Is King of the Hill Being Drawn to a Close?
King of the Hill
Fox is ready to take King of the Hill off its throne to give some of its new animated comedies a shot.
According to Variety, the staff of the series, which has produced nearly 260 episodes over 13 years, was informed by the network Thursday that it would not be picking up additional episodes.
Fox's sacrificing of King, the second longest running animated primetime series behind The Simpsons, is most likely attributable to the network making room for newcomers The Cleveland Show and Sit Down, Shut Up in its "Animation Domination" Sunday stable. (Fox, however, also inked a deal Thursday that guarantees a fifth season of American Dad.)
But will this really be it for the Mike Judge and Greg Daniels-created series? Fox has cancelled King in the past, but then decided to pick up new episodes. Family Guy and Futurama have also been revived after cancellation by Fox.
Even if this is the end — and exec producer John Altschuler said he's not crafting a series finale just yet — viewers will continue to see new episodes for quite a while. Thanks to football-interrupted schedules and complicated episode orders in the past, the episodes currently airing are from the show's 12th cycle. Episodes from the 13th (and proposed final) cycle won't hit the air until February, possibly leaving new episodes for Fox to air next season as well.
In addition to Judge's voice talents as Hank Hill and neighbor Boomhauer, the series also features Kathy Najimy (Peggy), Pamela Adlon (Bobby), Brittany Murphy (Luanne) and Stephen Root (Bill).
Are you sad to see King of the Hill (possibly) go?
