Especially since they had no big merchandise, were a Simpsons ripoff at a time close to South Park and, eventually, Family Guy, and had an art style built around realism with very little flexability for cartoony expression, but still required animation at least at the level of DiC (thankfully koth was actually better animated than DiC's shlock, with very few fuckups that usually occurred where fuckups were common [long-distance shots, crowd characters, etc])?
How was King of the Hill sucessful enough to run for 13 years?
Lincoln Ross
Samuel Moore
Because it was good. Fucking zoomer.
Ayden Wright
Op ain't right, I tell you hwat.
Jacob Barnes
>Simpsons ripoff
How do you figure? Hank is nothing like Homer, Peggy is nothing like Marge, Bobby is nothing like Bart, Luanne is nothing like Lisa. They DO have a dog, but that's about it. There's no Flanders, stories are significantly more grounded, just are more dry...
Adam Howard
During the first and second seasons it was a huge hit, I think either outperforming Simpsons or just getting more positive attention, because Simpsons was in the early stages of decline right when KotH started.
Then Fox unintentionally (?) kind of fucked things up by moving the third season to a different timeslot and airing some episodes out of order, and predictably the ratings dropped and it kind of fell off the cultural radar comparatively.
Maybe a combination of Fox recognizing it had done well and was still receiving/being nominated for awards and many other animated sitcoms/sitcoms in general on the channel not lasting long or being canceled. Mike Judge had also done Beavis and Butt-head, so viewers were aware of that and it's not like KotH just came out of nowhere either. Also it was, y'know, an actually decent show too.
I really wouldn't call it a Simpsons ripoff though. I'm sure Simpsons being a success helped Fox decide that this could be a viable show too, but that's about it.
Jonathan Morales
And I'm really not trying to claim no one knows about the show now when I mentioned it falling off the radar. If anything, I think it's gotten way more popular within the last decade through the internet etc. than it seemed to be during some seasons the 2000s and most people who've watched it seem to think it's good.
It's just that most of the merchandise that was made and it being on the cover of magazines etc. happened during the first two seasons and than not really after that for the rest of the show's run.
Caleb Butler
>were a Simpsons ripoff
Believe it or not, The Simpsons didn't invent family-based sitcoms. Shocking, I know.
Jace Diaz
How is it they all look like shit except for Cotton?
Nolan White
>Simpsons ripoff
>Comparing KOTH to South Park and Family Guy
>Saying the realism denied cartoony expressions
Did you not watch the show?
Like, ever?
I feel like this thread is bait but fuck it. I'll bite hard. Call me Patrick.
First; the uniqueness of KOTH.
King of the Hill began in the time with the shitton of family sitcoms. Being animated, however, gave it a peculiar place to be. Other animated not-kid shows were things for teens really, or were really asenine. Beavis and Butthead (incidentally KOTH is really a spin off from them), Daria, Duckman, the Critic, Family Guy (came out two years later).
KOTH was realisitic but did insert cartoony moments. Not over the top mind you. In other cartoons like the shows I just listed they'd be way under the radar. But because of KOTH groundedness they stuck out like a sore thumb, and the writers knew WHEN to use them.
And then the writing. Good god it was comfy and fun. Obvious bias I have aside, it was refreshing to watch a family-based sitcom where the dad wasn't a Fat Dumbass, the son wasn't a lol-cool-dude, and the mom wasn't Omnipotent. And the show poked fun at tropes subtlely and at other asenine things.
Another bonus; politics.
Despite being baptist, super conservative, glory to texas, God Bless the USA characters (excluding Dale huehue) the show was surprisingly neutral. They stabbed at every political spectrum and did not really push agendas other than things that really are considered, by large most people, to be common sense. A good example is the episode concerning environmentalism.
Hank argues that some shit is stupid or asenine, but there are things that can be done not just because it's good for the earth, but honestly it's smarter because of money saving.
I can't remember what else I was gonna type and I'm too lazy to re-read so have this.
