Pilot

Disclaimer: This transcript is AI generated and may be incorrect.

Rob: 
Welcome to Yep, a King of the Hill podcast made by and for TWIG BOYS!

Ronnie: Yeah, bureaucratic tig boys.

Rob: 
It's too hard to say. See, that's why I skipped it. That's why I skipped the bureaucratic part. Fuck that word. I should have just trusted you. Might as well be... Hey, listen, this is a King of the Hill podcast made by and for bureaucratic entrepreneurial twig boys. From LA. Real fucking obstacle course. Linguistically. What are you sipping wine? Yeah. We live different lives.

Ronnie: 
Yeah, I've got my wine. Because I'm starting my day, kind of. Oh, hey, I'm Rob. And I'm Ronnie. And I tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. Today we're talking about season one, episode one, Pilot. Meet the Hills, a sports crazy. Keep your eye on the ball.

CLIP: 
Music loving. Mother of God, it's all toilet sounds. Engine fixin'. I think you released your brake cable. No, I didn't. Down to Earth family. Dale, you giblet head. Introducing King of the Hill. Please return the garage door to its factory preset down position. Premiering January 12th on...

Rob: 
Hey, listen, we might talk about why we're doing this, who we are and why we would do this. And I could ramble all day about it. Meaningless. but I'll just stick to stuff that may be kind of relevant to King of the Hill, which is I'm a Texan. Yeehaw. Eventually I was also a substitute.

Ronnie: 
No. Oh, man. Well, you will by the time you get it.

Rob: 
so when I was growing up in Texas I was kind of a soft little television loving child and my father was constantly out in the shop he bought a house out in the boonies I was born in Houston but they and first thing he does is he's like, I need more space for my cars. So he gets a shop built. Oh, my God. And then he spends all his, it's like a two-car garage. Why not come here? He doesn't even understand himself and how much he loves to buy cars that he doesn't work on. But he was out in the shop all the time, and I hated being out there because of the air compressor. You ever been around one of them fucking things? Yeah, my dad had one. hated it. Right. So like, I was kind of like the Bobby a little bit in the nineties, the eighties and nineties growing up in Texas. And then now I got a kid and I did work some blue collar jobs. I like, I've hammered five things so I can kind of use a hammer. Yeah. So I tried to show my kid Felix a little bit about how to fix stuff up. So I've kind of done... and then he went even further, right? I was like, "I like TV and I don't like cars, but I and like working out and stuff kind of manly my kids not a man at all. He's your boy. He's my boy. But he's a theater kid, music guy, right? So it's like the lineage of our family is going more and more toward Bobby.

Ronnie: 
Half Hank, half Bobby. Well, hey, I'm Ronnie. I'm not from Texas. I've been there once for a layover, but I'm not from there. think it was Houston. But most of my knowledge of Texas comes from this wonderful show, King of the Hill. We don't want to get too much into our history with it, but I grew up watching King of the Hill, so this really informed my sense of Texas. But I'm from the Midwest, grew up in the Chicagoland area, now I'm in Minnesota, just like Reverend Stroop, a character that will show up in King of the Hill, their pastor. I split my time working at Minnesota's Megalomart, also known as Target, so I got a little bit of Buckley in and I also split my time doing my other podcast Dancing is Forbidden where I have gotten to work with Adult Swim on various things including providing a voice for Aqua Teen Hunger Force the show that my podcast is based on and I always forget that King of the Hill is an Adult Swim show too because for me it's a Fox show I always watch it on Fox but I know that there are a lot of people who come to it from Adult Swim so hopefully I can shed some light on those kinds

Rob: 
No, sir. Yeah, I don't know what to make of that. You know, you'll say you like my podcasting, and I think, well, I've heard my podcasting. - You, I don't know. Yeah, no, I'm looking forward to it too. I mean, you know, if people care here on episode one, we know each other because of podcasting about cartoons. Right. You know, like on that old show, which I've now taken down off the internet and everything. But my co-host and I talked about an episode I've been doing. on that. And, you know, we ended up just interacting online. And then now we have each other's phone numbers.

CLIP: 
- Yeah. - Things have evolved.

Rob: 
Well, real quick, you know, so I watched King of the Hill for a while, Fox Sunday. is my favorite lineup. Yeah, me too. A little before this, right? But if it's Simpsons in Living Color, Get a Life, the George Carlin show... Love The Simpsons. advertising the show for one thing, by the way, I was like, but, uh, but that's Anderson from Beavis and

CLIP: 
Tom Anderson, yeah. Hey, wait a minute. You two look kind of familiar. Ain't you them kids that have been whacking off in

CLIP: 
- Bullshit.

Rob: 
So I would have been thinking of that. And a little confused. And also confused like, is Arlen a real town? I'm just like, a little confused. Confused by new things as a 15 year old. Confused by new and old things. Yeah, that's right.

