29 Years Ago, King of the Hill’s Most Iconic Guest Star Made His First Appearance (Setting Up a Big Twist)

Few animated revivals hit it bigger than King of the Hill’s recent Hulu resurrection. The Hill family returned years after their initial series finale, with Hank and his clan having lived in Saudi Arabia during the events that took place off-screen. While plenty of characters returned to welcome Arlen, Texas, back to the airwaves, there was one celebrity guest star who had been missing from the latest fourteenth season of the beloved series. King of the Hill has had many celebrity guest stars appear over the years, sometimes playing themselves and sometimes playing fictional characters, but there is one who has had a far bigger impact on Hank Hill.

Musician Chuck Mangione made his animated debut in King of the Hill’s first season during the episode, “Luanne’s Saga.” The fifth episode of the preliminary season introduces the famous trumpet player as a mascot for “Mega-Lo Mart,” a parody of outlet stores such as Wal-Mart and Target. Considering Luanne worked at the establishment for quite some time, to say nothing of the retailer being a popular spot for shopping in Arlen, it made sense that Mangione would return time and time again. From here, Chuck would play a big part in quite a few storylines.

One of the biggest emotional stories that Magnione played a pivotal role in was the second season finale. When Luanne’s Mega-Lo Mart exploded, leaving the fate of many characters undecided between seasons, Chuck was caught up in the blast. While the trumpeter survived, he was shocked by the event and would take some time off from the series following the season three premiere. Considering the impact that Magione had on the series, acting as one of the most prominent celebrity guest stars, there are more than a few reasons as to why he didn’t have an acting role in the recent King of the Hill revival.

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One of the biggest twists involving Mangione, which proved that the star was willing to poke fun at himself, was his living situation in the animated show. Thanks to not reading a part of his employment contract with Mega-Lo Mart, the trumpeter was forced to make an appearance at every store opening. Constantly on the road, Chuck decides to simply live inside the stores as both a way to stay true to his contract and also get revenge on the company that hoodwinked him. During this episode, “Megalo Dale” we don’t see Mangione break his contract, so it could very well be the case that he remained a resident of various Mega-Lo Marts in the scenes we didn’t see.

Magione did make an appearance via a cardboard cut-out in King of the Hill’s latest season, but for those who might not know, the artist passed away in July of last year at the age of 84. While not confirmed dead in the series itself, we can’t imagine that the trumpet player would be recast moving forward, but would most likely appear in a similar fashion, wherein images of him appear in the animated series. In the fictional town of Arlen, Texas, Mega-Lo Mart still exists, so there could be numerous ways that the series pays homage to the deceased musician.

Luckily, King of the Hill will have plenty of opportunities to pay tribute to Mangione in the future if it desires. Last year, Hulu announced that not only would the animated revival return for a fifteenth season, but seasons sixteen and seventeen were also in the works. Considering how big the reception was to Mike Judge and Greg Daniels’ revival was, it makes sense that the Disney-owned streaming service would want to explore further this Texas town that is quite different from the one we once knew. The next season has yet to reveal when we can expect it to arrive on Hulu, though reports have speculated that it might be landing at some point later this year.

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