King of the Hill
Webpages concerning "King of the Hill"
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Wikipedia-Article "King of the Hill"
- This article is about the TV series. For other uses see King of the Hill (disambiguation).
| King of the Hill | |
 Neighbors drinking in the alley.
From left to right: Boomhauer, Hank, Dale, and Bill |
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| Format | Animated Sitcom |
| Run time | 30 Minutes |
| Creator(s) | Mike Judge and Greg Daniels |
| Starring | Mike Judge Kathy Najimy Pamela Segall Brittany Murphy Ashley Gardner Toby Huss Lauren Tom Stephen Root Johnny Hardwick David Herman Johnathan Joss |
| Country | USA |
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company |
| Original run | January 12, 1997 – Present |
| No. of episodes | 190 |
King of the Hill is a long-running, satirical animated series. It depicts a "typical" suburban Texan family, the Hills. A conservative, God-fearing Methodist family proud of its Texas heritage, the Hills reside in the fictional town of Arlen. Unlike most other animated series, which feature wacky or outlandish situations, King of the Hill attempts to retain realism; it is something of a dramedy. It is broadcast weekly on the FOX Network. The show's popularity has also led to frequent re-runs (syndicated) by many local affiliates and FX Networks. The show airs in the United Kingdom on Sky One, Channel 4 and FX.
King of the Hill documents the Hill family's daily life and the effects of the Hills traditional values versus controversial topics in modern America. Themes of past episodes have included women's liberation, female pastors, sex education, sexual harassment, proctologic examinations, ethnic diversity, and addiction support/ anger management groups. The show focuses on the simple lives of the Hill family, often in contrast to "outsiders" such as their Laotian neighbors, the Souphanousinphones.
The title theme was written and performed by The Refreshments.
Contents |
History
The series is the brainchild of Beavis and Butt-Head creator Mike Judge. After a successful run of Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, he went on to co-create King of the Hill with former Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge is a former resident of Garland, Texas, which is possibly the inspiration for the fictional town name Arlen.
Recently, King of the Hill has joined the ranks of other FOX shows like Futurama and Family Guy in that it's been placed in a poor timeslot, and faced frequent pre-emptions from sporting events featuring overtime play and post-game commentary. Currently the show is beginning its tenth season, which will be its last. It will be comprised for the most part of episodes which did not get to air last season, along with a few originals. It is unknown yet what type of series finale the show will have, if any.
About Arlen
As in The Simpsons, the location of the fictional town (Arlen) relative to real-life locations is never explicitly stated within the show. References to Madero and Wichita Falls, and Hank's preference for Dallas-based sports teams implies that Arlen lies within the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Garland, Texas, Mike Judge's hometown, also lies near Dallas/Fort Worth. However, in several episodes, Hank's mail shows an address in the 78104 and 78701 ZIP Codes, the postal numbers for Beeville, Texas, and Austin, Texas, respectively. Hank and Peggy have made day trips into Mexico when the peso was devalued, indicating a short distance from the national border. Kahn, Hank's Laotian neighbor, commutes into Houston, which is a three-hour drive from Arlen.
Arlen, one of George Bush's "Communities of Excellence", is a city of 145,900. It was originally founded as "Harlottown", later shortened to "Harlen", by settlers during the westward migrations of the 1800s. The town was then known for its large population of prostitutes. City leaders renamed the town to its current name as a way to turn around the city's image as a haven of prostitution.
Arlen's current major industry is meat processing, and the town is home to at least one major pig processing facility.
Most of Arlen's Main Street businesses were forced into bankruptcy after the opening of the local Mega Lo Mart. The chain store closed down Arlen's bait-and-tackle shop, its hardware store, and, briefly, its propane supplier.
Major characters
When Mike Judge pitched the show 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). In a unique move, Mike Judge changed many of the characters to look like the actors and actresses providing their voices: Bill, Luanne, Nancy, and John Redcorn are all physically modeled on their voice actors. Dale is based on Robert Patrick, whom Judge had originally wanted to voice the character.
