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King of the Hill

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For other uses, see King of the Hill (disambiguation).
King of the Hill
From left to right: Ladybird, Bobby, Hank, Peggy, and Luanne.
From left to right: Ladybird, Bobby, Hank, Peggy, and Luanne
Created byMike Judge
Greg Daniels
Voices ofMike Judge
Kathy Najimy
Pamela Segall Adlon
Brittany Murphy
Johnny Hardwick
Stephen Root
Toby Huss
Opening theme"Yahoos and Triangles" by
The Refreshments
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons13
No. of episodes252 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time22 min. per episode
Original release
NetworkFOX
ReleaseJanuary 12, 1997 –
present

King of the Hill is an American animated series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, for FOX. It centers on the Hills, a small-town Christian family in Texas. It attempts to retain a realistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional or mundane aspects of everyday life.

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 a hit early on. The series' popularity has also led to syndication around the world, including every night at 10, 10:30 and 2, 2:30 (sundays 10, 1:30 and 2, 5:30) on Cartoon Network's late night programing block Adult Swim. 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 top 100 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.

History

In early 1995, after the successful run of Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created King of the Hill with former Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. [2] Judge was a former resident of the Dallas, Texas suburb of Garland, considered the basis for the setting of the series, the fictional Arlen.[3] Judge loosely based his creation of Hank Hill on a character from Beavis and Butt-Head, Tom Anderson.[3] Mike Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote a pilot script. Fox, as was its usual practice, teamed the cartoonist with an experienced prime-time TV writer.[3] Greg Daniels rewrote the pilot script and created several important characters that did not appear in Judge's first draft (including Luanne and Cotton), as well as some characterization ideas (e.g., making Dale Gribble a whacked-out conspiracy theorist).[4]

After its debut, the series became a huge success for Fox and was named one of the best television series by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time and TV Guide[5] For the 1997-1998 season, the series became one of FOX's highest rated programs and outperformed The Simpsons in ratings.[6] During the fifth and sixth seasons, Mike Judge and Greg Daniels became less involved with the show.[4] They eventually focused on the show again, though Greg Daniels steadily became more involved with other projects.[4]

The series' tenth season was largely composed of episodes that did not air the previous season due to frequent sporting event preemptions. During the tenth season, in 2005, the show was scheduled to be cancelled; however, it managed to attract high ratings and was renewed.[3] Fox renewed the series for seasons eleven and twelve, making it the second longest-running animated television series after The Simpsons.[7]

The thirteenth season episode "Lucky See, Monkey Do" became the first episode of the series to be produced in widescreen high-definition when it aired on February 8, 2009.[8]

Cancellation

On October 30, 2008, Fox announced that they were cancelling the show, stating that they had made a final order of 13 episodes.[9]

King of the Hill's ultimate replacement is the Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show.[10] Fox's major reason for cancelling the show is to make room for The Cleveland Show[11].

Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC, on which Judge's new animated comedy The Goode Family will air, was interested in securing the rights to the show,[12] but in January 2009 ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy".[13]

On April 30 it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. [14]

Settings, characters and themes

Setting

Main article: Arlen, Texas

King of the Hill is set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas in 1998.[2] In a 1995 interview prior to the show's debut, Judge described the setting as "a town like Humble."[15] In a more recent interview, Judge has cited Richardson, Texas, a Dallas suburb, as the specific inspiration for Arlen. [16] Despite the fictitious locale, the show strives to portray the region accurately, going so far as to have annual research trips to Texas for the writing staff.[2] Time magazine praised the authentic portrayal as the "most acutely observed, realistic sitcom about regional American life bar none".[1]

Arlen includes settings such as Rainey Street, where the Hills reside,[2] and Strickland Propane, the business where Hank works. Also included are parodies of well-known businesses, such as Mega-Lo Mart (a parody of big-box stores), Luly's (a parody of Luby's), and Bazooms (a parody of Hooters). Most of the children in the show are enrolled at Tom Landry Middle School (named after the iconic former Dallas Cowboys coach). Early in the series, the school is referred to as being in the Heimlich County School District (according to markings on the school buses), though in later seasons this is changed to Arlen Independent School District. The school's mascot is a longhorn steer (named after the University of Texas Longhorns). The local country club is the Nine Rivers Country Club.

Characters

Main article: List of characters in King of the Hill

King of the Hill depicts an average middle-class 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 such as parent-child relationships, friendship, loyalty, and justice.[2] As an animated sitcom, however, King of the Hill's scope is generally larger than that of a regular sitcom.

