Why The King Of The Hill Revival Is Explicitly Not Trying To Make You Feel Nostalgic
King of the Hill is finally making its big return on the 2025 TV schedule, and I think fans who fire up their Hulu subscription on Monday will quickly be met with one inevitable truth about the new episodes. A lot has changed in Arlen over the decades, and it's not just the viewers who will struggle to cope with that. Hank and Peggy have been overseas for quite some time, and will spend some time playing catch-up with the new Texas and all the changes happening within their friend group.
It's certainly not a return that will invoke nostalgia, but as Toby Huss and Mike Judge said when I spoke to the them and the cast at San Diego Comic-Con, that's by design. America as a whole has changed in the decade and a half since King of the Hill left television, and Huss mentioned a comparison creator Judge made about how viewers should see this series:
The thing you [Mike] mentioned earlier about it being like Andy Griffith is back and he's pissed off. I think the thing about the show is that it really not nostalgic. Their coming back is not nostalgic, and it doesn't feel like it's a nostalgic thing, like, 'Let's look at the old fun people we had fun with.' It's nothing like that. It's a whole other iteration of their lives,just a few years later. It's charming in its own way, and it's safe and it's inviting because it's, you know, meeting these old people, old friends again, but it never felt nostalgic.
Things have changed for every character in King of the Hill, as CinemaBlend wrote about when we pointed out key details in posters and other footage we've seen. Arlen is not the same place it was when Hank and Peggy left, and it takes both a while to find their footing.
Fortunately, Mike Judge said that exact premise is what really got the ideas rolling in the King of the Hill writers' room. The creator told me that once they landed on the idea of Hank taking a contract to live on an American base in Saudi Arabia for several years, it began to make sense why they felt like fishes out of water when returning to Texas:
Once we got the idea that they've been out of the country for 10 or so years and they're coming back, that felt right. A lot of ideas came out of that because then you get to have Hank be annoyed by all these new things, and also that they were in this Aramco base where they have this kind of fake idyllic American city for Americans.
Living on an American base abroad has, as one might guess, made Hank and Peggy a bit out of touch as to how much America has changed in their absence. Not to worry though, as the entire alley gang and Bobby have been there, and are ready to fill them in as I've witnessed across the episodes I received ahead of the premiere.
More On King Of The Hill
King Of The Hill Struggled To Figure Out What To Do About Bobby's Voice In The Revival
The good news is that while the series is not nostalgic in tone, it certainly feels like classic King of the Hill. Despite the tragic deaths of past actors (including the more recent losses of Dale actor Johnny Hardwick and John Redcorn actor Jonathan Joss), the series hasn't lost a step in finding ways to give new adventures on par with some of the greatest episodes of the show's past.
I saw the entire series ahead of its arrival, and as a longtime King of the Hill fan, I can confidently say I want a lot more episodes. I particularly like the decision to age up characters like Bobby, Joseph and Connie, as it presents a fresh new storyline that not only is interesting, but incredibly relevant to the lives of young adults today.
Readers will get to see for themselves when they watch King of the Hill's return on Hulu on Monday, August 4th. I'm excited to see the world's response to the show returning, and I'm hoping it's big enough that a Season 2 renewal is just around the corner.
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Los Angeles Times
3 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Monsta X's return at KCON after 10 years proves endurance is a superpower
It was 2015 when Minhyuk of K-pop powerhouse group Monsta X first appeared at the KCON mainstage in L.A. Back then, baby-faced and bleached blond, he exhibited plenty of cheeky confidence. Clad in black and white, he sported shorts emblazoned with the phrase 'knock, knock,' a nod to the group's hard-hitting debut single 'Trespass.' It was the first time the rookie, only 21, was meeting his American fans onstage at what was then known as Staples Center, now arena. Only three months after their debut, the then-seven-member outfit (singer Wonho amicably departed in 2019) already had fans holding up signs for them in the crowd. Ten years later, Minhyuk, now 31 and only slightly less baby-faced, sits in a conference room at the Mondrian Hotel, where the group has a day lined up of press activities surrounding their return to KCON LA 2025, only now as headliners on Night 2 of the three-day-long festival last weekend of all things trendy in Korean pop culture. Clad in a neutral-toned pinstripe collared shirt, he, along with his four bandmates, could be young executives at a business casual lunch. Only their toned physiques and rapper Joohoney's punchy yellow hair give any signal of their pop star status. Although its the start of a long day, you can tell they are enjoying being with each other, back in the swing of things . Typically quiet, dancer-singer Shownu quipped 'Invest in Bitcoin!' to a question on what he would tell his debut self, and the members sometimes chatted among themselves a bit before who deciding who would answer. While their return to KCON marked the first U.S. appearance of the group reunited after an extended break, their Connect X concert in Seoul a few weeks ago was their first time performing as a group in two years. 'I was nervous,' Minhyuk says of those first moments back. 'But when I was on the stage, I felt so alive.' Tall and dark-haired with a quiet authority, singer Hyungwon adds, 'Seeing the love of our parents' eyes in that moment … and the look in the [fan's eyes], it's the same feeling as from before.' Last month, they also made their first appearance at Waterbomb, South Korea's signature summer music festival, where artists and audience alike get soaked and where Shownu went viral as he tore off his white T-shirt to reveal an impressively muscular torso. 'Everybody, all the members, care about their health and body right now, he says. We always try to keep fit and healthy.' Memes and fan-cams aside, their focus on health rings poignant as the sixth member I.M, was unable to join the group this time due to a back injury. As the band's most fluent English speaker, the rapper, lyricist and producer's acerbic wit helped ground the group's sound, and his team deeply feels his absence. Monsta X represents a vanguard of artists whose strong group dynamics strain beyond the milestone that used to be a breaking point for past K-pop groups: South Korea's mandatory military service. The group's return to KCON is especially significant not only because it heralds a new era for them, but they return to the festival that helped cement their star status in the United States and abroad. Main vocalist Kihyun, whose powerful notes help cut through the group's aggressive signature sound, said that first KCON in 2015 was one of their best memories as they were shocked by the audiences response. 'I want to feel that same feeling we had from our first performance tomorrow,' says Hyungwon about their return to KCON. Joohoney, the group's main rapper, jumps in. 'Back then, we did a meet-and-greet, and we had a stage performance together with Got7. We saw their signs in the crowd, but then we also saw signs for us, so we were very happy,' adding that in a full-circle moment, Jackson Wang, the breakout soloist from Got7, will be performing the same night with them. Further underscoring their continued relevancy, Maggie Kang — director of the popular film 'K-pop Demon Hunters — cited Monsta X as one of the inspirations for the film's fictional group, Saja Boys. 'We could kind of tell and could see that the music style and vibe in the movie is similar to Monsta X, but we didn't know exactly. We are very thankful,' said Joohoney. Shaney Hwang, marketing coordinator for CJ ENM America, the Korean conglomerate that puts on KCON, remembers attending the festival as a high school student in New York, tracking the group's rise, later catching them on tour. 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New York Post
33 minutes ago
- New York Post
Selfish beach goers are ‘sprawling' with massive tents and umbrellas — pissing off locals: ‘They should not be allowed'
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Buzz Feed
an hour ago
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