King of the Hill

King of the Hill
From left to right: Ladybird, Bobby, Hank, Peggy, and Luanne
Format	Animated sitcom
Created by	Mike Judge Greg Daniels
Voices of	Mike Judge Kathy Najimy Pamela Segall Adlon Brittany Murphy Johnny Hardwick Stephen Root
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	12
No. of episodes	235 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 min. per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original run	January 12, 1997 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

King of the Hill is an Emmy-winning American animated television series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It centers around 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 Steely Dan / The Doobie Brothers former Guitarist, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and The Refreshments. King of the Hill has won two Emmy Awards and has been nominated for four since its inception.

According to Fox.com, new episodes will start airing Sunday September 28th, 2008.^[2]

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of King of the Hill episodes

[edit] Origins

In early 1995, after a successful 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 from a character in Beavis and Butt-Head, Mr. Anderson.^[3] 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.^[4]

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 (mostly The NFL on FOX) 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 the series was renewed.^[3] Fox renewed it for seasons eleven and twelve, making it the second longest-running animated television series after The Simpsons.^[5]

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.

[edit] Setting

King of the Hill is set in Arlen, Texas. Arlen is a fictional town, although several references to surroundings are mentioned.^[3] In a 1995 interview prior to the show's debut, Judge described the setting as "a town like Humble."^[6] Like most fictional towns, the basis for the town does not originate from one specific place.

[edit] Themes

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.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters in King of the Hill

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. And when somebody makes him mad he tends to say "I'm going to kick your ass.", or any thing on that subject that will go with the phrase. Then 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. Bobby lacks his father's athletic prowess, dislikes most sports with the exception of 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 "The boy ain't right" and "What has the MTV done to you, son?". 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.

Luanne Platter is named after a plate from Luby's, a cafeteria that is famous throughout Texas. Luanne is Peggy's niece. She was taken in by the Hills after her mother (Leeann) was sent to prison for "stabbing (Luanne's) Daddy (Peggy's brother) who had size 6 feet with a fork."

[edit] Celebrity voices

Billy West, 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 Trace Adkins, 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, Lisa Kudrow, Laura Linney, Lucy Liu, Heather Locklear, Lindsay Lohan, Bernie Mac, Danny Masterson, Rue McClanahan, Matthew McConaughey, Mary Tyler Moore, 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. Musician Tom Petty has a recurring role as Lucky, the boyfriend (later husband) of Luanne Platter.

[edit] References in Popular Culture

• The series is occasionally referenced in The Simpsons. The Hill family was once (briefly) seen in "Bart Star" (with Dale, Bill and Boomhauer visible in the background), where Bart Simpson and his football team badly defeat Arlen's team, with Hank making the remark: "We drove 2,000 miles for this?" In "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", Barney imitates Homer in order to put drinks on his tab at Moe's, saying "D'oh!, woohoo!, uh... that boy ain't right.", combining Homer's and Hank Hill's catchphrases. In "Helter Shelter", in which the Simpson house undergoes fumigation, the family questions one another on where to live. Homer decides to stand outside the house and wait. He opens a beer, and the King of the Hill theme tune plays and, as with the theme of King of the Hill, time speeds up and events occur rapidly while Homer takes sips of beer, just as Hank does. Upon finding that only a few minutes have passed, Homer gives up. In "Missionary: Impossible", Hank can be seen at the end of the episode working the PBS-style pledge phonelines for the FOX network. In "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays", while Bart and Lisa are fighting over the remote control, it stops on one channel and although the viewer cannot see the screen they hear an imitation of Hank's voice saying "Bobby, I've got propane in my urethra," combining three recurring elements of the show. Occasionally in the background of Bobby's room a Bart Simpson doll is seen on his dresser.
• In the Family Guy episode "One If By Clam, Two If By Sea", the guys stand in front of the alley and act out the famous "Yep" scene after their bar has been taken over by British people. In "Petergeist", Peter begins to peel off his face in front of a mirror until Hank Hill's face is revealed underneath. He then says "heheheh... propane."
• In the episode "Cartoon Wars Part II" of the series South Park, when Cartman and Kyle are fighting at Fox Studios, they pass through cubicles with signs that say "King of the Hill - 11th Season." Mike Judge has been friends with South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker since he advised them on how to deal with the cult status of a cartoon in 1997 and provided the unmuffled voice of Kenny in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

King of the Hill

• King of the Hill (Fox Broadcasting Company site) (requires Flash)
• King of the Hill at the Internet Movie Database
• King of the Hill at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• King of the Hill at TV.com