Ronnie: 
just just confused by all things but I don't

Rob: 
took much for me to get into it. I watched it every episode, you know. however long, a number of years. don't know if i've seen the whole thing and my memories kind of shit anyway so i i i'm kind of going into this rewatch not totally fresh obviously but i don't remember a lot of it and i feel like i might at this point in my life have kind of a different orientation toward television somewhat characters or storytelling. And as we gear up to watch King of the Hill and talk about it, I find myself especially interested in getting to... spend time with a Dale Gribble or a Bill and people who, I don't know, I don't know what all, I would have just been like laughing at jokes or whatever in the past. And now I'm like, no, I'm curious.

Ronnie: 
they create these characters and tell stories about them yeah i mean not to get too ahead of ourselves but of course you have this isn't really a complete delineation between them but but mike judge coming from beavis and butthead and and really nailing down on just like the jokey side of things and then greg daniels really like the more character side not to say greg daniels isn't isn't hilarious too but um yeah i mean for me i too you know loved the fox lineup but i'm a bit people say like, "King of the Hill, that show's not funny." - Yeah. - And I'm like, obviously that's subjective, like humor in general is subjective, people would say like, oh, it's not funny at all. Like, well, maybe you don't like it, but I think there's a lot of funny aspects of it. But having said that, as an adult, because growing up, I've watched, I've seen so many of these, like the first half of the show, maybe more, let's say the first eight seasons ad nauseum. Like I'd seen all these episodes many times because it was always on. And then I watched it, let's say about five, six years ago. with my wife. She had never seen it. She fell in love with it. Wow. That seems fun to share it with someone. Yeah, it was. Because I didn't know... She's someone who really wasn't that crazy about cartoons and stuff, but she really latched on to it. And so I saw the whole series then, and I appreciate it so much more as an adult now than when I was a kid. There's just so much more there that I guess I understand why younger folks might not like it as much, it's not as obvious in its humor a lot of the times. It doesn't like cut away. hitter going crazy yeah there's not as many flashback jokes and give me some go kidder jokes if you want me to laugh mike judge pick pick it up mike judge i like family guy for the record yeah i do too that's the thing yeah it's like an easy thing to pick on but i love family guy i think i like it i i a lot of what Seth MacFarlane's done and so forth. For the record. So you say that you were watching Beavis and Butthead first, and then you experienced King of the Hill. But for me, it was backwards, because I knew of King of the Hill really before Beavis and Butthead. Because by the time I was old enough to flip to my own TV channel, they really weren't showing Beavis and Butthead on MTV anymore. So I only saw it in bits and pieces until years later, I was able to download it off the internet and watch through it. Which, by the way, when I watched that, because I love 90s music, Most of that music sucked when they're watching it. I'm like, this is dog shit. So I'm always like, if you think music was unanimously better back in the old days, like, go watch an episode of Beavis and Butthead.

Rob: 
most of the time the music videos they're watching are horrible i assume that they went for at least in some cases more obscure stuff right like they would watch gore videos like nobody's watching gore yeah other than beavis and butthead now what character is that i've had that in my head and i and butthead. Is that somebody? Was that maybe the principal? I don't. Beavis. Well, see, so he's, anyway, he sounds so shaky. Yeah. I just, I went and looked and I'm like, who is this character that in my head of Beavis and butthead? And so I was at that, that like coach, that. Oh yeah, that's it. I think that's it. I think it's the coach. You're right. You're right. At any rate. he wasn't better than the only ones watching gore um

Ronnie: 
I'll let you know, Rob, I'm seeing GWAR in... I don't know if you're joking. No, I'm serious. So maybe I'll report in when I've seen it in a Beavis and Butthead style.

CLIP: 
Yeah, yeah, all right. Whoa, Guar has horns now? Yeah, they taught the sex slaves to play horns. That's like Falsack told him,

Ronnie: 
You guys need to learn to play something. Yeah, yeah, really. Well, hey, that brings us to our topic at hand. Jump into where it all began. The pilot episode. That's right. In this episode, when a baseball hits Bobby in the eye during a Little League game, the resulting shiner caused worker to suspect hank of child abuse so i want to mention of course we had mike judge who just got off well he was still doing beavis and butthead i think like he was wrapping it up while this was starting up they sold the idea i guess and they brought in greg daniels to rewrite the pilot script and greg daniels kind of went above and beyond like he invented new characters like luann and Than just a like, you know, additional like characters or whatever buy. I did want to touch on some of the alternate names for the show because my understanding is that King of the Hill was like a placeholder name. And they're like, all right, we'll figure out something later. And some of the ideas they had were Hank and Peggy Hill, Mr. and Mrs. Hill. Howdy, Texas Toast. Some of these are just bad. I, Hank, the Hank Hill Radio Hour. I have to wonder if some of these are jokes because they're so ridiculous. Texas USA, Propel. My favorite is I'm going to... I'm gonna kick your ass. I'm kinda like Hank Hill Texan American. Yeah, I mean, if you think about it, King of the Hill is such a strange name for this show, right? Like, to me, it always did kind of stand out as being kind of an odd name, but we just... unanimously as King of the Hill. You don't think about it. Like the band Korn, that's a ridiculous name, but we just know they're called Korn. So it's like, yeah, they're Korn. Like, what do you- else do you think about it? I wouldn't think to name my band something like that. Or wait a minute, why the fuck are they called Korn? I think their point was literally that it didn't matter what you're called. that you can call yourself anything. And then whatever, I mean, this is, I guess, applies here. Their ideology, my understanding, is that, like, the music defined what the name meant. And here with King of the Hill, the show... - It's good. - Yeah, I don't think

