At THR's lounge in San Diego Comic-Con, the 'King of the Hill' cast and showrunner and reveal if any of them thought the show would make a comeback. Plus, they talk about dropping back into the old world and if there were any challenges added.
00:00Joe Jack has gone through a profound change. He's exactly the same. He's a lover of all people.
00:17When we wrapped, you know, all those years ago, was there a sense that this could ever happen?
00:22Did you realize sort of the love for this show at the time and that it could come back? Or how does this feel?
00:27Good writing is so rare. And we have such great writers. And the people who are fans of King of the Hill, I'm sure they like the different characters and all that.
00:35But if I hadn't been in it and was just watching it, I'd watch it again because good writing is so rare.
00:42I think I learned that you can never really count on anything for show business until you've signed the contract.
00:48So I was hoping in the back of my mind. But, you know, as Pammy was saying, you know, you believe it when you see it.
00:54And then when it became a reality, it was really thrilling.
00:56We had been canceled once. I don't know how many, like three seasons before it actually ended, like canceled.
01:04Everybody, writers all moved on. And then I guess someone in business affairs would always go, oh, wait a second.
01:11Like, why are we getting rid of this show? And then it came back.
01:15So we had an episode that was going to be the final episode that we, all that we recorded and wrote it and everything.
01:21And then when it came back, we kind of de-finalized, like made it not so final.
01:28So there's an episode that's got like, it's like, why is every single character in the whole run?
01:33Why is it panning across all of them?
01:34And so, so then when it got canceled, what ended up being the final time then, even then I was like, well, is it going to come back again?
01:45Yeah, I always thought it could come back.
01:47We talked about a reboot and they said no for a while.
01:49So it's, it's been back and forth for a while, but I'm glad it worked out.
01:54Yeah, definitely.
01:54It feels like the reboot has even, the reboot has been talked about for years and years, you know, does the, the story, does the, the idea of how to bring it back, does that change as it gets delayed and kind of evolves in that sense?
02:06I think since we were doing it for real, it's been the same, like when we came, we're working on the pilot, when we came up with the idea that Dave, Hank and Peggy went to Saudi Arabia for what's like,
02:1910 years or something and then come back, you know, they have this kind of idyllic fake American city that's, that's real over there at places like Aramco and, you know, it turns out Hank and Peggy kind of really liked that there.
02:33And Hank even liked that women are covered up and modest and, and then, you know, so just seemed like a good way to go for a reboot that Hank comes back and Hank and Peggy both have this almost culture shock to how much things have changed.
02:48It's kind of, you know, it's kind of, you know, the perfect way to drop into the old world through characters that you're familiar with who are new to the world that they're in, yet it's still Arlen, it's still Hank and Peggy, and it's still like this whole village.
03:10So it, it, it, it, it satisfies and scratches an itch you didn't even know that you had, but you always knew was there.
03:21I'm trying to go with the itch metaphor.
03:23I was going to ask you right in the middle of my background.
03:25I love how people are always asking us, you know, we always wonder what Hank Hill would think about this present day thing.
03:34And just, just the fact that people are interested in what a character thinks about something today also gives you a good clue that it's good to revisit that.
03:41Because you don't care about what a lot of people think about things, but when you find one that you do, it's a good sign.
03:45Yeah, you know, I think sometimes the appeal, or at least to keep animation on the air, you know, it's like the characters don't age.
03:52So that's, there's a sort of a, a thing there where like, oh, you know, they look the same.
03:57Having the characters grow up since we saw them last, was, did that add a challenge or what was that like?
04:01Yeah, I mean, we, we talked about that a lot and, you know, especially, you know, the drawing, we just, we went around and around and like just tried a bunch of different ways.
04:11And, you know, we kept grabbing pictures of the internet in real life and like, oh, this is what Bobby would look like now.
04:17Like, but yeah, having Bobby and Connie older was also seemed like something the fans were asking for without even knowing there was going to be a reboot or anything.
04:25So it just seemed like the right thing to do.
04:28And yeah, we just like kicked around a lot of ideas and it just, we just kind of knew when it felt right, I think.
04:34How do you feel about where your characters are now?
04:36How do you feel that they've grown and what is it like to kind of revisit their lives?
04:41Peggy hasn't really grown.
04:42She doesn't, she doesn't think she needs to.
04:45I mean, I may be missing something, but, you know, she went to Saudi Arabia and she had a good time.
04:50She's glad to be home.
04:52She's still sort of one, not one thought, Peggy, but she, she believes in what she believes in.
04:58And she's not bothered by anything she thinks she should believe in.
05:02She just believes in what she believes in.
05:04It has her day.
05:05And if you want to come along, great.
05:06But wait, am I wrong about Peggy?
05:08I totally agree.
05:09You're totally right.
05:10Yeah, there's like a rock, you know, I think both our characters are too old to grow too much.
