The New ‘King of the Hill’ Teaser Seems to Have Forgotten an Important Episode from the Original Series
So far, the upcoming streaming reboot of King of the Hill has only released a handful of clips to prove that it actually exists. Now, in addition to the opening-credit sequence and Father’s Day-themed ad focusing on Hank and Bobby’s relationship, we’ve gotten an actual clip of the show. And, for some reason, it’s set entirely inside of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
During a guided tour, Hank fawns over artifacts associated with the man who allegedly took Tommy Chong down, including the baseball he threw out during the opening of the 2001 World Series “providing hope to a grieving nation” and the pen he used to sign a bill lifting the ban on offshore drilling. “So many jobs created with one pen stroke,” Hank casually muses.
On Reddit, however, King of the Hill fans pointed out that Hank’s adulation for one of America’s worst presidents flies in the face of the show’s established continuity.
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Hank actually met W. back in the Season Five episode “The Perils of Polling.” While supporting his candidacy in the 2000 election, Hank and his family attended a Bush campaign event and the two men shook hands. But Hank was shocked, appalled and completely disillusioned by the fact that Bush’s handshake was “limp.”
Hank became obsessed with the Texas politician’s inadequate grip, even scrutinizing past footage of Bush’s weak handshake as if it were the Zapruder film. It was ultimately left unclear whether or not Hank voted for the man at the end of the episode, but clearly he wasn’t as big of a fan as he once was.
“I thought Hank didn’t like Bush because of the handshake?” one Redditor asked. “Surprised that Hank is excited about the George W. Bush Museum since he has a limp handshake,” a different fan observed. “Surprised he could throw a ball and use a pen with a handshake that limp,” another chimed in.
Although some folks floated the idea that Hank’s opinion of Bush had softened by the end of the episode, others reacted with even more hostility to the reboot’s suggestion that Hank would be fanboying over W. “This scene feels like a betrayal to one of the best episodes from the original series,” an angry viewer complained.
Still not the biggest “betrayal” that George W. Bush has been associated with, however.
