News New episodes of King of the Hill coming to hulu.

[Turtletrekker]

Surviving original cast members will be returning. No word on whether they will recast or write out Luann. If I'm reading this right, the characters will all be 15 years older in the new season.

https://consequence.net/2023/01/king-of-the-hill-new-episodes-hulu/

 

[the G-man]

The show lasts exactly one episode. Hank hears about that rumored plan to ban gas appliances and promptly kills himself.

 

[J.T.B.]

Sad that both the Kleinschmidt actors have died, but this is one of very few revivals I'm actually looking forward to.

 

[ToddKent]

I'm guessing Luann & Lucky will have moved away but maybe there will be a picture of them hanging prominently in the house somewhere.

I'm more curious about Khan though. I doubt that having that character voiced by a white guy in 2023 is going to fly.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm curious how they'll address the political shift since then. Trump support has so much more a connotation of hatred and intolerance than Bush support did, and particularly the kind of conspiracy theories Dale must be into now. The mild homophobia of the characters in the show just won't come off as quaint and adorable as it did back then either.

I don't see how they can get away from making some of the characters seem hateful while still feeling like they're being honest about their politics.

 

[Snaploud]

I think Dale will be deep down the rabbit-hole of right-wing conspiracy theories. We can put him in the Trump camp.

Bill is very malleable, so I'm assuming he finds a girlfriend or wife and parrots her political opinions. Let's make her a feminist who went to a lot of #MeToo protests and voted for Hillary.

Bobby is probably heavily into supporting LGBTQIA+ rights as well as the BLM movement. Let's make him a Bernie supporter.

Boomhauer likely refuses to talk about politics.

Hank is a tough one, but I think he is frustrated and confused like when he found out George W. Bush had a weak handshake. He probably made a protest vote for Ronald Reagan or was otherwise deeply embarrassed about his vote.

 

[Amaris]

I'll have to wait and see. I love KOTH, but it was just right for its time. I'm not sure, considering the nature of things today, that it could so neatly fit itself comfortably where Mike Judge's right leaning "centrism" would be seen as a default position rather than covering for the increasing extremism of the right wing. That would require character changes, and while characters evolving is usually good, these characters personalities were integral to the show working as well as it did.

 

[the G-man]

I'm curious how they'll address the political shift since then. Trump support has so much more a connotation of hatred and intolerance than Bush support did, and particularly the kind of conspiracy theories Dale must be into now. The mild homophobia of the characters in the show just won't come off as quaint and adorable as it did back then either. I don't see how they can get away from making some of the characters seem hateful while still feeling like they're being honest about their politics.

This is why I suspect the show will fail. If it isn't a complete repudiation of the right, the left will hate it. If it is, it isn't KotH.

Also, I find it cute how people are pretending the left didn't spend eight years calling George W Bush a mentally challenged racist Hitler wannabe.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I think the first episode should open with Dale getting out of prison for serving his 18 months for storming the capital.

 

[Jayson1]

The show doesn't half to delve into who voted for who politics except maybe Dale and Bobby. I think Hank would be the kind of person who hates how political things are in the sense that everyone use to not talk politics as much as they do today. He wouldn't be spending his time on the internet complaining about stuff. Much like how he had problems with voting for Bush because of a weak handshake we still don't know if he voted for him or not because in his mind that is a matter or privacy. If he voted for Trump it still doesn't mean he would be online trying to own the libs. If he didn't he would feel uncomfortable with Liberals complaining about him all the time.

Peggy I think would have a internet channel teaching Texas history on the Internet. Constantly getting things wrong but it would be popular because she likes to teach in a fun way. She would have left the school system after finding all the issues around things like Critical Race Theory to be wrong but also confused because one of the things with the old show is that most of the characters don't understand liberals points of view exactly but they do know when someone is full of bullshit whether they are conservative or left.

Peggy would not exactly know what CRT is but she would also know that many of the people pushing don't know it either and are just going off stuff they saw on the internet.

Bobby would be a Feminist comedian trying to make it big in Branson Missouri. Clearly failing but always trying and married to a fellow comedian who is the opposite of him and is a Sarah Silverman type. For the show they would be coming back to town for plot reasons. I think maybe the season would focus on people coming together for a funeral of Luanne and Lucky making the season a kind of KIng of the Hill meets the Big Chill. This would also allow the character to talk and honor those characters despite not being able to use them because of the actors passing away.

Bill would still be alone but with like 6 dogs for company. Retired from the military but still cuts hair for his friends.

Hank would have the same job as always. Only more responsibilities because Buck Strickland is falling apart to old age. Had another heart attack. Fully bald. Needs a oxygen machine and wheelchair to get around but still has his fiesty spirit between long naps. Hank of course helping pick up the slack without complaint.

Hank would not like what the world has become but would still love Arlen and Texas and the Cowboys and of course propane not to mention is lawn and family.

