As viewers may already remember, “King of the Hill” is based in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas. It’s a prime location for fans of the football team, Dallas Cowboys (much like Hank Hill himself), and its Water Tower, Arlen’s most memorable landmark, has often been shown off in episodes.
As per co-creator Mike Judge and his interview with The New York Times, his hometown of Richardson, a real-life Dallas suburb, served as inspiration for Arlen. The town was also inspired by his childhood experiences growing up in a blue-collar neighborhood in New Mexico.
“It’s Richardson, a suburb of Dallas. I actually grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., and had a paper route in a blue-collar neighborhood. West Texas and eastern New Mexico blur a little bit, and I remember my brother and I just noticing that every adult authority figure used to have a Texas accent. There was always someone going [with a twang], ‘Excuse me, boys.'”
“King of the Hill” has often been in the middle of discussion surrounding its revival. After airing its final episode in late 2009, creator Greg Daniels told Collider there was hope for the series to begin again. If Daniels and his team bagged a deal for its revival, the idea would be to have a time-jump that sees the characters older than we last saw them, leading different lives but still making us laugh the way they used to. We don’t know if the idea will see the light of day — but we can hope!
