Movies

‘King of the Hill’ resurrected on Hulu – The Hollywood Reporter

January 31, 2023

After years of rumors and speculation, king of the hill officially gets the reboot treatment at Hulu.

The Disney-backed streamer has placed a direct 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 produce alongside showrunner Saladin Patterson (ABC’s The good 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 beloved comedy’s 20th anniversary.

“We are all thrilled to welcome Hank, Peggy and Bobby back, and to see what they have to say about the world we live in and to continue the conversations we started years ago.” said Craig Erwich, president of ABC Entertainment, Hulu and Disney Branded Television broadcasting originals. “This show has all the perfect ingredients to meet that animated moment at Hulu, and we’re so grateful to have these conversations alongside this talented group.”

king of the hill ran for 13 seasons on Fox, beginning 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 has become a natural home for the show as the streamer remains a destination for adult-oriented animated fare, including repeats of king of the hill and Family guy. Hulu is also the home of the next Futurama the comeback.

Daniels and Judge’s recently launched animation banner, Bandera Entertainment, is also attached to executive 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 serve as executive producers.

In an interview with THR Last January, Judge and Daniels said the seeds of what became Bandera were planted around a few meeting boards to king of the hill over the past few years, as the duo often spoke about the people they had worked with in the past and the explosion of interest in animation. At the time, Judge and Daniels confirmed the king of the hill the reboot was in the works but was not ready to discuss it publicly.

“A lot of the time what Bandera is trying to get us to play more of a supervisory role; that’s what we’ve been really focused on: using our tastes and the people we’ve worked with and trying to help other people realize their visions that we think are cool,” Daniels said at the time. . Judge added, “There’s a show I could be a co-creator of, but the rest is mentoring other people and bringing people together and being a studio in that regard.”

During his run, king of the hill garnered six Emmy Award nominations (winning one) for Outstanding Animated Program. Adlon, whose comedy FX better things ended its run last year, also won Emmy gold for its voice work on the series.

A promo for the original king of the hill on Fox

king of the hill becomes the latest beloved animated comedy to be revived for a new generation as animation continues to remain in high demand as repeats perform extremely well on streaming platforms and, if successful, can generate billions in revenue thanks to merchandising. Comedy Central has relaunched Judge’s Beavis and Butthead with a two-season order (and multiple movies) before the series moves to Paramount+. A revival of Darya in the form of a spin-off revolving around Jodi and voiced by Tracee Ellis Ross is also in the works as a series made into a movie.

For their part, Judge and Daniels’ Bandera also has a number of animated projects underway 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, TX once again with Mike, Greg and Saladin, who together bring a whole new perspective to the original series. We all want to thank the fans for their overwhelming support as they helped make this happen, and I can’t wait to share this new iteration through the lens of 2023 America. words from our beloved Peggy Hill: “Ho yeah!” said Marci Proietto, Executive Vice President of 20th Television Animation.