King of the Hill

All modern comedy operates on two levels – laughter and social commentary. This is especially so when it comes to prime time animation (The Simpsons, for example). King of the Hill brilliantly balances the shallowness of some of our sacred cows while at the same time reinforcing the moral fiber our family units provide. This 3-disc set includes the entire first season. Hank Hill introduces this boxset sitting atop his riding lawnmower, where he issues a warning to parents about things like Luanne’s bare midriff and (as he nervously mutters) his bare, uh, behind. “Good Lord!” he snaps. “What kind of smut are we putting out here?”

One of the most classic moments of the entire first season is found when Hank attempts to convey his unconditional love to his son, Bobby:
"You, uh, you're my son, uh. Well, you know, with everything, uh, that entails, uh... Uh, you know, feelings of fondness and more, uh, ... You know what I mean, don't you, boy?"

"No."

"Ahhh. Wel...(high-pitched wheeze) That's a hell of a weird sound! I never made that before. Uh, I... You, uh. Family. You're not making this easy on me, boy. (sighs) Okay. I love you no matter what you do. There! Whew! Let's go get something to eat.”

In the “Hank’s Got The Willies” episode, Hank laments to Willie Nelson over his son’s lack of ambition: “Bobby’s got no direction in life, no heroes. When I was his age, I worshiped you. Well, and Jesus, of course.”

In addition to deleted scenes, many episodes can be enhanced with awesome commentaries done in character by Bobby and Peggy Hill, as well as Hank’s buddies Dale Gribble and Bill Dauterive. While not max loaded, this boxset is certainly done right. [Fox Video / Doug Van Pelt]

Ratings:
Obscenities: 04
Graphic Violence: 00
Nude Scenes: 0.1
% Spiritual Relevancy: 40

A slightly different version of this DVD review was printed in ISSUE 103 of HM Magazine.

DVD rating key:
Obscenities (fka: BL (Blue Language)) # of “blue” / cuss words.
Ideal rating = 0
Graphic Violence (fka: BG (Blood ‘n’ Guts)) # of scenes with graphic violence.
Acceptable rating = <50
SC (Spiritual Conversations) An arbitrary rating based on the ease of starting a conversation on spiritual things.
Ideal rating = 50+
Nude Scenes (fka: NP (Naked People)) # of nude scenes.
Ideal: 0 (A rating of less than 1 signifies questionable scenes)

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