King of the Hill

[Avaitor]

If you don't like this show, Chuck Mangione will do this to you.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I agree

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This show would probably tie for my favorite animated sitcom show with Futurama, though for completely different reasons entirely, if I got to see more of it. From what I have seen of it, though, I haven't seen a single episode that's below the quality of being genuinely good, which is a pretty amazing thing in and of itself.

For whatever reason, I've been most partial to the episodes involving Hank's relation with his son, Bobby.

[SSJ Jake]

King of the Hill is one of the most unappreciated sitcoms of all time. I can honestly say it's better than South Park, the Simpsons and even Family Guy by miles. My favorite episodes are ones with either Cotten or Dale's schemes

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I disagree about South Park, only because I think that people are insanely over-analytical with that show. Its my favorite animated comedy because its mostly consistently funny.

[SSJ Jake]

I don't know I've seen people over analyze Family Guy a hell of a lot more than South Park.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I could spend ours just discussing characters and plots, but instead I'll post a pratfall.



This show did everything.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I don't know I've seen people over analyze Family Guy a hell of a lot more than South Park.

That only goes in-line with the fact that people tend to over-analyze things in general. It still doesn't change the fact that people do over-analyze South Park all the time. It really shouldn't be compared to stuff like KOTH, or even The Simpsons or Family Guy because its a completely different style of humor altogether, and doesn't contain any serious drama elements to be labeled as an animated sitcom like KOTH, which puts just as much focus into serious character growth as it does into comedic elements (in fact it puts more effort into writing for its characters). And don't get me wrong, that is in fact what makes KOTH such a great and memorable show, IMO. I just feel that South Park, for me at least, is equally as "entertaining" in its overall level of quality because it excels in different areas of entertainment, IMO.

[Spark Of Spirit]

South Park or Family Guy would never really compare since they aim for different audiences.

Still, I would say it is the most consistently brilliant thing Fox ever aired.

[Spark Of Spirit]

tl;dr ahead!


While I was looking up some of my favorite episodes, I decided to focus on the other side. I think season 10 is probably the weakest season of KOTH overall with 9 not far behind. The first six episodes alone show why I don't feel season 9 was as strong as the others (8 was a bit shaky, but had some great stuff that pulled it up, and most episodes still held together), but season 10's real dearth of quality show why it's probably the weakest.


Season 9

A Rover Runs Through It

Continuity wise... What the hell is going on here? We've SEEN Peggy's mother before and she was nothing like this. I mean, she's still basically the same character, if a bit more passive in her malice, but this was nothing like what we've been shown of Peggy's home life before. Continuity aside, the plot... makes no sense. Henry Winkler and Hollywood are ruining the countryside, I guess. It's not very KOTH at all and kind of silly, actually. At least Pigmalion was still heavily character-based despite being very un-KOTH. The best part is easily Peggy's father who is great, but the rest is utterly forgettable and the ending has been done better in other episodes before. Lackluster season premiere.


Mrs. Wakefield

It's Racist Dawg all over again. I don't really need to go further here, but it's not a very pleasant episode to watch. Especially considering it's a Christmas episode.


Death Buys A Time Share

Again, this feels like an exaggeratedly cartoonish version of "The Substitute Spanish Prisoner" where Peggy gets suckered out of retirement money from a con artist and tricks him into getting it back. This time it's Cotton and Bill, and Hank has to sort it out. There's nothing really wrong here, it's just that we've seen this episode before and it was done way better.


Yard, She Blows

Yet AGAIN, this was basically a mish mash of many Bobby/Peggy gets some kind of displayed ornament that Hank hates but can't get rid of. This time it's a lawn gnome named Winklebottom. Honestly, other than the name of the gnome, I have to struggle to remember anything else about this episode.


Dale To The Chief

It's novel seeing Dale have the opposite beliefs for a while, but it's still kind of boring. The sub plot about Hank was done WAY better when it was over a porno tape way back in the early days, too. Seeing a pattern?


The Petriot Act

As an animal lover, and an avid fan of cats and dogs, I really didn't like this episode. They just make the cat an asshole for no reason, not even playing with Hank's assumption that dogs are better for no reason and laying into the standard stereotypes that all cats are like this. Hank gets pointlessly screwed out of money and in the most obviously concocted twist in the entire series, gets out of it. Not really a fan of this episode.


