Every King of the Hill Christmas Episode, Ranked Worst to Best

King of the Hill secretly has some of the best Christmas episodes that you’ll find in any adult animated series, and now is the perfect time to go back and see just how good they really are. It’s the holiday season, and that makes it a great time to visit some of your favorite holiday specials. But there are some franchises that fans often think of first when it comes to their holiday outings, and King of the Hill is not really one of that pack. It’s kind of in its on lane when it comes to celebrating the holiday.

But even if it’s not the first show you think of when it comes to Christmas, King of the Hill has some of the most memorable Christmas episodes you’ll find anywhere. They range from highly emotional to wacky across the seasons (with some of these episodes actually being both), and below you’ll find a breakdown of every Christmas episode of the series thus far ranked from worst to best.

7). The Unbearable Blindness of Laying

Coming during the second season, “The Unbearable Blindness of Laying” was the very first Christmas special for King of the Hill. It really started things off on a wild foot as Hank went blind after accidentally walking in on his mother in the midst of sexual relations, and ended up being an episode where Hank was able to bond with his mother’s new boyfriend. It’s just so low on this list because it’s not really about the Christmas holiday itself, but instead is more about Hank needing to grow as a person. It’s a plot that could have happened at any time, but it just happened to have Christmas packaging around it.

6). ‘Twas the Nut Before Christmas

Season 5’s “Twas the Nut Before Christmas” used the Christmas holiday to once again explore how depressed Bill gets around the time. It uses the holiday as a springboard to have him be manic once more as he gets addicted to how happy he’s making everyone at the time and refuses to let go as the year continued. It even gets to the point where he “adopts” someone who’s only trying to take advantage of him, but unfortunately this idea never really goes anywhere after the episode.

Funny enough, it’s significant enough for Bobby and Connie that it’s brought up as a big moment in their lives during Hulu’s revival series (when they got drunk in Bill’s Santa bounce house). But for Bill? It’s one of his more pathetic stories, but not the most emotionally resonant you’ll see on this list.

5). Ms. Wakefield

In terms of pathetic, but not in that totally sad Bill way, Season 9’s “Ms. Wakefield” is the perfect marriage of that vibe with Christmas. It’s the final Christmas special from King of the Hill‘s original broadcast run with Fox 15 years ago, and it’s a good one to go out on as the titular Ms. Wakefield visits the Hill house in order to die. She’s a sad and lonely woman who’s lost everyone else in her life, and wanted to return to her childhood home to end her days.

It toes the line of the tragic nature of her request and the hilarity of when she tries to sneak her way into the house by any means necessary. Hank and the others go a bit wacky with how far they go in the situation, but that dose of reality at the end really brings back the holiday feeling. It’s a fun one that’s definitely fit for rewatches.

4). Pretty, Pretty Dresses

On the other end of that spectrum, you’ve got the very heartbreaking Bill episode with Season 3’s “Pretty, Pretty Dresses.” This one is a complicated one to rank because it’s very good in terms of what it does for Bill as he truly hits rock bottom, but it’s such a tough watch. Bill has a manic episode where he decides to dress up in his ex-wife Lenore’s old clothes and pretends to be her.

It leads to a very stark moment where Hank is there for his friend, but needs to snap him out of it. It’s one of the most compelling Bill episodes in the entire series, and even uses the Christmas holiday to further highlight the truly sad nature of his life. But it’s also not one that you’re willingly going to seek out and watch for the holidays.

3). The Father, the Son and J.C.

Season 6’s “The Father, the Son and J.C” holds the distinct honor of being really the only episode where Hank fully says “I love you” to someone and it blows up in his face. It’s the episode where Hank is even promoted to manager, but Buck Strickland takes it away almost immediately when Hank blurts out his love in that moment. It sparks an entire new back and forth with his father, and the two really get into their past.

Cotton and Hank really don’t have a good relationship, but this special brings them closer than they ever had been to that point (and ever would be, frankly). It’s not exactly the most rewatchable of the Christmas specials on this list (that honor goes to the final two), but it really strikes at the heart of that feeling you really look for with a Christmas special.

2). Livin’ on Reds, Vitamin C and Propane

One of the most rewatchable holiday episodes of King of the Hill’s original run overall is Season 8’s “Livin’ on Reds, Vitamin C and Propane” and it’s just so much wacky fun. Hank rents an 18 wheeler truck to haul some furniture to his mom in Arizona before Christmas, and it’s really just one wild event after another. Hank’s ridiculed by real truckers, Bill and the others sneak their way into the back and embarrass him, and Peggy and Luanne are trying to make a Christmas song about it.

This is a special just packed with jokes from top to bottom as it’s the most fun Christmas episode in King of the Hill’s catalog. It’s such a good episode that you can even watch outside of the confines of the holiday, and it still works. If you want a great episode to revisit for Christmas, it’s this one. It even has a fun song over the credits.

1). Hillennium

If we’re talking the best Christmas episode, however, Season 4’s “Hillennium” is absolutely it. This is an episode that tackles the Y2K phenomenon and really gets at the heart of the anxieties at the time. It might be tough to translate for newer fans as you kind of just had to be there to truly get how it felt like the end of the world at the time, but Hank captures all of that well here as he starts to be wary of all technology.

Some of the best Hank episodes see him going manic in his own way when he starts to take his beliefs too far, and this is a classic example as he pushes away everyone around him due to his terror about technology and the impending failure of society. But with a hilarious hallucination, it all comes back around for a great Christmas holiday. Watch this one to help start your new year.

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