‘King of the Hill' cast and creators on revival: ‘Bobby's got a little bit of fame and a little bit of swagger'
That's how King of the Hill cocreator and executive producer Mike Judge teased the long-anticipated revival of the Hulu animated series, in the voice of Hank Hill. The show will be returning for its 14th season on Hulu, after wrapping a 13-year run in 2009.
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Judge offered a sneak peek at what's in store for Season 14 at a panel at the ATX TV Festival in Austin that also included cocreator and executive producer Greg Daniels, executive producer and showrunner Saladin K. Patterson, and voice cast members Pamela Adlon, Lauren Tom and Toby Huss.
The new season finds Hank and Peggy having retired and returning to live in Texas, after working in Saudi Arabia; Bobby (as voiced by Adlon) is now 21 and working as a sushi chef — technically a "German sushi robata" chef — in Dallas.
Judge said they had toyed with the idea of bringing the show back for years, but "when it clicked for me, I would just say, is when we start talking about actually aging the characters and the idea of Hank going to Saudi Arabia for a propane gig to retire off of," said Judge. "The ideas just started coming in. Because it's such a grounded realistic show, it just seemed right that they would be older. Bobby wouldn't be the same. That just seemed like the right thing."
The actors said they'd been following the rumors of a revival for years. "I just never wish for things like that because it's too big of a dream," said Adlon.
Once she was convinced it was real, she was quickly on board with playing an older version of her beloved character. "Bobby's got a little bit of fame and he's got a little bit of swagger," she said. "As an adult, he's become more centered and a bit more like his dad."
Huss added, 'I came back because it was like I miss my friends. I miss my friends in real life, but I miss my cartoon friends. We used to have crazy adventures, and I want to have more adventures with them.'
But some friends are missing — Brittany Murphy, who voiced Luanne, died in 2009, and Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Dale Gribble, died in August 2023. He'll be in the first six episodes, and then Huss will take over the role for the remaining four.
Patterson, who stepped in as showrunner, said, 'We talked about the best way to honor them, the show and the fans as well. I don't want to give any spoilers, but we found opportunities to let them be referenced, in a very respectful way that people are going to appreciate.'
Add Huss, 'I'm not trying to copy Johnny ... I guess I'm trying to be Johnny," said Huss. "He laid down a really wonderful goofball character ... he had a lot of weird heart to him and that's a credit to Johnny. So all I'm trying to do is hold on to his Dale-ness. We love our guy Johnny and it's so sad that he's not here.'
Over its initial run, King of the Hill received seven Emmy nominations and won twice: Best Animated Series in 1999 and Adlon for Best Voice-Over Performance in 2002.
Watch a teaser for the upcoming season here:
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