Rob: 
about the name. That's just what it's called. Meanwhile, I think endlessly obsessed over,

Ronnie: 
make something what's what's it gonna be called what's gonna and if i if i can't think of a name i like i give up on the idea you have this amazing like piece ready to go like i can't title it trash and then if i have a title i like i'm like i gotta figure out what to i gotta make something that i can call that like i'm all obsessed with yeah you're like the content has to be amazing because i love this title and you just never finish it sure um to the pilot episode i had

Rob: 
Watching it, I don't know what I thought of it before, but watching time I was pretty happy. This episode does a lot of what I am looking for going in to the series. Did you watch this? So you watched this when it aired, I presume. I must have. I mean, I remember the promos airing. I don't remember a lot of new shows aware of it ahead of time, anticipating it. I did feel

Ronnie: 
about King of the Hill. So I must have watched it on January 12, 1997. I do want to say, we'll get into it, but I do like this episode a lot more stander and see what the heck was going on back then. Hey, it's Ronnie here to say thank you so much for checking out our dang old podcast. I wanted to let you know that you're actually listening to the free version of today's episode. Rob and I are pump jockeys. And yes, we do work for tips. My boy's a pump jockey. Works for tips. Dad, I do not work for tips. Pump jockey. Dad, and we're touching on some of the top films, like Jerry Maguire. Here's a little clip of that. "I'm gonna go to a meeting right now, and you know who I'm gonna talk about? You. 'Cause I'd kill for you, I'm an animal for you." "I'd kill for you, I'm an animal for you." "I'm an animal for you."

Rob: 
- So, do you ever encounter that kind of person who does things? - I've seen a few of them. - Like they have ambition Like, they're getting after it. You know? They're climbing that corporate ladder, they're playing the game, they're hustling. Boy, do I not

Ronnie: 
that that's the opposite I'm like the opposite of Jerry Maguire I might be the opposite of Jerry guire i'm probably reese what's her fucking name not reese witherspoon who's the lady in that one oh gosh i don't remember gosh i was watching it two hours ago you think i remember hell no where there is somebody who we might be interested in.

CLIP: 
Yeah.

Ronnie: 
Mr. Coggle. Oh, this lady here is my wife. Hi, baby. And this is my boy. Mr. Remo there, played by Toby Huss. of Cotton in this episode of King of the Hill. And he has a son too. - Fuck you. - That's little Drake Bell. I see this little kid. I'm like, is that Drake Bell? And sure enough, it is. Oh, my God. Fuck you. Fuck you. Head on over to yeppodcast.com or check the description to this podcast. Let's go talk about Pilots.

Rob: 
All right, well, on into the pilot of King of the Hill. We open with this bird's eye kind of pan across Arlen, Texas. We see people down there mowing and watering their lawns. and somebody's cutting tree limbs and then we lock in on a mosquito. That buzzes all the way down there. I just like how the show opens, right? It lands on Hank's neck and then he smacks it. That's how King of the Hill starts. It's very artistic. Yeah. And it just, it's just

Ronnie: 
in their lives. high stakes nothing crazy has happened it's just a reflection of life yeah that's right and then we see the guys hank dale bill boomhower standing there looking into

CLIP: 
- Yep.

CLIP: 
- Yeah.

Ronnie: 
yep yep they always mix it up it's usually they never all say yep there's always like some sort of variation just to uh just to keep it going and i know that's based on observations that uh mike judge has had he's he really draws life in a lot of his work and like he's see you know when he's living in texas or whatever just seeing guys standing around looking at trucks saying yep that's yeah that's a lot of stuff

Rob: 
That's why it feels grounded, right? growing out of the real world. as Judge and others observed it. They're drinking Alamo beer. It's interesting how many things, and I don't want to get familiarized, and what happens in the show later, 'cause I don't remember it well enough. There's like these iconic things. Right. Like the yep. You know, you'd almost expect them to be in the alley instead of in the driveway looking at the truck.

Ronnie: 
Alamo beer, it's here right away. There's a lot of stuff that goes into building the world that's present, episode one. Right. They had a lot established. And even here, the voices sound the slightest bit different than they will, the characters. I do want to say, King of the Hill does flanderize their characters in a way, but in a way that I like, I actually don't mind it in King of the Hill, This big showbiz guy to me they never really went too far with as we go on. - Yeah.

Rob: 
Dale a Ford Ford stands for fix it again Tony that's a and i wonder if as a kid i'm like i've heard of fiat because i had that car guy dad No fiat.

Ronnie: 
I get that joke. I'm right on top of this. Hey, Dad, they're talking about fiats in here. Get over here. This new show's on.

