Link to the audio version of this post is HERE
As an avid hater of summer, there is still one aspect of the summertime that I really do enjoy. The smell of food being cooked over an open flame. That’s right, I love some grilling. Whether you call it a barbecue or a cookout, if you’re grilling up some burgers, hot dogs, steaks, and/or chicken, I will brave the heat to come and eat it. Toss some vegetables on, while you’re at it; I know you’re thinking corn on the cob, but may I offer grilled eggplant for consideration? Bell peppers too. And we all know that you can’t do a proper barbecue without propane and propane accessories. Let’s get into the rebooted King of the Hill season 14.
It’s easy to get jaded about the number of reboots and their various levels of success. I love Futurama, but the reboot of that has been hit or miss, for example. Family Guy came back one too many times and now it just can’t be defeated. Even the arguably perfect Arrested Development’s return was fraught with missteps. So when I heard that my beloved King of the Hill was making a return, I was a bit skeptical. In case you’re not familiar, King of the Hill originally ran for 13 seasons between 1997 and 2010. The show centers around Hank Hill, a middle-aged seller of propane and propane accessories and his family, wife Peggy and son Bobby. They live in the fictional Arlen, Texas and generally have a pretty nice life together. Hank and Peggy traded Arlen for a job in Saudi at the end of the original show and now they’re returning. They’re back at the old house, but Texas has changed. And so have they.
Well, maybe not Peggy so much.
Most of the cast returns, other than those who are sadly no longer with us. It took some time to get used to Toby Huss (Halt and Catch Fire, The Four Seasons) as Dale Gribble, but that means it frees up Ronny Chieng (M3gan, Reggie Dinkins), to fill his VA boots as Khan Souphanousinphone, which is nice. I’m always happy to see more Ronny Chieng (or hear, in this case). Creator Mike Judge returns as Hank, Kathy Najimy (Sister Act, Hocus Pocus) is back as Peggy, Pamela Adlon (Better Things, Californication) is back as Bobby. The rest of the voices will feel familiar too.
While Hank and Peggy are struggling to adapt to a Texas (and a Texan society) that looks and feels very different from what it was when they left, Bobby is thriving. Now 21 years old, Bobby is running his own restaurant in Dallas; a Japanese/Texan/German fusion restaurant that looks fantastic. And I’m not talking in the way that cartoon food always looks delicious; I mean that if this restaurant actually existed, I would want to go to it. After a successful night out, Bobby bumps into an old friend; Connie, next door neighbor and childhood sweetheart. The two of them have grown apart, but there’s nothing to it. They seem genuinely happy to see each other again and reconnect. Bobby’s taken the now-unconventional route and decided to go straight into entrepreneurship instead of college and he’s more than happy with how it’s going. The restaurant is a success and he’s content putting in the hard work and seeing the results; he even lives with his childhood best friend Joseph Gribble. Honestly, I had no idea the emotional impact it would have seeing Bobby grown up and doing well. Usually when we come back to a character after a long time, the story is about them having withdrawn to hermitage. Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, Thor; the list goes on. And while those are done with varying levels of success as well (Indiana Jones not so much, but it worked for Luke and Thor; a quick reminder that I love The Last Jedi), it’s nice to just see one of these characters I grew up watching be okay for once. It’s not like everything’s perfect, but he’s doing well and has healthy boundaries in most aspects of his life. It’s beyond refreshing.
As you can imagine, there’s a little hesitation that comes with comedy reboots especially because comedy is one of those things doesn’t always translate across decades. Look at how poorly Friends has aged. Hank Hill was kind of out of touch in 1997, imagine how he is now. Handled poorly, this could come across really, really offensive and unfunny; you know, the Rob Schneider effect. There is a bit of “old man yells at cloud” about his complaints sometimes, but it’s not over the top. At the core of it, as much as Hank is stuck in his ways and out of touch, Hank has a good heart and it shows. He can get angry, but nothing about him or the standards to which he holds himself and the world is ever hateful or discriminatory and that’s been consistent through the entire series. Hank may disapprove of “hippies”, but he never hates anyone because of who they are. Through the original series, he’s grown so much and then here he grows even more, which is really awesome. You can see the Bob’s Burgers influence here. I’ve said before that Bob’s is like the marriage of the creative teams of King of the Hill and Adult Swim series Home Movies, so it stands to reason that all these years making Bob’s such a great series would influence how they return to Arlen, Texas. It may take some poking and prodding and Hank can dig in sometimes due to culture shock; and it’s the most unexpected kind of culture shock, since Texas is his stomping grounds, but none of this gets in the way of Hank being a good man. He’s supposed to have home field advantage here. And yet it’s so different. Even his beloved beer has changed, which he finds out when he and Bobby try to enter a home-brew competition in Dallas with an Alamo-alike (Alamo being Hank’s fictional favorite domestic beer, most likely based on Texas’s own Lone Star beer). Which, I can’t fault him for liking the beer that he likes, but I also love when people get creative with beer. I once had a beer at a home-brew festival that tasted like the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I’ve ever had. You’re not going to get that out of a can sold on the shelves of the Mega Lo Mart. But like Bob Belcher, Hank Hill is open to changing and open to growing. Eventually. Most of the time. I mean, his dad was Cotton Hill, a horrible misogynist and racist who demeaned him from the moment he was born. Growth is a process, but Hank is in it; even if he doesn’t always realize it. If every boomer were more like Hank Hill, the country would be a better place.
