Kings of Their ‘Hill’

Since its premiere last January, Fox’s “King of the Hill� has tackled with hilarious results such hard-hitting subjects as constipation, kissing a girl, lawns, sex education in school, smoking and Boggle tournaments.

Set in Arlen, Tex., “King of the Hill� follows the lives of propane salesman Hank Hill--a man not comfortable talking about s-e-x; his wife Peggy, a strong woman who works as a substitute Spanish teacher, is a whiz at Boggle and has enormous feet; their overweight, underachieving 12-year-old son Bobby; and their attractive but dim 18-year-old niece Louanne.

Hank and his neighbors pass their free time drinking beer, shooting the breeze and gazing at car engines and lawn mowers. Hank’s best friends are Dale, the local exterminator who has more conspiracy theories than Mel Gibson, and Boomhauer, a bachelor who likes “Seinfeld� but doesn’t make a bit of sense when he talks.

Nominated for an Emmy for best animated series, “King of the Hill� is the brainchild of executive producers Mike Judge, who is the voice of the series’ Hank and also gave the world “Beavis & Butt-head,� and Greg Daniels, a former co-executive producer of “The Simpsons.�

The L.A.-based Daniels, and Judge, from his home in Austin, Tex., recently chatted on the phone about the genesis of “King of the Hill,� what’s new for the fall and how they ran into trouble at a gun show.

Question: I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something about Hank Hill that reminds me of my father.

Greg Daniels: I think more people read themselves into a cartoon because it’s less specific. Do you ever find that, Mike?

Mike Judge: That’s true. It’s kind of like these cartoon characters are these icons you pour a lot into.

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Q: Save for “The Simpsons,� other prime-time animated series like “Fish Police� and “Capitol Critters� have bombed. Did either of you worry about how “King of the Hill� would be accepted?

Daniels: Have you seen the ones that didn’t work?

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Q: I tried to watch them.

Daniels: I didn’t have any fear. I knew we weren’t making one of those.

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Q: Mike, is it true you based “King of the Hill� on your neighbors from Austin?

Judge: It’s definitely [based on] neighbors here and also in New Mexico, where I grew up. I have wanted to do something on these kind of guys called “Bubbas.� [At one point], I wanted to do a short with a bunch of guys standing around staring at an engine and drinking beers.

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Q: Bobby looks like so many kids these days.

Daniels: He’s real, right, Mike?

Judge: I actually saw a kid and went home and drew him. I don’t even know who he was. I was buying a TV set in Circuit City. I was looking at this kid and he was kind of standing there, staring off into space. Kids are pretty chubby nowadays because of all the fast-food places. I grew up eating fast food but now everything is double beef and double cheese. So there are a lot of these chubby boys with long, baggy shorts.

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Q: Greg, did you travel to Texas to study the “Bubbas� culture?

Daniels: Yeah, I did. Mike drove me around the Home Depot and showed me the giant lawn mowers and stuff like that. I did that kind of research.

Judge: We actually went to a gun show right here in Austin. Johnny Hardwick [the voice of Dale] got into some trouble.

Daniels: That was pretty freaky.

Judge: He just was taking pictures for reference and this guy, who is basically Dale with muscles and testosterone, jumped over his little table and said, “Give me that film. You just took my picture.�

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Q: How has the response been from “Bubbas� toward the show?

Daniels: They actually love it. It’s as respectful a portrayal of them as you will find! Sometimes people get the wrong idea from various [advertising] campaigns and promos that it’s “make fun of the white trash.� It’s not like that. People are writing saying it’s so realistic.

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Q: Can you spill the beans on what’s in store for the fall?

Daniels: Well, Bobby gets a gun because he has a real talent for target shooting because his heart rate is so low.

Judge: It’s that age in Texas when it’s time to get the boy a gun.

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Q: Willie Nelson did a guest voice stint last season. Do you have any big stars lined up for the fall?

Judge: Should we [tell her]? Tammy Wynette is Hank’s mom and Carl Reiner is her new Jewish boyfriend. It’s the Christmas special.

Daniels: Basically, the story of that is Hank catches them making love in the kitchen and he goes blind because he can’t bear to see it.

Then Burt Reynolds plays a rival propane dealer. We got the band Green Day. James Carville is playing a judge who does creative sentencing.

Judge: We got Sally Field playing a fundamentalist who tries to shut down Halloween.

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Q: Do you find it’s easier to lure celebrities since the show has become such a hit?

Daniels: It’s very hot. So any celebrity who reads this, you’ve got to jump in with your friends.

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Q: Mike, the voice for Hank sounds an awful lot like the neighbor, Tom Anderson, from “Beavis and Butt-head.�

Judge: It’s actually a voice I’ve been doing since I was a kid because I have known, like, 20 different guys who talked like that. I was in Explorers--it’s like Boy Scouts--and one of the advisors talked like that. I had forgotten about this, but it’s a little bit like my grandfather on my mom’s side.

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Q: Since “Beavis and Butt-head� made its way to the big screen, is there any talk of Hank, Peggy and Bobby becoming movie stars?

Daniels: We’ve been talking about it.

Judge: It seems hard to imagine right now.

Daniels: I had an idea the other day, Mike.

Judge: Oh, really?

Daniels: I’ll tell you about it when we’re not on the line!

“King of the Hill� airs Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on Fox. New episodes begin Sept. 21.