TVSquad

(S11E11) As much as I like to poke fun at the "Simpsons already did it" crowd for not realizing that everything has pretty much been done already, I must admit that I sometimes fall into that same mindset a little too easily.

Yes, the Simpsons did do an episode where Homer starts working out and becomes, not unlike Bill does in this episode, about half flabby and half muscular. Coincidentally, that Simpsons episode is actually titled "King of the Hill." However, that particular Simpsons episode was about Homer trying to win Bart's respect, whereas this episode of King of the Hill was about Bill obtaining a body never thought he could have, and becoming so self-centered he pushes all his friends away.

(S11E07/S11E08) It's a double-leg through Poland this week, but we guessed that last week when we learned that tonight's episode would be two hours long.

I was wondering how the producers were going to even out the race after the huge time discrepancy last week. The final teams arrived 16 hours after first place Mirna & Charla. It turns out that time discrepancy couldn't be made up and things just kept getting worse for the bottom two teams until the second leg when the teams came to an Intersection.

This week, the teams visited Warsaw, Auschwitz concentration camp, and Krakow, Poland. The trip to Auschwitz was incredibly depressing and I thought it was handled well enough by the producers. Obviously, it would've been in horrible taste to have them do any sort of challenge there.

(S11E03) This episode really had my heartrate going! When it came down to the end, there was a certain team that I wanted to be eliminated but they remain. Sigh.

The teams remained in Chile this week. Things went from tense (thanks to Mirna) to hilarious (thanks to Rob) throughout the episode. I think my favorite team so far is Rob & Amber just because they're so laid back. Everyone else is taking this waaay too seriously.

Spoilers after the jump:

(S11E03) Since I write these little reviews for both The Simpsons and King of the Hill, it's almost impossible for me not to compare them, at least in my head. I don't consider one series better than the other, but what sets King of the Hill apart from its animated brethren on Sunday nights is that it adheres to a much stricter reality than shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy, where the world can be skewed and aspects of a character's personality can be altered or amplified if the story calls for it.

On King of the Hill, much like in real life, people don't change, so the humor is derived from how each person deals with whatever life throws at them. In this episode where Bill worries about the Dautrive name dying with him, we already know Bill is a lonely guy who can't seem to get his life back together after his wife left him all those years ago, so right from the start we're emotionally invested in his character. An episode like this wouldn't have worked as well in an earlier season, but ten years down the road we know these characters, and we actually care what happens to them.

(S06E16)

Bart: Hey guys, just so you don't hear any wild rumors, I'm being indicted for fraud in Australia.

Homer: That's no reason to block the TV.

We get a rather dubious science lesson at the beginning of this episode when Lisa explains to Bart that the water in the sink and toilet always spins in the same direction due to the Coriolis effect. Usually the writers try to be scientifically accurate, but in this case they had to jump on the "water always flows one way in one hemisphere and the opposite direction in the other" bandwagon, or else Bart never would never have called Australia to see which way their toilet drains, and we wouldn't have ourselves one of those "Simpsons go abroad" episodes.