The "King of the Hill" revival is officially live. You can now tune into Hulu and watch 10 new episodes of one of the greatest animated shows ever created (and one of the few shows friendly to conservatives that's actually funny and entertaining). But should you? Or is this just another Hollywood reboot that takes a classic TV show and turns it into woke, poorly written garbage?
I'll admit that "King of the Hill" is one of my favorite shows of all time, animated or not, but given how bad these Hollywood reboots often turn out, I didn't have high hopes. If Hollywood knows how to do anything, it's how to take the characters on TV shows whose values look like mine and determine that the best way to bring them into modern times is by adding a heaping helping of liberal ideology.
I'm happy to report that the "King of the Hill" 2025 version does not do that.
Hank and Peggy Hill are still, for the most part, the same old traditional Texans they were in the original series, with a few exceptions. For example, instead of just Spanish, Peggy now tries to speak Arabic, and Hank is a closet soccer fan. But all of that stems from the fact that they've spent the last however many years living on a base in Saudi Arabia, where Hank worked as "assistant manager in charge of Arabian propane and Arabian propane accessories."
That felt like sort of a weird move, but it set the scene for the first episode in which the Hills return to Arlen, Texas, which feels like a foreign land to them in various ways. Throughout the series, the two try to navigate a modern world back in the United States. They don't shy away from jokes about gender identification or even race — Peggy calls Hank out for telling the black guy who rented their home while they were away that he voted for Barack Obama in one episode — but those things aren't in your face.
An Associated Press writer actually describes it quite well: "The show’s tone maintains its gentle mocking of modern life, from hipsters and their craft ales to bike lanes. Hill at one point shakes his head over modern outdoor grills having sensors and app connections: 'I shouldn’t have to call technical support to make a burger.'"
So, what about the Hills' son, Bobby? I'll admit that he's not exactly what I pictured, but in some ways, he's exactly where he should have ended up. Bobby is 21 now and lives in Dallas, where he runs and co-owns a Japanese-German fusion restaurant with his childhood nemesis, Chane Wassanasong. He's matured. He has a passion for his career. He has girlfriends. He's adapted to the modern world better than his parents, which often comes between them. However, he's still Bobby underneath it all — the guy who sometimes lacks confidence, pals around with his best buddy, Joseph Gribble, and still pines for his on-again, off-again childhood girlfriend, Connie Souphanousinphone.
Most of the rest of the characters are still there. Dale and Nancy Gribble are still together. He is as paranoid as ever, and she still has a, um, relationship with a chubbier John Redcorn. Boomhauer has a nerdy little stepson of sorts who still wears masks post-pandemic. When the show starts, Bill Dauterive is a reclusive, unkempt shut-in who has watched every single thing on Netflix, but he gets it together pretty quickly with Hank's help. Even Hank's same-age stepmom, Didi, and his younger brother, Good Hank "G.H." Hill, play a prominent role in a later episode.
Notably absent are Hank and Peggy's niece, Luanne Platter, and her husband, Lucky Kleinschmidt. Their images show up in a framed photo in the Hills' home — there are lots of little Easter eggs and throwbacks like that — but the show's creators say that Luanne and Lucky won't be back. Both were voiced by big-name actors who have since died. Brittany Murphy played Luanne, while rocker Tom Petty played Lucky. At one point during the show, they do play a Petty song as a little nod to the late star.
It's also worth mentioning that the actor who voiced Dale Dribble, Johnny Hardwick, died about two years ago. Toby Huss replaces him in this reboot — he was the voice of Hank's father, Cotton Hill before — and he does a decent job, but every once a while he says something that brings you back to reality and reminds you that this isn't the original. Otherwise, I think most of the original actors returned.
Here's my overall assessment. The show doesn't get overly political or go woke as I feared it might, so that's a win right there. It doesn't try too hard. Is it as great as the original? Not quite. But it comes pretty darn close. I subscribed to Hulu just to watch this and write about it yesterday, and I watched all 10 episodes in less than 24 hours. Admittedly, the first episode felt a little clunky and weird, but once I was two or three in, I felt like I was hanging out with old friends.
My biggest critique is that I wish they'd done more than 10 episodes. I think there is a season two planned, but it almost felt like once I really got into this, it was already over. A few of the storylines could have been a little better. At times, I got a little bored, but full confession: I was playing a video game while I watched some last night and probably zoned out a little. I'll probably watch it again to digest it fully. I mean, I've watched the original more times than I can count.
The other thing that's kind of weird is the timeline. When the original show ended, Bobby was 13-14 years old, and Hank and Peggy were in their early to mid-forties. Now, he's 21. Before the audience learned that, I thought he was closer to 30. That means that at most, eight years have passed. Hank and Peggy should be in their early fifties now, but they're retired and seem older. Plus, if they went to Saudi Arabia when Bobby turned 18, which has been suggested, they were only there for three years, but they came back to the United States and acted like they'd been gone for much longer. But I suppose that's the magic of TV, especially animated TV.
If you're a fan of the original, give it a watch. If you're tired of nothing but woke revivals and new shows, give it a watch. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
