As a child, I didn’t grow up with cable television, and both my brother and I have always found cable television shows to be more interesting than the ones we had seen in our childhood.
Don’t get me wrong, Arthur, Dragon Tales, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and the many other public television shows we watched daily will always hold a special place in my heart.
However, whenever my family would travel together and stay at a hotel, my brother and I would IMMEDIATELY make a beeline for the television remote to see what channels were accessible to us just for that brief period of time.
Among these channels was Cartoon Network, which, after a certain time in the evening, becomes Adult Swim, a separate yet connected entity of Cartoon Network, where more adult-themed cartoons have been airing since 2001.
This is where one would find shows like Harvey Birdman, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and, our topic of discussion, King of the Hill.
Whenever my brother and I would come across this show as young children, we both would groan in disappointment and check out Nickelodeon or some other channel and check back later to see if the show was over; as a young child of color who was born and raised in the Bay Area, there was nothing immediately appealing about a bunch of white men from the Midwest standing around drinking beer all day.
However, as I would grow up, and move away from cable television, and television in general as a form of entertainment, King of the Hill faded away into my subconscious.
And one day, whether it was fate or pure coincidence, I had just cracked open a beer a couple nights ago and was scrolling through my Hulu app, and came across King of the Hill. I sat in my couch, just staring at the thumbnail of Hank Hill staring at me in anticipation as to whether or not to give him and his show a fair try, and though I didn’t want to say yes, I had no reason to say no.
These are my thoughts on the first episode.
Hank Hill is a father, husband, assistant manager, and human, above all. Contrary to popular belief, King of the Hill, set in the fictional city of Arlen, Texas, isn’t just about white men standing around drinking beers. Although, that’s not what it isn’t about either. It’s about a man, just trying to keep his family happy, his job secure, and his sanity in check.
Hank’s struggle to maintain these areas of his life becomes immediately apparent in the first episode, “Pilot.”
The episode opens with Hank and his friends looking at his (Hank’s) truck engine, as there’s an issue with it. This short two-minute exchange between four friends about a truck engine sets the tone for the entire show with the understated voice acting as well as effective use of long pauses. The showrunners make sure to let the viewer know that they are watching something that will contain comedic timing so awkward yet efficient in its awkwardness to convey the real awkwardness of actual conversation. The dialogue in this show is never too expository, but rather, reflects the characters’ motives and personalities without feeling fake either.
After the opening theme plays, Hank goes to Bobby’s room to see what his son is up to. Finding him listening to a cassette player via headphones, Hank asks if he can take a peek at what Bobby’s listening to. When he comes to hear that it’s just flatulence and other toilet-related noises, we immediately understand Hank’s relationship with Bobby. His disgust and confusion as to why Bobby would listen to such noises are an example of how Hank feels about his son’s future. He loves him dearly, but because he is developing differently than how he himself did, Hank feels his son is in danger of not becoming successful, not showing any prospects or interests in any activities that are productive, according to Hank’s own standard.
The next scene shows Hank and Peggy, his wife, driving Bobby to the baseball game Bobby had been getting ready for in the scene prior. As they’re driving, Peggy tells Bobby to try his best at the game, while Hank tells him to do better than his best if he wants to win. This scene gives the audience a clear understanding of Hank’s family dynamics. Though both Hank and Peggy may have equally important and insightful advice to offer Bobby, it’s always, ultimately, Hank who takes the reins and assumes responsibility of counseling his son, for better or for worse.
When he’s up to bat, Bobby doesn’t swing at the ball pitched at him, attempting to get walked by the pitcher to the first base after enough Balls. He manages to accidentally hit the ball with his completely motionless baseball bat and runs to first base. However, Hank tried to tell Bobby from a distance to keep his eye on the ball, and because Bobby was too busy trying to understand what his father was trying to tell him, he wasn’t able to avoid the ball which had hit him in the head, giving him a black eye.
On the way home from the game, Hank brings Bobby with him to the “Mega-Lo-Mart” to get some supplies for his truck. Hank finds an employee, who knows nothing about the store or where to find anything. When Hank asks this employee where he can find WD-40 and gets no answer, he becomes frustrated and yells at him. During this interaction, it’s revealed that a couple of nosy neighbors had been watching Hank and start gossiping about his temper, theorizing that he was the one who gave Bobby that black eye.
