# How realistic is King of the Hill **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095 "2011-12-13T22:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/1 "2011-12-13T22:42:13Z")
well? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/2 "2011-12-13T22:44:01Z")
Not very. 10 years and hardly anybody got any older. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/3 "2011-12-13T22:54:09Z")
Haven’t you been here long enough to know that your OP is far too vague? Seriously. I think King of the Hill is one of the most realistic cartoon shows on TV, which is why I like it. The show is not played entirely for laughs; there are moments of genuine drama and emotion. The voice acting is first-rate; I like the fact that the core characters - Hank, Peggy and Bobby - have more or less realistic voices. I cannot watch shows like The Simpsons because of the outlandish vocal style. King of the Hill is much more tolerable to me because the main characters speak more or less like the way normal human beings talk. The human body and facial proportions are semi-realistic, as opposed to shows like Family Guy. I like that too. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/4 "2011-12-13T22:54:18Z")
Most Texans aren’t that animated. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/5 "2011-12-13T23:07:13Z")
How so? In it’s depiction of Dallas suburbanites I’d say it’s pretty close (I dated an absolute stunner of a girl from Dallas so spent a lot of time there. Sucked out most of my soul but totally worth it). A number of people do drink in the alley, drive trucks and obsess about football etc. Frankly though a lot of people do that in Chicago as well. Now the various things that happen to Hank et al certainly aren’t realistic but then it’s a show that ran for quite some time so they had to keep inventing stories. It’s still one of my favourite shows of all time. A lot of subtle humour and genuinely interesting characters. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/6 "2011-12-13T23:10:41Z")
It’s as realistic as an animated comedy or sitcom of any type CAN be. To use an analogy, it’s as realistic a portrait of lower middle class Texans as “Barney Miller” was of New York policemen. That is, it’s FUNNIER than real life tends to be, and often uses plausible but unlikely plots… but any Texan who watches will say, “Yeah, I know those guys.” ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/7 "2011-12-13T23:26:17Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > It’s as realistic as an animated comedy or sitcom of any type CAN be. > > To use an analogy, it’s as realistic a portrait of lower middle class Texans as “Barney Miller” was of New York policemen. That is, it’s FUNNIER than real life tends to be, and often uses plausible but unlikely plots… but any Texan who watches will say, “Yeah, I know those guys.” [Native Garlander]Yep. Yep. DangrightIdo. Mmmhmmm[/as close to an Arlener as it gets] ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/8 "2011-12-13T23:29:52Z")
Nobody ever had their shins shot off in Korea. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/9 "2011-12-13T23:34:15Z")
My first husband was a good ol’ boy, and I swear I know every one of those characters from our town,even the guy you can’t understand when he talks (he had a truck garden and would bring us “mushmelons” for a dollar). When the men all stand around looking at something–say, a grill or a chainsaw–and saying “Yup. Sure is.” in that round-robin way…I feel like I’m looking at my former inlaws. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/10 "2011-12-13T23:37:24Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I think King of the Hill is one of the most realistic cartoon shows on TV, which is why I like it. The show is not played entirely for laughs; there are moments of genuine drama and emotion. The voice acting is first-rate; I like the fact that the core characters - Hank, Peggy and Bobby - have more or less realistic voices. I cannot watch shows like The Simpsons because of the outlandish vocal style. King of the Hill is much more tolerable to me because the main characters speak more or less like the way normal human beings talk. So, would you recommend it to help foreigners to get used to to the Texan accent. > [@Lochdale](#): > > In it’s depiction of Dallas suburbanites I’d say it’s pretty close (I dated an absolute stunner of a girl from Dallas so spent a lot of time there. Sucked out most of my soul but totally worth it). A number of people do drink in the alley, drive trucks and obsess about football etc. Frankly though a lot of people do that in Chicago as well. I thought Chicagoites obsessed about basketball instead. > [@Lochdale](#): > > Now the various things that happen to Hank et al certainly aren’t realistic but then it’s a show that ran for quite some time so they had to keep inventing stories. > > It’s still one of my favourite shows of all time. A lot of subtle humour and genuinely interesting characters. Wouldn’t it be better to say that weird stuff occurs more frequently than in reality, but each thing isn’t weirder than what happens to normal folk. Yeah, I love it too, I’ve seen every episode and I really like the characters. All of them are so, how should put it? human, with all the kindness and inperfections that brings. The only characters that are throughly bad are Buck Strickland and Ted Wassanasong. I love how Hank and Kahn idolises them, when they are better suited to being each others friends. > [@astorian](#): > > It’s as realistic as an animated comedy or sitcom of any type CAN be. > > To use an analogy, it’s as realistic a portrait of lower middle class Texans as “Barney Miller” was of New York policemen. That is, it’s FUNNIER than real life tends to be, and often uses plausible but unlikely plots… but any Texan who watches will say, “Yeah, I know those guys.” I understand. ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/11 "2011-12-13T23:38:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Most Texans aren’t that animated. I saw what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/12 "2011-12-13T23:38:33Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Nobody ever had their shins shot off in Korea. Japan I think ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/13 "2011-12-13T23:41:55Z")
My mother grew up in East Texas and seemed to consider _King of the Hill_ reasonably realistic by cartoon sitcom standards. She’s mentioned to me that Hank Hill in some ways reminds her of her own father. (Although my grandfather wasn’t a propane salesman!) I suspect many elements of the show are heavily based on things Judge observed while living in Texas, but it is a TV comedy and not a documentary. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/14 "2011-12-13T23:43:00Z")
Would the Army really have hung onto Bill Deautrive so long if all he did was cut hair? Would any woman Peggy Hill’s height have size 16 feet? Would Cotton…never mind what, just _would Cotton?_ ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/15 "2011-12-13T23:48:20Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I thought Chicagoites obsessed about basketball instead. We’ve got the Cubs and Bears! The Bulls were the toast of the town in the 90s, but the biggest number of sports fans in Chicago are all about the Cubbies and Bears. Something something White Sox. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/16 "2011-12-13T23:58:44Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The voice acting is first-rate; I like the fact that the core characters - Hank, Peggy and Bobby - have more or less realistic voices. I cannot watch shows like The Simpsons because of the outlandish vocal style. King of the Hill is much more tolerable to me because the main characters speak more or less like the way normal human beings talk. What? The voice actresses for Lisa and Marge use their real voices for the characters. Bart is rather animated for a ten-year old, but Homer sounds like a real person. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/17 "2011-12-14T00:02:14Z")
I remember hearing Judge on Fresh Air saying the characters were based on bits of different people he had met. I miss the show. I like to imagine they’re still out there, drinking in the alley. They need to bring it back to have a memorial service for Luann. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/18 "2011-12-14T00:07:49Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > What? The voice actresses for Lisa and Marge use their real voices for the characters. Bart is rather animated for a ten-year old, but Homer sounds like a real person. Ugh. I knew someone was going to say exactly that. It’s not true. Yeah obviously those are the real voices - computer-generated voice synthesizers that sound realistic enough to use for cartoon characters are a ways off - but they don’t _speak the way real people speak._ No, Dan Castellaneta when he is speaking does NOT sound like Homer Simpson does. Absolutely not. Listen to his voice in [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UGiJOHDJEss#t=9s) interview - that does not sound like Homer. _That_ sounds like a normal person. The characters on the Simpsons sound, for lack of a better term, “like cartoon characters.” People love The Simpsons so much that if you say _anything_ that remotely sounds like a dig at it (which I’m not trying to do - I’m just saying that _I personally_ don’t like the style), they rush to tell you how wrong you are. I’ve encountered this literally my entire life, because I have never enjoyed the show, and I have also never met anyone who _didn’t_ enjoy it. The voice acting on that show is not realistic. No way. There _are_ characters on King of the Hill that have Simpsons-style outlandish voices - Gribble, Bill, Boomhauer, Kahn, etc. But the core characters don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/19 "2011-12-14T00:12:51Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > There _are_ characters on King of the Hill that have Simpsons-style outlandish voices - Gribble, Bill, Boomhauer, Kahn, etc. But the core characters don’t. Aren’t those four core characters ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095/20 "2011-12-14T00:13:49Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Ugh. I knew someone was going to say exactly that. It’s not true. I repeat. The voice actresses for Lisa and Marge use their real voices for those characters. You can stick your fingers in your ears and go la-la-la all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re wrong. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-king-of-the-hill/606095.md?page=2)