The one-hour, two-episode King of the Hill finale should stand not just as the end of a great show that never got the attention it deserved, but as a finale that tried not to seek that attention.
The show came to a rather quiet end last Sunday during Fox's "Animation Domination" block that has done just that, thanks in part to brilliant shows like King of the Hill. It featured two episodes that treated their audience to some of the characters' humorous and heartfelt changes before sending it off into the depths of the TV land vaults.
Then it slapped them back into cold, harsh reality by following it up with an all new episode of nature's cruel mistake Family Guy, but that's hardly Mike Judge's fault.
The first of the two episodes featured everyone's favorite underdog who isn't a dog, Bobby Hill, trying to score a date for his homecoming dance and ending up in the evil clutches of three "perfect 10" 8th graders who callously lead Bobby by the nose for their own amusement.
The second and stronger of the two again focuses on Bobby, who has always been in my mind the series' strongest and funniest character, finding his love of eating and grading meat his true calling and ultimately earning the admiration of his father, Hank.
The episodes didn't take the usual road to a long-running series finale by having the Hills pack up and move out of Arlen into the next phase of their lives or in some other predictable manor. It kept the characters honest, true and humble in their own unique ways and sent the audience off exactly where they started -- by being funny and fresh without being cheap or crass in their caricatures.
It actually made me wish I was reviewing another season premiere instead of a series finale.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-14-2009 @ 6:24AM
Toolman said...
Boomhauer a Texas Ranger? Really?
Really great show and I'll miss it.
P.S. - I have read Texas Ranger more than police officer so I'm going with that.
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9-14-2009 @ 7:25AM
Carl Underwood said...
Mike Judge did something here that no one else has done successfully, created an animated comedy show where the characters were like real people. Each of the characters reminds me of someone Ive known. I will miss them (isn't that an odd response for an adult to say about a cartoon character). The show may not have been full of fall down on the floor laughing style jokes or extreme physical comedy but it was consistently good and consistently funny. Hats off to Mike Judge.
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9-21-2009 @ 2:42PM
jim said...
Yeah, no one ever did that before. Especially not THE SIMPSONS.
9-14-2009 @ 7:57AM
Carl Underwood said...
Mike Judge did something here that no one else has done successfully, created an animated comedy show where the characters were like real people. Each of the characters reminds me of someone Ive known. I will miss them (isn't that an odd response for an adult to say about a cartoon character). The show may not have been full of fall down on the floor laughing style jokes or extreme physical comedy but it was consistently good and consistently funny. Hats off to Mike Judge.
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9-14-2009 @ 7:48AM
Joshed said...
I will truly miss this show. I hope they bring it back for more. It really deserves a movie.
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9-14-2009 @ 7:49AM
Joshed said...
How about a spinoff?
Boomhauer, Texas Ranger
Heh.
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9-14-2009 @ 8:52AM
Rocketboy said...
Bye King Of The Hill... at least you'll live on over at Adult Swim...
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9-14-2009 @ 11:55AM
Darsh said...
I agree, it was a great ending to a terribly underrated show.
It was nice to see Bobby finally earn respect from his father by going to State in meat-judging of all things. The neighborly cookout just put a nice bow on what was a fantastic run. I was surprised that I was tearing up at the end and couldn't even speak a word to my girlfriend for a minute. Good job Mike Judge and company!
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9-14-2009 @ 12:16PM
david said...
it was a great ending but i'm glad its over. the show really went south after 2003. i would tune into a recent episode here and there and i just wasn't the same... stories sucked, and the characters were just annoying. but when KOTH was good, boy what a show it was
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9-14-2009 @ 2:24PM
MCW said...
Family Guy wasn't new was it? I think you're wrong about that, or else I might have tuned to FOX last night. No other reason to watch that network on a Sunday night.
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9-14-2009 @ 2:25PM
MCW said...
Yeah, I just checked, you were wrong. It was a repeat, and a bad episode at that... 9/27 is the premiere of Family Guy, an infinitely funnier show than King of the Hill.
