Review: ‘King of the Hill’ Endures Because It Reflects What Is True

On Monday, August 4, 2025, the hit comedy King of the Hill returned after a nearly 16-year hiatus. When it was initially cancelled after 13 successful seasons, conservatives lamented the loss of a rare cultural touchstone that resembled their own reality: a church-going nuclear family who took pleasure and pride in the things that long mattered — a manicured lawn, small-town high school football victories, and a perfectly seared steak grilled over a free American’s fuel of choice (Hill family patriarch, Hank, opts exclusively for clean-burning propane and a panoply of propane accessories).

For the Hills, the daily drama in their fictional hometown of Arlen, Texas, wasn’t about politics. It centered upon more perennial dilemmas, like coping with a new family sitting in their regular pew, cleaning up the messes made by Hank’s feckless boss, or routinely bailing out his misfit friends.

EC

About the Author

Ellen Carmichael

Ellen Carmichael is the president of The Lafayette Company, a communications firm based in Washington, D.C.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Texas

On Monday, August 4, 2025, the hit comedy King of the Hill returned after a nearly 16-year hiatus. When it was initially cancelled after 13 successful seasons, conservatives lamented the loss of a rare cultural touchstone that resembled their own reality: a church-going nuclear family who took pleasure and pride in the things that long mattered — a manicured lawn, small-town high school football victories, and a perfectly seared steak grilled over a free American’s fuel of choice (Hill family patriarch, Hank, opts exclusively for clean-burning propane and a panoply of propane accessories).

For the Hills, the daily drama in their fictional hometown of Arlen, Texas, wasn’t about politics. It centered upon more perennial dilemmas, like coping with a new family sitting in their regular pew, cleaning up the messes made by Hank’s feckless boss, or routinely bailing out his misfit friends.