Hills (including Platters)
- Hank Hill, (Mike Judge), an upright Eagle Scout and all-American patriot, Hank is the assistant manager at Strickland Propane, and proudly sells "propane and propane accessories." He sounds like and bears a mild resemblance to Tom Anderson from Beavis and Butthead, a character also voiced by Judge. Hank is a generally well-meaning father, but is often frustrated and confused by modern trends and the antics of his friends and family members. Hank suffers from a narrow urethra, which made it difficult for the Hills to conceive Bobby.
- Bobby Hill, (Pamela Segall (Also as Pamela Segall Adlon)), the chubby 13-year-old son of Hank and Peggy, who wants to be a famous prop comic when he is older. Bobby's dissimilarity to his father is a constant source of worry for Hank and humor for the viewers.
- Peggy Hill, (Kathy Najimy), wife of Hank, substitute Spanish teacher (whose knowledge of the Spanish language is seriously lacking), freelance newspaper columnist, Notary Public, and Boggle champion. Though generally well-meaning, she is often quite ignorant, and she believes herself to be much smarter and more knowledgable than she actually is.
- Luanne Platter, (Brittany Murphy), college-age niece of Peggy, creator of Manger Babies, student of the beauty academy and later, junior college. She is often portrayed as dumb, though she has also shown herself to be an expert mechanic and good with logic puzzles. Although she was consistently shown to be promiscuous during the first half of the show's run, she settled down after enrolling in college, attained a church sponsored "second virginity" and started a Bible Study class. Luanne's name is a joke to Texans who recognize the "Luly's" restaurant the Hill family frequents: at "Luby's" restaurants in Texas, the generic "one meat, two vegetables" plate is called the "Lu Ann Platter".
- Cotton Hill, (Toby Huss), Hank's gruff, politically incorrect, and imbalanced father. He had his shins blown off and his feet reattached to his knees in WWII, resulting in his short height and stumpy gait. During his hospitalization in Japan he impregnanted a Japanese nurse, who gave birth to a son. Cotton eventually retired from the Texas State Guard as a full Colonel and spends most of his days with his VFW and American Legion buddies. Has married his much younger dimwitted blonde nurse Didi, and fathered an infant child "G.H" (Good Hank). The calling of his later life is the assassination of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. He consistently refers to Peggy as "Hank's Wife." He makes frequent reference to his (perhaps dubious) wartime heroism, including his killing of "fiddy men," (i.e., fifty Japanese soldiers). He refers to his vehicle as a "Cadillac Car".
- Tilly Hill, Cotton's first wife and Hank's mother. Divorced Cotton after suffering years of verbal abuse.
- Didi Hill, Cotton's second wife and nurse. She went to kindergarten with Hank. She has breast implants, suffered postpartum depression, and is generally depicted as unintelligent.
- Ladybird (Hill), the Hills' purebred bloodhound. She is 14 years old. Her acquisition helped Peggy and Hank conceive Bobby. Named after famous Texan U.S. President Lyndon Johnson's wife Lady Bird Johnson. Her mother was involved in the manhunt for James Earl Ray. Hank's relationship with her frequently seems to be closer and more paternal than his relationship with Bobby.
- Leanne Platter, Luanne's violently alchoholic mother. Imprisoned for stabbing her husband with a fork. Frequently mentioned over the course of the show but seen only once. In that episode she is released from prison and has an abusive affair with Bill.
Gribbles
- Dale Gribble, (Johnny Hardwick), chain smoking neighbor to the Hills, insect exterminator, conspiracy theorist, borderline maniac. He is also president of his gun club and a licensed bounty hunter, though the latter seems to be for prestige, as his bravado fails during confrontations when he thinks he may be in physical danger.
