The ‘King of the Hill’ Pitch Trailer Is A Perfect Time Capsule

It’s a testament to Mike Judge and Greg Daniels’ mastery that Hank Hill has been the same stern patriarch from his first pencil test to his last tank of propane.

As we eagerly await Hulu’s revival of King of the Hill, longtime fans of the animated sitcom about a small-town Texas family can revisit the first moments in Hill history. Hank, Peggy, Bobby, Luanne and their neighbors made their on-screen debut for Fox executives in a pencil test that led to 13 glorious seasons and counting, and the original pitch trailer developed by Heart of Texas Productions in 1996 is still available for viewing online. The two-minute teaser is somehow both a nostalgia bomb and a perfect representation of who the Hills continue to be almost three decades later.

That Boomhauer ain’t been right since before he had color.

Fans of King of the Hill will spot an Easter Egg in the trailer that wouldn’t be explained until after the show first concluded — Boomhauer’s line in the pencil test is taken straight from the famous voicemail that Judge received during his years working on Beavis and Butt-Head that inspired the creation of the character itself. Judge’s description of the voicemail during a 2011 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! alongside Zach Galifianakis is a must-watch for anyone interested in King of the Hill.

When King of the Hill returns on Hulu, we hope that Hank and his family will finally secure one of those sponsorships that he’s been eyeing since before his show even went on air — though, at 66 years old, hopefully he’s not gnawing on those Wonder Bread bacon grease sandwiches anymore. Cotton may have gotten by without knees, but Hank still needs a heart.