What’s Going On With the ‘King of the Hill’ Reboot?

One of the few animated shows to carve a niche for itself in an era dominated by The Simpsons and South Park, comedy series King of the Hill is returning with a new reboot on Hulu.

The new series, from original creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, doesn’t have a confirmed release window yet. However, fans of the show can expect a 2025 release, as there is a great likelihood that production was halted during the WGA and SAG strikes of 2023. Earlier, there was speculation around the King of the Hill reboot getting a 2024 release, but that looks like a distant possibility now.

The show is expected to return with most of its original cast, with Mike Judge, Kathy Najimy, Stephen Root, Pamela Adlon, and Lauren Tom portraying the roles of Hank Hill, Peggy Hill, Bill Dauterive, Bobby Hill, and Minh Souphanousinphone, respectively. It remains to be seen how the creators will handle the characters of Luanne and Lucky, following the deaths of original stars Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty. Similarly, it’s not clear if they’ll recast Dale Gribble, voiced by the late Johnny Hardwick, who passed away in August 2023. It was revealed later that the actor had recorded a few episodes before his death.

With regards to the plot, series co-creator Greg Daniels revealed in a 2022 interview that there will be a time jump. There isn’t an official synopsis revealed for the series, but the time difference between the original and reboot suggests that some major changes in the storyline can be expected. What fans can hope for is King of the Hill retaining its hilarious takes on modern problems, politics, and more.

The original aired on Fox from January 1997 to September 2009, with four more episodes releasing in syndication in 2010. Fox was initially expected to revive the show, but Hulu stepped in, and now the reboot is set to premiere on the streaming service. The original series is available to stream on Disney+, Hulu, FXNow, fuboTV, and DIRECTV.