Mike Judge’s iconic animated sitcom King of the Hill, which originally aired from 1997 to 2010, has been working on a revival for some time. In 2017 we learned there were plans for a reboot, said to take place after a time jump, in partnership with the streaming service Hulu.
Little is known so far about how the new series will compare to the original, in terms of casting and storytelling, with no official trailer or first look, as of March 2024. However, there are some key facts we know about the upcoming revival.
‘King of the Hill’ revival release window
The reboot for King of the Hill, in the works since 2017, was officially announced back in January 2023, with a full series order by Hulu. Months later, voice actor Stephen Root confirmed that table reads for the revival were starting in April.
According to a November 2023 interview with series co-creator Greg Daniels, the King of the Hill reboot will most likely hit screens at the “beginning of 2025”, due to delays caused by the writers’ and actors’ strikes for much of 2023. However, no exact date has been confirmed by Hulu, as of March 2024.
‘King of the Hill’ cast
The majority of main cast members from the original series have been confirmed to return, including:
- Mike Judge (Hank Hill, Boomhauer)
- Kathy Najimy (Peggy Hill)
- Pamela Adlon (Bobby Hill)
- Stephen Root (Bill Dauterive)
- Ashley Gardner (Nancy Hicks-Gribble)
- Lauren Tom (Connie Souphanousinphone, Minh Souphanousinphone)
Breckin Meyer (Joseph Gribble) and Jonathan Joss (John Redcorn) have not been confirmed to return as of yet, but are likely to return, given the importance of their characters to the series.
Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty, who respectively voiced Luanne Platter and her husband Lucky Kleinschmidt in the original series, will not be returning. Murphy tragically died at the age of 32 in 2009, and Petty passed away in 2017, aged 66. Although plans regarding their characters have not been confirmed as of March 2024, it is most likely that the characters will be retired off-screen.
Johnny Hardwick, who served as the voice of Dale Gribble, as well as a writer and producer for the series, died in August 2023. The actor reportedly completed lines for “a couple” of episodes of the reboot, which seemingly will be kept in when the revival airs. What will happen to his character after that point remains uncertain.
Kahn Souphanousinphone, a Laotian character voiced by white actor Toby Huss could return, as Lauren Tom – who voiced both the character’s wife and daughter in the series. However, series co-creator Greg Daniels admitted that he wasn’t sure about Kahn’s future in the reboot, and they wouldn’t have cast a white actor to attempt an Asian character’s accent today.