Rob: 
Daryl brings up the Seinfeld show. and we got a clip of that it's fun to hear these guys yeah this show y'all catch a seinfeld show last night yep oh hell i missed it i'll tell you what you see that part where dave old george come in there he's talking about tasting his own bourbon kramer coming

Ronnie: 
- I tell you what, man, them dang old New York boys, it's a show about nothing. - I love that because it's not like, northerners or nothing like nothing, you know, they're like, oh man, those, those New York boys You know, it's not like, there's no disdain really here. Right, yeah. It is nice to see them just enjoy, right?

Rob: 
like america resisted seinfeld or at least there was a network executive is like listen it's a little jewish you know that's not gonna work that's not gonna fly in america so there's some concern right that the uh middle america flyover states those kinds of folks aren't interested in the coastal elite television you know seinfeld's funny yeah these guys like funny they enjoy the

Ronnie: 
for the show that specifically with Hank, I've found he is a very kind of open minded character. He's willing to like embrace all different like and we do see that they are ignorant in a lot of ways, but they are willing to change their minds on things. So off the bat,

Rob: 
these you know these texans they like this new york centric show so yeah it's like it would have been easy and i wonder how much i was worried about this at the time thinking like well how are they going to represent texas i don't know what language i would have used as a as a 15 year old but like some concern that if texans are going to be in a are they going to like make fun of Texas, you know? Right.

Ronnie: 
have them be like super close-minded but no i like like you're saying i like that the first thing we get is appreciation and positivity about something that's nice right right well i want to say like in in judge's initial draft the characters were intended to be more just like stupid snaggletooth hillbillies and greg daniels cleaned a lot of that up and he's like no you have to make characters that people care about you know and people will enjoy seeing over and over again as scale with even more character you know bevis butthead works as it is uh but a show with a bunch of those characters would just get old after a while yeah we can punch down on some dumbass teenagers right but if we can't gonna make fun of a group of people like let's let's get these people to be human a little Exactly, yeah. Worth mentioning that Greg Daniels did write a Seinfeld episode in 1915. I don't recall that one I I

Rob: 
It's the one where they're wandering around a parking garage trying to find their car because they

Ronnie: 
I parked it. That has to be it.

Rob: 
we just want to follow the truck storyline in this pilot episode the the next scene we get there is hank sitting on his tractor so we're still not out in the alley i'm realizing now we don't get out in the alley in season or episode one yeah i guess they didn't establish that really so he's hanging out he's sitting on his tractor and dale is going off about the problem with the truck is the pollution controls yeah uh i don't know what all's in this clip here but he says he heard it on talk radio

CLIP: 
Hey, I know what's wrong with your truck. It's your quote-unquote pollution controls. I heard on talk radio you don't even need them. They're just an egghead government plot. a government plot, Dale. Open up your eyes, man. They're trying to control global warming. Get it? Glooo-bal. So what? That's code for UN Commissars telling Americans what tempt it's gonna be in our outdoors. I say let the world warm up. See what Boutros Boutros golly golly thinks about that. We'll grow oranges in Alaska.

Ronnie: 
It's already 110 in the summer, and if it gets one degree hotter, I'm gonna kick your ass. crazy guy um and then hank is this reasonable guy like dude shut up about this conspiracy crap so we immediately get more of a sense of these characters oh man i definitely don't want to get into this but i immediately what that made me think of is that if you did this exactly the same way now people would be like that's woke like yeah

Rob: 
is not a conspiracy theorist and not denying glass.

Ronnie: 
stuff like that would be somehow bad in some people's views. I was watching this episode with my friends last night and that's what struck us was like at the time in 97 Dale was this crackpot character you could laugh at is like oh look at this conspiracy guy now you're seeing more Dales in the world by the day really so it just goes to show that stark change from the until now but you're right if if they explicitly had hank say this in 2025 you would get backlash to it online yeah i do want to say i did grow up hearing talk conspiracy radio my dad always had it on yeah i always enjoyed listening to it but i knew it was bullshit i knew it was none of it was real but the way that presented it was so entertaining that i wouldn't mind hearing it even though if it was obviously ridiculous like guys like michael savage i don't know if you know who that is but i know the name and it's what i remember one time my mom pointed out because supposedly he got banned from being in england or something because of his views or whatever and then like a month later he's like you know buy my new book banned from england or something and she's like yeah like anytime anything happens he has like a quickly learned that there was There was always some kind of thing like that, which I guess prepared me for 2020. now I'm glad someone's prepared I have the tools but yeah it's just I definitely

Rob: 
to similar things as Dale. - I never heard the conspiracy stuff. My dad was a Limbaugh guy and would listen to Limbaugh and buy his books and Trump's books. - But, yeah. one thing that's happened, right, is that brings Talk Radio... thing just went mainstream. kind of infected the culture at large. Right. Well, eventually, Dale takes it upon himself to fix Hank's truck. He, like, climbs up on the bumper

Ronnie: 
Hank's gone at this point. Yeah, Hank's not around and Dale's like secretly

CLIP: 
I'm going to help get him this alternator off. Yeah. Uh, Dale?

