Dang it, Bobby — you’re all grown up!
King of the Hill, the long-running animated comedy from Mike Judge, is returning to TV this summer after a 16-year break. And based on the first look released today by Hulu, the Hill family — unlike most cartoon characters — has aged appropriately during that time.
Premiering Aug. 4, the 10-episode new season picks up “several years after we last saw the Hill family,” according to Hulu’s announcement. “Hank and Peggy Hill are now retired and return to a changed Arlen after years of working in Saudi Arabia; and Bobby is 21 and living his best life while navigating adulthood as a chef in Dallas and enjoying his 20s with his former classmates Connie, Joseph, and Chane.”
Yes, you read that right — Bobby Hill, the diminutive, chubby boy who loves prop comedy and cooking — is now a full-grown adult, and it is a sight to behold. Brace yourselves:
The Emmy-winning series originally aired on Fox for 13 seasons from 1997-2009. Set in the fictional town of Arlen, Tex., it followed the life of Hank Hill (Judge), an enthusiastic proprietor of propane and propane accessories; his wife, Peggy (Kathy Najimy), a dedicated substitute Spanish teacher; and their 13-year-old son, Bobby (Pamela Adlon). When he’s not working, Hank hangs out with his friends, including conspiracy theorist Dale (Johnny Hardwick), military barber Bill (Stephen Root), and impossible-to-understand Boomhauer (Judge).
Judge, Najimy, Adlon, Hardwick, and Root are returning for the new season. According to Deadline, Hardwick completed six episodes of the revival before he died in August 2023. Toby Huss — who voiced the Hills’ abrasive neighbor, Kahn, and Hank’s irascible father, Cotton — will take over as the voice of Dale in subsequent episodes. (Brittany Murphy, who voiced the Hill’s naive niece, Luanne, died in 2009.)
When last we saw Bobby, in the 2009 episode “To Sirloin With Love,” he was participating in the regional meat evaluation tournament. Though his team came in fourth place, clearly Bobby maintained his love of the culinary arts into his adulthood.
HULU
The King of the Hill revival follows Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head revival, which aired on Paramount+ in 2022 and 2023, and will move to Comedy Central later this year. While those two knuckleheads returned as the teenagers we remember them to be, Judge did use one episode of the Beavis and Butt-Head revival to show us what the boys would look like as adults — and it was not pretty.
All 10 episodes of King of the Hill season 14 premiere Monday, Aug. 4 on Hulu.
