On this period of countless IP recycling, even King of the Hill — the most low-key of grownup animation classics — is getting the reboot therapy. On paper, it’s an odd alternative. Mike Choose’s beloved collection at all times stood aside from its ’90s friends. The place The Simpsons and Family Guy mocked American values with escalating absurdity, King of the Hill discovered its humor in sincerity. Hank Hill’s world was constructed not on irony, however on 4 unshakable pillars: his love for his spouse Peggy (Kathy Najimy), his son Bobby (Pamela Adlon), America, and propane (plus propane equipment).

So does King of the Hill  (dropped by Fox in 2009, picked up by Hulu) work once more in 2025, a time when sincerity is suspect and reboots are sometimes supposed or taken as workouts in tradition struggle posturing? Towards the odds, sure. Season 14 not solely preserves the present’s tone, it subtly updates it, usually by doing little or no in any respect.

The premiere episode units the stage with an off-display screen time bounce. Hank’s been off in Saudi Arabia engaged on a mysterious however profitable propane-adjoining undertaking. Now retired and again in Arlen, Texas, he and Peggy confront fashionable anxieties like Oklahoma-type barbecue and aggressive beer tradition. The premise is humorous, but it surely’s additionally a intelligent solution to discover generational unease with out falling into reactionary rants or “woke panic” boilerplate, regardless of veering ridiculously shut with one episode that even manages to debate the manosphere in a surprisingly tasteful method.

Crucially, the present resists the urge to attract battle strains. Hank grumbles about cancel tradition — however he additionally rolls his eyes at Dale Gribble’s conspiratorial rants with equal skepticism. The primary episode ends, touchingly, with Hank and Peggy realizing that adapting to extra inclusive language isn’t so onerous, as a result of language alone doesn’t change a tradition. It’s a uncommon reboot that acknowledges cultural evolution with out treating it as both gospel or apocalypse.

Maybe the most exceptional replace is Bobby Hill. He’s now a grown-up, a fusion Japanese-German chef with a aptitude for the dramatic. That will sound like a weird leap, but it surely tracks surprisingly properly. Bobby was at all times eccentric, at all times unbothered by conventional masculinity, and at all times dreaming of showbiz-adjoining fame. His new persona doesn’t really feel pressured—it seems like a continuation of the previous Bobby, filtered by way of maturity.

The present properly avoids over-explaining this transformation. A quick montage the place Hank muses on Bobby’s “bizarre previous desires” cuts to Bobby being… properly, precisely the identical child, simply with higher knife abilities. It’s an environment friendly solution to justify its continuity with out clunky exposition.

Different youthful characters, like Connie “Kahn Jr.“ Souphanousinphone and Joseph Gribble, get much less display screen time however stay true to the present’s ethos. Even when Connie and Joseph are portrayed buffoonishly, there’s nonetheless a way of mild respect. Connie recollects, in one in all the stronger line reads, merely, that “issues at all times felt higher” after speaking to Peggy. It’s a small second, but it surely hits at the coronary heart of what King of the Hill at all times provided: a sort of pragmatic, compassionate conservatism — much less political ideology than interpersonal grace. There’s no dialogue of Trump however a short, baffling protection of George W. Bush that also works in context primarily as a result of the subplot is extra about discussing Hank’s ethos than it’s truly defending Bush’s legacy.

Persistently staying on a tonal tightrope that’s sympathetic with out being saccharine and skeptical with out being smug is what’s at all times set King of the Hill aside. Even when the present wades into culturally fraught territory, it avoids judgmental binaries. When Bobby runs afoul of a lot of ethnic teams (together with Hank) as he tries to restock uncommon cooking materials for his grill, the argument offered isn’t that these competing pursuits are disingenuous, however slightly that as a small enterprise supervisor, Bobby has to justify himself on the energy of his product no matter the vagaries of latest political strife.

That steadiness can be why the present succeeds as a satire with out descending into snark. Hank Hill doesn’t go searching for fights — he’d slightly quietly keep away from individuals who annoy him. That’s the joke, and additionally the level. It’s a subversion of the ordinary subversion: a present a couple of conservative white man that isn’t in proudly owning the libs or doubling down on “conventional values,” however in exhibiting how folks can muddle by way of distinction and adversity with endurance and decency.

Nobody will mistake King of the Hill for philosophical deep-assume. Its consolation lies in the odd: neighborhood beer-consuming, little libraries, parental awkwardness. However that modesty is precisely what makes its return really feel like a small triumph. In a popular culture panorama hooked on excessive-idea disruption and smug self-consciousness, the present’s quiet sincerity lands like a breath of propane-scented recent air.