King of the Hill (TV series)

This article is about the King of the Hill TV series. For other uses of "King of the Hill", see King of the Hill (disambiguation).

King of the Hill is a long-running, satirical US television comedy animated series. It depicts a "typical" Texan family, the Hills. A conservative, God-fearing 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, proctological examinations, ethnic diversity, social workers, traffic school, and addiction support groups.

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. The town on which Arlen is based is not known; however, a letter was once shown on the show with the ZIP Code for Beeville, Texas. The town must be somewhere near Dallas, because in one episode they drove to DFW airport, only to discover all flights were cancelled, then drove to Love Field (DAL), the other major airport in Dallas, to try their luck there. Arlen must also exist quite some distance from Houston, since Boomhauer inadvertently went there when he fell asleep floating on an inner tube.

The title theme was written and performed by The Refreshments.

Characters (Voice Performers)

• Hank Hill, (Mike Judge), assistant manager at Strickland Propane, sells "propane and propane accessories".
• Peggy Hill, (Kathy Najimy), wife of Hank, substitute teacher, freelance newspaper columnist, and Boggle champion.
• 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.
• Luanne Platter, (Brittany Murphy), college-age niece of Peggy, now living with the Hill family, creator of Manger Babies, student of the beauty academy and later, junior college.
• Jeff Boomhauer, (Mike Judge), womanizing friend of Hank who mutters incomprehensibly.
• Dale Gribble, (Johnny Hardwick), chain smoking neighbor to the Hills, insect exterminator, conspiracy theorist.
• Bill Dauterive, (Stephen Root), overweight neighbor of the Hills, a barber and sergeant in the United States Army whose wife left him.
• 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, has a lengthy affair with John Redcorn.
• Cotton Hill, (Toby Huss), Hank's coarse and politically incorrect father, "had his shins blown off 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.).
• Kahn Souphanousinphone, (Toby Huss), Hill's Laotian American materialistic next-door neighbor, .
• Minh Souphanousinphone, (Lauren Tom), Kahn's wife.
• Kahn "Connie" Souphanousinphone, Jr., (Lauren Tom), daughter of Kahn and Minh, violin player, A-student, former girlfriend of Bobby.
• Buck Strickland, (Stephen Root), owner of Strickland Propane, compulsive gambler, womanizer.
• Buckley, (David Herman), boyfriend of Luanne, died in a propane explosion while working at Mega Lo Mart. With tiny angel wings, Buckley came back and visited Luanne after his death.
• John Redcorn, (Jonathan Joss), Nancy's Native American 'healer' and adulterous lover, biological father of Joseph Gribble; drives a Jeep.
• Stuart Dooley, Bobby's classmate with a deep voice; a troublemaker.
• Clark Peters, Bobby's classmate with a speech impediment; friend of Dooley's.
• Eustis, (David Herman), a wimpy, moustached neighbor and patent lawyer, father of Bobby's classmate, Randy.
• Chuck Mangione, playing himself, musician who shamelessly promotes Mega Lo Mart until he grows tired of going to every Mega Lo Mart opening. The store's slogan incorporates the title of his well-known hit song "Feels So Good."
• Lenore, (Ellen Barkin), Bill's ex-wife (also, in one episode, the name of his iguana).
• M. F. Thatherton, former employee of Strickland Propane who struck out on his own and opened up the crooked Thatherton Fuels company across the street from Strickland. He is a foil to Hank Hill. Thatherton once joked that he sold propane to nursing homes by telling them it was oxygen.
• Debbie Grund, former employee of Strickland Propane who was Buck Strickland's mistress. She accidentally kills herself while waiting to murder Buck & his wife Miz Liz Strickland.
• Jimmy Wichard, A mentally challanged common folk living in Arlen. He's had several jobs including conscession manager at the race track. According to Dale: "People say he fried his brain one day stairing at the sun. Of course he couldn't have been too smart to begin with... kind of a chicken, egg thing I guess."

Recurring Settings

Arlen

Arlen is a fictional town located in the equally fictional Heimlich County, Texas (In the first episode it was located in Arlen County). Arlen is loosely based on the real-life town of Garland, a suburb of Dallas, where series creator Mike Judge lived for some time.

Arlen's K-12 schools, with the exception of Arlen High School, are named after Dallas Cowboys legends ("Tom Landry Middle School" and "Roger Staubach Elementary School").

Strickland Propane

Strickland Propane, owned by businessman Buck Strickland, its founder, is where Hank Hill "sells propane and propane accessories".

Mega Lo Mart

The town of Arlen features a giant discount department store called Mega Lo Mart, a satirical creation lampooning Wal-Mart, Costco, and other similar American business landmarks. In one episode it blew up because of a propane leak.

Tom Landry Middle School

The school attended by the children of the show. In one episode Peggy tends the school garden and gets in trouble by using chemicals while proudly boasting it's organic. The school is sometimes referred to as TLMS.

External links

• King of the Hill (Fox Broadcasting Company site)
• King of the Hill at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• King of the Hill at the Internet Movie Database
• King of the Hill FAQ
• King of the Hill images via Google
• Search for King_of_the_Hill using Google Video Search.