Friday, July 19, 2013

Toons After Dark: King of the Hill (1997)

With Beavis & Butt-Head winding down on MTV, series creator Mike Judge faced a career challenge---topping himself. To be honest, I'd say he succeeded.

King of the Hill premiered in January 1997, as Beavis ended its first run 11 months later, but Hill outlasted Beavis by a wide margin, ending in 2010. The two shows, of course, were as different as night & day, but both were set in the same state, Texas, which Judge still calls home.

Judge recycled his Tom Anderson voice from Beavis for Hank Hill, a propane salesman and family man who spent as much time with his friends--Dale, Bill, and the incomprehensible Boomhauer, who may have been inspired by Dick Tracy's nemesis, Mumbles. Son Bobby (Pamela Seagall-Adlon) was defined very simply by Hank with one line---"That boy ain't right". Still, Bobby was used in commercials for Autolite during the series' run, so he must have done pretty good, after all.

Following is the intro:



After reruns were played into the ground on FX, Cartoon Network acquired the series for its [adult swim] division, where only two episodes air per night, leading off the overnight block.

Rating: B+.

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