Did Dale Gribble Give Up Smoking for the ‘King of the Hill’ Reboot?
It might have taken 13 seasons, upwards of 90,000 cigarettes and a short-lived stint as Arlen’s “Smoking Bandit,” but Dale Gribble may have finally put down his beloved Manitobas for good.
Weeks ahead of King of the Hill’s upcoming revival, a few fans have developed a new theory surrounding the famous conspiracist, arguing that Dale, often seen with a cigarette hanging from his lips throughout the series' initial run, kicked the habit ahead of his return to the small screen.
“Have we seen Dale smoking in any of the new material?” one fan wrote on the King of the Hill subreddit, citing the new posters and teasers touting the series’ impending premiere. “I’m looking over everything we’ve gotten, it looks like Dale might have quit smoking?!?! Am I crazy here?”
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As several commenters pointed out, this Redditor wasn’t huffing charcoal. With the exception of Season 14’s first poster, in which Dale can be seen posing with a bright red vape, Arlen’s resident exterminator has been largely tobacco-free throughout King of the Hill’s various teasers, including footage screened at last month’s ATX TV Festival.
If these whispers are true, a new smoke-free take on the beloved character wouldn’t be without precedent. Dale’s penchant for smoking appeared to have tapered throughout the show’s later seasons, including a brief stint at swapping cigarettes for chewing tobacco in Season Eight’s “That’s What She Said.”
He’ll still always have that sateen jacket, though.
