King of the Hill has returned with an entirely new platform as the animated series is now streaming a new season with Hulu, and the showrunner behind it all explained how Disney ultimately changed the show for its new revival. King of the Hill has returned for a new season of episodes fifteen years after the original came to an end, and with it has made some changes compared to the original series. There have been some more noticeable changes than others such as the characters now being much older, but there have been changes to how it sounds in the new era too.
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Because while King of the Hill was able to tackle certain ideas during its original broadcast with Fox much in the same that other adult animated shows had been able to at the time, it wasn’t as outright wild as the others around it. Even so, there had been some changes that needed to be made not only as King of the Hill offers more freedom with streaming, but working with Disney also led to some surprising other changes to the language used in the new episodes as well as explained by its showrunner to The Hollywood Reporter.
How King of the Hill Changed With Disney
“Fox back then with adult animation let certain shows really push the envelope…King of the Hill, though, never pushed the envelope in the same way, in terms of being in your face. But it may have pushed the envelope in terms of some of the social commentary,” King of the Hill showrunner Saladin K. Patterson explained. “So when we were doing it now for Hulu, under the Disney banner, on the one hand, the Hulu execs for the show were fans of the original, so we all were on the same page in terms of wanting to recapture what made the original special.” But even as Hulu were fans of the original, there were some limits.
“But there were situations where the Disney of it all put some limiters on us that I know Fox would not have, even though we were on Hulu and streaming, which theoretically has broader S&P [standards and practices] than Fox,” Patterson continued. “But for us, staying true to the show meant we weren’t ever going to be too gratuitous with the curse words and things, but we do take some liberties. The characters do curse in ways they can’t curse on broadcast. That being said, Hulu still made us go through and pull out all the F-bombs because they don’t want the TV-MA label, and it’s fine.”
How Much Does This Change King of the Hill?
These changes in language for the new King of the Hill season are apparent if you have spent a lot of time watching the original series. It might not seem as noticeable compared to other adult animated series of the modern era, but some of the jokes do have a harder edge than they would have in the original. There are references to characters wanting to take their own lives, curse words and more, but it’s not too dramatic of a departure from that original.
King of the Hill has been doing very well with critics and fans since Season 14 premiered thus far, but there has yet to be any word on whether or not it will be continuing with another season as of this time. There might have been some changes to the new series with its revival, but it’s clear with fans at least that those changes have been for the better.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
