Following years of rumors and speculation, King of the Hill is officially getting the reboot treatment at Hulu.
The Disney-backed streamer has handed out a straight-to-series order for a revival of the former Fox animated series from 20th Television Animation. Creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels are set to return and exec produce alongside showrunner Saladin Patterson (ABC’s The Wonder Years update) and original voice cast members Kathy Najimy, Stephen Root, Pamela Adlon, Johnny Hardwick and Lauren Tom. The reboot, which has been rumored for years, has been in the works since Judge and Daniels reunited with the King of the Hill cast in 2017 at Sketchfest in San Francisco for the 20th anniversary of the beloved comedy.
“We are all so excited to welcome back Hank, Peggy and Bobby, and to see what they have to say about the world we live in and continue the conversations we began years ago,” said Craig Erwich, president, ABC Entertainment, Hulu and Disney Branded Television streaming originals. “This show has all of the perfect ingredients to meet this moment in animation at Hulu, and we’re so thankful to be having those conversations alongside this talented group.”
King of the Hill ran for 13 seasons on Fox, starting in 1997. The series was among the assets included when Fox sold its studio, 20th Television, to Disney a few years ago. With Disney controlling the rights to the series, Hulu became a natural home for the show as the streamer remains a destination for adult-focused animated fare including repeats of King of the Hill and Family Guy. Hulu is also the home of the forthcoming Futurama revival.
Daniels and Judge’s recently launched animation banner Bandera Entertainment is also attached to exec produce the new King of the Hill alongside company president Dustin Davis. Original producers 3 Arts and the company’s Michael Rottenberg and Howard Klein will also exec produce.
In an interview with THR last January, Judge and Daniels said the seeds for what became Bandera were planted around a couple of reunion panels for King of the Hill over the past few years as the duo would often discuss people they’d worked with in the past and the explosion of interest in animation. At the time, Judge and Daniels confirmed the King of the Hill reboot was in the works but were not ready to discuss it publicly.
“Mostly what Bandera is doing is trying to get us in more of a supervisory role; that’s what we’ve been really concentrating on: using our taste and the people we’ve worked with and trying to help other people achieve their visions that we think are cool,” Daniels said at the time. Added Judge: “There’s one show that I might be a co-creator of, but the rest, it’s mentoring other people and getting people together and being a studio in that regard.”
During its run, King of the Hill earned six Emmy nominations (winning one) for outstanding animated program. Adlon, whose FX comedy Better Things wrapped its run last year, also took home Emmy gold for her voice work on the series.
King of the Hill becomes the latest beloved animated comedy to be revived for a new generation as animation continues remain in high demand as repeats perform extremely well on streaming platforms and, in success, can lead to billions in revenue from merchandising. Comedy Central revived Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head with a two-season order (and multiple movies) before the series moved to Paramount+. A revival of Daria in the form of a spinoff revolving around Jodi and voiced by Tracee Ellis Ross is also in the works as a series-turned-movie.
For their part, Judge and Daniels’ Bandera also has a number of animated projects in the works at outlets including Peacock, HBO Max, Netflix and Freeform, with others in various stages of development.
“I’m so lucky to have been a part of this show from the very beginning and couldn’t be more excited to visit Arlen, Texas, once again with Mike, Greg and Saladin, who together are bringing a whole new perspective to the original series. We all want to thank the fans for their overwhelming support because they helped make this happen, and I can’t wait to share this new iteration through the lens of 2023 America. In the words of our beloved Peggy Hill: ‘Ho yeah!’” said Marci Proietto, executive vp at 20th Television Animation.