Word quickly gets around, as we are shown scenes of random Arlen residents discussing this very topic, while the truth slowly gets twisted more and more with each scene, eventually concluding with a phone call to a social worker with Child Protective Services being notified about Hank supposedly abusing his son.
At this point in the plot, it starts to become clear that though Hank wants to be just a regular law-abiding citizen with a happy family, this puts him relatively on a different moral plane than the other Arlen residents. His outburst at the store clerk isn’t meant to show Hank’s anger, but to show his skepticism of corporations and his knowledge about hardware that trumps that of said corporations. Though Hank wants to be an everyman, his desire to do so separates him from the others.
The next scene shows Hank and his friends looking at his truck once again, but this time their discussion is consistently being interrupted by a thumping sound coming from inside Hank’s house. It’s revealed that Bobby is the culprit, watching television and throwing a baseball against the wall to catch it again. When Peggy comes in to tell Bobby that his television time was over, Bobby accidentally throws the baseball at her head, leaving a red bump on Peggy’s forehead.
The social worker comes by for a visit, and Peggy answers the door, while Hank and his friend Dale are fixing his truck. While Hank is complaining about the thumping noise, Dale gets distracted and stops shining his flashlight under the hood of the truck, which causes Hank to drop his wrench into the truck, land on his arm and the hood to collapse on top of him, all while Dale comically escapes, not assuming responsibility.
This timing, however hilarious, proves to be Hank’s downfall, as he angrily enters the house and yells at Bobby to not throw the ball anymore, followed by him grabbing and throwing said ball out the window, all while the social worker and Peggy watch in horror.
Hank comes to realize what he’s being accused of, and attempts to explain to the social worker about how his son got the black eye, only to dig himself deeper into a hole, as his patience with the social worker quickly grows thin. Accusing him about coming from an “anger-mindset,” and for not following the rule “loud is not allowed, ” the social worker unintentionally sets Hank off into a fit of rage which ends with him telling the social worker to get off of his property, chasing him out of the house.
Bobby, having seen this whole interaction, begins acting out, as Hank and Peggy come outside to find him using a drill and hammer to damage and destroy a loose stop sign. When Hank starts to raise his voice at Bobby, Bobby tells him that he’s supposed to be nice to him now, as he knows his father could get in big trouble for publicly reprimanding him.
Having left Hank in shambles, not a minute after Bobby heads inside does he hear the phone ring, and is informed that the investigation about his father is being called off, as there was no evidence. Bobby decides not to tell Hank.
Bobby spends the following week messing with his dad, knowing full well that he would not reap any consequences, as Hank would have to reap consequences much worse, apparently.
When Hank comes to learn that the investigation was called off from Peggy, he also immediately learns afterward from her that Bobby didn’t tell him because he thinks Hank doesn’t love him when he screws up, which Bobby had told her earlier. Peggy then encourages Hank to tell his son why he’s wrong for thinking his father doesn’t love him.
Hank, knowing he wants to express to his son how he feels, however inexperienced with words of affection he may be, is by far one of the most heartwarming moments in television. The way he barely musters out “you know, uh feelings of, uh, fondness, and more, uh, heh–you know what I mean, don’t you boy?” and Bobby responds “no,” is so authentically wholesome and indicative of their offbeat relationship.
Bobby asks if Hank was ever disappointed in him, to which he says “I’ve been disappointed by just about everything else in this town–but you? Not once.”
And for the following twenty-three years, King of the Hill would go on to air for thirteen seasons before getting the boot from Fox TV. This happened because the humor and overall tone of the show, wasn’t as universally accepted as the likes of more slapstick, colorful shows such as Family Guy, which actually took King of the Hill‘s spot in Fox‘s lineup.
The cultural significance of this show seems to be muted in comparison to its competition.
It’s a shame, too, because this show has a lot to offer to many viewers if they so wish to give it a chance, and where’s a better to start than from the beginning?
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