King of the Hill now has two seasons of the revival under its belt with only a single reference to Luanne, and the showrunner behind the new era of the series explained to ComicBook why she and Lucky are still absent from the series. King of the Hill made its return to TV screens last Summer with a brand new revival series set years after the events of the original TV series, and brought back as many of the original stars as they could. But unfortunately, some of those classic stars had passed in the decade since.
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Following both the passing of Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty, who voiced Luanne and Luck in the original King of the Hill series, fans were curious to see how the revival would address the characters moving forward. With Season 15’s release on Hulu, their family has gotten a single spoken reference with not much else. As King of the Hill showrunner Saladin Patterson explained to ComicBook, this is because the team is still figuring out how to approach them.
King of the Hill Showrunner Explains Luanne & Lucky’s Absence in Season 15
“The honest answer is we are still figuring that out ourselves in terms of what’s gonna be the most satisfying way to do it, but also not being short sighted,” Patterson explained. King of the Hill Season 15 ends with a finale that explains in a flashback why Hank and Peggy moved to Saudi Arabia, and Luanne, Lucky & Gracie were referenced as the ones Bobby would be staying with while his parents left the country for years. But the two of them have not been referenced or seen within the current present day timeline of the revival.
Patterson is aware of the strong fan demand to see the two characters referenced, but also explained that it’s a very tricky situation for the team, “It’s tricky because seeing them means recasting. And that’s just something that we just don’t take lightly, both out of respect to Tom and Brittany.” Explaining that their specific performances were why fans loved so much about those characters, it might not be a return fans would want, “Tom and Brittany were so much of why we love those characters, and if you’re not gonna be able to recapture that it may not be as satisfying as fans think it would be.”
Will Luanne Appear in Future Seasons of King of the Hill’s Revival?
The flashback to the past in King of the Hill’s Season 15 finale did offer a way for the revival to honor the characters at least, and that felt satisfying to the team for now, “We were satisfied with being able to revisit in flashback at least them being a part of the show.” Patterson also noted that using a flashback in the future seasons is something that the team might decide to do, and might be able to do something that way. But they’re still ultimately “trying to figure out what’s going to be best for the show.”
King of the Hill’s revival is not taking a potential return for Luanne or Lucky lightly, and it seems even referencing these characters is something that they don’t want to do until they are totally ready for what it means for the late actors’ legacies. While fans are missing the duo, it’s certainly good to know that the team behind it all is moving forward with the utmost care.
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