- Joseph Gribble, (Brittany Murphy/Breckin Meyer), muscular 13-year-old son of Dale (although John Redcorn is the biological father, unbeknownst to Dale). The running joke is that despite Joseph's obvious Native American features, Nancy's clearly sexual "healing sessions" with John Redcorn and Dale's manic insistance of his insight into conspiracy theories, Dale is oblivious to that fact.
- Nancy Gribble, (Ashley Gardner), wife of Dale, longtime weather girl on local television station, had a lengthy (10+yrs) affair with John Redcorn.
Souphanousinphones
- Kahn Souphanousinphone, (Toby Huss), the Hill's rich, Laotian American, materialistic next-door neighbor. Harbors a prejudice against Whites, and American Southerners in particular.
- Minh Souphanousinphone, (Lauren Tom), Kahn's wife. She is a housewife and grows roses in the front yard.
- Kahn "Connie" Souphanousinphone, Jr., (Lauren Tom), daughter of Kahn and Minh, violin player, A-student, dates Bobby for the latter majority of the show's run.
- Doggy Souphanousinphone, a feisty West Highland White Terrier.
Other main characters
- Boomhauer, (Mike Judge), womanizing friend of Hank whose mutterings seem incomprehensible to some people (although his associates almost always seem to understand him perfectly). Example: "Dang-ol'-dang-ol'-one-two-three, man, dang-ol', mumble mumble." Boomhauer's occupation is never revealed and has served as a gag in some episodes.
- Bill Dauterive, (Stephen Root), overweight, divorced, clinically depressed neighbor of the Hills and highschool friend of the Hank. He is a barber in the United States Army.
- John Redcorn, (Jonathan Joss), Nancy's former Native American 'healer' and adulterous lover, biological father of Joseph Gribble, former roadie, and former lead singer of Big Mountain Fudgecake; drives a Jeep Wrangler and enjoys classic rock music.
- Buck Strickland, (Stephen Root), owner of Strickland Propane, Hank's boss, compulsive gambler, alcoholic, cheat, and adulterer/womanizer.
Minor characters
- Buckley, (David Herman), boyfriend of Luanne, vaporized in a propane explosion while working at Mega Lo Mart. Had no real feelings for Luanne--or anyone or anything. The majority of his dialogue on the show were the words "What" and "Hey." With tiny angel wings, Buckley came back and visited Luanne after his death.
- Lenore Dauterive (Ellen Barkin), Bill's ex-wife (also, in one episode, the name of his iguana). Mentioned frequently throughout the course of the show, but only appeared once.
- Eustis, (David Herman), a wimpy, moustached patent lawyer, father of Bobby's classmate, Randy.
- Debbie Grund, former employee of Strickland Propane who was Buck Strickland's mistress who once tried to seduce a horrified Hank. She accidentally kills herself while waiting to murder Buck and his wife Miz Liz Strickland. She didn't speak much in the series, but when she did, she was voiced by Brittany Murphy. In the episode leading to her death, she was voiced by Reese Witherspoon.
- Lucky, (Tom Petty) a dimwitted local man living on government disability payments (he slipped in urine in a Costco bathroom) and proud of it. He once worked on an assembly line making snack foods, which led to him scheming to show Bobby how good a chip tastes right off the line by breaking into his old workplace. He dated Luanne, to Hank's consternation. Lucky was a member of John Redcorn's band Big Mountain Fudgecake.
- Chuck Mangione, playing himself, musician who shamelessly promotes Mega Lo Mart until he grows tired of going to every Mega Lo Mart opening and becomes a hermit. The store's slogan incorporates the title of his well-known hit song "Feels So Good."
- Monsignor Martinez, the hero of the fictional TV show The Monsignor Martinez Mysteries that appears in several episodes. Martinez is a James Bond-ish vigilante monsignor who often kills his enemies in violent or extravagant ways. His killing someone is always accompanied by him saying, "Vaya con Dios" (go with God).
- Lane Pratley, the sexist owner of Arlen's Hyundai, Cheverolet & Cadillac car dealerships. Favors prostitutes.