Enrique-cilable Differences

It's nice to finally shine the spotlight on Enrique. He's just such a needy guy, you've just got to love him. This is a fun episode purely because it focuses on something relatively new.


Mutual Of Omabwah

This is a bizarre episode, but it's definitely a step up from the first few episodes of this season [and even a few from season 8] in all the different things going on in the episode. This is a gooden.


Care-Takin' Care Of Business

The introduction of Lucky makes the episode, though the main plot is a bit different from the standard. Again, the season continues the upswing.


Arlen City Bomber

This is something I never thought I would see on KOTH. But I think I like it. It's not every day you get to see roller derby in a cartoon, so savour what little we can get.


Redcorn Gambles With His Future

But then after all the mediocrity and decent episodes comes this gem. Wow, this episode is funny. Diving into John Redcorn, we see his fears and hopes, and we get to see him act on his impulses to finally live his dream only to have it continually shot down until ironically finding a new one. This is easily one of the best episodes of the series and it literally came out of nowhere.


Smoking & The Bandit

Is another great episode. Where did these come from? Dale's rebellion through cowardice is hilarious, as is his desperation to get his son to admire him. The ending when they "catch" the bandit is perfect, as well.


Gone With The Windstorm

Irv Bennett should have been in more episodes. This is another great episode full of funny moments ("Peggy, you die over there"), and crazy situations and is kind of similar to another latter day Simpsons episode. But this one is much better, and funnier.


Bobby On Track

What the hell, another classic? For some reason, watching Bobby attempt, and fail, to do the simplest of tasks never gets old. And watching him get rewarded for doing it? Even better. The "stick" was a great idea for an episode, and it works great.


It Ain't Over 'Til The Fat Neighbour Sings

Great again. Dale's rant at the end would have been the perfect capper to any episode about Bill, but it's even better in this one. As far as the "Bill finding a place of his own" episodes go, this is one of the best in that it's still funny while remaining true to all the characters without purposely making someone out of character for it to work. The singing is great, too.



Season 10

Season 10, on the flipside, is the opposite for me. Unlike season 9's problems of being full of retreads and annoying character beatdowns in the first half of the season, season 10 tries to mix things up and.... sometimes it works. But not always. When I mean "mix it up, I mean "take old ideas and apply them to different characters", or "give someone a job", but nothing really substantial.

It also makes me wonder if they purposely held the best episodes for the latter half of season 9, because nothing really compares to the material in the second half of that season.


Hank's On Board

This is a good episode. No complaints.


Bystand Me

... Uh, Peggy gets a new job. Nothing else really happens. I'll be honest, Peggy at the Bystander was pretty much a dead end. The paper route thing has some funny moments, but it's not enough to really hold anything great.


Bill's House

T'was The Nut Before Christmas 2: Electric Boogaloo.


Harlottown

For a premise as shocking and wild as this... Nothing really happens to make this standout. Another example of taking a great idea, but not really doing anything with it.


Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Clown

Okay, now this was funny. Making fun of modern art and elitism while simultaneously bringing out how just as lame low brow comedy can get is a fun watch. There are a lot of funny moments in here and easily the best episode in this season's first half.


Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

Racist Dawg but with Kahn instead.


You Gotta Believe (In Moderation)

This one has funny moments, but... It doesn't really stand out much at all. The writing kind of holds this back from shining like it should.


Business Is Picking Up

A solid episode showing Bobby just showing an interest in something different with Hank disapproving. It's too bad this plot set up was used so much, because this is an otherwise alright episode.


The Year Of Washing Dangerously

For such a unique episode and premise, I can never remember a thing about it. Another episode hampered by unmemorable writing.


Hank Fixes Everything

Second best episode of the season, not that that's really saying much, but it is really good. The whole price fixing and chopper subplot come together really well at the end. This one never gets old.


Church Hopping

This is kind of an annoying episode to watch. Hank Hill is not a very passive person and would never just run away from a confrontation. The solution at the end of the episode is kind of annoying since you think they would have done that to solve their initial problem in the first place. It's decent otherwise, but it's held together kind of flimsily.


24 Hour Propane People

This is it. Best episode of the season. Hank and Buck are at their best here, and the plot is hilarious in both how it came to be (Buck's lack of respect for his workers) and how everything plays out (Hank learns how to deal with Buck, finally), plus Hank's coworkers are finally given more time to shine and everything just comes together so well. This is thankfully the template they used for the rest of the show for the remaining seasons, unlike other shows, the KOTH staff learned from their misfires.


