Animated sitcom “King of the Hill” is back, and it’s got more Texas references than the Dallas Cowboys have failed playoff appearances.
All 10 episodes of season 14 of the Texas-centric show are now available on Hulu. These are the first new episodes of “King of the Hill” since it went off the air in 2010. It originally ran for 13 seasons on FOX from 1997-2009, with one final episode in 2010.
This new season centers around Hank Hill (voiced by show creator Mike Judge) and his wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) returning home to the fictional DFW-area suburb of Arlen after a stint working in Saudi Arabia selling propane and gas. As they get settled into their new life back home, they start to realize Arlen — and Texas — has changed.
Arlen could be a stand-in for any Texas suburb, but Judge has said he specifically referenced North Texas’ Richardson for the original run of the show. He always made a lot of Texas references that went above and beyond its setting, and season 14 is no different.
Episode 1 featured references to DFW International Airport and SMU, while Episode 2 referenced Texas beer culture and the Kennedy assassination. Episodes 3, 4 and 5 had everything from the George W. Bush Presidential Center to Plano soccer.
Here’s a breakdown of all the North Texas references we spotted in Episodes 6, 7 and 8.
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‘King of the Hill’/’King of the Grill’
Here’s when “King of the Hill” references itself. In Episode 6, “Peggy’s Fadeout,” Bobby (Pamela Adlon) is preparing to compete on cooking competition show “King of the Grill.” When he mentions this to Chane (Ki Hong Lee), his business partner, Chane quips:
“You mean that Texas cooking show that Fox stupidly canceled 15 years ago?”
“They’re bringing it back!” Bobby replies.
Wink, wink.
‘Smart Dallas restaurant rats’
Bobby finds rats in his restaurant kitchen, which leads him to enlist the extermination services of Dale (Johnny Hardwick). Dale concludes that the rodents must be some “smart Dallas restaurant rats.”
Recently, a live rat was found at a Plano restaurant. Read more of the Star-Telegram’s restaurant inspection roundups here.
Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones and AT&T Stadium
Episode 7, “Any Given Hill-Day,” is just one big Dallas Cowboys reference.
In an effort to bond with Hank, Bobby books tickets to a football camp at AT&T Stadium. Their coach is none other than Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons (voicing himself), who in real life is currently in the middle of a heated contract negotiation with team owner Jerry Jones.
Other one-off references include Hank’s abandoned novel involving former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo solving mysteries with a dog that knows karate; Dale’s promise to forgive Hank and Bobby for not inviting him to Cowboys Camp in exchange for “a lock of Trevon Diggs’ hair”; and Hank’s insistence that Jones “has no soul” because he fired Tom Landry.
But the biggest Dallas Cowboys moment of the episode belongs to Bobby’s girlfriend Willow (Allegra Edwards). She breaks into Jones’ office and vandalizes his desk (this is a family newspaper; if you’ve seen the episode, you know what happens) in retaliation for the firing of her father years ago. Needless to say, Bobby breaks up with her later.
Fort Worth bed bugs
The B-plot of Episode 7 has Peggy setting up a Little Free Library in her front yard in an effort to build community. It spreads bed bugs instead. She can’t let anyone know where the bugs came from, so she enlists Dale to spread misinformation. At one point, he tells someone that bed bugs enjoy hot climates, like over in Fort Worth.
And while it has been hot this summer in North Texas, it’s nowhere near as hot as recent years.
Johnny Hardwick as Dale Gribble
Johnny Hardwick, the original voice of Dale Gribble, died in August 2023 at his home in Austin. He recorded lines for the “King of the Hill” revival before he died, which is why he is credited as Dale’s voice in episodes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7. Toby Huss, who also previously voiced Cotton Hill and Hank’s neighbor Khan Souphanousinphone, voices Dale in episodes 1 and 10.
The end credits of “Any Given Hill-Day” begin with an “In Loving Memory” photo of Hardwick next to Dale. Hardwick was a native Texan, born in 1958 Austin. He went to Texas Tech University before working as a bartender in Austin and Dallas.
He later had a career as a stand-up comedian, and was the first comedian to appear on “The Jon Stewart Show.”
Other Texas references
There aren’t any real references in Episode 8, “Kahn-scious Uncoupling.” However, Hank’s comment that he loves a dance that comes with clear instructions probably means he’d be good at line-dancing.
Stray observations
These three episodes take on topics that include divorce, open relationships, social media, book burning and self-identity in retirement. Mike Judge manages to thread the needle between making fun of all of those topics while also putting the perfect Hill family spin on them. Ho, yeah!