King of the Hill
- This article is about the TV series. For other uses see King of the Hill (disambiguation).
| King of the Hill | |
|---|---|
| From left to right: Jed Matthews, Randall, Master McGrath, and Mr. Cook drinking in the alley From left to right: Jed, Randall, McGrath, and Mr. Cook | |
| Created by | Mike Judge and Greg Daniels |
| Starring | Mike Judge Kathy Najimy Pamela Segall Brittany Murphy Ashley Gardner Toby Huss Lauren Tom Stephen Root Johnny Hardwick David Herman Johnathan Joss |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 184 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company |
| Release | January 12, 1997 – Current |
King of the Hill is a long-running, satirical animated series. It depicts a "typical" Texan family, the Hills. A conservative, God-fearing Methodist family proud of its Texas heritage, the Hills reside in the fictional town of Arlen. Unlike most other animated series, it attempts to retain realism; it is something of a dramedy. It is broadcast weekly on the FOX Network. The show's popularity has also led to frequent re-runs (syndicated) by many local affiliates and FX Networks.
King of the Hill documents the Hill family's daily life, taking on, in the process, some of the most controversial topics in modern America. Themes of past episodes have included women's liberation, female pastors, sex education, sexual harassment, proctologic examinations, ethnic diversity, social workers, traffic school, and addiction support groups. The show focuses on the simple lives of the Hill family, often in contrast to "outsiders" such as the Souphanousinphones.
The title theme was written and performed by The Refreshments.
History
The series is the brainchild of Beavis and Butt-head creator Mike Judge. After a successful run of Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, he went on to co-create King of the Hill with former Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge is a former resident of Garland, Texas, which is possibly the inspiration for the fictional town name Arlen.
Recently, King of the Hill has joined the ranks of other FOX shows like Futurama and Family Guy in that it's been placed in a poor timeslot, and faced frequent pre-emptions from sporting events featuring overtime play and post-game commentary. Currently the show is beginning its tenth season, which will be its last. It will be comprised for the most part of episodes which did not get to air last season, along with a few originals. It is unknown yet what type of series finale the show will have, if any.
Major characters
(Characters listed in "families")
Hills (including Platters)
- Hank Hill, (Mike Judge), assistant manager at Strickland Propane, sells "propane and propane accessories." He sounds (and looks) almost exactly like Anderson from Beavis and Butthead, a character also voiced by Judge.
- Bobby Hill, (Pamela Segall (Also as Pamela Segall Adlon)), The chubby 13-year-old son of Hank and Peggy, who wants to be a famous prop comic when he is older.
- Peggy Hill, (Kathy Najimy), wife of Hank, bad substitute teacher, bad Spanish teacher, freelance newspaper columnist, Notary Public, and Boggle champion. She often thinks she knows what she is doing and believes herself to be smarter than she really is. For that reason, she is frequently wrong.
- Luanne Platter, (Brittany Murphy), college-age niece of Peggy, creator of Manger Babies, student of the beauty academy and later, junior college. She is often portrayed as dumb, though she has also shown herself to be an expert mechanic and good with logic puzzles. Although she was consistently shown to be promiscuous during the first half of the show's run, she settled down after enrolling in college, and started a Bible Study class.
- Cotton Hill, (Toby Huss), Hank's coarse, politically incorrect, and homicidal father. Had his shins blown off and his feet reattached to his knees in WWII, resulting in his short height and stumpy gait. Has recently remarried his nurse, Didi, and fathered an infant child, "Good" Hank (or G.H.).
- Didi Hill, Cotton's second wife and nurse. She went to kindergarten with Hank.
- Lady Bird (Hill), the Hills' old hound dog. She is 14 years old. Her acquisition helped Peggy and Hank conceive Bobby. Named after famous Texan U.S. President Lyndon Johnson's wife Lady Bird Johnson. Her mother was involved in the manhunt for James Earl Ray.
Gribbles
- Dale Gribble, (Johnny Hardwick), chain smoking neighbor to the Hills, insect exterminator, conspiracy theorist, borderline maniac. He is also president of his gun club and a licensed bounty hunter, though the latter seems to be for prestige, as his bravado fails during confrontations when he thinks he may be in physical danger.
- Joseph Gribble, (Brittany Murphy/Breckin Meyer), muscular 13-year-old son of Dale (although John Redcorn is the biological father, unbeknownst to Dale). The running joke is that despite Joseph's obvious Native American features, Dale is unaware he is a cuckold.
- Nancy Gribble, (Ashley Gardner), wife of Dale, weather girl on local television station, had a lengthy affair with John Redcorn.
Souphanousinphones
- Kahn Souphanousinphone, (Toby Huss), the Hill's rich, Laotian American, materialistic next-door neighbor. Harbors a prejudice against whites, American Southerners in particular.
- Minh Souphanousinphone, (Lauren Tom), Kahn's wife.
- Kahn "Connie" Souphanousinphone, Jr., (Lauren Tom), daughter of Kahn and Minh, violin player, A-student, dated Bobby for the majority of the show's run.
Other main characters
- Bill Dauterive, (Stephen Root), overweight, divorced, clinically depressed neighbor of the Hills, and a barber and sergeant in the United States Army.
- Boomhauer, (Mike Judge), womanizing friend of Hank who mutters incomprehensibly. Example: "Dang-ol'-dang-ol'-one-two-three, man, dang-ol', mumble mumble." Boomhauer apparently supports his bachelor lifestyle through disability insurance payments.
- John Redcorn, (Jonathan Joss), Nancy's former Native American 'healer' and adulterous lover, biological father of Joseph Gribble, and former lead singer of Big Mountain Fudgecake; drives a Jeep Wrangler.
- Buck Strickland, (Stephen Root), owner of Strickland Propane, Hank's boss, compulsive gambler, alcoholic, adulterer, womanizer.
Trivia
- All the main Caucasian characters worship at the United Methodist Church as does John Redcorn. The Souphanousinphones are Buddhist followes of the Dalai Lamas. Hank's mother had a Jewish boyfriend for a while.