CLIP: 
some brake cable. Dale! No, I didn't. I guess I better get going. I got some

Rob: 
edging to do. So the truck is rolling...

Ronnie: 
of the garage door and then everyone scatters i just love that no i didn't yeah no i didn't like he's so confident in it and then he just runs away as soon as it happens yeah that whole truck storyline ends up with Luanne fixing it. She figured out what was wrong with the truck. And I always love this side of Luanne that she's a great mechanic that she's like very mechanically inclined, at least particularly with automobiles. they never really develop it they do hint at it they do bring it up from time to time but you would think the natural evolution there she becomes a mechanic maybe opens her own shop but that never happens they just have her keep trying beauty skills or whatever, I don't understand why nobody pushes her into it. He's smarter than Hank, apparently.

Rob: 
when it comes to this kind of thing. - Well, how about that? Like part of me is like, why don't they know Why can't they fix the truck? Are we meant to think like, yeah, they like looking at it, but they're not actually talented? or knowledgeable mechanics, you know? Yeah. I'm guessing that over the years, Hank has...

Ronnie: 
like documented to be, shown to be a capable. - But at this point, maybe that wasn't the intent

Rob: 
like a bunch of inept guys right like are they kind of like posturing is as real men as they look at the engine but talk about tv like i would have been yeah talking about seinfeld while they're staring into the yeah exactly that's I wonder if you were, if you were like, I want to have Luann move away from beauty school and get into like you know mechanical work working on engines and stuff and i just wonder that creates a dynamic between her and hank that then you kind of have the triangle of hank bobby luann you know i wonder if you keep in weird to Hank and like uncomfortable with Luann. If they bonded over her doing the kinds of things to do.

Ronnie: 
- I can't do stories with that. - Right.

Rob: 
crowds in my mind is just, what does that do... Like does it put Bob in competition with Luann for Hank's attention. I mean, maybe you want to do that. But I also...

Ronnie: 
wonder if is that worth avoiding for some reason like they don't want to you know that you're probably right you know that it is something if we ever had the opportunity to ask it's something i wonder like if they ever thought of going in that direction but you're right because that does ruin the dynamic because luann was brought in by greg daniels he created the character as uh i don't want to say like this kind of not not not a sexual tension surely not but like hank has this young girl who lives there, you know, we see like in the I don't know if we're past that point or if it's coming up, but like he opens bathroom door or something. I think she's there like in her towel or something. He's like, he freaks out about it. - I got a minor son around here, whatever he's in. So she's kind of there to provide that comedy in those regards. And you're right, if they make her more of an equal to Hank, completely changes that dynamic and it limits what they can kind of do. with her. Yeah, that's... Huh. You know, it like bonds them too much, maybe. Right. But yeah speaking of luen we we go to meet the rest of the family the story there is that this is what it's uh peggy's sister's daughter am i right about the family tree here i think it's peggy's brother's daughter oh is it yes yeah okay okay uh at any rate it's even like another distant

Rob: 
extra distance between Hank, right? Like this is a a young woman, that's going to be awkward for him. And it's like Peggy's family. I do like that he is... at least to her supportive, you know, the deal is that her parents got in a fight or something. And then later in the episode, she comes to him really crying that her parents had a knockdown dragout fight. I think moms and dads. with us you know like right away he's but then as soon as she leaves he he says to She has got to go. So it's a little bit of...

Ronnie: 
like Hank has pretty good values seems to me he wants to do right by people but also he's like damn can we can we maybe not have this girl living with us yeah we should say uh Luann 21 I'm sure people anybody listening I'm sure knows who these characters are but yeah so she she is an adult she's uh 21 years old I wasn't sure how old she was um at least that's what it says uh on her You know, it'd be a different situation if she was obviously then it'd be a lot more well she's a Not 18, you know, we have to take care of her. But this is like, well, they don't have to, but it's the right thing to do.

Rob: 
And then, you know, the other characters we meet, we do meet Bobby, the son. The way we meet him, I guess, is worth noting. The first thing is that he's listening to something, and Hank's like,

Ronnie: 
Yeah. And it turns out it's like the Jerky Boys type thing. And then we heard this in that trailer commercial we played earlier, but Hank's reaction. Mother of God, it's all toilet sounds. Well, it's interesting because he comes up to Bobby who's in his room listening to this and Bobby's like, you know, you're not going to like it. well I love this new music or something so he gonna he shows to be this open-minded kind of guy but then when it's literally fart noises He gets really shocked and embarrassed by this.

Rob: 
I was like, no, I can do it. I can live in this world.

Ronnie: 
- Oh! - Yeah. - She very quickly turns around and wants

Rob: 
Yeah. He leaves Bobby's room when we get our first.

Ronnie: 
one of the many many amazing catchphrases love it from

Rob: 
the show. All right. So Bobby's got a baseball game. He's no good at it. Hank's trying to coach him up. Like, you got to swing. And then Bobby does manage to get on first, but he's looking at Hank.

