King of the Hill (TV Series)

King of the Hill is an animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that ran from January 12, 1997 to May 6, 2010 on Fox. It centers on the Hills, a middle-class American family in the fictional city of Arlen, Texas. It attempts to maintain a realistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life. The main characters are Hank Hill, Bobby Hill, and Peggy Hill. There are also a few recurring characters in the series.

The series debuted on the Fox network as a mid-season replacement in 1997, quickly becoming a hit. The series' popularity led to worldwide syndication, and reruns formerly aired nightly on Adult Swim from 2009 until 2018. As of July 24, 2018, reruns air on Comedy Central. The show became one of Fox's longest-running series (third-longest as an animated series, behind The Simpsons and Family Guy), and briefly was the second longest-running animated sitcom in history. In 2007, it was named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 greatest television shows of all time. King of the Hill won two Emmy Awards and was nominated for seven.

A total of 259 episodes aired over the course of its 13 seasons. The final episode aired on Fox on September 13, 2009. Four episodes from the final season were to have aired on Fox, but later premiered in nightly syndication from May 3 to 6, 2010.

References to King of the Hill in The Simpsons

 * In "Bart Star", one of the football matches matches Springfield versus Arlen, the setting for King of the Hill. The King of the Hill cast is seen sitting on the bleachers, where Hank Hill says, "We drove two thousand miles for this?"
 * The episode "King of the Hill" in Season 9 is a direct reference to the animated series. Both the episode and the series debuted in 1997.
 * In "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", Barney imitates Homer in order to put drinks on his tab at Moe's, saying "D'oh!, woohoo!, uh... that boy ain't right.", combining Homer's and Hill's catchphrases.
 * In "Helter Shelter", in which the Simpson house undergoes fumigation, the family questions one another on where to live. Homer decides to stand outside the house and wait. He opens a beer, and the King of the Hill theme tune plays. As with the theme of King of the Hill, time speeds up and events occur rapidly while Homer takes sips of beer, just as Hank does. Upon finding that only a few minutes have passed, Homer gives up.
 * In "Missionary: Impossible", Hank can be seen at the end of the episode working the PBS-style pledge phonelines for the FOX network.
 * In "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays", while Bart and Lisa Simpson are fighting over the remote control, it stops on one channel and although the viewer cannot see the screen they hear an imitation of Hank's voice saying "Bobby, I've got propane in my urethra," combining three recurring elements of the show.
 * In "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution", a display for King of the Hill is seen in the Museum of TV and Television before the theme plays and people take down the display, parodying the show.
 * On "FOX's 25th Anniversary Special", Hank and Peggy Hill are seen in the special.

References to The Simpsons in King of the Hill

 * In King of the Hill's "After the Mold Rush", when Bobby has his room ready to be on display for the Arlen Parade of Homes, one of the items visible on his shelves is a Bart Simpson doll.