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Animation Damnation: King of the Hill's "Return of the King" (Patreon)

Published:
2026-01-22 09:00:09
Imported:
2026-01
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On our monthly cartoon recap show this month, we're chatting about the very first episode of that new King of the Hill season!

Originally dumped on Hulu, along with the rest of the season, on August 4, 2025, "Return of the King," picks up several years after we last hung out with our beloved Arlen, Texas gang and boy, most things have changed! This episode is basically one, big catch-up to show what everyone has been up to since we last saw their animated faces: Hank and Peggy are just returning to Arlen after spending several years in Saudi Arabia where Hank was doing some pretty sinister propane work it sounds like, Dale was the mayor of Arlen for all of 36 hours before starting his own impeachment proceedings, Bobby now operates his own Japanese/German fusion restaurant in Dallas where he's roommates with his old pal, Joseph, Boomhauer is raising his lady-friend's kid who can't understand what he's saying, and Bill, well, Bill has really gotten into getting anything and everything delivered to his house!

King of the Hill stars the voice work of Mike Judge, Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Root, Lauren Tom, Jonathan Joss, Keith David, and Toby Huss as Dale Gribble; directed by Kelly Turnbull.

Thanks so much for being so awesome and supporting Animation Damnation on Patreon! Please be sure to spread the word! Your support is what keeps this operation going! We know you have a number of choices for pods and we appreciate you spending some time with us!Original cover art by Felipe Sobreiro.

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Comments

John Cataldo

They did a solid job with the reboot. The first season was very funny.

evan

The kid with "Anxiety" being bewildered and confused when asked to say hello is probably the realest part of the whole episode.

Frank Grimes

Simpsons did a pandemic style episode in 2022 or 2023...but it based on caterpillars ....as for the KotH revival...excellent season. Chan (previously bobby's rival/frenemy) has been in the show since Connie's introduction....my fave ep of the revival was the football camp one.

Felipe Hallenbeck

This was better than any revival has the right to be. It took about two episodes to find its footing, but by episode 3, it was like it never left. I'm glad that's it's back, and cannot wait for the new season this year.

I.C. Weiner

It is really too bad there was so many deaths with the voice actors with the last few episodes ending with "In Loving Memory." Also, during the original series they did age up the characters by about a year or so because IIRC they changed Joseph's voice actor and they explained the difference by saying he went through puberty during the summer, but, no, the math doesn't math on the end of the original show and the new season

Busiris

About to do the biggest douchebag thing and mention that I know the director of this episode! I'm not in touch with them nearly as much as I should but we've been friends for well over 15 years. There's a good anecdote they posted on Bluesky about how the pilot episode started the animation process literally the day before the writer's strike in '24 and I can't imagine having to deal with making a show without being able to consult the writers about choices in the actual visuals and setting, etc.

RJ Cunningham

I do think new-KOTH is pretty good and is respectful to the series, I was on the same level of Andrew, I thought it was well done and funny and a good stater for bringing back a series. Like Andre said, the wording of the “cancelled” line is written very well, it shows that Hank IS NOT a scum bag Also Peggy was star of the episode. She’s so fucking funny and the least understood character of the series. Most of her jokes go over the viewers heads. Also believe the Wassanasongs were in the first season. But KOTH in its prime is on the same level as prime Simpsons. I know Eric said he wasn’t a fan but I think (somehow I know better than him) he’d love some episodes, both very early and then mid-series run. Soldier of Misfortune (s6.e2) Firefighting we will Go (s3.e10) High Anxiety (s4.e14) Hank’s On Board (s10.e1) Substitute Spanish Prisoner (s6.e10) I gotta stop myself or I’ll just list them all. Little credit is given to Greg Daniels for KOTH, while Mike Judge is a genius, Daniels was a large part of prime Simpsons/KOTH and early US Office

