After years of rumor and speculation, King of the Hill is officially getting the reboot treatment on Hulu.
The Disney-backed streamer has placed a series order for a revival of 20th Television Animation’s former Fox animated series. Creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels will return, co-producing with showrunner Saladin Patterson (ABC’s The Wonder Years update) and original voice actors Kathy Najimy, Stephen Root, Pamela Adlon, Johnny Hardwick and Lauren Tom. The reboot that’s been rumored for years has been in the works since Judge and Daniels reunited with the King of the Hill cast at Sketchfest in San Francisco in 2017 to mark the 20th anniversary of the popular comedy.
“We are all very excited to welcome back Hank, Peggy and Bobby and see what they have to say about the world we live in and to continue the conversations we started years ago,” said Craig Erwich, President of ABC Entertainment, Hulu and Streaming Originals from Disney Branded Television. “This show has all the perfect ingredients to experience this moment in animation on Hulu, and we’re so grateful to have these conversations with this talented group.”
King of the Hill aired on Fox for 13 seasons beginning in 1997. The series was among the assets included when Fox sold its 20th Television studio to Disney a few years ago. With Disney controlling the rights to the series, Hulu became a natural home for the show, as the streamer remains a destination for animated adult fare, including reruns of King of the Hill and Family Guy. Hulu is also home to the upcoming Futurama revival.
Daniels and Judge’s recently launched animated banner Bandera Entertainment is also involved in the production of the new King of the Hill, along with company president Dustin Davis. Original producers 3 Arts and the company’s Michael Rottenberg and Howard Klein will also executive produce.
In an interview with THR last January, Judge and Daniels said the seeds of what would later become Bandera were planted around a few reunion panels for King of the Hill in recent years, as the duo often talk about people talked about who they had worked with in the band’s past and the explosion of interest in animation. At the time, Judge and Daniels confirmed that the King of the Hill reboot was in the works, but were unwilling to discuss it publicly.
“Bandera is mostly trying to put us in a more oversight role; That’s what we really focused on: using our tastes and the people we’ve worked with and trying to help other people achieve their visions that we think are cool,” Daniels said at the time. Richter added, “There’s one show that I might be a co-creator on, but the rest is mentoring other people and bringing people together and being a studio in that way.”
During its run, King of the Hill received six Emmy nominations (one winning) for Outstanding Animated Program. Adlon, whose FX comedy Better Things ended its run last year, also took home Emmy Gold for her voice on the series.
A promo for the original King of the Hill on Fox
King of the Hill will be the latest popular animated comedy to be revived for a new generation as animation continues to be in high demand as reruns perform very well on streaming platforms and if successful can result in billions in merch revenue. Comedy Central revived Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head with a two-season (and several film) order before the series moved to Paramount+. A revival of Daria in the form of a spin-off centered around Jodi and voiced by Tracee Ellis Ross is also in the works as a series movie.
For her part, Judge and Daniels’ Bandera also has a number of animation projects in the works, including Peacock, HBO Max, Netflix and Freeform, others in various stages of development.
“I’m so lucky to have been a part of this show from the beginning and couldn’t be more excited to revisit Arlen, Texas with Mike, Greg and Saladin, who together bring a whole new perspective to the original series.” We all want to thank the fans for their overwhelming support for helping make this happen and I can’t wait to share this new iteration through the lens of 2023 America. In the words of our beloved Peggy Hill, ‘Ho yeah!’” said Marci Proietto, executive vice president at 20th Television Animation.