‘King of the Hill’ creator talks writing for a new era
'King of the Hill' creator Saladin K. Patterson sat down for an interview where he discussed his take on the series
New King of the Hill showrunner Saladin K. Patterson sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter where he discussed his take on the series.
About her revival of the show, he remarked, “The fan response was just so strong that they realized there was still an appetite for these characters. People want to know what the characters are doing. There are always memes online, [fans asking], ‘I wonder how Hank Hill will respond to this?’ That’s always a good sign.”
On finding a common thread despite how many years have passed, he explained, “[King of the Hill] was maybe about that common thread that goes through all these people. And this [reboot] is about going back and revisiting these people, and letting them sit in your life for half an hour at a time, and I think that’s a really special treat to give people.”
Commenting on Hank’s character, Patterson said, “Whether you lean left or right, Hank always represented the common sense middle that satirized the extremes. But Hank was the one that was bringing the extremes towards the middle, and realized we can all agree on certain things. The backstory they came up with — which I think was very smart — was of sending Hank and Peggy (Kathy Najimy) away to Saudi Arabia to work on the Aramco base for about 10 years King of the Hill time then bringing Hank back to a community and country that has changed some. What I thought was smart about that is that Hank hasn’t changed that much. He comes back, but his common sense middle ground is not the middle anymore. The extreme has moved so far to the extreme that to them, Hank’s common-sense middle-ground looks like the other extreme now.”
