King of the Hill is an American animated series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997 to September 13, 2009 on FOX.

On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a finale.

The show's 14th season was originally supposed to air sometime in the 2009–2010 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a series finale on September 13, 2009.

The four episodes that were not aired on Fox, were instead syndicated for from May 3-6, 2010. The show was later revived on Hulu and Disney+ on August 4, 2025.

It centers on the Hills, a small-town Methodist family in Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a realistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional or mundane aspects of everyday life and friends' lives.

Settings, characters, and themes

Setting

King of the Hill is set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas. In a 1995 interview prior to the show's debut, Judge described the setting as "a town like Humble." In a more recent interview, Judge has cited Richardson, Texas, a Dallas suburb, as the specific inspiration for Arlen. Despite the fictitious locale, the show strives to portray the region accurately, going so far as to have annual research trips to Texas for the writing staff. Time magazine praised the authentic portrayal as the "most acutely observed, realistic sitcom about regional American life bar none".

Arlen includes settings such as Rainey Street, where the Hills reside, and Strickland Propane, the business where Hank works. Also included are parodies of well-known businesses, such as Mega-Lo Mart (a parody of big-box stores), Luly's (a parody of Luby's), and Bazooms (a parody of Hooters). Most of the children in the show attend Tom Landry Middle School (named after the former Dallas Cowboys coach). Early in the series, the school is referred to as being in the Heimlich County School District (according to markings on the school buses), though in later seasons this is changed to Arlen Independent School District. The school's mascot is a longhorn steer (named after the University of Texas Longhorns). The local country club is the Nine Rivers Country Club, though this club exclusively admits Asian-Americans.

Characters

King of the Hill depicts an average middle-class family and their lives in a typical American town. It documents the Hills' day-to-day-lives in the small Texas town of Arlen, exploring modern themes such as parent-child relationships, friendship, loyalty, and justice. As an animated sitcom, however, King of the Hill's scope is generally larger than that of a regular sitcom.King of the Hill is set in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas.[6] The show centers on the Hill family, headed by the ever-responsible, hard-working, honest, but emotionally stunted propane salesman Hank Hill (Mike Judge). The punning title refers to Hank as the head of the family, as well as metaphorically to the children's game king of the hill. He often finds his traditional conservative values challenged by the changing world around him, though his common decency usually sees him through. Hank typically serves as the de facto leader for his friends and family.

His wife Peggy Hill, née Platter (Kathy Najimy), a native of Montana, begins the series as a substitute Spanish teacher, though she has a poor grasp of the language. She pursues numerous other careers throughout the show's run. She is confident, frequently to the point of lacking self-awareness.

Hank and Peggy's only child is Bobby Hill (Pamela Adlon), a student at Tom Landry Middle School. Much to the chagrin of his football-loving father, Bobby has little interest in athletics and instead aspires to become a "prop comic".

Throughout a good share of the series, Peggy's naïve and emotional niece Luanne Platter (Brittany Murphy), lives with the Hill family while her mother is in jail. Luanne attends beauty school and hosts a Christian-themed puppet show for a local cable-access TV station. She eventually finds employment and moves into a house on the same street as the Hill family, remaining very close to them. She engages in a relationship with and marries Elroy "Lucky" Kleinschmidt (Tom Petty), a snaggle-toothed lay about, who lives on the settlement he has earned from a frivolous lawsuit.

Hank has a healthy relationship with his mother, Tilly (Tammy Wynette, later Beth Grant and K Callan), a kind woman who moved to Arizona after divorcing Hank's father Cotton Hill (Toby Huss). In contrast, Hank has a strained relationship with his father, a cantankerous World War II veteran who lost his shins to Japanese machine gun fire and verbally abused Tilly during their marriage. Cotton later marries Didi (Ashley Gardner), a young candy striper, and they have a son, "G.H." ("Good Hank"), who bears a striking resemblance to Bobby.

Dale Gribble (Johnny Hardwick; later Huss) is the Hills' chain-smoking, balding, conspiracy-theorist, next-door neighbor. He is married to Nancy Hicks-Gribble (Gardner), a weather reporter known for her good looks and charm. Dale is unaware that their only child, Joseph (Murphy, later Breckin Meyer, and later Tai Leclaire), is not his biological son, and is instead the result of Nancy's 14-year-long affair with John Redcorn (Victor Aaron; later Jonathan Joss), a Native American healer who has given her therapeutic massages for her "headaches" for years. Despite his inclination for conspiracy theories, Dale seems to be the only one in town unaware of the affair. His neighbors decide to keep Nancy's secret to preserve Dale and Joseph's loving relationship.

Bill Dauterive (Stephen Root) lives across from the Hills. Known as the "Billdozer" in his high-school football glory days, Bill is now overweight, bald, and clinically depressed, still struggling to get over his divorce from his ex-wife Lenore. He is a sergeant and barber in the Army. He idolizes Hank and pines for Peggy, often trying to insert himself in the family. His intense loneliness makes him gullible and desperate for attention.

Jeff Boomhauer (Judge) is an easy-going philanderer most notable for his unique speech pattern. Most of Boomhauer's lines are long-winded and meandering, delivered very quickly through a mumble and a very thick Texan accent. While the characters understand him just fine, the audience isn't necessarily meant to. His given name and occupation are not revealed until the end of the 13th season.

In the series' first season, the Souphanousinphones, a Laotian-American family, move in next door to the Hills. The family consists of the materialistic Kahn (Huss; later Ronny Chieng), his class-conscious ex-wife Minh (Lauren Tom), and their tween daughter, Kahn "Connie" Jr. (Tom).

Kahn – who has a lucrative office job – is often at odds with his neighbors, believing them to be "hillbillies" and "rednecks" due to their lower socioeconomic status. Minh befriends Peggy and Nancy, though she still sees herself as superior to them. Connie has been pushed by her father to become a child prodigy and excels at a variety of things from academics to music, though she still finds plenty of time to be a kid despite the stress. She forms a close relationship with Bobby Hill, frequently hanging out with him and Joseph Gribble.

Other minor characters include Buck Strickland (Root), Hank's licentious boss at Strickland Propane; Joe Jack (Huss) and Enrique (Danny Trejo), Hank's co-workers at Strickland; Carl Moss (Dennis Burkley; later Root), Bobby's principal at Tom Landry Middle School; and Reverend Karen Stroup (Mary Tyler Moore in her debut appearance, and then Ashley Gardner in regular appearances), the female minister of Arlen First Methodist.