9-15-2009 @ 12:15AM
Convolvolus said...
Hahhaah. If you think Family Guy is funnier than King of the Hill, you must be a real dumbass. Maybe it just takes a higher class of people and a superior way of thinking to truly enjoy King of the Hill. It is an amazing show and too underrated because of retards like you. I will miss it
9-15-2009 @ 11:14AM
Paul said...
Family Guy just rehashes it's own jokes, and the ones it stole from the Simpsons. It gets its humor from potty humor, substituting obscure 80's pop culture references for true humor, and milking the same jokes TO DEATH. I mean, really? How funny is a pointing monkey? Does it get funnier if you show it over and over and over and over and over and over and over? Funny to juvenile boys (including the writers) perhaps, but it just doesn't have the depth or quality of KotH. Peggy Hill's quotes that you almost don't even notice had much sharper wit than anything Family Guy has ever had. The only time FG attempts depth is when it gets preachy (and annoyingly so) about religion, censorship (*gag* what a horrible episode), and political issues. It strives to take advantage of their limp-minded audience to influence them. KotH and the Simpsons always managed to touch on some issues without being offensive or being so pretentious as to know better than their audience.
People who prefer FG to KotH are the people who live off of Hot Pockets, Mountain Dew, and microwaveable macaroni and cheese. They don't appreciate what doesn't come easy, whether it's good solid food or true intellectual humor.
9-22-2009 @ 11:42AM
mami2_08 said...
people like this dumb chick are the reason KoTH got cancelled. seriously......i could smoke a ounce of weed and still not be dumbed down enough to watch fucking family guy. THE SHOW SUCKS BIG BALLS CHICK GET A CLUE
9-14-2009 @ 3:46PM
PurpleSlog said...
It wasn't a Texas Ranger badge.
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/texas_rangers/silverstars.htm
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/texas_rangers/images/badge2.jpg
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9-14-2009 @ 3:54PM
Gilbert M. said...
I saw the last episode but missed the previous one. It was a good way to end. I used to watch it a lot more, but over the past few years I only have watched an episode here or there. I was wondering if I had just missed a fact somewhere about Boomhauer being a cop / Texas Ranger.
I hope now they will finally release the remaining seasons on DVD. They last released Season 6 in 2006 and stopped after that. That leaves 7 seasons that are not released. I need to watch all of the ones I have missed.
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9-14-2009 @ 5:11PM
Ben said...
What a great series finale. I remember when Seinfeld went off the air, which turned out to be a huge let down. I agree that father and son tension was one of the driving forces of that show, and the way that Mike Judge brought it to a conclusion was spectacular. Nothing too obnoxious, but for true fans it was a gratifying experience. I will truly miss this show. I can't believe they canceled it for an opportunistic, desperate spin-off series like "The Cleveland Show." Hopefully, The Cleveland Show will get worse ratings than a PBS phonathon during the super bowl.
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9-15-2009 @ 11:24AM
Paul said...
The saddest part is what it is being replaced by... another bowl of hot steaming crap.
Family Guy is ok sometimes, rarely clever or funny, but it does have its moments.
American Dad... does anyone actually like this show?
The Cleveland Show... wow, yet another talking animal who talks like another entry from "Easy Accents for Nerds", and what's this? A wisecracking talking baby! How novel!
At least FOX has truly come full circle after canceling FG seemingly decades ago -- it has become very much like FG after all, never afraid to keep going to the same well for entertainment.
And now Ellen is on American Idol... FOX is losing touch with its audience.
9-15-2009 @ 1:38PM
Leroy said...
What's funny about the pointing monkey is that it is not in any way the same joke every time. We see a new side of the monkey every time he appears.
That said, there is no either/or here. Both shows are good in very different ways. If you only like one of them, your sense of humor is incomplete.
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9-15-2009 @ 4:05PM
DeWitt said...
Did we know Boomhauer was a Texas Ranger before the finale?
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