The Texas Panhandler

Those annoying hipsters ruin this episode. It's decent otherwise, but they never really get any proper comeuppance and makes this kind of pointless to sit through.


Hank's Bully

Kind of a watershed episode. I like it, even though it's very much a character beatdown episode. But it's one where Hank actually gets the little asshole back and the pay off is awesome. Not perfect, but I watch it when it's on.


Edu-ma-cating Lucky

This was a decent season (and possible series) finale, even though it didn't really close anything off. It was a decent end to a rather mediocre season, but nothing overly great.


All in all, this was the low point of the series. Surprising then, that it wasn't very low. A few episodes are hard to watch, and these seasons are massively uneven, but compared to the lows of other long running series, these really aren't bad overall. Thankfully, season 11 is a massive step up to season 7 level quality, and season 12 is even stronger using twists on the formula that actually work this time, and season 13 winds everything down great both in character and story arcs and in the general tone of the series. A lot of things naturally end in season 13 and it works really well. The last 3 seasons are a fantastic second wind and coda to the series.

But it doesn't change the fact that season 9 and 10 [and a few episodes from 8] are the low point of the series. If you're watching through the series for the first time and you come to these episodes, stick it out. The last 3 seasons are worth it.

[Avaitor]

Edu-ma-cating Lucky

This was a decent season (and possible series) finale, even though it didn't really close anything off. It was a decent end to a rather mediocre season, but nothing overly great.

I watched this one again recently, and I'm a bit conflicted on it. For one thing, I think that it's a great bit of character for Lucky, since it goes into his moral code and ethics very well. On the other hand, Peggy is too damn unlikable in it. I can understand why she is against Luanne being with Lucky, but her actions are unjustifiable. Even for Peggy.

I'm happy with parts of it, but if this was the series finale, I'd be a little disappointed.

I have to agree with you overall that this part of the show was the weakest, and the funny thing is, you can say that this era of the show (seasons 8-10) are similar to the same point in The Simpsons when you look at the path it goes down. Unlike Simpsons which got progressively weaker past the 10th season however, KOTH started to pick up steadily with it's 11th season. The last season was a little flat in comparison, but the last three years more than justified it's legacy.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Season 13 feels a bit more low key, but the overall feel of things winding down and things closing up sets it apart from the rest of the series. I may not laugh out loud as much as other seasons, but it remains interesting to watch throughout as characters are given their final tests and things change (or remain the same) throughout it's run. They were clearly running out of second wind, though. Season 13 was the best place to end it and thankfully it didn't end on a low note.

Season 11 and 12 really are top notch, though. Everything came together great on those seasons and brought the quality closer to the first 6 seasons (I even like these seasons more than season 7) where new things are tried, and the quality remains throughout. However, what works in these seasons are the little things. Little gags and nuances sprinkled throughout and characters' reaction to small events is for some reason very engaging and not something played upon much since the early seasons.

The Simpsons may have showed cracks in season 8 and 9, but they did not learn from them and the series hit an all time low in 11 and 12. KOTH's low was not anywhere near as bad, because when the cracks started showing (remember, season 9 and 10 are practically the same season from the same production order) the staff stepped it up and made it work until the end of it's run.

How many other long running shows did that?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Wow, the first two seasons sure are different, aren't they?

The first season doesn't really delve into the characters, but is more about the world they live in. Season 2 dives in a bit more, with the first few classics emerging within. They started to get it right so early in the series that it is such a surprise how different some of these episodes are.

Three Days Of The Kahndo is such a classic, though. So many great moments, and it wouldn't look out of place in a later season.

[Daxdiv]

Watching the first two seasons of KOTH is jarring, the first one is obvious due to the different art style, and of course, trying to find their groove with the characters. It sort of feels like a different show all together. I mean there are a few episodes I like from the first season.

I will say one thing, I don't think the Hank Hill of now would have gave his son a carton full of cigarettes to smoke as punishment for smoking. I mean, this was the one of the few things that Hank Hill ever did wrong as a parent. Not to mention, that the episode pretty much proved that it would fueled his like for smoking.

[Avaitor]

The first two seasons are fine, but the show has really progressed since around the halfway point of season 2. That's when they started mixing with the characters a little more and found some common ground for a lot of them.

I don't really go back to season 1 all that much, but when I do, it's interesting t o see how the show has evolved since then. Same with The Simpsons and EEnE.