Hank Hill: The anti- “TV Dad”
Since the days of the Cosby show of the 80’s, I have lost a lot of interest in about 99% of sitcoms–especially the family-based ones. One of the things that I liked about the Cosby show was that the father (Bill Cosby) was not a weak punk whose wife is the only one with both the brains and maturity in the household. John Amos’ character in Good Times was also a great one: a strong man who didn’t have to be a buffoon to make us laugh.
Unfortunately, the weak male image seems to play pretty well on many of the cartoons my kids watch from time to time. Cartoons like Jimmy Neutron, Proud Family, Fairly Odd-Parents and Kim Possible all contain bumbling Dads who oftentimes are clueless and are left to figure out the antics of their children through their perpetual ignorance.
Not too long ago I stumbled across the cartoon/sitcom “King of the Hill” after seeing a clip of it on You Tube. Now I have seen bits and pieces of the cartoon in the past, but I already wasn’t trying to feel it because I assumed (not always a good move) that the show was corny due to the fact it featured a White family in the middle of Texas dealing with everyday issues. Here is a brief description of the show:
Hank, who works as the assistant manager at Strickland Propane, likes to proclaim proudly that he sells “propane and propane accessories.”
Hank is a stereotypical conservative, pick-up truck driving, beer drinking Texas redneck, a political conservative who loves his wife and son but is uncomfortable expressing or demonstrating his affection. He is far more comfortable standing in the alley drinking Alamo Beer with his buddies, Dale, Bill and Boomhauer.
Hank idolizes his boss, Buck Strickland, at Strickland Propane, despite Buck’s drinking, womanizing and gambling — all activities that are anathema to Hank’s old-fashioned world view.
Hank’s narrow urethra is a source of embarrassment and shame to him, but an acceptable topic of conversation to his wife, Peggy. It is because of the narrow urethra that Hank and Peggy have only one child, Bobby.
Hank is often uncomfortable with Bobby’s interests, which tend to center around television and video games, in contrast to Hank’s own high school football career. (source)
I typically like gut-clinching comedy that is more on the clean side (Martin, The Jeffersons, The Bernie Mac Show, Everybody Hates Chris, etc. are pretty much in the general ball park), so King of the Hill for me was an instant write-off.
The episode that lured me into fanhood of King of the Hill dealt with the Hill’s search for a new church and ending up at a megachurch. My wife and I laughed throughout the whole episode because much of it we could relate to on our own quest for a home church and megachurch experience.
Hank is very old school when it comes to his views on marriage, fatherhood, his friends, his jobs and all other areas of his life. He can be a bit extreme at times with those views when faced with situations that require 21st century street smarts, but in the end the man continues to have the high respect of both friends and family members. Bobby (his son) may get very frustrated with his dad’s old fashion reasoning, but he always knows that his dad will do just about anything for him. Same goes with his wife, Peggy. He shows himself as a true friend as he is oftentimes the main one who is bailing them out of trouble at the expense of his own comfort zone.
When it comes to the protection of his family and friends, Hank will waste no time jumping into his red pick-up truck to kick somebody’s you know what. He is a straight shooter and you know from jump where he is coming from.
Although the humor in the show tends to be on the dry side (compared to the shows I mentioned earlier), I often find myself surrendering more than a few chuckles as I watch this southwestern family deal with many of the same issues many of us have deal with in life without making the Dad look like a bumbling idiot.
Hank Hill is a guy I would love to have in my neighborhood, I tell you what 
Related links:
