King of the Hill is set to return to Hulu for its fifteenth season on July 20, continuing a trend of adult animation revivals.
The series, which originally ran for 13 seasons on Fox from 1997 to 2010, centered on Hank Hill, a propane salesman known for his level-headed nature and old-fashioned values. The show distinguished itself with its realistic portrayal of everyday life and relatable characters, often focusing on simple conversations between Hank and his neighbors.
This revival arrives at a time when many other animated shows have seen comebacks, including Beavis and Butt-Head, Futurama, and Clone High. Despite King of the Hill's substantial original run of 259 episodes, the reboot addresses contemporary cultural shifts and online discussions surrounding the characters' potential political leanings.
Returning executive producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, alongside new showrunner Saladin K. Patterson, have steered the series toward a focus on common sense, a trait central to Hank's character. In the intervening years, Hank and his wife Peggy, voiced by Kathy Najimy, worked in Saudi Arabia. Hank's return to Texas positions him as a man out of time, struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
Their son Bobby, voiced by Pamela Adlon, is now 21 and a restaurateur. Hank's friends Dale Gribble, Boomhauer (voiced by Mike Judge), and Bill Dauterive, voiced by Stephen Root, are largely unchanged. Bill has become a shut-in during Hank's absence. The series will not feature Peggy's niece Luanne, whose voice actress Brittany Murphy passed away, or her husband Lucky, voiced by the late Tom Petty, with the creative team opting not to recast these roles.
The show confronts contemporary issues such as gender fluidity and cultural appropriation, but avoids taking an aggressive stance. Instead, King of the Hill navigates these topics through Hank's perspective, presenting extreme viewpoints from all sides as equally alien and confusing. This approach has led to praise from diverse audiences, with viewers on different sides of cultural debates often feeling that the show acknowledges their viewpoints or satirizes opposing ones. The series successfully balances these elements, illustrating how divided society has become through Hank's bewildered reactions and maintaining the grounded, conversational style that defined its original run.