SEEING RED

Conservatism onscreen in 2025.

- INKOO KANG

Hollywood, according to one talent agent, is newly "heartland-curious."

“King of the Hill,” the animated sitcom that first ran for thirteen Americana-powered seasons between 1997 and 2010, had a deceptively simple premise. The family at its heart collectively represented the median of their suburban Texas milieu: the middle-aged Hank Hill was an uptight fusspot who clung to old-fashioned virtues; his spark-plug wife, Peggy, balked at being labelled a feminist; and their preteen son, Bobby, searched for alternatives to his parents’ cultural inertia. Hank's passion for the propane business was mirrored by Bobby's prop-comedy aspirations—one of many quirks that prompted Hank to mutter, “That boy ain't right.” But the show was full of sly reminders that it's easier to spout traditional values than to live by them.

At the time, “King of the Hill” was widely praised—the critic James Poniewozik declared it “the most acutely observed, realistic sitcom about regional American life bar none”—but its return to Hulu, this week, has been met with an unusual amount of hand-wringing. The series’ co-creator Mike Judge, whose wide-ranging credits include “Office Space,” “Idiocracy,” “Silicon Valley,” and “Beavis and Butt-head,” strenuously avoids discussing his political alignment. But the question has become more charged amid current existential anxieties in Hollywood. Battling competition from the internet and a bustling conservative-media ecosystem, many in the industry have concluded that they have to win back audiences by producing more content that represents the working class, red-state values, and religious sensibilities. The new season of “King of the Hill” nods at the dearth of such programming when a channel-changing Hank expresses dissatisfaction with what's on offer: “I'll wait until Hollywood makes something for us again, like ‘Forrest Gump.’”