Ronnie: 
look look at dad i did it well the way he gets the way it happens is he's holding the bat and the ball by chance hits off of the bat. So then he runs with the bat to first place. He doesn't even drop the bat. But I like Hank being like, don't look at me, boy. Watch the ball. Which, boy, what's scarier, other than the air compressor in my dad's shop, what's scarier

Rob: 
than a baseball. Like I always am uncomfortable around baseball games. Do some damage. You know, like some people grow up playing America's Pastime and they love it and they can catch it. And I'm like, that fucking thing's going to hit me. Yeah. You're constantly on lookout. Like you're not even playing and you're like fucking on edge. It's a nice environment to go to a game. I'm not talking big stadium, major league type stuff, but here, hang out on a nice day. It's really pretty nice. pretty pleasant, except the whole time... I'm like on edge, like, oh God. I get a new dent in my head. My days could be over. And Bobby takes a line drive to the eye socket. Yep. Yep. And has a... That guy. And they're heading home. Or Hank says, I need a tap and die, which I have no idea what that is, but it's apparently how you like create the threads. for screwing and bolting type situations. But so he goes by Megalomart. Now, wait, did I skip the part you need for the target story?

Ronnie: 
when they're going to the game, Hank's trying to talk Bobby up. He's like, you better give 110%. And they just start going back and forth about, because Peggy kind of thinks that that's ridiculous, that he's saying that. It reminded me of one time I'm at work and our manager, it's one of the guys like first day, she comes up to us and she's like, you know, you all need to be giving like at least 120%. And I'm sitting there just rolling my eyes like, oh my God. Can you demonstrate that for us? What does it look like? 120%. Can you just show me real quick? Yeah, like I don't understand how exactly that's supposed to work. And to me, it was funny because the person who hired me. It was a dude. And when he hired me, he's like, yeah, give like 70% unhappy and now here I am with this new manager in a different department and she's yelling at us to give 120% at least.

Rob: 
like you're like do we get paid 120 yeah do i do i get a

Ronnie: 
Do I get a bump in pay raise for that? Or how does that work? Yeah, it's just such a ridiculous notion, especially anybody who knows how percentages work.

Rob: 
I do like that scene. I didn't mean to skip it because

Ronnie: 
we do see the feistiness of peggy right yeah she pushes back against this she's like pointing out the ridiculousness yeah hank's talking god give 100 and then she like fucks with him you know kind of pushing his buttons yeah it is a an acknowledgement of how ridiculous it is it's a nudge but it's not a straight out like you know shut up hank or anything like that yeah yeah and he doesn't really catch on i i think that she's doing it because he just gets flustered but i Luann does go on to date or is dating now. I'm not entirely sure on the timeline of it. I guess we'll see, right? But he's a complete idiot. So Hank's asking him where the hardware department is. Which I was wondering, is it just unusual for him to go to Megalomart for hardware supplies? That's my impression. It seems like he's just going because it's on the way. Later on they You know, the Megalomart itself, play a lot throughout the show. But eventually they come to embrace the Megalo mark, but that's not the case here because it is kind of that small town struggle against the Megalo mark. but it did just move in.

Rob: 
Going to Walmart was about all there was to do, right? walk around the neighborhood or tag on and she goes to Walmart and then just roam around, knowing where she would go. I had Walmart mapped out as a kid. It's not like it's complicated, but I knew where everything was, right? around and that I went to a job interview. at Walmart as a teenager, I applied that was in my hometown. move a little further away. new home but I wanted to work at the one I grew up going to you know yeah it's your domain Like where I bought my copy of In Utero that said Waif Me on the back.

Ronnie: 
- The Walmart special cut.

Rob: 
edited CDs. - Like a tragic. applied to and they took me to the back. Oh, I'd never been in the back before. I go to the back with the manager and they're like, so, you know, why, why'd you apply to, to work with us?

Ronnie: 
I heard that was good to do telling the truth yeah well I said well I grew up coming here is like my favorite place to come be and so I just thought I would you know if I'm gonna have a job I'd like to work here mm-hmm they never called me back you know what that's funny I have like the same story with the target near the town I grew up in yeah yeah so you know got to go to the back see oh my god this is what it looks like. And the interview's going well. I was in school and I was, my plan was to make a video game with a friend. And that's a story I can get into in another episode. Uh, so I had these other things I was doing and I'm doing the interview and you know, they're like, you know, so why, you know, why you apply here? And I was like, you know, well, if I had to work anywhere, I would want to work here. which I think bombed it for me. Joke's on them, because all these years later, now I get to work at Tosh.

Rob: 
Now you fucking run that place. I hate this.

Ronnie: 
me where's the hardware department where is the hardware What exactly is it you're looking for? The hardware department. Yeah, but are you looking for like a tool or something? What difference does it make?

CLIP: 
Huh. What difference?

Rob: 
Okay, I'm looking for a tap and die and some WD-40. I'm trying to buy a tap and die and some WD-40 and get out of this godforsaken store. It goes on like that a little bit. What if I wanted a hammer? Where would I go?

Ronnie: 
I think he's like, uh, hammer.