RJ Cunningham

The heart warming aspect was HUGE in prime Simpsons. Rewatch seasons 3-8. The Greg Daniels “these characters can be good people” aspect was there for Simpsons at its height. When you take that ounce of nice out of the show you’re left with Family Guy or South Park. Can’t vouch for any Simpsons beyond season 8 but it’s filled with heart. The final “canon” Simpsons episode ever was Bart sticking up for Lisa and then hugging and such at the end of The Secret War of Lisa Simpson, or the conclusion of the famous Lisa on Ice, their sibling love winning out at the end. KOTH is such a WHM show that I’m always surprised Andrew is the only fan

Eren Keskin

Hank still waiting for his free propane-powered Jet Ski from Man-Cave

RJ Cunningham

Man that’s awesome. Can’t really find anything else about her career online. Has she always been involved in animation? Man that’s wild that would be such a great convo to have since I’m assuming she was talking to EVERYONE involved in the production. See if she wants to have an interview in the comment sections of the WHM Patreon

RJ Cunningham

Ya they went through puberty, fucking so funny. The episode where Joseph and Connie both go through it before Bobby is A+ television. I love the sweetness of the ending, it only makes me laugh harder throughout the show as I’m not laughing with quasi-nazi-adjacent writers and animators

RJ Cunningham

Cotton Hill calling Hank’s urethra a “narrow ureetee” is how I always refer to the urethra in my copious conversations about urethras I’ve had

Busiris

I almost considered doing a shoutout on Bluesky but I didn't want to make either Kelly or the boys feel weird about me bringing it to everyone's attention. Kelly is perhaps better known on social media under the name Coelasquid and has definitely been in the animation industry for at least 15-20 years but directing duties are a newer thing, I believe. I know there was a lot of inbetweener animation work, including for shows like previous episode: Ugly Americans!

I.C. Weiner

I'm not sure what the nazi-adjacent comment is in reference to

RJ Cunningham

That’s awesome…..man what a career jump, leading a the return of a fairly legendary animated program. That’s mint as hell

Monster Mittenz

I've had so many shows I loved ruined for me by finding out it's creators hate me specifically and it's pretty refreshing that overall this season of KotH, while not imperfect, easily cleared that exceedingly low bar while still being genuinely funny. It's stunning how hard it is to get cis people to understand why I stop watching shows simply for making the "joke" that I and my partners who I love more than life itself are disgusting mannish freaks.

Matt

KOTH was a show that I "liked" when I was young, mostly because it was on after The Simpsons and/or in syndication after school. It really didn't "click" for me until I was an adult. Watching it again at 40 and it's legitimately one of the best written shows I've ever seen.

Monster Mittenz

Steve makes a good point about the "both sides" of it all. It does get annoying, Judge's milktoast lib-brained worship of the imaginary small town kindness of the average red state American. In reality most of Hank's neighbors would think lib women getting shot by ICE deserve it because they'd probably turn them down at a bar and passively support trans kids committing sewer slide after hormones are banned. Overall still fine with it, at the end of the day a show is just a joke delivery machine, and it succeeds at that without stooping to hack material.

Todd B

Season 8 is interesting for that, because while it has the heartwarming moments, it also skews much darker than the show had previously done. Yes, we have moments like The Secret War of Lisa Simpson and the ending of El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer. But then you get episodes like Homer's Enemy, The Old Man and the Lisa, or Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious where it feels like the writers were definitely dipping into some bleaker territory (not AS much in the last case, but it does still ultimately end with the idea of the family basically embracing being a dysfunctional trainwreck.) Incidentally, season 8 is one of my favorite seasons all around. It's just always struck me that the tone on that one gets as dark as it does compared to what came before.

DRedd

KoH's timeline works as such: Season 14 takes place in 2025, which is 8 years after 2010, which was 2-ish years after 1997. People's ages are unmoored from the date and independent of each other. GH has aged in near real time, Bobby has aged in in-universe time, the adults have all aged somewhere between the two. All other temporal anomalies can be reconciled under this framework.