Luis Diaz
While the Hill family have personalities of their own, it is still painfully visible that they were built off of the Simpsons [sans Maggie]. Hank is Homer if his stupidity came from the old fashioned hard-texan way of doing things instead of ignorance and boomer pop culture. Peggy is Marge if she were more cunning and manipulative. Bobby is Bart if his troublemaking was more related to breaking the ideals set up by Hank. Luanne is Lisa if her views didn't go as hard. Ground that all in reality and give it Texan ideals and you've got the Hills. I will say that the rest of Arlen is nothing like Springfield, but the family dynamic is still there.
Charles Hall
Did you watch King of the Hill?
Noah Robinson
They're the same as x character if x character had different defining traits. What? You could use your weird broad comparisons to say literally any character on TV are the same merely by virtue of being characters on TV. The Simpsons didn't invent the concept of a sitcom family.
Parker Sanders
>were a Simpsons ripoff
No, but thanks for posting.
Daniel Ramirez
You'd look fucking great too if you killed fitty men.
Nathan Taylor
I heard the show is pretty accurate to how the people in the region are.
Noah Sanchez
>Bobby is Bart if his troublemaking was more related to breaking the ideals set up by Hank.
That's stretching a country mile. That's like saying Beavis is Kenny if only because they're both blonde.
David Harris
>Despite being baptist
It's a minor point, but the Hills were Methodist.
Jacob James
They're the same archetypes, molded a bit differently, but they still follow a lot of the same tropes. Hank cares about his family even though he doesn't exactly show it in the most obvious way, he's not too hip with the times, he has a temper, etc. Bobby struggles in class, he acts out on impulse and emotion, he's constantly shunned by his father, he's mischievous, etc. Luanne falls squarely into a lot of the roles Lisa does (especially in the early episodes with her solving Hank's smoking addiction and fixing his car. Lisa isn't exactly a mechanic, but it's still in the same direction as "the smart one"); namely the voice of reason. She's not as smart as Lisa, but from what I've seen the "Lisa" archetype has regressed into "female young character nobody likes," thanks to McFarlane's influence on the "Simpsonlike." Peggy strays the furthest from her inspiration, though the direction the writers take for her isn't too much better.
While KOTH is a Simpsons ripoff, and retroactively falls into a lot of tropes that became established as the "Simpsonlike" long after it was set up, it is still a good Simpsons ripoff.
Leo Gonzalez
It was a more down-to-earth Simpsons
Angel Murphy
Their genders are the same, but they're a lot different in terms of personality and motivation.
Homer is mentally retarded and the source of a lot of his family's problems. He doesn't have much impulse control and that gets him in trouble. Hank is level-headed and usually ends up saving his friends or family members from whatever stupid stunt they pull that week. He's the character everyone turns to when they need a grown up.
Marge is a kind-hearted person who sacrifices her own happiness to take care of her family, Peggy is a manipulative bitch who overestimates her intelligence and will sabotage her family if they get in her way (example: the episode where she deliberately ruins Bobby's Thanksgiving dinner because she's jealous that he's a better cook than she is, the episode where she allows a college professor to destroy Hank's prize lawn because she wants to impress the professor and his students with her "brains," etc.).
Bart is generally well-liked by his peers and seems to thrive on creating chaos. Bobby is a socially awkward weirdo who may also be the reincarnation of the Buddha.
Lisa is highly intelligent but is socially awkward and is seen as sort of a goody two shoes by her peers. Luanne is a redneck girl with a good heart who seems to be well-liked by everyone even if they think that she's kind of stupid. Luanne is a also a lot older than Lisa and has to deal with issues like shitty roommate and being a wife and mother.
Brody Hill
>simpsons
started as a harsh satire mocking american culture
>south park
started as a satire full of quick gags and violent humor as kids get away with shit they shouldn't
>Family Guy
Quick gags and reference humor, with some wacky 'baby wants to kill mother' shenanigans
KotH is unironically western slice of life anime. It focuses on really mundane character interactions and daily life of someone in a southern american city. It slower humor and less dramatic shit going on for the most part, you really can't compare it to the other three because 'they're all cartoons that are mostly about a family'. It's apples and oranges. And in this house we only eat rare steak.
But seriously though I can see how the show managed to last so long it has it's own audience it caters for and it did so really well. I never really stood out as much against some of the other shows, like the best of KotH will never stand up against the best of the Simpsons for example, but that's not the point, it's about variety and selection, and KotH was around at a time when we didn't really have many down to earth realistic family animated comedy/dramas.