Rob: 
And we see these - Yeah. - Kind of eavesdropping. They see Bobby's black eye, they see Hank getting pretty pissed off with this guy.

Ronnie: 
He eventually screams... You're fired! Gets all Trumpy about it.

Rob: 
it yeah really and then we see like some gossip some town gossip as the story spreads you hear about Hank Hill he you know beat the shit out of somebody at Megalomart you know like it takes on a life of its own yeah yeah and I find this so weird in this episode because I

Ronnie: 
Yeah.

Rob: 
I don't know that we ever see from the show again. Not in this way, right? Where it's like montage style, nobody characters. Right. You know, that's kind of a cliche about small town life. I wonder if that's why they dropped it or whatever. It's like, yeah, it's... Like everybody talks about small town. Everybody knows everybody. Gossip, gossip. That wasn't my experience at all. It turns out when you just watch TV, nobody's talking about anybody. Like you're just living these... basically isolated lives. Now we weren't churchgoers, we didn't have family also in the small town, so we didn't have like roots and connections and stuff. So I'm sure it was going on. In fact, when I would go for a little bit there, I was visiting my cousin out in East Texas, a little ways away from Tyler, Texas. It was more like that.

Ronnie: 
Of course, I was hanging out with high school kids, but everybody's family knew everybody. My aunt knew all my cousins, friends, parents, all that kind of stuff. So it was more of that small town feel that gets shown sometimes in media. Right. I guess to the story elements here, this only works with these tertiary characters that we really never see again.

Rob: 
She's a bad example. Yeah, well, word does get all that. child protection services, protective services, CPS, and this dude takes the case. I guess his name is Anthony Page. I don't know. that on the internet. He takes the call about Hank Hill, the abusive father, apparently and he's like okay I'm on the case and then he

Ronnie: 
gets up from his desk he takes off his he's got like some wrist braces on yeah for carpal tunnel probably yeah and then he picks up a what the fuck do you call a clipboard yeah a clipboard yeah i said i said that's me when i saw that and everyone like little little twig boy he's trying to pick up his uh it's uh it's a lot of i do want to say anthony page voiceover by David Herman, who does a ton of and stuff in the show and who I know and love as

Rob: 
Michael Bolton in Office Space. - That's right. Not the one, if people aren't familiar with Office Space, not the no-talent ass clown. - Yeah. who i loved hey he's not so bad why can't there just be two michael boltons why can't they get along when i was uh watching all those love songs on vh1 and pining after girls who who didn't know i existed on this earth michael bolton was some of the better singers

CLIP: 
man. I love that.

Rob: 
dude's coming around to residents to check in on this this report of some abusive parenting. And meanwhile, Bobby's throwing his baseball off the walls inside the house. It's kind of strange. Yeah. I mean, I would do it as a kid. I would have done that. Yeah. Until somebody was like, don't do that.

Ronnie: 
Right like you're marking up the wall. I mean Peggy sees him doing it It doesn't stop them ever. - Yeah, that's weird. - It's kind of weird to me, yeah.

Rob: 
baseball I had a bat I'm pretty sure this is true. I would throw the baseball up on the roof and then like spot where it was going to come down and treat that like a pitch and fucking swing on it. So I broke the window. For real? I broke a bathroom window. I was going to ask. I was like, what happened? I shattered some glass. It was even, I don't know what you call it, but like it was a bathroom window. So it was like, it wasn't frost. It was like, what was the, it's textured, textured. Yeah, I know. You know what I'm talking about? Like kind of an effect where you can't see through it. So it was like extra expensive to replace. It wasn't just a regular old window pane. Sure. was more expensive.

Ronnie: 
So that was your Bobby moment.

Rob: 
It is... you know, like the dynamic between you into the the grease monkey engine car stuff and i just it. He got me a bike and the way I said thank you was I'd been watching the X-Men cartoon and I liked Gambit.

Ronnie: 
Ha ha ha ha.

Rob: 
- He gave me a bite. So he's like, I'm gonna do something. I'm gonna do Hank Hill for my daddy. He didn't sound like him at all. Like I'm gonna do something for my boy. I'm gonna get him a bicycle. This weird fucking kid Because life don't get much better than this. My dad, like I'm just being like, life is, this is great. Was it commercial running at the time with Gambit? that or something. So that's what popped in my head. And that's what I said to him. my dad scowling at me like, what the fuck? this is why i don't talk to you i don't understand anything you say oh my god breaking my windows with your baseball talking in a newfound cajun accent what's going on with this guy all right well bobby's bouncing the ball off the walls yeah and that's irritating hank as he works on his truck outside and he's struggling with his truck out there to the point where dale's holding the light but he's gets distracted by something and he's not doing a good - This guy is there and Hank comes into the house pretty pissed. - Yeah, he's, yeah. - He just went through it a little bit. So he comes in, he zero-takes, "Stop throwing the ball!" He finds out I'd skipped it, but Bobby at one point

Ronnie: 
on accident hit peggy with the ball right yeah when he was throwing the ball yeah so now peggy has uh some

Rob: 
sort of bruise on her face. Yeah. Which matters, right? CPSC's further evidence, perhaps, that he interprets as... physical abuse going on but then also it gives hank something else to react to you know uh somehow he finds out that bobby hit her you hit your mom with the ball you know yes he's just yelling and so now cps guy sees black guy sees the bruise on Hank raging, and the story kicks off from there. He sits them down to talk to him. - Did I hit your son, Mr. Hill? - No!

