These Are the ‘King of the Hill’ Characters We’re Still Waiting to Hear From in the Revival
The Hill Family is back on Hulu, but not every neighbor in Arlen made it to 2025.
Hulu just released the first season of its King of the Hill revival series, and the new season has already cemented its status as one of the greatest sitcom nostalgia reboots of all time, which is an admittedly manageable hurdle to clear when considering the competition. With the new King of the Hill, creators Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and their writing staff made the brilliant and ambitious move to break free from the show’s floating timeline that kept Bobby Hill and his friends stuck in permanent pre-pubescence for 13 seasons, instead choosing to address a roughly decade-long in-universe time-jump between the previous series finale and the present day by turning Bobby into a career-oriented adult and his parents into antsy retirees.
Half the fun of the King of the Hill Hulu revival has been seeing how the writing staff turned each beloved character into an older and, occasionally wiser version of their original Fox selves. But for all the surprising returns to the series, there are still a small number of OG side characters whose conspicuous absences are worthy of note.
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Here are our top picks for missing characters in the new King of the Hill who deserve to return in Season 15, starting with…
Enrique
Strickland Propane’s uncomfortably clingy truck driver was a regular background character in the original seasons, occasionally stepping into the spotlight to ruin Hank’s day by bringing his personal problems into the workplace. It makes sense that the majority of the Strickland Propane crew would be left behind in the revival, seeing as Hank left the company to work in Saudi Arabia before his current retirement, but it’s a shame that film legend and Enrique’s voice actor Danny Trejo didn’t get to return to the series and redeem himself in Hank’s narrowed eyes.
Miz Liz
Buck Strickland’s strong-willed, long-suffering ex-wife was only in two episodes of the original King of the Hill run, but she left such an impression on both the show’s audience and the Strickland Propane crew that we have to wonder whether Buck’s against-all-odds survival into 2025 should feature a blast from the past. We gotta know what Miz Liz did with her half of Buck’s money — and whether or not she still has some strong feelings about hunky Hank.
M.F. Thatherton
It’s extremely telling that, after leaving Strickland Propane during the time-jump, Hank found the state-owned Saudi Arabian oil and natural gas company Aramco to be a more ethical employer than the propane don who once won his services from Buck Strickland in a poker match. A former Strickland employee himself, Thatherton was the perfect foil to Hank’s gullible, goody-two-shoes company man, and we’d like to see King of the Hill reignite its hottest propane rivalry next season.
Ladybird
Yes, obviously, the purebred Georgia bloodhound who was already long past her “new tricks” era in the original King of the Hill didn’t have another 8-to-9 years in her to survive the time-jump, but considering how dearly Hank loved that dog, you’d think the show would at least mention her — or, I don’t know, have Hank adopt a puppy named Ladybird II. In my head-canon, the entire reason Hank and Peggy left for Saudi Arabia was that Ladybird passed away, and Hank needed a couple years away from the house that she made a home in order to cope with the loss.
Dooley
The mumbling, mean-spirited color commentator of Arlen may have been the least-liked student at Tom Landry Middle School, but, by God, King of the Hill just isn’t the same without Dooley appearing at the most inopportune moments to remind every character of their misfortunes, both present and past. Especially considering the middle-school-esque love triangle that emerged between Bobby, Chane and Connie this season, it’s too bad that Robata Chane never hosted a reservation for two under the name “Dooley” during the height of the drama.
“Your boss is banging your first love.”
