The Worst Ever ‘King of the Hill’ Episodes, According to Fans
King of the Hill may be one of the greatest animated comedies ever, but that doesn’t mean the show was perfect — even the greatest Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks threw the occasional interception, as Hank’s buddy Troy Aikman knows all too well.
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels’ masterful series about a fictional Texan family and town ran for 13 seasons and 259 total episodes, creating some of the most memorable moments in comedy history along the way. However, for every “Pocket sand!” and “That’s my purse, I don’t know you!” King of the Hill delivered, there’s an entire episode devoted to Myspace, or an awkward canon adjustment that makes Hank related to that guy from ZZ Top. As is typically the case with long-running comedies, most of the more pungent stinkers come from the later seasons when storylines had been mostly exhausted and more topical, out-of-left-field plotlines were pulled out of the writers’ un-kicked asses.
With the King of the Hill revival hiding somewhere around the corner, the fans over in the King of the Hill subreddit recently discussed which of the show’s original episodes they would least like to see influence the new season. Here are the fans’ picks for worst ever King of the Hill episodes, starting with…
“Dreamweaver,” Season 12, Episode 9
Does the premise of “Dale and Hank get really into basket weaving” sound like a formula for King of the Hill success to you? No? Well, the subreddit agrees. The hobby of basket weaving was one of those cultural punchlines that had pretty much petered out by the time this episode aired in 2007, and the decidedly out-of-character and combative dynamic between Dale and Hank as they become rival weavers gets bizarrely murderous by the end of this one. All over a bunch of baskets.
“Hank Gets Dusted,” Season 11, Episode 5
It’s a tradition for animated shows that run on too long to have an absolutely unwatchable episode revolving around the celebrity worship of an illustrious guest star playing themselves — hell, that’s half of each new Simpsons season, nowadays. When “Cousin Dusty” rolls into town, he brings a vague parody of Jackass-style prank shows with him as his series of practical jokes played on his cousin Hank are supposed to carry both the in-universe TV show and the episode itself. Sadly, the uninspired entry failed to strike a chord with anyone besides Bobby.
“Enrique-cilable Differences,” Season 9, Episode 7
As one Redditor pointed out, this episode is almost redeemable if you imagine a real-life Danny Trejo acting out the sniveling and ineffectual Enrique’s actions during this decidedly awkward entry. Hank and Enrique’s cringe-worthy lack of chemistry isn’t quite as funny as the writers thought it would be, and the overwhelming focus on an underwhelming side-character’s off-screen life made this episode a stunted snoozer.
“Lost in Myspace,” Season 13, Episode 4
Considering how massively she knocked the role of Bobby Hill out of the park, it’s a shame that Pamela Adlon’s most meaningful episode during her time playing Donna on King of the Hill was the one where the show’s writers demonstrated a piss-poor understanding of the social media age. Even in 2008, this plotline about Strickland Propane mandating its workers maintain Myspace pages was embarrassingly out-of-touch — no one who attended a Myspace meet-up in the aughts ever had the leg strength to kick anyone’s ass.
