King of the Hill’s Success Might Bring Back Another Fox Animated Series, According to Creator

King of the Hill’s fifteenth season might be one of the most anticipated comebacks in the animated world this summer, as the Hulu revival has become one of the biggest offerings from the streaming service. While Hank and the Hill family were defeated last year by the sequel series, The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball, a “rising tide raises all ships” in the animation world. In a recent interview, a creator of one of the 90s’ most popular adult animated series has noted that the return of King of the Hill might be the key to bringing back a beloved film critic after not releasing a new episode for years.

For years, the creators and voice actors behind The Critic have been trying their best to bring back Jay Sherman after decades out of the spotlight. In a new interview with the podcast Four Finger Discount, creator Al Jean noted that thanks to Arlen, Texas, fans of this film critic might see a revival, “Well, I can say we’re closer than ever, Jon Lovitz, and me, and Mike Reiss, to getting The Critic back as a reboot. So, that’ll be wonderful. I think now, first time I’ve ever said this, I think it’s more likely than not that it’ll happen. Jon is very into it, and we’re talking about who we would cast.”

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Alongside the good news for Critic fans, Jean also noted that Saturday Night Live’s recent event to celebrate the show’s anniversary, SNL 50, helped light a new fire below a potential revival, “I won’t say, you know, nobody else has a commitment or anything, but one of the things that helped us was Jon was at the SNL 50 party and someone walked up to him and said, ‘You know, The Critic is the best show ever.’ And [Lovitz] goes, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘I loved it. I grew up watching it. It’s the best.’ It was Jesse Eisenberg. So, we realized that there’s a generation now, [who] loved it the way I loved the Bullwinkle cartoons as a kid. And King of the Hill did great as a reboot. Futurama has done great multiple times coming back. So, I think we’re going to.”

For those who have never had the opportunity to watch the hilarious misadventures of film critic Jay Sherman, the original animated series is free to watch on Tubi. While The Critic originally ended in 1995 for its second season, it would see a brief comeback as an internet exclusive with AtomFilms bringing back Jay in a mini-series. This previous revival ended in 2001, meaning it’s been well over two decades since the hilarious franchise produced any new content. Considering how onboard the creators and voice talent are to return to this world, and how successful animated revivals have become, King of the Hill might have been the shot in the arm that The Critic needed.

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