King of the Hill
Season Two Boxed Set
(Fox Region One DVD)
(1997-98)
review by Head Cheeze

While The Simpsons kept chugging along in their rather cozy 8:00 pm timeslot, and The X-Files dominated at 9:00pm, Fox experimented with a few other shows to fill the gap between them. King of the Hill, the brainchild of Beavis and Butthead creator, Mike Judge, and, despite the networks constant shuffling of it's schedule, the show went on to become something of a phenomenon itself. Currently in it's eight season on Fox, and with it's syndicated repeats proving more popular than some networks first-run shows, this critically acclaimed slice of life comedy-toon is the finest of it's kind.

Hank Hill, a seller of "propane and propane accessories", his wife, three time substitute teacher of the year Peggy, son Bobby, and neice Luanne Platter, live in a small ranch home in Arlin, Texas. Hank's a fiercly proud Texan who spends the majority of his time standing in the alley behind his home, drinking with his high school buddies Dale, a bug exterminator whose wife carries on an affair with an indian "healer" right under his nose; the unintelligable sex machine, Boomhauer, and lonely Army barber, Bill. Rounding out the cast of characters is Hank's father Cotton, a pint-size and truly incorrigible war hero who lost his shins in WW2; Hank's Laotian neighbours Khan, Ming and Khan.Jr (who is, in fact, a girl); and Bobby's best friend (and Dale's son, who looks remarkably like the Indian healer his wife's shacking up with) Joseph.

The beauty of King of the Hill is it's simplicity. The characters don't go off on wild adventures or cartoonish hi-jinks. As a matter of fact, they don't act like cartoons at all. Everything that happens on King of the Hill could easily be done with a cast of actual actors, which is what makes it such a unique series. The animation, itself, is even tame in that the character are somewhat normal looking, eschewing the usual exaggeration of features. Unlike The Simpsons, in which most episodes really have little to no impact on the next, King of the Hill's character's grow with each, and their's a sense of continuity that's more akin to real life; more authentic than most live-action sitcoms, actually!

While Season One was a short, mid-season replacement of only 13 episodes, this boxed set presents the second, and first complete, season of King of the Hill. This is a show whose quality hasn't waned or peaked at any time, so it's impossible to pick a "best season", but I will say that Season Two was really when the writers and actors really seemed to nail their characters. For example, Dale Gribble (voiced by Johnny Hardwick) went from something of a monotone simpleton in Season One to a full-blown paranoid imbecile in Season Two, with a hatred for established government, and general mistrust of authority (his subscription to Soldier of Fortune is addressed to Rusty Shackleford).

The Season Two Boxed Set from Fox offers up 22 episodes, and not a dog in the bunch. The highlights are literally too many to point out here, but I have a special appreciation for the Husky Bobby episode, in which Hank's son becomes a model for portly boy's clothing, as well as the side-splittingly funny Meet the Manger Babies, in which Luanne (voiced by super hot Brittany Murphy, who is fantastic as the dimwitted Mrs. Platter, instilling her with a shrill, crackling drawl) starts a Biblical puppet show, featuring Hank as God. The boxed set also includes selected episode commentary by the show's characters, director introductions, music videos, and a whopping 197 (yep, one hundred and ninety seven!) deleted, extended, and alternate scenes!!! This is one helluva set, and one can only hope the subsequent sets will feature nearly as much!

King of the Hill is a difficult show to describe. It's obviously animated, but it's not really a cartoon. It's funny as hell, but it's not really a sitcom. It's basically just a very ingenious look at the idiosyncrasies of the Hill family, their friends, and kin. While it may be set in the patriotic heart of the U.S.A., King of the Hill's sense of humour is rooted in family, and that's something we can all relate to.