King of the Hill reboot acknowledges the passing of time, offering fans a new perspective.
Returning characters with new stories provide a fresh take on the familiar Texas town setting.
The realistic approach and character development make the upcoming season promising for fans.
King of the Hill was always the underdog of Fox’s Sunday night lineup. For 13 seasons, the show served as a palate cleanser for the decreasing quality of The Simpsons, as well as a grounded contrast to the more cartoonish logic of Family Guy. Mike Judge’s chronicle of a family and their neighbors navigating modern life in a fictional Texas town stuck with people enough that it’s now being brought back, and it might just be doing the whole reboot thing right.
The King of the Hill reboot, unlike other previous animated shows that have come back from the dead (like Futurama), will do something animation rarely does: acknowledge the passing of time. This new season finds an older Hank and Peggy Hill returning to Arlen and reconnecting with their old friends, as well as their son Bobby, who is now grown up and working as a chef. A proper trailer was released for the upcoming season, and it looks more promising than ever.
The King of the Hill Reboot Trailer Looks Great
The belated season of the show will still have that same old King of the Hill vibe
The first full King of the Hill reboot trailer shows a lot of promise, which is a lot more than can be said for some other television reboots. Unlike something like the updated version of Frasier, which was essentially an entirely different show, King of the Hill looks like it’s heading right back to familiar territory, albeit with some modern flourishes. Hank and Peggy take a ride service back to their Arlen home, with Hank doing the most Hank Hill thing and giving the driver four stars so he has something to work toward. This is followed by Peggy Hill proudly proclaiming that all her life people have told her she’s a five, with not a hint of self-awareness.
It wouldn’t be a proper return to Arlen without seeing an aging Boomhauer, Hank’s fast-talking pal. Bill Dauterive, Hank’s most pathetic friend, seems to have had a hard time with the Hills being gone for so long. The conspiracy theory-spouting, chain-smoking Dale Gribble is used more sparingly in the trailer, perhaps due to the fact that voice actor Johnny Hardwick tragically passed away before finishing recording his lines. Though Hardwick only completed all of his work for the first six episodes, Dale will still be a part of the show, and will be voiced by Toby Huss (via Deadline), a King of the Hill regular. Another casting change will see comedian Ronny Chieng taking over the Role of Hank’s neighbor Kahn Souphanousinphone. However, one character has been conspicuouslty absent (which sadly makes sense).
The fact that all of these characters are returning, and that fans get to see where they all are 15 years later. King of the Hill has always been the most realistic animated show in Fox’s catalogue, and the fact that the passage of time will be part of the story is such a great choice. Rather than feeling like the show has just been in stasis for the last few years (Futurama had this problem, and its new episodes don’t really hit that hard because of it), the new season can do what the show has always done best: showing Hank’s ongoing confusion and frustration with the modern world.
On top of that, letting Bobby and his friends be full-fledged adults also adds a new layer to King of the Hill‘s storytelling. The show has already done so much with Bobby and Hank’s relationship in terms of a father and his 13-year-old son that he doesn’t quite understand. Now, the tables have turned, and Bobby can be a more self-assured grown-up version of himself, one who might have a few more things to teach his dad. Of course, he might still have a few lessons to learn from Hank. It promises a great new dynamic that hasn’t been seen between these two, and that is exactly what a reboot of any show, animated or not, should be able to do.
King of the Hill is Once Again Avoiding A Simpsons Problem
The Simpsons has been on the air for 36 seasons, and while some fans might argue that the quality has come back in the writing, it has never recaptured the magic of its best years. King of the Hill, on the other hand, maintained a level of quality throughout its many seasons, even if some of the later ones weren’t quite as celebrated.
While The Simpsons has been slowly aging and losing its edge for practically two decades now (even more depending on who you ask), King of the Hill was able to end on its own terms, letting all of the characters have a satisfying ending that wrapped up years of storytelling. While that may make it sound like a reboot isn’t necessary, it’s actually the opposite. Since fans haven’t seen what’s been going on in Arlen, and the show is actually taking its characters into the future (or present), there’s a real opportunity to give everyone new arcs and journeys that set them apart from the original episodes. It’s just one of the reasons why the King of the Hill reboot looks like it is going to succeed where others have failed.
All 10 episodes of King of the Hill season 14 premiere on Disney Plus on August 4th.
