How many series of King of the Hill are there?

Season 13 was the final season of King of the Hill. After the episode "Lucky See, Monkey Do", episodes were shown in 720p high-definition. 20th Century Fox Television initially ordered 13 production episodes, but decided to keep the show in production for four additional episodes (DABE14–DABE17). However, the network only aired the last of those four episodes (13 total for that production season), and confirmed it would not air the remaining four unaired episodes (DABE13–DABE16) in prime time, opting instead for syndication. These episodes premiered between May 3 and May 6, 2010, on local stations and premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim line-up between May 17 and May 20, 2010, followed by the series finale (DABE17, "To Sirloin With Love") on May 21, 2010.

Índice Show

Initial success
Facing cancellation
Settings, characters, and themes
Why did King of the Hill get Cancelled?
Is King of the Hill on Hulu 2022?
Did King of the Hill end?
What show did King of the Hill get Cancelled for?

A hilarious slice of middle-class life in small-town America, "King of the Hill" has become one of the most beloved and long-running prime-time animated series in television history. Outrageously funny, but remarkably truthful, the series follows the exploits of propane salesman Hank Hill (Mike Judge) as he reigns over a family of underachievers, a group of beer-guzzling friends, and the every day challenges of life in Arlen, Texas.

Judge and Daniels conceived the series after a run with Judge's Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, and the series debuted on the Fox Network on January 12, 1997, becoming a hit early on. The series' popularity has also led to syndication around the world, formerly running every night on Adult Swim from January 1, 2009 to June 29, 2018. The series then aired reruns on Comedy Central from July 24, 2018 to November 2019, when the series was pulled from the lineup. The series joined FXX's lineup on September 20, 2021; shortly thereafter, Adult Swim regained partial syndication, and so FXX and Adult Swim share the syndication rights as of November 22, 2021. On November 1, 2018, all episodes became available for streaming on Hulu (sister of Disney-ABC). The show has risen to become one of Fox's longest-running series, and after its end is currently the fourth longest-running American animated series on Fox behind The Simpsons and Family Guy. In 2007, it was named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 greatest television shows of all time. The title theme was written and performed by The Refreshments. King of the Hill has won two Emmy Awards and has been nominated for seven since its inception.

Another animated series, Bless the Harts, takes place in the King of the Hill universe, and features Mega-Lo-Marts in the script. It was also created for Fox. Despite this, Mike Judge is not involved in the series. However, story editors Christy Stratton and Emily Spivey for King of the Hill are involved in the show. The show was renewed for a second season on October 18, 2019.

History

Conception

In early 1995, after the successful run of Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created King of the Hill with former Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, a suburb of Dallas, Texas considered the basis for the setting of the series, the fictional Arlen. Mike Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote a pilot script.

Fox teamed the cartoonist with an experienced prime-time TV writer. Greg Daniels rewrote the pilot script and created several important characters that did not appear in Judge's first draft (including Luanne and Cotton), as well as some characterization ideas (e.g., making Dale Gribble a conspiracy theorist).

Initial success

After its debut, the series became a huge success for Fox and was named one of the best television series by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time and TV Guide. For the 1997-1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest rated programs and nearly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. During the fifth and sixth seasons, Mike Judge and Greg Daniels became less involved with the show. They eventually focused on the show again, though Greg Daniels steadily became more involved with other projects.

Facing cancellation

The series' tenth season was largely composed of episodes that did not air the previous season due to frequent sporting event preemptions. During the tenth season, in 2005, the show was scheduled to be canceled; however, it managed to attract high ratings and was renewed. Fox renewed the series for seasons eleven and twelve, making it the fourth longest-running animated television series on Fox after American Dad!, Family Guy, and The Simpsons.

The thirteenth season episode "Lucky See, Monkey Do" became the first episode of the series to be produced in widescreen high-definition when it aired on February 8, 2009 and replaced within Standard Mode only used on "Pilot" and ended "Straight as an Arrow" on January 12, 1997 to November 30, 2008.

Settings, characters, and themes

Setting

King of the Hill is set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas. In a 1995 interview prior to the show's debut, Judge described the setting as "a town like Humble." In a more recent interview, Judge has cited Richardson, Texas, a Dallas suburb, as the specific inspiration for Arlen. Despite the fictitious locale, the show strives to portray the region accurately, going so far as to have annual research trips to Texas for the writing staff. Time magazine praised the authentic portrayal as the "most acutely observed, realistic sitcom about regional American life bar none".

Arlen includes settings such as Rainey Street, where the Hills reside, and Strickland Propane, the business where Hank works. Also included are parodies of well-known businesses, such as Mega-Lo Mart (a parody of big-box stores), Luly's (a parody of Luby's), and Bazooms (a parody of Hooters). Most of the children in the show attend Tom Landry Middle School (named after the former Dallas Cowboys coach). Early in the series, the school is referred to as being in the Heimlich County School District (according to markings on the school buses), though in later seasons this is changed to Arlen Independent School District. The school's mascot is a longhorn steer (named after the University of Texas Longhorns). The local country club is the Nine Rivers Country Club, though this club exclusively admits Asian-Americans.

Characters

King of the Hill depicts an average middle-class family and their lives in a typical American town. It documents the Hills' day-to-day-lives in the small Texas town of Arlen, exploring modern themes such as parent-child relationships, friendship, loyalty, and justice. As an animated sitcom, however, King of the Hill's scope is generally larger than that of a regular sitcom.

