominated for seven since its inception.
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In early 1995, after a run of Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge is a former resident of Dallas, Texas suburb Garland, considered the basis of the setting of the series, the fictional Arlen. Judge loosely based his creation of Hank Hill on a character in Beavis and Butt-Head, Mr. Anderson.[2] When Mike Judge pitched the series to Fox, he drew the characters as menacing looking, stereotypical "rednecks" with jagged teeth that protruded from their mouths when they spoke; Hank, Peggy, and Bobby were the only three characters whose present form closely resembles their original concept drawings (though originally Peggy was significantly overweight). Although rumored to be modeled after Judge himself, Dale is based on Robert Patrick, whom Judge had originally wanted to voice the character.[3]
Recently, King of the Hill joined the ranks of other Fox Network series like Futurama and Family Guy in its placement within a questionable time slot and has faced frequent preemptions from sporting events featuring overtime play and post-game commentary. The series' tenth season was largely composed of episodes that did not get to air the previous season. During the tenth season in 2005, the show was scheduled to be canceled, however the series managed to attract high ratings and was renewed.[2] Fox renewed it for seasons eleven and twelve, making it the third longest-running animated television series after South Park, and The Simpsons.[4]
After its debut, the series became a huge success for the Fox Network and was named one of the best television series by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time and TV Guide. For the 1998 season, the series outperformed The Simpsons in ratings, and brought more viewers to its lead-out program The X-Files. It quickly became one of the highest rated programs, finishing behind The X-Files and ahead of The Simpsons. Fox also earned a double profit from the series success, since Twentieth Century Fox produced the show.
King of the Hill is set in Arlen, Texas. Arlen is a fictional town, although several references to surroundings are mentioned.[2] In a 1995 interview prior to the show's debut, Judge described the setting as "a town like Humble."[5] It includes main places such as Rainey Street, the main alleyway of the show (perhaps named after Austin's Rainey Street), Mega-Lo Mart (a parody of Wal-Mart), Luly's (a parody of Luby's), Bazoom's (a parody of Hooters), and Strickland Propane (the business where Hank works.) Like most fictional towns, the basis for the town does not originate from one specific place. Most of the children in the show are enrolled at Tom Landry Middle School. The local country club is the Nine Rivers Country Club.
King of the Hill uses the standard set-up of a situation comedy or "sitcom" as its premise, depicting a family and their lives in a typical American town. It documents the Hills' day-to-day-lives in the small Texas town of Arlen, exploring modern themes ranging from parent-child relationships, to friendship and loyalty, to justice, envy, and hubris. As an animated sitcom, however, King of the Hill's scope is generally larger than that of a regular sitcom.
The patriarch of the Hills is Hank Hill, a salesman of "propane and propane accessories," who has an obsession with his lawn, Buck Strickland, propane, and the Dallas Cowboys. He is uncomfortable with intimacy and sexuality but has a healthy relationship with his wife, as well as the rest of his family. Hank's trademark grunting sigh in times of discomfort, his scream of "Bwah!" when scared or surprised, and the phrase "I tell you what!" are running gags on the series; additionally, when someone angers him, he tends to respond with, "I'm going to kick your ass." In contrast with his emotional distance with the members of his family, he dotes unashamedly on his dog, Ladybird. Hank is also known to be passively prejudicial in a sexist manner, disallowing his son Bobby from any nontraditional and "feminine" activities. Hank is married to Peggy Hill, a substitute Spanish teacher who has a poor grasp of the language (referring to it phonetically as "es-pa-nole"). Peggy is also a freelance newspaper columnist, real estate agent, notary public, and Boggle champion. Peggy frequently speaks the phrases "Ho, yeah!" when she exerts effort into a task, and "Oh, Peggy!", a self-compliment after a perceived accomplishment. Usually well-meaning and open-minded, she often displays her naïveté and arrogance; with an inflated sense of her intelligence and appearance, she considers herself knowledgeable, clever, and very physically attractive.
The two have a son, Bobby Hill, a chubby 13-year-old, who wants to be a famous prop comic when he is older. Although he is not particularly attractive or intelligent, Bobby has an excellent sense of self-esteem; he is not ashamed of his body or his (often sub-par) performance in sports or other activities. Bobby lacks his father's athletic prowess and dislikes most sports, but enjoys wrestling, baseball, and track, which he played for Tom Landry Middle School. He also attempted to play football and soccer. He has a rather wacky sense of humor that clashes with Hank's more collected and conservative manner. Hank's discomfort with Bobby's proclivities is a regular narrative element in the series, and he has stated this with phrases like "That boy ain't right". Luanne Platter is Peggy's niece and is named after the Luanne Platter from Luby's. She was taken in by the Hills after her mother, Leeann, was sent to prison for "stabbing [Luanne's] father (Peggy's brother) with a fork." In addition to the lead family, the show includes an array of quirky characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, and local celebrities. Occasionally, the series features guest stars.
Ashley Gardner, Toby Huss, Lauren Tom, David Herman, Breckin Meyer, Jonathan Joss and Tom Petty have recurring roles in the series.
In addition, the show has many celebrity appearances — though rarely as themselves — including Lisa Kudrow, Trace Adkins, Richard Dean Anderson, Pamela Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Will Arnett, Tom Arnold, Diedrich Bader, Big Boi, Clint Black, Lisa Hartman Black, Brooks & Dunn, Dennis Burkley, Gary Busey, Drew Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Mo Collins, David Cross, Johnny Depp, Laura Dern, Ani DiFranco, Dale Earnhardt, Shannon Elizabeth, Will Ferrell, Sally Field, Nathan Fillion, John Force, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Paul Giamatti, Vince Gill, Jeff Goldblum, John Goodman, Topher Grace, Green Day, Kirk Hammett, Ed Harris, Phil Hendrie, Dennis Hopper, Michael Keaton, Jamie Kennedy, Kid Rock, Johnny Knoxville, Laura Linney, Lucy Liu, Heather Locklear, Lindsay Lohan, Bernie Mac, Danny Masterson, Rue McClanahan, Matthew McConaughey, Mary Tyler Moore, Mitchel Musso, Willie Nelson, No Doubt, Brad Pitt, Laura Prepon, Brad Renfro, Alan Rickman, John Ritter, Chris Rock, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Dax Shepard, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Simmons, Lane Smith, Robert Smith, Snoop Dogg, Ben Stiller, George Strait, Meryl Streep, Sum 41, Mikey Teutul, Paul Teutul Jr., Paul Teutul Sr., Billy Bob Thornton, Tone Lōc, Randy Travis, Danny Trejo, Jane Wiedlin, Fred Willard, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Amy Hill, Dwight Yoakam, Renee Zellweger and ZZ Top.
Jazz musician Chuck Mangione has a recurring part as himself.
1999 Emmy for Outstanding Animation lasting under an hour for episode "And they call it Bobby Love".
2002 Emmy for Outstanding Voice Over by Pamela Adlon for Bobby Hill.
On October 31, 2008, it was announced that Fox plans to cancel the series after the 13th season to make room for new shows as part of their "Animation Domination" block that airs every Sunday at 8:00pm during the football season. One of the shows will be The Cleveland Show, which premieres in January 2009.[6] It has been reported that ABC might secure the rights to the show. "Confirmations" have been made, (along with another new show by Mike Judge) but it remains in question due to nothing actually being contractually binding.[7] In addition, Adult Swim will start airing King of the Hill every night at 10:00pm, also starting in December 29, 2008.[8]
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