05:17No, I think it's kind of comforting to just see that they haven't changed much, you know.
05:22I think I like about it that it's, there's, there's a certain kind of barometer that these people are, the whole town and these people are for this, this idea of kind of an American, a middle kind of American.
05:34There's just this barometer that stays in the middle and it's nice.
05:37So the show's not sentimental when it comes back.
05:39It's, it's like returning to this, this sort of strange and wonderful barometer.
05:43You go, oh, he's back.
05:44Oh yeah, she's back too.
05:46Oh, they're all back.
05:47Oh, this, oh, this is where we are.
05:48Okay.
05:49So I think that was a nice way to, to see this town of Ireland and all these characters is this sort of barometer of America at the time.
05:58I think, I think the characters kind of reflect real life too in that once you get past like 50, you start to not change so much and you become a bit set in your ways.
06:08So it makes sense to me that some of the older characters don't change a lot, but the younger characters do because they're really still finding themselves.
06:15And so I'm really proud that Connie came from being sort of reserved and such a good girl and just doing everything, you know, to, to finding her own voice and, you know, getting a degree and all that and just being more herself and more of a voice.
06:27Yeah, Joe Jack has gone through a profound change.
06:30He's, you know, he's exactly the same.
06:34He's a lover of all people.
06:37Obviously, you know, there have been some faces who aren't with us and, you know, certainly even more recently, Jonathan and Chuck and is doing the show.
06:47Does it allow for a bit of a tribute to some of the people who aren't a part of it anymore?
06:51So Johnny is in the first six.
06:54So, you know, we record this and Jonathan is in a bunch of them.
06:59So the show is completely done before that.
07:02So, but yeah.
07:03And obviously, Luann is such a part of fans' hearts.
07:05So I'm sure it was, you know, an emotional thing to not have her part of it.
07:09Yeah.
07:10And, you know, I mean, back when we did the original run, there was a while where Brittany was becoming a big movie star and was just unavailable.
07:16So we kind of got used to not having her, so there were a lot of episodes that, you know, that didn't have her in it.
07:25We thought about the best way to honor, you know, the characters and the people behind the characters and what they meant to the show.
07:30And the analogy I've been using is, like, you know, as a sports fan, sometimes someone has, you know, done so much and means so much,
07:36the best thing you can do is to hang their jersey up in the rafters and retire their jersey number, right?
07:41And so for some of the characters, that felt like the best thing to do.
07:44With Johnny, who, like Mike said, we were able to do some episodes with, and Dale is such an important character,
07:49it was more important for us to keep that character as a part of the heart of the show, too.
07:53And so we were blessed enough to have Toby, who was a friend of Johnny's, who was able to basically step in and do an homage to what Johnny created.
08:01And that felt like the best way to honor that character.
08:03Especially since, I mean, we all used to imitate each other and imitate each other's, I think, like, me and Pam both did a pretty good Luann,
08:12and Toby does a good Johnny slash Dale, and so it felt right, like, keeping it in the family that way, I think.
08:20And I know that Ronnie is joining the cast.
08:23What made him the right fit, and what was that process like to figure out how to change that voice?
08:28I can take this.
08:31Similar to the idea of what has changed, you know, since Hank and Peggy left, some things about casting have changed as well.
08:40So we kind of wanted to make sure that, you know, the show has always been authentic,
08:44so we wanted to make sure that some of the casting would also, when we got a new opportunity to do it, be authentic as well.
08:49Ronnie was great. Ronnie grew up a fan of the show, you know.
08:51He tells a funny story that it was one of the few shows in Singapore, the American shows, that the government let them watch.
08:56Yeah, in terms of animated shows, you know, adult animation, and he said he thought King of the Hill, he didn't think it was a Texan show or a Southern show.
09:06He thought that's what America was, so, you know, he comes from a good perspective there, too.
09:10Does the show reflect our changing politics in other ways?
09:13I just saw your panel yesterday with South Park.
09:15I'm sure we're not going to get in that direction, but are there elements that are reflecting of our current time?
09:20You know, like, if you're on Twitter and social media all day, you know, there's all these algorithms that are just meant to divide,
09:29and, like, you know, you get the most clicks when you piss the most people off and all that horribleness.
09:35And I think, you know, if you just, there's that term, you know, get feet on the grass.
09:40Like, if you get out away from that, people are different, and they're a little more accepting of each other and that kind of thing.
09:47And I think that's kind of more where the show lives, and I, so, I don't know.
09:52I don't, it feels like we're not getting political or playing into any of that, really.
09:57I mean, yeah, I love South Park and, you know, what they, it's brilliant what they do.
10:03You know, we're a different kind of show, and so I think, you know, like, you talk about the barometer of, you know,
10:09I think where this show is somewhere in the middle and the rest of the world moves around so that the middle might be further one way or the other.
10:20But I think it's more just about, you know, kind of culture, the culture and the, you know, of a small town.