Hank HillThe family patriarch is Hank Hill, assistant manager of Strickland Propane, and salesman of "propane and propane accessories," who is obsessed with his lawn, propane, and the Dallas Cowboys. He is uncomfortable with intimacy and sexuality but has a healthy relationship with his wife, as well as the rest of his family. Hank's trademark sigh in times of discomfort or exasperation, his scream of "Bwah!" when startled, also when is disgusted he whispers "ugha" the phrase "I tell you what!" are running gags on the series; additionally, when someone angers him, he tends to respond with, "I'm gonna kick your ass!", though, he rarely resorts to this. In contrast with his emotional distance from members of his family, he dotes unashamedly on his aging Bloodhound, Ladybird.Peggy HillHank is married to Peggy Hill, a substitute Spanish teacher who has a poor grasp of the language (referring to it phonetically as "es-puh-nole"). Peggy is also a freelance newspaper columnist, real estate agent, notary public, and Boggle champion. She often displays her naïveté and arrogance with an inflated sense of her intelligence and appearance. She considers herself knowledgeable, clever, and very physically attractive. More often than not, Peggy's ego will preempt better judgement, leading to actions that, while initially "helping" her, ultimately lead to a path of agonizing realization of what she has done.Bobby HillThe two have a son, Bobby Hill, an overweight 13-year-old, who wants to be a famous prop comic when he is older. Although he is not particularly attractive or intelligent, Bobby has an excellent sense of self-esteem; he is not ashamed of his body or his often sub-par performance in sports or other activities. Bobby lacks his father's athletic prowess and dislikes most sports, but has participated- often in a peripheral way- in wrestling, baseball, and track at Tom Landry Middle School. He has also attempted to play football and soccer. He has an offbeat sense of humor that clashes with Hank's more collected and conservative manner. Such sentiments are fueled by Bobby's liking of activities more often viewed as traditionally feminine, such as cooking, high fashion, and dolls. Hank's discomfort with Bobby's proclivities is a regular narrative element in the series, and is manifested with remarks like "That boy ain't right."Luanne PlatterLuanne Platter is Peggy's niece. She came to live with the Hills after her mother, Leanne, was sent to prison for stabbing Luanne's father (Peggy's brother) with a fork. Thus, her full name is Luanne Leanne Platter, as heard on the episode "Edu-macating Lucky".Dale GribbleDale Gribble is the next door neighbor of Hank and Peggy Hill. He is an exterminator, bounty hunter, chain-smoker, gun fanatic, and paranoid believer of almost all conspiracy theories. Mike Judge and Greg Daniels named him in tribute to Dan "Gribble" Costello, a close friend of Judge. The character himself is loosely based on William S. Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson, both of whom were avid gun collectors and also wrote pieces on conspiracy theory. Some of his few Dale-isms are "S'Go," which he says whenever he wants a person to go somewhere with him, and "sh-sh-shaa" to mark a point of accomplishment (such as releasing an eagle to chase away some pigeons - "sh-shaaa!" - only to have the eagle turn on him).Bill DauteriveBill was Hank's best friend in high school and now lives across the street from him. In his younger years, Bill was extremely fit, athletic, competent and with a full head of hair. Now bald and pot-bellied, he works as a barber for the U.S. Army and continues to pine for his wife, Lenore, who left him. He remains lovelorn and frequently sad, and is attracted to Peggy. Whenever he is feeling down, he lets out a pitiful squeal before launching into a harmful binge. Bill is also a fluent French-speaking native of Louisiana and a family member of a wealthy chili pepper plantation.Jeff BoomhauerBoomhauer (who is always addressed by his last name) was high school friends with Hank, Dale and Bill. He has a deep, all-over suntan and speaks in a barely understandable mumble, though when he sings bluegrass songs, his voice is clear. He is a committed bachelor sometimes depicted as promiscuous with his various girlfriends. According to the commentary on the Pilot episode dvd, Boomhauer's unique speaking style was based on a voicemail left on Mike Judge's answering machine.

The series also featured numerous celebrity guests during its run including, Troy Aikman, Heather Locklear, Sally Field, Johnny Depp, Janeane Garofalo, Jason Bateman and Brad Pitt. In the later seasons, Tom Petty joined the cast as Lucky, Luanne's boyfriend/husband.

Episodes

Main article Episode outlines

Season

# of
EpisodesOriginal airdate11219972231997-19983251998-19994241999-20005202000-20016222001-20027232002-20038222003-20049152004-200510152005-20061112200712222007-200813202008-2009

Fox initially ordered 13 episodes with DABExx, but decided to keep the show in production for four additional episodes (DABE14-DABE17) bringing the actual amount of remaining unaired episodes to four, however the network nevertheless has yet to license those extra episodes. Fox later announced that they will not air the episodes in primetime opting instead for syndication with the possibility that the episodes may air first on Adult Swim.

Why did King of the Hill get Cancelled?

During a panel at Comic-Con 2022, Judge stated that the show "has a very good chance of coming back." In September 2022, Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn confirmed that the series would not air on Fox, with the reason being that Fox prefers to have full ownership of whatever new shows they air.

Is King of the Hill on Hulu 2022?

Right now you can watch King of the Hill on fuboTV or Hulu Plus.

Did King of the Hill end?

6 May 2010King of the Hill / Final episode datenull

What show did King of the Hill get Cancelled for?

Although Fox never officially revealed why the series was taken off the air, the show's timeslot was taken over by Seth MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show. King of the Hill's co-creator Mike Judge appeared to be fine with the show's cancellation, telling the New York Times in 2009 that the program's end was appropriate.