King of the Hill (KotH) is such a quality show in terms of how the humor communicated and character design. The ability to provide left-wing commentary from a right-wing perspective is brilliantly done by Mike Judge and this style has gone on to influence comedians like Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah. With tens of thousands of YouTube and TikTok videos borrowing from KotH, it’s apparent the show has also influenced meme culture permanently and still remains a strong influence in internet comedy. (I laughed so hard going through pictures for this blog entry, that should be noted.)
As a kid in the late 90’s, I definitely didn’t understand the subtle humor of things like Hank Hill pulling a police officer over for a busted tail light, or Hank grounding his son Bobby for reading The New Yorker. The jokes usually come from a place of real irony, an angle that is commonly misunderstood; thanks Alanis Morriset. With each season, the animation got better, the voice acting improved, and the writing was more intricate, involving more characters and challenging subject matter.
Recently my friend Rachel made one of the aforementioned videos and I’ve gotten her permission to share it on this blog:
Keep up the great work, Rachel. Quality content right there.