Hank Hill
 The family patriarch is Hank Hill, assistant manager of Strickland Propane, and salesman of "propane and propane accessories," who is obsessed with his lawn, propane, and the Dallas Cowboys.[2] 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 sigh in times of discomfort or exasperation, his scream of "Bwah!" when startled, 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 aging Bloodhound, Ladybird.[17]
Peggy Hill
 Hank is married to Peggy Hill, a substitute Spanish teacher who has a poor grasp of the language [18] (referring to it phonetically as "es-puh-nole"). Peggy is also a freelance newspaper columnist, real estate agent, notary public, and Boggle champion.[3][19] Peggy frequently speaks the phrases "Ho, yeah!" when she exerts effort into a task, and "Oh, Peggy!" a self-compliment after a perceived accomplishment, and "I am Peggy Hill! Oh, yeah!" 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.[citation needed]
Bobby Hill
 The two have a son, Bobby Hill, a chubby 13-year-old, who wants to be a famous prop comic when he is older.[20] 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 has participated- often in a peripheral way- in wrestling, baseball, and track at Tom Landry Middle School. He has also attempted to play football and soccer. He has a rather offbeat 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 is manifested with remarks like "That boy ain't right."[21]
Luanne Platter
 Luanne Platter (named after the Lu Ann Platter from Luby's) is Peggy's niece. She was taken in by the Hills after her mother, Leanne, was sent to prison for stabbing Luanne's father (Peggy's brother) with a fork.[22] Finally having found love, she has married Lucky, a slip and fall con artist (voiced by Tom Petty). The two get married and have a daughter named Grace.
Dale Gribble
 The character of Dale Alvin Gribble is voiced by Johnny Hardwick) and is the next door neighbor of Hank and Peggy Hill. He is an exterminator, bounty hunter, smoker, gun fanatic, and paranoid believer of almost all conspiracy theories. Mike Judge and Greg Daniels named him in tribute to Dan "Gribble" Costello, a close friend of Judge. The character himself is loosely based on William S. Burroughs and Adel Souto of Feast of Hate and Fear fanzine, who were both exterminators, avid gun collectors, and also wrote pieces on conspiracy theory.[23]

Episodes

Main article: List of King of the Hill episodes

Season

# of
Episodes 		Original airdate
1 12 1997
2 23 1997–1998
3 25 1998–1999
4 24 1999–2000
5 20 2000–2001
6 22 2001–2002
7 23 2002–2003
8 22 2003–2004
9 15 2004–2005
10 15 2005–2006
11 12 2007
12 22 2007–2008
13 18 2008–2009

Fox ordered 13 DABE production episodes. At the conclusion of Season 13 there will be two remaining episodes left. 20th Century Fox Television kept the show in production for four additional episodes (DABE14-DABE17) bringing the actual amount of remaining episodes to six, however the network nevertheless has yet to license those extra episodes, meaning as few as two or as many as six could air next season. Regardless, all of the completed installments will turn up on DVD if the sets ever continue. Airdates are unknown [24]

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b The 100 Greatest Television Shows of All Time, TIME. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "A Guide to the King of the Hill Archives, 1995-2007". www.lib.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Milestone: 'King of the Hill'". hollywoodreporter.com/. May 11, 2006. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  4. ^ a b c "A Brief History of King of the Hill". macleans.ca. October 31, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  5. ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207076_20207387_20207339,00.html
  6. ^ "TV Ratings: 1997-1998". classictvhits.com. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  7. ^ King of the Hill kept alive by Fox, is in its prime. Long live the king, The San Francisco Chronicle, 2007-01-26. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  8. ^ [1] Lucky see, Monkey do at TV.com.
  9. ^ "Fox Not Renewing King of the Hill". comingsoon.net. October 31, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  10. ^ "Reign ends for 'King of the Hill', Replaced By 'Family Guy' Spin-Off". CNN.com. Associated Press. November 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  11. ^ McDonough, Kevin (2009-04-26). "TV Guy: 40,000 years old and still a 'Baby'". Times Herald-Record. Hudson Valley Media Group. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  12. ^ Hibberd, James (2008-11-03), "King of the Hill" could reign at ABC, Reuters, retrieved 2008-11-04
  13. ^ "ABC Aiming For a Comedy Comeback". variety.com. January 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  14. ^ "King of the Hill Originals still on Tap for next Season". thefutoncritic.com. April 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  15. ^ Bruce Westbrook. "Remote control: Back home in Texas, Mike Judge keeps 'Beavis' clicking," Houston Chronicle, October 15, 1995, page 8.
  16. ^ Kathryn Shattuck. "It was good to be 'King,' but what now?" The New York Times, April 22, 2009 , page AR22.
  17. ^ http://wiki.adultswim.com/xwiki/bin/King+of+the+Hill/Hank
  18. ^ "'King of the Hill' Democrats?". nytimes.com. June 26, 2005. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  19. ^ "Will you marry me/save this series?". macleans.ca. May 22, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  20. ^ http://wiki.adultswim.com/xwiki/bin/King+of+the+Hill/Bobby
  21. ^ http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/tombstone/839/id8.htm
  22. ^ http://wiki.adultswim.com/xwiki/bin/King+of+the+Hill/Luanne
  23. ^ http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/tombstone/839/id8.htm
  24. ^ http://thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=8068
  25. ^ "List of King of the Hill Awards". Retrieved 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  26. ^ "Thirteenth Annual Media Awards". Environmental Media Association. 2003. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
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