Hank used to think that boy ain’t right, but I think he’s starting to learn that he and Peggy did a great job raising Bobby
Hank has also entered a stage in life that’s really awkward for him: retirement. Considering Hank is essentially an idealized version of so-called traditional American values, the idea of trying to fill your time with anything but work just feels wrong to him. He tried brewing beer. He tried soap operas. He even tried reality TV shows. But he finds himself other outlets as well, including a foray into the gig economy. And he’s not the only one who’s trying to understand the world he finds himself in; Bobby is just 21, learning how to be an adult and on his own and navigate the minefield of adult life and relationships. Things are going well, but he’s still finding his way through. You’ve got a long road ahead of you, Bobby. If I ever figure it out, I’ll let you know. I know I’m supposed to be focusing on the lighter, more fun aspects of this show for the summertime, and yes, it’s laugh out loud funny on multiple occasions every episode, but it’s the newfound depth that really impresses me about King of the Hill. They ratcheted up the Bob’s Burgers dial, it seems; delivering real stories in a world that feels real (in the case of King of the Hill, even more so, whereas Bob’s Seymour Bay setting feels like a surreal beach town version of Stars Hollow and Arlen feels more like a real world town), with emotional impact, smart writing, endearing characters, and lots of laughs along the way.
Texting is a nightmare, Bobby. How do we live in a world where punctuation makes you sound angry?
King of the Hill has always touched upon deeper topics, but this season feels different; instead of having occasional moments where the show sits down and has a real conversation with you, it’s more seamlessly woven into the tapestry of the storytelling. You can see it in the gig economy episode; Hank finds himself in situations that are awkward and funny because he’s so strange around normal human feelings, but it also speaks to a deeper trend in our society. He runs into oversharer after oversharer and people who are looking for more than just the work he’s been tasked to do. It’s such a smart and casual way to show how disconnected people have become and how much we’re starved for any kind of real connection that we’ll invite someone into our homes to do a simple job that we no longer have time to do ourselves and then share with them the intimate details of our life like they’re the person sat next to you at an airport bar. If you’ve never chatted with someone at an airport bar (hotel bars work fairly similarly), there’s an incredible phenomenon there. I remember being Bobby’s age, my first time traveling on my own, and sitting at the airport bar while an elderly man told me his entire life story. Regrets, hopes for the future, a chance at a relationship with his grandkids and a renewed relationship with his adult son. I remember these details intimately even nearly two decades later. Human beings are complicated creatures who want to be a part of something and apart from everything at the same time. People are simultaneously more open than ever before and more closed off. We’re a mess; and King of the Hill embraces that mess in a funny and touching way.
Extra awkwardness on the side, you said?
In the halls of reboots that feel like hollow nostalgia-bait, King of the Hill stands head and shoulders above any reboot that I can remember seeing (other than X-Men 97). So many times, these ideas fall short and cheapen the memories you have of the original. But that’s not the case here (nor in X-Men 97). It’s an amazing continuation of the story that felt wrapped up back in 2010. I never thought I’d see these characters on my screen again and I never thought that when I did, it would be such a comforting sight. Season 14 was an absolute triumph and I’m so happy that it’s back. In fact, it may be the best season of the entire series and I still don’t understand how they were able to pull that off when almost everyone else fails at trying to recapture old magic. I didn’t know I needed it, but I did. Season 15 hits Hulu and Disney+ on July 20th, this coming Monday at time of publication, and all 14 previous seasons are available for streaming there as well. If you’re new to the show, I don’t see any reason why you can’t pick right up on 14, but if you want to go back to 1997 and watch the show from the start, well, you’re in for a good time.
And that’s it for this week’s post. I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t take a moment to say goodbye to legendary actor Sam Neill. News of his passing was sudden and shocking and once I’ve had enough time to process, I want to give him the attention he deserves. I’m going to miss you, Dr. Grant.
I never thought I’d live to see Hank Hill do keepy-uppies