Dale would not be a Trump supporter. A New Yorker who worked in Hollywood and got money from Russia. He would refuse to ever vote because they can track him. It would be funny if he was trying to create QAnon type of movement but everyone always could figure out he is the main guy and also his attempt to save the government is always ignored and is even jealous of people who think like him who get followers while meanwhile he keeps failing at it. Only Nancy is now almost as into the conspiracy stuff as he is and it's rekindled their romance so even though his effort to fight against the deep state keeps failing he is more happy than at any other point in his life because he is in so much love.

Boomhauer would have a podcast that has become very popular. He is known as the "Clear Voice of Texas." Still a ladies man and hasn't changed much except he does have a daughter and son who are teenagers.

Kahn and Minh would be the most loud Trump supporters on the show. They got money but they also have mellowed as they have gotten older and comfortable.

Connie and Joseph are married. Moderate to liberal types working in Dallas. Joseph works in a garage and Connie is math teacher in college.

John Redcorn is the towns mayor. Ran as a Independent.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

This is why I suspect the show will fail. If it isn't a complete repudiation of the right, the left will hate it. If it is, it isn't KotH.

Also, I find it cute how people are pretending the left didn't spend eight years calling George W Bush a mentally challenged racist Hitler wannabe.

I don’t think it needs to be that extreme. I never thought Hank would buy into Trump. Dale and Bill totally would. They just need to analyze it honestly, show the dilemma Hank has when the party he has been loyal to falls in line to such a clown. Put Hank’s opinion of republican values against Trumpist populism.

Very hard to balance, but if anyone can do it Mike Judge can.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The show doesn't half to delve into who voted for who politics except maybe Dale and Bobby. I think Hank would be the kind of person who hates how political things are in the sense that everyone use to not talk politics as much as they do today. He wouldn't be spending his time on the internet complaining about stuff. Much like how he had problems with voting for Bush because of a weak handshake we still don't know if he voted for him or not because in his mind that is a matter or privacy. If he voted for Trump it still doesn't mean he would be online trying to own the libs. If he didn't he would feel uncomfortable with Liberals complaining about him all the time.

Peggy I think would have a internet channel teaching Texas history on the Internet. Constantly getting things wrong but it would be popular because she likes to teach in a fun way. She would have left the school system after finding all the issues around things like Critical Race Theory to be wrong but also confused because one of the things with the old show is that most of the characters don't understand liberals points of view exactly but they do know when someone is full of bullshit whether they are conservative or left.

Peggy would not exactly know what CRT is but she would also know that many of the people pushing don't know it either and are just going off stuff they saw on the internet.

Bobby would be a Feminist comedian trying to make it big in Branson Missouri. Clearly failing but always trying and married to a fellow comedian who is the opposite of him and is a Sarah Silverman type. For the show they would be coming back to town for plot reasons. I think maybe the season would focus on people coming together for a funeral of Luanne and Lucky making the season a kind of KIng of the Hill meets the Big Chill. This would also allow the character to talk and honor those characters despite not being able to use them because of the actors passing away.

Bill would still be alone but with like 6 dogs for company. Retired from the military but still cuts hair for his friends.

Hank would have the same job as always. Only more responsibilities because Buck Strickland is falling apart to old age. Had another heart attack. Fully bald. Needs a oxygen machine and wheelchair to get around but still has his fiesty spirit between long naps. Hank of course helping pick up the slack without complaint.

Hank would not like what the world has become but would still love Arlen and Texas and the Cowboys and of course propane not to mention is lawn and family.

Dale would not be a Trump supporter. A New Yorker who worked in Hollywood and got money from Russia. He would refuse to ever vote because they can track him. It would be funny if he was trying to create QAnon type of movement but everyone always could figure out he is the main guy and also his attempt to save the government is always ignored and is even jealous of people who think like him who get followers while meanwhile he keeps failing at it. Only Nancy is now almost as into the conspiracy stuff as he is and it's rekindled their romance so even though his effort to fight against the deep state keeps failing he is more happy than at any other point in his life because he is in so much love.

Boomhauer would have a podcast that has become very popular. He is known as the "Clear Voice of Texas." Still a ladies man and hasn't changed much except he does have a daughter and son who are teenagers.

Kahn and Minh would be the most loud Trump supporters on the show. They got money but they also have mellowed as they have gotten older and comfortable.

Connie and Joseph are married. Moderate to liberal types working in Dallas. Joseph works in a garage and Connie is math teacher in college.

John Redcorn is the towns mayor. Ran as a Independent.

You think in 2023 Buck Strickland is alive? Hank is manager.

I don’t see Khan as supporting Trump. Maybe voting for him for the tax breaks but not liking him.

 

[Jayson1]

Buck Strickland I think might be one of those old people your surprised is still alive because of all the hard living they have done but they are still hanging in their. I think Hank would be manager in reality even if Buck was still holding onto the title. Hank being loyal would go along with it even if he knows deep down he really should have the job outright at this point and Buck really really needs to retire.

