Grab an Alamo Beer and head to the alley. Hulu is bringing back “King of the Hill” for a 2023 reboot.
Rumors of a “King of the Hill” remake have swirled since 2017, when creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels celebrated a 20-year reunion with the cast at San Francisco Sketchfest. (The show aired on Fox starting in 1997.)
And on Jan. 31, Hulu announced that they have ordered a revival of the animated hit from 20th Television Animation. Deadline has confirmed that much of the original cast will be back for the remake, including Hank Hill (voiced by Mike Judge), Peggy Hill (Kathy Najimy), Bobby Hill (Pamela Adlon), Bill Dauterive (Stephen Root), Dale Gribble (Johnny Hardwick) and Minh Souphanousinphone (Lauren Tom).
Saladin Patterson (who was also involved in the “The Wonder Years” reboot) will be the showrunner for the newly-ordered episodes. He shared his excitement in a statement by adopting the classic twang of Hank’s pal Boomhauer, who was voiced by Judge, writing, “Yeah, man I tell you whot man, that dang Ol’ Greg, talking about O.G. and then that Mike Judge … Inspirations, man … the original show, dang ol’ classic.”
As longtime fans of “King of the Hill” know, Brittany Murphy was the voice of Peggy’s niece Luanne Platter. Since Murphy died in 2009, it is unknown if Judge and Daniels will use a different voice actor for her role or if Luanne will simply not be in the remake.
There is another possible hiccup as well: You might notice that 20th Television Animation only confirmed the return of Minh Souphanousinphone, voiced by Asian American actor Lauren Tom. However, there is no mention yet of her husband Kahn’s return. Kahn had a large role in “King of the Hill,” playing Hank’s nemesis and trying to keep his daughter Connie (also voiced by Tom) away from Bobby. However, Kahn was voiced by Toby Huss, a white actor not of Asian descent.
As with Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (formerly voiced by Hank Azaria) on “The Simpsons,” many people have challenged whether white actors should be voicing non-white characters such as Kahn. In 2020, Azaria resigned from his long-standing role and apologized for any harm his role may have caused. It could be that for the “King of the Hill” reboot, Huss may be replaced by another actor, or perhaps that Kahn will not appear in the remake at all.
Hulu also recently announced a reboot of “Futurama,” another animated favorite from the early aughts. The new episodes are expected to air sometime this summer.
You can currently watch the old episodes of the successful 13-season run of “King of the Hill” on Hulu.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
