King of the Hill is headed back to TV August 4 and the show’s creators say that, while much of the heart of the series remains the same, fans can expect some pretty big changes when the entire 14th season hits Hulu next month.
Speaking exclusively with IGN ahead of the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-con, series creator (and voice of Hank Hill) Mike Judge and Executive Producer / Showrunner Saladin Patterson say that among the changes, fans can expect there to be more cursing now that the show’s moved from broadcast TV to streaming.
“I mean, we certainly talked about that creatively,” Patterson says. “How much do we want to push it? And it was all about staying within the tone and character of the original show and the characters themselves. But yes, we certainly did take advantage of being able to say a few more curse words, but not gratuitous. In fact, we have fun with the fact that other characters can curse, but Hank doesn’t. So it creates some opportunities for some jokes there. Hulu may have made us go back and take out some curse words because they want to make sure that we don’t get that TV-MA rating.”
King of the Hill creators confirm cultural authenticity is behind some recasting decisions.
But four-letter words aren’t the only way Arlen and its residents have changed. The new season takes place years after the show’s original finale, which wrapped in 2010. Hank, Peggy, Bobby, and all of their friends have aged and some fan-favorites are now being voiced by new actors.
Judge and Patterson confirm that cultural sensitivities played a role in re-casting some principal characters. Hank’s neighbor Khan – who was originally voiced by series regular Toby Huss- is now voiced by Ronny Chieng. Tai Leclaire also takes over as the character of Joseph from Breckin Meyer.
“King of Hill was always different from other animated shows and how grounded it was,” Patterson says. “Having (the) authenticity of those characters being played by people who culturally can speak to how they talk and what would feel authentic, that seems to fit our show more so than most.”
Judge agrees. “It seems like the right thing to do.”
King of the Hill creators explain why Lucky and Luanne weren’t recast.
While some characters will be voiced by new actors, Patterson and Judge say there was never much thought given to whether fan-favorites Lucky and Luanne would reappear after the passing of voice actors Tom Petty and Brittany Murphy.
“The analogy I use as a sports fan is, sometimes the best way to honor someone’s work is to hang their jersey up in the rafters as a show of respect and what they meant to the organization,” Patterson says. “It didn’t seem right to recast certain characters. I don’t want to spoil anything, but (we) figured out other ways in the storytelling to honor those characters.”
Judge adds that removing Lucky and Luanne from storylines was something they actually had to deal with on King of the Hill’s original run. “(With) Brittany,” Judge says, “I don’t know what season we were in, but she started to really take off as a movie star and become unavailable, so Luanne was not in a lot and Lucky came along later in the series.”
Mike Judge and Saladin Patterson say they’re planning to make more King of the Hill episodes beyond Season 14
When asked if there are already plans in place for another season beyond what we’ll get in August, Patterson says he expects to make more episodes. “We’d love to,” Patterson says. “We love for the response to be so strong and positive. ” Judge agreed, saying that doing more episodes is a “no-braner.”
The King of the Hill revival will feature new challenges for Hank.
A new Arlen means new annoyances for Hank, who was always someone a bit stuck in his ways. Asked whether Hank will struggle to deal with newer cultural phenomena like social media, Judge and Patterson say that Hank is actually more frustrated by simpler things like bike lanes.
“(Hank’s)l routine wouldn’t be TikTok social media,” Patterson says, “but it would be how he drives home and gets in the alley. So if now he can’t make a left turn and a bike lane is there, that immediately affects what he’s used to. And that seems to be where most of the humor can come from.”
But things in a new Arlen aren’t all bad for Hank.
“When we were writing this first episode, we end it where Hank finally gets to our version of Home Depot,” Judge says. “It’s sort of like things seem right with the world, it’s just people buying tools.”
Propane will still be the “main character” of the King of the Hill revival.
And while times have changed, Hank’s first love hasn’t. His devotion to propane and propane accessories still runs deep.
“You guys found a way to bring (propane) into all kinds of situations,” Judge says.
“Strickland propane is still around,” Patterson adds. “(Hank) doesn’t work there anymore. (But), As Hank says, it’s still God’s gas.”
