ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 13, 1997 TAG: 9701150024
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRAZIER MOORE ASSOCIATED PRESS
We're not far into ``King of the Hill,'' the Fox animated comedy that premiered Sunday, before we learn that the good old boys of Arlen, Texas, are big fans of a TV show called ``Seinfeld.''
Here's Boomhauer recalling the previous night's episode for Dale, Bill and Hank: ``I tell you whot, ya see dat part were dang ol' George cum in dere and he's talkin' 'bout trac'n his own bur and Kramer cums sli-i-i-din' in, he always does dat, I'll tell ye whut, man - dem dang ol' New York boys, jus' a show 'bout nuth'n.''
Well, we couldn't have put it better ourselves, which is an early sign that ``King of the Hill,'' decidedly more than a show 'bout nuth'n, is pretty good at capturing rings-true life among the working class. And doing it with humor you could almost call tender.
Pondering a car engine and sipping their beers, Hank and his friends don't mention watching ``The Simpsons,'' an acerbic and wickedly funny take on middle-class family life that happened to precede ``King of the Hill.'' But if they were to catch ``The Simpsons,'' Hank and his pen-and-ink pals would doubtless conclude it was cartoony.
``King,'' for better or worse, isn't. Most animation turns itself loose to exaggerate on the human condition (including ``Beavis and Butt-head,'' the first series from ``King'' co-creator Mike Judge). But ``King'' underplays it.
And while the premiere episode's story was slight and didn't dig very deep for laughs, ``King'' appears committed to revealing real people behind what first seem to be stereotypes, and to respectfully extracting from them universal truths. (When's the last time you saw a TV show find humor in, or even acknowledge, carpal tunnel syndrome?)
``King's'' hero is Hank Hill, a blue-collar Everyman and a propane salesman by trade. But beyond that, he's a regular guy who loves barbecue, pickup trucks, edging the lawn, both kinds of music (country and western), and lamenting how a lack of common sense and a crush of meddling bureaucrats in today's society make life all that much harder for the working man.
No wonder he ingests so many BC Headache Powders.
Hank is married to Peggy, a substitute Spanish teacher, columnist for the local newspaper and respected notary public whose hero is Dr. C. Everett Koop.
Bobby is their 12-year-old son, an unmotivated, overweight burrhead who nonetheless earns his father's highest accolade: ``Dammit, you're my BOY!''
Oh, yeah. The couple would have liked a bigger family but - as Peggy seems compelled to confide to everyone - Hank has a narrow urethra.
But the Hills are only the most prominent among the population of ``King's'' busybody suburb of Arlen. If you can't recognize yourself somewhere among the cast of characters, then certainly you know folks in their spitting image. If you don't, you ought to get out more.
``King of the Hill'' arrives with high anticipation from viewers curious to see what Mike Judge has come up with this time.
And with no less high hopes from Fox executives, who dream of replicating the success of ``The Simpsons,'' a ratings and critical smash since its premiere seven years ago.
Fox, and network television in general, could certainly use a new prime-time hit in this season which, at its halfway point, has been mostly characterized by debates on whether the heroine of ABC's ``Ellen'' should come out of the closet, and by wide-eyed amazement that two such lame sitcom entries from last season, ABC's ``Drew Carey'' and NBC's ``Caroline in the City,'' somehow alchemized into audience-pleasers their sophomore year.
Yet, despite the unimpressive slate of new series, the broadcast networks are showing rare reluctance to bring in replacements.
So far, CBS' only scheduled mid-course corrections are the military drama ``JAG'' resurrected after last year's so-so freshman season on NBC, and the premiere last week of ``Orleans,'' Larry Hagman's return to series TV.
NBC also launched a sitcom last week, ``Chicago Sons,'' and, having caught last year's ``The Naked Truth'' on the rebound from ABC, will return that Tea Leoni-starring sitcom to the air on Thursday.
Now, ``King of the Hill'' and its woebegone network, whose dismal season found its trio of new sitcoms DOA last fall, must confront the harsh reality that, in the history of broadcast TV, only two prime-time animated series have been longrunning hits: ``The Simpsons'' and, 30 years before, ``The Flintstones.''
That kind of long shot can only deepen the furrows etched into Hank Hill's brow and up his BC intake. But let's hope ``King'' stays around until Hank learns to smile as much as his show's viewers will.
The longer it takes, the better.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 linesby CNB