After 15 years, King of the Hill is back. The first season of the revival series is now streaming on Hulu/Disney+, and fans seem thrilled to have the Hill family back in their lives. There are a lot of changes, characters have grown older, voices are different, but at its heart, it’s still the same ol’ King of the Hill. However, a few elements were initially included that wouldn’t have felt right in the world of King of the Hill, including the first F-bombs of the series.
While speaking with THR, showrunner Saladin K. Patterson said Hulu executives were “on the same page in terms of wanting to recapture what made the original special,” but they did have to abide by a few limitations.
“There were situations where the Disney of it all put some limiters on us that I know Fox would not have, even though we were on Hulu and streaming, which theoretically has broader S&P [standards and practices] than Fox,” Patterson said. “But for us, staying true to the show meant we weren’t ever going to be too gratuitous with the curse words and things, but we do take some liberties.The characters do curse in ways they can’t curse on broadcast. That being said, Hulu still made us go through and pull out all the F-bombs because they don’t want the TV-MA label, and it’s fine. Totally get it.“
Patterson continued, “It is what it is. I’m not a huge fan of shows pushing the envelope in that way anyway, so it wasn’t a big loss, but it was ironic, especially considering, like you said, the history of the show being on Fox where the whole purpose was to try to push the envelope as much as you could.“
While shows like Family Guy and The Simpsons may have pushed the envelope back in the day, King of the Hill was never that type of series. Not to say it didn’t touch upon sensitive subjects, but avoiding the F-bomb for the revival series was probably for the best.
I’ve only watched the first two episodes of the revival so far (and really like it), but our own Tyler Nichols has caught the entire season and loved it. “I’m happy to say that this new iteration absolutely nails the tone and spirit of what made KOTH great,” Nichols wrote. “This is my favorite animated series of all time, so I had very high expectations, and they were met in just about every way.” You can check out his full review right here.
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