NEW YORK (AP) — Hank Hill is again and he is the identical ol’ Hank Hill, however a number of issues round him have modified.
The lovable animated hero of “King of the Hill” has returned from a 15-year lull and he is not positive what boba tea is, how ridesharing works and is confused by all-gender bogs. “What kind of food is poke?” he asks his spouse, Peggy.
Hank and Peggy have returned to their hometown of Arlon, Texas — and our TV units — however quite a bit has occurred through the years they usually’re stepping right into a world they does not at all times acknowledge.
“Hank, have things changed here more than we thought?” Peggy asks, apprehensive, within the first new episode. “Did we make a mistake coming back?”
Hulu is unquestionably hoping not, reuniting most of the similar writers and voice forged who turned the propane-loving, beer-sipping Hill into one among TV’s few blue-collar icons. The primary 10 episodes hit Hulu on Monday.
A brand new ‘King of the Hill’ chief
Saladin Okay. Patterson, the manager producer and showrunner for the brand new season 14, hopes the unique followers will return to see how Hill copes within the modern-day.
“That’s always key because you want that core fan base to validate what you’ve done because they’re like the gatekeepers in a way,” he says. “So when they sign off and say, ‘OK, they didn’t mess it up, it’s still the same special show,’ I think other people who may be unfamiliar with it, or even on the fence, feel like, ‘OK, well, now we want to like it.’”
Viewers will be taught that Hank and Peggy have been in Saudi Arabia all this time, the place he served as “assistant manager in charge of Arabian propane and Arabian propane accessories.” Their son Bobby, now 21, is the chef of a “down home, German-Asian fusion” restaurant. (Pattern dish: Grilled mackerel with a facet of mustard pretzel.)
Hank and Peggy have retired and he fortunately rejoins his line of associates consuming cans of beer in an alley. Boomhauer offers him a hug and Dale has grown much more paranoid, changing into “an election-denier-denier.”
Invoice has let himself go, staying indoors and dwelling off Amazon deliveries. “I finished Netflix, Hank. Did you know that when you get to the end of Netflix, you get something called ‘a wellness check?’” Viewers within the second episode hear Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” a pleasant nod to the late rocker’s embrace of the present when it first appeared.
“The writers have found that balance between the vintage ‘King of the Hill’ that we adore and the new — and letting them coexist,” says Pamela Adlon, who voices Bobby.
Similar light tone
Creators Mike Choose, the mastermind behind “Beavis and Butt-Head,” and Greg Daniels, who would go on to co-create “The Office,” helped Patterson navigate this world, which they sheparded throughout its first 13 seasons, airing from 1997 to 2009.
The present’s tone maintains its light mocking of contemporary life, from hipsters and their craft ales to bike lanes. Hill at one level shakes his head over fashionable outside grills having sensors and app connections: “I shouldn’t have to call technical support to make a burger.”
Patterson says the humor is grounded in actual life. “I do have a barbecue grill that is Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled. I have three devices to run it, but I’m calling tech support because I have guests coming over and the meat needs to be done,” he says. “And I do think over the pandemic, my wife finished Netflix.”
Whereas there are adjustments, some issues are immutable. “Hank’s still going to drink beer. Dale’s still going to be a conspiracy theorist. Bill’s still going to be a lovable sad sack,” says Patterson. “Those core character things had to be the same. I had a pastor who told me one time, ‘Grown folks don’t change.’”
Viewers will see in upcoming episodes if Hank — a contented propane vendor and storage tinkerer — can actually ever retire and watch as Hank’s associates navigate new chapters. They’re going to additionally discover the connection between an grownup Bobby and his mother and father.
“He’s of age now and it’s really kind of cool because you see the similarities and all the attributes that he took from his parents that he wasn’t even aware of when he was a boy — or didn’t want to have anything to do with — and now he’s using them to keep his business going and move himself forward,” says Adlon.
A politics-free zone
Whereas debates have raged over the place Hank Hill sits on the political spectrum, his creators argue he represents a wise, common sense center. He follows the principles and does the very best he can with out hurting anybody.
“It’s so not a Republican or a Democratic show or an independent show. It’s all of that,” says Adlon. “There’s space in the world for everybody. It’s hard for us all to find a safe space in a common area anymore and that’s what this show really is.”
And regardless that the brand new “King of the Hill” episodes arrive throughout President Donald Trump’s second time period, do not anticipate any politics from Hank Hill.
“We want to tell relatable stories where people can see themselves in our characters or their family members in our characters,” says Patterson.
“There are enough cultural things and relationship things that have shifted to where he can comment on that without us wading into tariffs and immigration policy and stuff like that.”
