Now in its thirteenth year, the excellent, long-running animated comedy series King of the Hill will end production of first-run episodes after work is finished on thirteen new ones just ordered by the Fox Network.
The show’s final block of episodes will probably run in the 2009-10 season, according to reports.
Produced by Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butthead, the Fox series always took a sympathetic but satirical look at American life and had sound values at its core. Its picture of blue-collar life in the United States was done with sometimes achingly comic realism and without either rancor or rose-colored glasses. We’ll miss it.
I love this TV Series and have always been a fan of American Dad-*;
the tv show American Dad is actually great.`,’
Thanks for your comment, Peter. As it happens, Fox has announced it is renewing MacFarlane’s American Dad, which has been improving in the ratings. The network ordered twenty-two new episodes. Alas.
The good news is that Mike Judge is putting together a new series, The Goode Family, which is expected to launch on ABC in midseason.
Nice appreciation.
The show’s overall quality had decreased a bit in recent years after co-creators Mike Judge and Chris Daniels stopped being overseers, but it still retained its core values and small town heart. Its best was never as good as The Simpsons at its best, but it was more consistent and never had the precipitous drop in quality either.
Every TV show runs its course. What is depressing is that the replacement will be probably be another unfunny stinker from alleged ‘wunderkind’ Seth MacFarlane with yet more raunch and 80’s flashbacks.
In 20 years, King of the Hill will still be funny and perceptive, while MacFarlane’s endlessly rote pop-culture references will be shrugged at and dismissed.
Thanks for the good times to Judge and co.