Author’s Note: This is the first part of a two-part series on the future of King of the Hill. The first part will focus on the reasons why King of the Hill should not be rebooted. The second part will address ideas that would make the reboot work.
King of the Hill really is one of my favorite television shows ever. I’ve seen every episode multiple times and can quote it easily. Anytime someone asks me what it was like to grow up in small town Dixie in the 1990s and 2000s, either because they aren’t from here or are too young, I tell them it really was like King of the Hill. I love the characters, the animation, and how it, in contrast to every other adult cartoon of the era or since, focused on realism rather than being outlandish. For several years there have been rumors of a reboot floating around the internet, one that would move the series 15 or so years into the future, meaning Hank, Bill, Boomhauer, and Dale would be older and Bobby, Joseph, and Connie would be adults. Sources differ on whether or not the show would continue to focus on the older characters or shift to Bobby, Joseph, and Connie. Today, I will lay out the reasons why this series does not need to be rebooted.
1. The political climate is different
The show very much feels like a product of the Clinton and Bush II administrations, and for all the problems those eras had, for people in a town like Arlen, they pretty much could avoid that insanity. Yeah, I know that the show did end early in the Obama administration, but 1) overall, those seasons are weaker than the earlier seasons, and 2) shit really wouldn’t hit the fan until later. Remember, at that point, even Obama thought marriage was between one man and one woman. A town like Arlen would have been pretty much protected from men who thought they were women, people who thought Sam Houston was Hitler, etc. In today’s hyper politically correct climate, that is no longer the case, and I am deeply skeptical the show could handle that well.
2. We will likely be demonized
One of the best parts of King of the Hill it its ability to criticize certain things Heritage America, and especially Dixians, love without really eviscerating them. We love guns, but the show’s biggest gun owner is barely employed and can’t run his own family. We love veterans, especially World War II veterans, but the show’s WWII veteran is a sadist. We admire small-businessmen, but the show’s most prominent businessman is an adulterous alcoholic. We admire loyalty, but Hank’s loyalty to Buck is the reason why he won’t go out on his own, preventing his family from becoming upper middle-class. We admire the U.S. military, but the military treats Bill like a disposable diaper. Yet, I never feel like the show is demonizing gun owners, veterans, small businessmen, loyalty, the military, or Southerners for admiring any of that. Dale is still a loving and devoted father. Cotton is a product of a time that demanded toughness, but he still adores his grandson and is trying to make amends through Bobby. Buck’s issue is that his good and bad qualities are both cranked up to 11. Though still not as well off financially as they could be, the Hills are still rich in every other way. No one is seen as stupid for loving the military. Given how Hollywood openly treats us now, my guess is demonization will be in order.
3. Dale Gribble
If the show comes back, I think Dale will be ruined. Of all the characters in the show, Dale by far comes off more like a proto-dissident rightwinger more than anyone else. And, of course, the man is famously being (or, at least, was for 13 plus years) cucked. Seeing as it was the DR/AR that brought the word “cuck” to the mainstream, it would be too much for the show’s creators to pass up. Which might be alright, if they make that joke once or twice, but my guess is they will make it over and over again, effectively killing the joke.
4. Luanne/Lucky
Two of my favorite characters in the show are Luanne and Lucky. Luanne is a perfect rendition of every Southern hairdresser I know and Lucky, despite all of his problems, is basically a good guy. But, because both Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty are dead now, neither character can be brought back and I don’t want to see the show come back without them. Recasting them, especially at this point, seems like a really bad idea. Not just because no one else can capture those characters as well as their original voice actors could (especially Murphy), but also because it seems disrespectful to the dead.
5. The show really did end perfectly
Confession time: I am not a big fan of the last season of King of the Hill. It’s average, but it is much weaker than the other seasons. Still, when I heard the show was ending, I was both bummed and relieved. I was bummed that such a great show was ending, but also relieved that the show was ending before it was pounded into the ground like The Simpsons. However, I was also a little nervous that for the final episode they would do something big that would ultimately fail – i.e. Dale finds out, Bill kills himself, or Buck dies leaving (or not leaving) Strickland Propane to Hank. Instead, they went for something much more subtle but also deeper – Hank and Bobby, after so many years of being as different as night and day, find something to bond over – meat. It’s a minor change compared to what it could have been, but it is also more powerful, from here on out, Hank and Bobby have something to build on, and their relationship will never be the same again. It was as wonderfully understated as the show itself, and that can never be topped.
I have a strong distaste for reboots in general. There are a few times it might be justified, at least in theory, and a few others when it may work, but King of the Hill is such a product of its time, it really feels like there would be no way to make it work. I don’t want to see a hundred plus jokes about the irony of Dale calling others a “cuck.” I don’t want to see Arlen invaded by people who hate Texas (Kahn was enough). But, if it must be rebooted, I do think I can come up with some ideas and I will be exploring soon.
King of the Hill was about the North Texas I grew up, and still live in. Arlen is exactly like most of the towns between Dallas/Fort Worth, and the Red River line.
No matter the progression or regression of trends in the modern world, I have a feeling these characters are so well developed that they could easily be great characters in today’s atmosphere. Judge and Daniels want to bring them back aged. KOTH dealt with issues of the time in a way only apropos to the show. They interacted with slackers, hippies, animal and climate activists, vegetarians, yuppies, gays, transvestites, domestic terrorists, etc., without making the show about those things and about their relationships, with the various world current affairs acting only as a backdrop and not as the message of the show. I saw the original as being about a conservative traditional Christian family and the ever changing modern world them and their ability to coexist with their values intact, at times changed after learning something new from their experiences.