Requiem for King of the Hill

King of the Hill had its origins in a sort of running "LOLREDNECKS" joke in Beavis & Butthead, but it became so much more. Hank Hill was the aggressive redneck neighbor who was often frustrated at Beavis and Butthead's idiocy. Can you blame him? The show meant for the audience to laugh at Hank, but I think a lot of people could probably see where he was coming from.

Mike Judge worked Hank up into a full-fledged character who got his own show starting in January of 1997. Austin mania was in full swing by then, with Richard Linklater's film Slackers having been released in 1991. But King of the Hill showed us another side of medium-town Texas.

From the very beginning, King of the Hill refused to become the redneck joke that many people expected from it. Sure, Hank's earnest, plodding character was often the butt of jokes. And sure, Hank enjoyed drinking beer from cans and mowing his lawn. But he was also, when you got right down to it, a sensible man whose heart was as large as his urethra was narrow.

Artistically, King of the Hill always surprised me with its ability to render complex facial expressions. Each episode has at least one facial expression that is an absolute work of genius. Watch for it.

And then there are the silly moments. So many silly moments. I recently re-watched the episode where Hank goes blind after seeing his mother making love with her new, aged boyfriend on the kitchen table. Watch Hank's eyes at the moment when he goes blind. See the pupils contract, and his left eye drift up and to the left. Absolutely hilarious!

Not to mention the time Bobby fell in love with Luanne's hairstyle model head. Or the time he fell under the spell of the fire ant queen. Or the time Peggy was mistaken for a transvestite due to her enormous size 16 feet.

That last episode is a great example of the ways in which King of the Hill managed to elevate itself above the crowd. It treats the subject of transvestites with a compassionate humanity that you will never find in the likes of Family Guy or even the Simpsons. The twists and turns the episode takes, and the way that Peggy accepts and finds acceptance at the end, is downright incredible, I tell you what.

If you want character story arcs, King of the Hill has them in spades. Just look at Luanne, who starts out as a lonely, stupid trailer park waif from a bad family. She attends (then drops out of) beauty school. She loves Buckley, mourns his death, and eventually finds true love with Lucky (who slipped and fell on pee pee at the Costco). Luanne may be too stupid to be brainwashed by a cult, but she's savvy enough to market her own line of religious hand puppet VHS tapes.

There are so many things to love about King of the Hill. Another way in which it pushes back against the redneck stereotype is with Hank's neighbors the Souphanousinphones. The family hails from Laos, by way of southern California. Hank hates Kahn Souphanousinphone, but not because of his race. He hates him because Kahn is a Class A jerk.

As the show moves through its 13 seasons it built up relationships and plotlines to rival anything you'll find in any other sitcom, live action or animated. Consider the complex relationship between Hank and Carl Moss, who is the principal at Bobby's middle school. Carl occasionally has to call Hank into his office and act the part of the disciplinarian - but Hank's not having any of it, because he and Carl were high school classmates. Hank's ability to deflate Carl with a single aggravated sigh is simply sublime.

I won't say that King of the Hill was canceled before its time. Thirteen seasons is more than most shows get, and the longer any show runs, the more you risk the show falling apart. How long can Bobby remain a 13-year-old? (Especially if he keeps getting gout from eating at the Jewish deli at the mall.) The show ended before it could wear out its welcome, and maybe that's a blessing.

All images copyright King of the Hill/20th Century Fox Television