Of course, King of the Hill has been on the scrap pile before, and come back before, but there seems to be a certain finality to the recent announcement of its cancellation. While I haven't read a statement from Mike Judge, I have a feeling he was aware this was coming.
As the second longest running primetime animated series in history, it has covered a lot of ground and has made a lot of comments about American society in its simple and quaint way, and I think that's why it lasted so long.
In fact, as a sitcom, it was probably one of the few that was most grounded and in keeping with reality, which is really ironic given the number of series that during the same time period ended up so far removed situationally from reality, they were cartoonish themselves.
I also think that it is a testament to the show's quality that Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been very respectful to the show over the years when they've at some point mocked their other peers on one level or another.
While I am sad to see it go, I also accept that every show has a shelf life, and I think it is unfortunate that the show likely got the axe to make way for The Cleveland Show, especially since the most recent episode of King of the Hill beat American Dad, another MacFarlane creation.
Of course, I get to look forward to the upcoming animated show Judge is working on for ABC called The Goode Family, which seems to take the King of the Hill model from the other perspective, as it seems to follow a family with a more urban and far more liberal spin to them. From what I've read, the Goodes seem like exactly the kind of people that so irked Hank Hill, which may end up being the strength of the show, and I hope that the audience that Fox is abandoning could conceivably follow Judge to a new network... especially if ABC sees value in renewing King of the Hill for themselves like the network did with NBC's Scrubs, as Fox has acknowledged that there is another network interested in taking over the show. Of course, only time will tell what will happen with the various projects of Mike Judge.
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5 comments:
I hadn't heard the ABC rumour, or the Goode show for that matter. Would be interesting to see it happen. Of course if King is done, than I accept it. Thirteen years is a remarkable run.
I really liked King of the Hill for a time, but I have to admit I haven't really watched it for the last season or two. After Greg Daniels moved on to The Office, the show seemed to become about Hank being right about everything. The balance wasn't there anymore. So if viewers are responding to that the same way I did, I can see why it's getting cancelled.
Of course, Fox also seems hellbent on making Sunday nights some kind of Seth MacFarlane block.
King of the Hill had a great run and was a really great show. I'm not sorry to see it go, but I'm glad for what I did enjoy. I'm really looking forward to the Goode Family.
We're really behind on this show here in Australia, we only have the first five seasons on DVD but I really love the seasons I've seen and the episodes I've seen through other means.
I would be fine though with 13 seasons - just have to get them down under.
Jeremy: I am willing to accept the series is over as well if it comes to that.
SF: I think it has more to do with them making MacFarlane the backbone of their Sunday Nights rather than King of the Hill being particularly soft in the ratings.
Lee: We only have 7 seasons out on DVD up here, so you aren't that far behind in terms of those.
Nice post about this great animated show. I love to watch all animated tv series. King of The Hills is the best series for all time and I saw all its episodes. Now I downloaded all episodes of this show because I have a best site for this show.
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