It’s ironic that, despite their importance to the adult animated comedy genre, the Fox Broadcasting Company doesn’t know a good show when it kicks them in the ass.
Back in 2008, Fox made a series of controversial moves regarding the direction of their animated comedy strategy around the same time that raised eyebrows. Fox abruptly announced that it was ending Mike Judge and Greg Daniels’ beloved series King of the Hill following the show’s 13th season, right before the network revealed that it had greenlit a Family Guy spin-off series called The Cleveland Show, which would fill the vacant timeslot that the King of the Hill cancellation conveniently opened up. The Cleveland Show would go on to run for four seasons amidst mixed reviews, and King of the Hill rode off into the sunset, seemingly for good.
Then, in 2023, Hulu announced that it was developing a revival season for King of the Hill with the entire surviving cast reprising their roles, and, this week, the series came roaring back to life with 10 spectacular new episodes (well, nine, considering state of the season premiere) and some choice words for their former patrons who thought that a second Seth MacFarlane show was more worthwhile.
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In the fourth episode of King of the Hill Season 14, “Chore Money, Chore Problems,” a grown-up Bobby Hill briefly attempts to become a contestant on the revival of “King of the Grill” which is, as Chane Wassanasong puts it, “That Texas cooking show that Fox stupidly canceled 15 years ago.”
When Fox canceled King of the Hill, the decision came as a shock to the show’s creative team as well as its fans, as they hadn’t planned for Season 13 to be their last hurrah on linear television. The network allowed Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and the rest of the King of the Hill production to extend the season by two episodes in order to allow them to slap together some sort of satisfying conclusion. However, the time crunch coupled with the tragic loss of voice actor Brittany Murphy halfway through the season left the show’s original ending, “To Sirloin with Love,” less than filling for the loyal King of the Hill fandom.
Now, Hulu has given a community that had lost hope forever a second chance to fall in love with the world of Arlen, Texas and its idiosyncratic inhabitants, and the first season of the King of the Hill revival is, arguably, stronger than the last three years on Fox combined. Meanwhile, only MacFarlane’s most die-hard fans are calling for a Cleveland Show reboot, and, if there is a God, not one of them is a Hulu executive.