With Khan I could see him falling for Trump's bragging about being a great business man. I think he would be smart enough to know Trump is a bigot but still finding his bigger than life personality compelling. Especially with Connie grown up and moved out I could see him now putting more focus on him and his wife to make it big.

 

[the G-man]

I don’t think it needs to be that extreme. I never thought Hank would buy into Trump. Dale and Bill totally would. They just need to analyze it honestly, show the dilemma Hank has when the party he has been loyal to falls in line to such a clown. Put Hank’s opinion of republican values against Trumpist populism.

Very hard to balance, but if anyone can do it Mike Judge can.

The original KotH had, IIRC, approximately three explicit and topical political jokes: the George Bush handshake dilemma and Hank shuddering and locking his doors when he drove past the "Birthplace of Bill Clinton" sign. Even the Ann Richards episode was less about politics and more about Bill having met someone who could be really good for him and screwing it up. The fact that everyone--let and right--seem to think the show was, or needs to be, the modern version of "All in the Family" or an animated SNL is part of why I worry the reboot isn't going to satisfy anybody.

 

[Jayson1]

I agree the show was not nearly as political as people make it out to be. Plus if you notice people do seem to like Yellowstone so this idea you can't do something conservative that will also being good I think is not accurate.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The original KotH had, IIRC, approximately three explicit and topical political jokes: the George Bush handshake dilemma and Hank shuddering and locking his doors when he drove past the "Birthplace of Bill Clinton" sign. Even the Ann Richards episode was less about politics and more about Bill having met someone who could be really good for him and screwing it up. The fact that everyone--let and right--seem to think the show was, or needs to be, the modern version of "All in the Family" or an animated SNL is part of why I worry the reboot isn't going to satisfy anybody.

There were jokes based on politics everywhere. “I haven’t seen so much chicken since the democratic national convention!” and so on. In the very first scene Hank attributes cultural problems to “Gender confusion”.

It was usually indirect, yes, but it has such different connotations now. Trumpism immediately implies hard bigotry. Maybe not racism but definitely transphobia. In 2000 a conspiracy theorist was about the JFK assassination, in 2023 it’s QAnon. The elephant in the room has grown 20x larger, they can’t charm around it anymore.

 

[Jayson1]

I think they can make the jokes. "Beavis and Butthead" was recently brought back and I think it sort of served as a template on how it would work since both things are from Mike Judge. I mean the White privilege joke they did was really funny.

It still always comes down to how you tell the joke more than anything and in the cases of these shows how well they fit into the characters. Hank Hill was a old fashioned person who treated people with respect even when he felt uncomfortable or confused and only really got mad when people made a ass out of themselves which often included Dale.

TV could really used more shows right now like King of Hill IMO. Shows that understand middle America or the working class. Mike Judge seems to really understand that world better than almost most. He knows how to do it without it looking like that garbage stuff you might get from Kirk Cameron and those folks.

 

[the G-man]

There were jokes based on politics everywhere. “I haven’t seen so much chicken since the democratic national convention!” and so on. In the very first scene Hank attributes cultural problems to “Gender confusion”.

It was usually indirect, yes, but it has such different connotations now. Trumpism immediately implies hard bigotry. Maybe not racism but definitely transphobia. In 2000 a conspiracy theorist was about the JFK assassination, in 2023 it’s QAnon. The elephant in the room has grown 20x larger, they can’t charm around it anymore.

You'll note that I differentiated between "generic" jokes like that and "specific and topical" ones.

You're really making my point for me here, that too many people are demanding the show be about "Orange Man (and his followers) Bad" or that Hank needs to be a completely different person (one who wouldn't make "transphobic" comments about "gender confusion"), thereby making it impossible to succeed in today's world.

 

[Snaploud]

Spongie : Wash your window?

Hank Hill : Spongie? What are you doin' over here? This isn't your neck of the woods.

Spongie : No money for Spongie! Too many people! Took my spot!

Hank Hill : Dang, that ain't right. You've been there for years.

Spongie : Since Ronald Reagan kicked me out of my mental hospital.

Hank Hill : Well

[sighs]

Hank Hill : , it was complicated Spongie. Dutch was tryin' to win a Cold War and...

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I think Buck Strickland, who was already old and had definite conditions in the original show, will have since died of a massive heart attack… and/or possibly COVID, because he refused to wear masks or get the shot. Or he finally ran afoul of someone at a strip club.
As for Lucky and Luann, I have a sad fate for them, but not one that would cause judgment. They had a happy marriage, but when Gracie was four years old, her mom and dad went for a drive. Two of Lucky’s buddies were hammered and hit the truck head on. So Hank and Peggy found themselves with a four-year-old. Bobby mourns his surrogate big sister while helping raise his now-surrogate baby sister.
And I’d honestly like to know what happened to GH, and Junichiro. Did Junichiro ever find someone?
ETA: Did Deedee leave GH with family or did he end up in foster care? What about Bug Gribble? Did he and Juan Pedro get married?