The history of television is littered with failed revivals of old TV shows. That ’90s Show, a revival of That ’70s Show, flamed out after a few seasons. A reboot of the iconic sitcom Frasier lasted two. One of the first beloved sitcoms to revive itself years later was Arrested Development, which aired its first three seasons on Fox in the mid-2000s, gained a passionate cult following, and then came back on Netflix in 2013 to muted applause. In all of these cases, the magic that had made the show popular in the first place just wasn’t there anymore.
Somehow, Hulu’s revival of the animated sitcom King of the Hill has sidestepped all of these problems and come back just as vital and funny as it ever was. Before it returns for its second comeback season, it deserves to be celebrated a bit.
King of the Hill’s success was unlikely from the start
An animated live-action sitcom
King of the Hill debuted in 1997, when The Simpsons was the big animated show to beat. Later that same year, South Park debuted on Comedy Central and instantly became infamous for its liberal use of profanity. In 1999, Family Guy debuted and became an immediate favorite of college-aged hipsters.
King of the Hill was always the odd man out in the animated sitcom wars. Set in the small town of Arlen, Texas, it’s a low-key show where it seems like nothing much happens week to week. One early episode sees Hank Hill (Mike Judge) try to discipline his young son Bobby (Pamela Adlon) after catching him smoking. Another follows Hank’s wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) to Dallas where she competes in a Boggle tournament. Another has the Hills meeting their new neighbors. Some of the episodes had wackier plots, but overall the show was much more down to earth than its contemporaries, with a lot of plots that would have worked just as well in live-action.
But it gained a following anyway, because the jokes were solid, the family dynamics were believable, and the setting was refreshing at a time when people were used to sitcoms being set in big cities like New York.
Still, King of the Hill was the only one of the four big animated sitcoms from the 1990s to actually come to an end; its initial run came to an end in 2010 after 13 seasons, and it wouldn’t come back for another 15 years. The time off did it wonders.
King of the Hill came back with something to say
Everything was different, but nothing had changed
King of the Hill returned for its 14th season on Hulu in 2025. Unlike The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy, which have been running nonstop since they debuted in the ’90s, King of the Hill chose to acknowledge the passage of time. Hank and Peggy Hill are now retired and Bobby is an adult trying to get his restaurant off the ground. The bickering neighbors have gotten divorced. Characters we knew as kids are now young professionals. All of these changes reenergize the show. Suddenly everything feels new again.
The surviving members of the voice cast all return, original creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels are heavily involved, and the jokes are as solid as ever. I think I knew this reboot was going to work when Bill (Stephen Root), the Hills’ long-suffering sad sack of a neighbor, revealed that he watched the entirety of Netflix during Hank’s long absence. “Did you know that when you get to the end of Netflix you get something called a wellness check?” he asks.
King of the Hill also somehow feels more relevant than it did when it went off the air. It’s no secret that the United States is going through a period of intense political division, with people on the right and left sides of the line going at it hard in the public square. There’s something very comforting about watching a no-nonsense, salt-of-the-earth guy like Hank Hill look at all of these developments and give his sensible take on them. The show can do an episode like “No Hank Left Behind,” which touches on manosphere influencers, without feeling preachy. It’s just funny and oddly heartwarming.
King of the Hill is coming back (again)
And not a moment too soon
That said, Bobby is the star of the revival, because he’s the one with the most potential for change. It looks like he’s going to hold down much of the upcoming fifteenth season, and it’s going to be fascinating and hilarious to see him grow even more.
The fifteenth season of King of the Hill premieres on Hulu on July 20. It’s also renewed for seasons 16 and 17. If it maintains this level of quality, King of the Hill is well on its way to becoming the best revival of a TV show in history.
Disney+ has 35 seasons of the best TV ever made, and none of them are from Disney
Every streamer wants a legacy sitcom in its library. Disney+ got the best one.
King of the Hill is back in the race
King of the Hill was always popular, but it was underwatched compared to its contemporaries, so I’m comfortable lumping it in with other comedy shows that always deserved way more attention. Now that it has this second wind, it’d be very funny to see it outlast some of the other shows that drowned it out back in the ’90s and 2000s.
- Release Date
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1997 – 2024
- Network
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FOX, Hulu
- Showrunner
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Greg Daniels
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Mike Judge
Hank Hill / Boomhauer (voice)
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Kathy Najimy
Peggy Hill (voice)
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Pamela Adlon
Bobby Hill (voice)
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Stephen Root
Bill Dauterive (voice)
