‘King of the Hill' still has something to say in its return

Boston Globe

16 hours ago

'King of the Hill' lasted 13 seasons, during which we got to know Hank and the retinue of weirdos — his neighbors — who gather in the alley behind Hank's house (in the fictional Texas everytown of Arlen) to drink endless cans of Alamo beer and talk about their problems. That may not sound interesting to folks who didn't watch 'King of the Hill,' but fans of the show know what's up, and they were upset when Fox yanked 'King of the Hill' to accommodate the 'Family Guy' spinoff 'The Cleveland Show.'
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Those frowns are about to turn upside down with the 'King of the Hill' reboot, whose 10 episodes drop Aug. 4 on Hulu. Bringing back a beloved show is dicey, obviously; for myriad reasons, many
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The new season reunites most, though not all of the old gang. Importantly, Hill is still voiced by Judge; Kathy Najimy is back as Hank's prideful wife Peggy; and Bobby's adorable rasp is handled once more by Pamela Adlon. However, conspiracist Dale Gribble is voiced now by Toby Huss (because Johnny Hardwick
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Peggy, Bobby, and Hank.
Hulu
But this reboot isn't a nostalgia trip. Hank and Peggy have just returned to Texas after living for several years in Saudi Arabia — Hank was in the propane business there, too — and they soon discover things have changed in Arlen in the intervening 16 years. On the way home from the airport, for instance, they stop at a convenience store and Hank encounters a unisex bathroom. 'Are we
all-gender
?' he asks Peggy, bewildered. There are also bike lanes, Uber drivers, an app for seemingly everything, and
'Did you know that the cashier at Frumpy's asks for tips now?' Peggy says to Hank. 'I came here for some sensible shorts, not to get fleeced.'
Hank, who has been described, correctly, as an 'aggressively average' American male, has a hard time with change, so all the newness is disorienting. He's also retired now, which makes reentry even rockier. Thankfully, he's got his idiosyncratic buddies: Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer, who seem like slightly exaggerated versions of their former selves. What's interesting is that even Dale's nuttiest conspiracy theories — in episode 3, he claims President George W. Bush's favorite pastime of clearing brush on his Texas ranch was a 'false flag to distract the dummies from the real invasion by MS-13 in secret tunnels from Acapulco' — sound like something you might really hear in 2025. (In Hank's absence, Dale was elected mayor of Arlen, but he only served for 36 hours because, he says, 'I denied the results of my own election.')
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For me, though, it's all about Bobby, who as a pudgy 11-year-old kid never seemed to meet the expectations of his unimaginative dad. Now, Bobby is in his 20s and the executive chef of a Japanese-German barbeque joint. (Predictably — and amusingly — concerns about cultural appropriation are raised.) In one episode, Bobby and Hank square off in a beer-making competition, with Bobby dissing his dad's brew as 'the accountant of beers' and telling him that suds are 'fruitier, bolder, more assertive' nowadays.
But, as always, Hank thinks he knows best. 'I've been drinking beer for 40 years and I never once wished it tasted more like fruit,' he says.
If I have a complaint about the revival, it's the animation. The show used to look hand-drawn, though I know it wasn't for the duration of the show's original run. But the enhanced digital animation of the new series has a slickness that renders it undistinguishable from other animated shows. That's too bad, but not a reason not to tune in.
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KING OF THE HILL
Starring: Mike Judge, Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon, Toby Huss, Jonathan Joss. On Hulu
Mark Shanahan can be reached at