King of the Hill review (King of the Hill)

Member Name: Walter_Kovacs

Product:	King of the Hill
Date:	25/10/08 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, original, some great characters

Disadvantages: Can be boring

King of the Hill is an american animated series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels. It started production in 1997 and is currently broadcasting it's 13th season.

Mike Judge is probably best known, before this, for the creation of Beavis & Butthead. In fact, there was a character on B&B that looked a little like Hank Hill and sounded exactly like him.

The series revolves around the Hills, a family living in Arlen, Texas. Hank Hill is the father, a beer drinking, pick-up truck driving republican man who loves to keep his lawn trim. His wife, Peggy, is a substitute Spanish teacher who seems to have less of a good grasp of the language. They have a son, Bobby, he's 13 and wants to be a comedian when he's older, so he likes to make people laugh, although Hank would like him to follow in his footsteps and sell Propane.

Other characters include Hank's friends Dale Gribble, a deeply paranoid big exterminator, Bill, a lonely, depressed neighbour of Hank's, and Boomhauer, a lady's man who seems to speak in jibberish, and who is probably one of the most popular characters. Like "The Simpsons", there is a large supporting cast with people popping in from time to time.

The animation is much more realistic than "The Simpsons" or "South Park", the characters actually have five fingers on each hand and look like normal people. A lot of the comedy comes from everyday situations that most people will encounter, like jealousy, medical problems, friendship and loyalty. It has some soap opera type storylines (Dale's son, we find out, is not actually his, even though he seems to be the only one who doesn't know or even realise) but nothing really over the top.

That's why I don't think it's as good as the aforementioned animated shows and others like "Futurama". As it is a more realistic show, the writers don't have as much creative license to be as crazy as they'd like, they kinda have to keep it grounded, and it can be rather dull. With the other shows I mentioned, they can basically do anything, and sometimes they are the best episodes, but, to me, there's only so many reality-based episodes I can watch before I want something a bit more out there.

I still think it's a good show, and seeing as it's been on for 11 years some people must like it, but I would still put it behind "The Simpsons", "Family Guy", "American Dad", "South Park" and "Futurama" if I were to choose a random episode. I may have to think twice if it was a Boomhauer heavy episode though, I love that guy!

Overall a well scripted show with plenty of funny moments, just not as quality as the other shows I mentioned. I would still recommend it to people though, 3 and a half stars (just imagine the half!)

Summary: Dang ol' watch it!