- Miz Liz Strickland, (Kathleen Turner) tried to seduce Hank Hill to get even with her womanizing husband. Hank reacted with horror to her advances even though she is attractive.
- Rev. Karen Stroup, (Mary Tyler Moore) the first female minister of Arlen First Methodist. Originally from Minnesota, but was assigned to Arlen after the previous minister left to start an online ministry.
- M. F. Thatherton, (Burt Reynolds), former employee of Strickland Propane who struck out on his own and opened up the crooked Thatherton Fuels company across the street from Strickland. He is a foil to Hank Hill. Thatherton once bragged that he sold propane to nursing homes by telling them it was oxygen. A small joke involves the alluded to, but not stated, meaning of the initials M.F.
- Toppington (aka Topsy), an old wartime buddy of Cotton's, he often acts as accomplice to Cotton's inane hate/revenge-driven schemes. Topsy has no teeth so he mumbles whenever he talks, and one of his favorite tricks is to puff out his cheeks a la Dizzy Gillespie. Topsy always appears somewhat disoriented and mildly violent. In a later episode he is left for dead by Cotton after a failed scheme; Cotton: "He's playing checkers with the worms."
- Chane Wasonasong, a smart but obnoxious classmate of Bobby and Connie's. Connie's parents are constantly trying to fix her up with Chane as they see him as a positive alternative to dating Bobby. Chane often refers to Bobby as "Booby" Hill. In one episode, Bobby finally stands up to Chane's abuse by kicking him in the testicles.
- Ted Wasonasong, father of Chane. Ted is an elitist (parodying stereotypes of affluent Asian-Americans) who elicits jealousy from Kahn. He is a senior member of the prestigious Nine Rivers Country Club, which has rejected Kahn's numerous attempts at membership.
- Jimmy Wichard, a violent mentally retarded man. According to Dale: "People say he fried his brain one day staring at the sun. Of course to do that he couldn't have been too smart to begin with...kind of a chicken/egg thing I guess." He has had several jobs including concession manager at the racetrack and modern artist.
Trivia
- All the main caucasian characters worship at Arlen First Methodist, as does John Redcorn. The Souphanousinphones are Buddhists and follow the Dalai Lama.
- Hank (much to his discomfort) learned when he was 41 that he had been born in New York City; this may have been inspired by Mike Judge's discovery that he was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
- Stephen Root, who voices Bill, originally auditioned for the part of Dale.
Quotes from the Show
- Hank: "My name is Hank Hill, and I sell propane and propane accessories."
- Bill: "I would never join a religion that restricted my diet. I don't want to get into heaven that way."
- Cotton: "One man's trash is another man's treasure." (referring to ex-wife Tilly)
- Peggy: "With Hank, it's propane first, family second and friends third."
Episodes
See List of King of the Hill episodes.
DVD releases
- For full details, see King of the Hill DVDs.
Region 1 releases
In the United States and Canada, the first five seasons have been released on Region 1 DVD, the first two featuring a wealth of extras alongside the episodes. The current release pattern is two sets per year.
Complete seasons
| DVD | Date | Disc format |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | July 1, 2003 | 3 single-sided discs |
| The Complete Second Season | November 11, 2003 | 4 single-sided discs |
| The Complete Third Season | December 28, 2004 | 3 double-sided discs |
| The Complete Fourth Season | May 3, 2005 | 3 double-sided discs |
| The Complete Fifth Season | November 22, 2005 | 2 double-sided discs and 1 single-sided disc |
| The Complete Sixth Season | Spring 2006 |
Region 2 releases
In the United Kingdom seasons 1 and 2 are due to be released on Region 2 in March 2006. It is as yet unknown whether they will be issued in the same format as their Region 1 counterparts.
Complete seasons
| DVD | Date | Disc format |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | March 13, 2006 | TBC |
| The Complete Second Season | March 13, 2006 | TBC |