Pamela Adlon Reveals That Bobby Will Be 21 in the ‘King of the Hill’ Reboot

Now is a great time to invest in propane and propane accessories, because King of the Hill is coming back. Word came in January that the beloved series, which originally ran from 1997 to 2010, is going to be revived by Hulu, who are apparently collecting canceled Fox cartoons like infinity stones.

We know that original creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, are returning for King of the Hill 2.0, but beyond that, there haven’t been too many details released to the public so far. According to Daniels, the show likely won’t be released until “the beginning of 2025,” but there have been persistent reports that it won’t simply pick up where the original left off. As Stephen Root, the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland, told one interviewer, the show will feature a “time jump” meaning that “Bobby's going to be older” in the reboot. 

Now we have a bit more info thanks to the voice of Bobby Hill, Pamela Adlon. While promoting her feature directorial debut, the critically-acclaimed new movie Babes, the Better Things co-creator was asked by MovieWeb about the status of the new King of the Hill.

According to Adlon, the cast is currently working on the “second season of the reboot.” She similarly revealed that in the new show, “Bobby is 21” and is working as a “chef in a fusion restaurant in Dallas.”

Adlon also explained that it’s “been freakier for Mike and Greg to think about Bobby going from 12 to being 21 and having a relationship and being a person,” adding, “But don’t we all go through that with our kids and our friends’ kids? It is shocking when I see my friends’ kids and they’re all grown up.”

Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here. First of all, Bobby becoming a big city chef makes total sense, considering his knack for the culinary arts.

The last scene from the finale literally finds Bobby cooking, alongside his father. 

The time jump will also, presumably, allow for the character growth and change that was somewhat hampered by the original’s mostly-static temporal mechanics. While some animated sequels are able to ignore the real world passage of time, in a way that live action can’t, by acknowledging that roughly a decade has passed, the King of the Hill reboot has the opportunity to do something really interesting with its characters, beyond serving up token nostalgia.  

It’s a little surprising to hear that the cast and crew are already working on a second season, considering that the first has yet to be released. But that timeline does make sense, considering that it was previously reported that Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Dale Gribble, recorded “a couple of episodes” before he passed away in August 2023.

Until it’s released, all we can do is wait, perhaps while sipping beer in front of a picket fence. 

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