‘King of the Hill’ Reboot Is Light on Nostalgia, Heavy on Character

The first (and, for a while, the only) thirteen seasons of King of the Hill have always felt encased in amber. While the show lost some steam in the latter seasons, it remained a prime example of television at its finest. Characters grew and changed in Arlen, Texas. They were complicated but charming. The problems they faced were steeped in real life, while never afraid to get absurd. It was a wonderful show, and, at first, I was a little worried a reboot might tarnish its legacy. I’m happy to say that I’m as incorrect as Peggy Hill trying to translate Spanish to English.

King of the Hill tells the story of a family in the small, fictional town of Arlen, Texas, led by propane salesman and patriarch Hank Hill. The new episodes pick up *mumble mumble* years after the show’s last season, with Hank and his substitute teacher extrordinaire wife, Peggy Hill, returning to Arlen after a stint in Saudi Arabia where Hank was installing propane for ARAMCO. Their time away helps facilitate the time jump, as we get reacquainted with characters like Hank and Peggy’s son Bobby, who has skipped college to become a chef and co-owner of a restaurant in Dallas.

I was a little nervous at first that the show would lean on Hank feeling like a man out of time. The Texas he returns to is very different than the one he left for an unspecified amount of time. Most of the first episode is Hank reacting negatively to how different things are now, and how ARAMCO made him feel more at home in Saudi Arabia, having built an American-like neighborhood for him (and others) to live in. However, the episode ends with Hank happily accepting that his favorite Girl Scout cookies, Samoas, have been renamed to be more respectful to the Samoan people.

That’s part of why the new season is so successful; they aren’t trying to keep the characters the same as when we last saw them. While many character traits are still firmly in place, the show makes it clear that everyone has grown while they were away, and will continue to do so as the show progresses. One episode features a change in Hank that is not only hilariously shocking but contradicts one of Hank’s biggest sticking points in the original run. Hank acknowledges as much! It’s great!

It’s in that growth that the show manages to be sweet instead of nostalgic, while also generating beautiful conflict. We get to see Bobby reunite with his former girlfriend, Connie Souphanousinphone. They share a moment singing karaoke, showing how much they’ve aged, which made me cry, and then had Connie explain to a heartbroken Bobby that she’s in a non-emotionally-committed open-relationship with Bobby’s longtime rival and business partner, Chane Wassanasong. It is both hilarious and devastating, something King of the Hill has always excelled at.

This is all assisted by a cast who feels like they haven’t missed a beat. Mike Judge, Kathy Najimi, and Pamela Adlon still excel as Hank, Peggy, and Bobby, delivering heartfelt, grounded performances tinged with expert comedic delivery. That goes the same for the supporting cast. Lauren Tom brings so much depth to Connie. Stephen Root brings us the same pathetic yet lovable Bill Dauterive, who gets a chance to shine in one of the season’s most unhinged episodes.

That doesn’t mean that the offscreen tragedies that have plagued the show don’t affect it. Jonathan Joss voiced Jon Redcorn for most of the show’s original run, but was murdered in a hate crime two months ago. His work this season is phenomenal, and it ends with a tribute to him and his work. Episode seven ends with a tribute to Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Dale Gribble. Hardwick passed away in 2023 after completing some work for the new episodes, leaving Dale as an odd mix of his voice and that of Toby Huss.

Given that work had already begun on the show before both men passed, how they handled their characters makes sense. I’m still a little flabbergasted by how Luanne Platter is not even mentioned in the new episodes, nor is her husband, Lucky. The two were voiced by Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty, respectively, both of whom had died since the show originally ended. I didn’t expect them to be recast, but not mentioning them at all felt strange. Still, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the people who worked with them for so long to return to the show without them. Not bringing them up may have just been the easiest on an emotional level, and that I would understand.

All in all, I think the title of the first episode, Return of the King, sums up the new season perfectly. This feels like prime King of the Hill, complete with nuance, character development, raw emotion, and big laughs. Even Hank’s position in a very different Republican party brings laughs, while managing to not mention the eight-hundred-pound orange elephant in the room (you just know Hank hates that guy; we don’t need to hear him say it). I don’t know what kind of legs this new iteration has, but I’ll take any time in Arlen, Texas I can get.