King of the Hill is finally making its big return on the 2025 TV schedule, and I think fans who fire up their Hulu subscription on Monday will quickly be met with one inevitable truth about the new episodes. A lot has changed in Arlen over the decades, and it’s not just the viewers who will struggle to cope with that. Hank and Peggy have been overseas for quite some time, and will spend some time playing catch-up with the new Texas and all the changes happening within their friend group.
It’s certainly not a return that will invoke nostalgia, but as Toby Huss and Mike Judge said when I spoke to the them and the cast at San Diego Comic-Con, that’s by design. America as a whole has changed in the decade and a half since King of the Hill left television, and Huss mentioned a comparison creator Judge made about how viewers should see this series:
The thing you [Mike] mentioned earlier about it being like Andy Griffith is back and he’s pissed off. I think the thing about the show is that it really not nostalgic. Their coming back is not nostalgic, and it doesn’t feel like it’s a nostalgic thing, like, ‘Let’s look at the old fun people we had fun with.’ It’s nothing like that. It’s a whole other iteration of their lives,just a few years later. It’s charming in its own way, and it’s safe and it’s inviting because it’s, you know, meeting these old people, old friends again, but it never felt nostalgic.
key details in posters and other footage we’ve seen. Arlen is not the same place it was when Hank and Peggy left, and it takes both a while to find their footing.
ecent losses of Dale actor Johnny Hardwick and John Redcorn actor Jonathan Joss), the series hasn’t lost a step in finding ways to give new adventures on par with some of the greatest episodes of the show’s past.
I saw the entire series ahead of its arrival, and as a longtime King of the Hill fan, I can confidently say I want a lot more episodes. I particularly like the decision to age up characters like Bobby, Joseph and Connie, as it presents a fresh new storyline that not only is interesting, but incredibly relevant to the lives of young adults today.
Readers will get to see for themselves when they watch King of the Hill‘s return on Hulu on Monday, August 4th. I’m excited to see the world’s response to the show returning, and I’m hoping it’s big enough that a Season 2 renewal is just around the corner.