TV Review: “King of the Hill” Returns After 16 Years with Propane, Eye-Rolling Jokes and a Little Heart

One of the pioneers of adult animation was King of the Hill, which first started airing in 1997. Along with The Simpsons and Family Guy, King of the Hill set the template for what we think of today as adult animation – paving the way for more contemporary series like Bob’s Burgers and Solar Opposites. After 13 seasons on Fox, the show went off the air in 2009 and has remained dormant since. Hulu has decided to bring the show back for an all-new season of 10 episodes – but should they have? Or was King of the Hill better left as an important relic of the 1990s?

I’ll admit, I haven’t seen much of King of the Hill. When I was younger, I remember trying to watch a few episodes and just not finding it funny. Early episodes of The Simpsons were classic, and Family Guy always had me busting out laughing – but King of the Hill did nothing for me. With my minimal exposure to the show, even I could tell that it feels like a faithful continuation, almost as if the show never went away. Series co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels have returned to the series, keeping its original voice and intent going. The show is not a sequel, but rather a continuation of the original, and everyone is now 14 years older. Hank and Peggy Hill have returned from a rather random job stint in Saudi Arabia, and their son Bobby is now 21 and working as a chef in Dallas.

The first episode mainly focuses on Hank and Peggy settling back into their lives in Arlen, Texas, following a period of living in Saudi Arabia. This leads to the first half of the episode mainly being focused on what I’d call “boomer jokes," where Hank doesn’t understand many of the features of modern life and some of the more progressive things that have happened to our culture. For example, he’s confused by his driver’s electric vehicle stopping and gender-neutral bathrooms. As someone who considers themselves to be pretty progressive, I rolled my eyes more than laughed at most of these jokes and references – but I can see them being funny to an older audience.

Fortunately, by the end of the episode, Hank and Peggy begin to feel a little more at ease with the way Texas has changed, and decide to stay – despite a pretty big offer to move back to Saudi Arabia! I appreciated that the episode made this tonal shift after a slew of iffy jokes. A side plot also features Bobby, who’s now grown up and owns his own restaurant. He ends up making out with a girl he meets at the restaurant, and bumps into an old friend. While successfully re-introducing Bobby, this plot thread didn’t really add anything to the episode.

So in a nutshell, if King of the Hill is your type of show and you loved it before, then you’re sure to love its return for the 2020s. But that then poses the question of if it really needed to come back? I’d be inclined to say no, but in the age of streaming and the search for more content, there’s always more room for propane and propane accessories.

All 10 episodes of King of the Hill Season 14 arrive on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ on Monday, August 4th.