John Redcorn Actor Jonathan Joss Opens Up About Being ‘Shut Out’ of ‘King of the Hill’ Reunion

If John Redcorn doesn’t come back to King of the Hill for its Hulu revival this summer, then who is going to help Nancy Gribble with her headaches?

This May 30th, King of the Hill co-creators and executive producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels will headline a reunion event at Austin, Texas’ ATX TV Festival for the animated Fox sitcom about a traditional Texas family living in a fictional small town that’s filled with lovably Southern eccentrics. King of the Hill cast members Pamela Adlon, Lauren Tom and Toby Huss will join their once-and-future bosses at the reunion event, but, for all the returning stars who will accompany Judge and Daniels at the publicity summit in the Texas capital, the King of the Hill reunion and subsequent new season will be missing some key pieces of the cast, some of whom have sadly passed away since we last saw the Hill family grilling with their neighbors while others will be absent for unknown reasons.

Jonathan Joss, who voiced the new age healer and adulterer John Redcorn from King of the Hill Season 2 to Season 13, will not join his castmates at the Austin TV summit next month, nor is he likely to return to the show for the streaming revival series based on what he wrote about the reunion on his Facebook page last week:

Joss took over as the voice of John Redcorn following the death of the character's original voice actor, Victor Aaron, shortly before the series premiere, and Joss' performance as the secret lover of Nancy Gribble and the father of her son Joseph Gribble remains the most recognizable role of his filmography, a credits list that includes repeat appearances in other beloved sitcoms and Texas-focused shows such as Parks and Recreation and Walker, Texas Ranger.

While neither Judge, Daniels nor Hulu have publicly given King of the Hill fans an explanation for Joss’ absence from the reunion event (and, presumably, the next season of King of the Hill), it’s possible that the 2023 death of Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Dale Gribble for all 13 seasons of the show’s original run, may have led to the removal of John Redcorn from the show’s future. Seeing as John Redcorn entered the canon as the man who is obviously sleeping with Dale’s wife, Judge and Daniels might have decided to retire all Gribble-related storylines moving forward.

As Joss mentioned in his mournful post, earlier this year, the actor lost his San Antonio home and his pet dog in a tragic housefire and has fallen on hard times financially. Although his return to the series now seems unlikely, King of the Hill fans continue to support Joss through a community-started GoFundMe dedicated to his recovery.