CLIP: 
- What the heck are you riding?

Rob: 
riot is one word. No. I feel that you're coming from an anger mindset,

Ronnie: 
projecting this anger onto me it gives me grave concerns as to how you facilitate your son's growth in private. Mister, I have not begun to project my

CLIP: 
Finger on to you.

CLIP: 
- I love that line so much. - Yeah, that's one of my favorites.

CLIP: 
I have not begun to project my anger on D.

Rob: 
you you know one thing going on because you know part of me is kind of like well okay let's track it this guy wants to protect the child he thinks the child's in danger um there's something to it that you know maybe you should not be shouting at your kid all the time and and i'm concerned that if if you're this angry and this is how you conduct yourself that maybe this environment is not healthy for the child right so all that could could be valid i mean one thing that goes

Ronnie: 
feeling like what he's seeing is evidence of something bad that's my issue with this episode is that we're framed to see anthony as a bad guy because we know the truth we know what happened but from his perspective if you cut this whole episode from his perspective 100 any sane person will be trying to get this boy out of this

Rob: 
Yeah, well, other than what ends up putting a stoppick

CLIP: 
Yeah, yeah, sure.

Rob: 
doesn't do his due diligence, really. So he's at least a little inept, right, in the work that he's doing. But also, like, the way he uses language, I think, helps characterize him as someone who, you know, disingenuous or not, it's like a... I don't know what I want to say, but like, I don't like it.

Ronnie: 
kind of a frou-frou it's like therapy highfalutin therapy speak yeah like bordering on like weaponizing therapy speak in a way right like all that stuff's coming from a good place we need a language to use to talk about these kinds of things but this guy's like might be kind of up his own ass with using that language and we'll see bobby picks up on it too he starts doing it too and some i see this all the time now uh to bring it to modern day where my wife and i love watching

Rob: 
the biggest shit bags that you'll see. I don't know how to like all this but I am interested in like the way that we use language is so crucially important and if you're like a adopting a kind of unnatural, learned way talking about things. Like what's going on?

Ronnie: 
I guess it's just intention because... you're trying to use it. If you're trying to use it to actually be a good person or if you're to hide behind it to be able to get away with some ulterior motive or something like that.

Rob: 
I don't know. The show doesn't play this up or anything, but one thing that's probably going on here, it could be going on here, is by using He's positioning is above this hollering redneck, like, well, I'm the calm one who can articulate himself. in language that I have found in scholarly books or something, you know? Right. Yeah, no, that's a good point. And you're just like the shouting, dangerous animal, you know? So it's a little bit of maybe like establishing a kind of intellectual...

Ronnie: 
supremacy or something to wouldn't surprise me yeah that's a good that's a good observation and you know what as we're talking about it now i am starting to uh dislike anthony page more than i did go because going into it i was like a bit of a defender but you are right now fuck this guy where yeah i mean this is this podcast is officially an anti anthony page podcast and uh yeah no you're Not only with he's posturing himself as being this just better person in this way, but he actually is more dangerous because like you, spoiler, he doesn't do is do Delta almost could have split this family apart that should not have been split apart. Yeah. And I think it shows too that you can have good intentions, but you could also do bad things with those good intentions. Yeah. I mean, obviously it was, you know, we don't got to villainize him too hard. I mean, he's caught up in whatever he's caught up in. We're all living in these false realities that crash into each other and cause problems. Yeah. I do love the, I have not yet begun to project my anger. And then he does.

Rob: 
right? Things go on a little bit longer and Hank really loses it. And we got to play, right? We got to play the big speech. We got to hear it. Yeah. Now you listen. I provide the people of this community Oh, when I think of all my hard-earned tax dollars going to pay a bunch of little twig boy bureaucrats like you, it just makes me want to... Oh, God, it just... - Hi. - Honey, bring me my BC headache powder. Listen here. You see that boy? That's my boy. And if you ever try to take him away, so help me God, I'll tear you a new one bigger than the Grand Canyon. Now I want you. out of my house. You're not welcome here. I mean now, before I give you a black eye. Get

Ronnie: 
Get. Get. He books it out of there, as I would as well. Especially if he does genuinely think that this guy is hurting his family. You're like, this guy's gonna fuck me up, no problem. You know, you do get those hints of things like, I work. You know, if you're just pushing papers around on a desk, that's not real work. And it's like, eh.

Rob: 
don't want to go down that line of thinking too much, right? Like some of this work needs to be done is good. Yeah. And then the I don't know, maybe tax dollars.

Ronnie: 
I think overall CP - The rest is a good thing, Hank. I don't know. - Yeah, it might be.

Rob: 
Well, I'll tell you... but this episode did make me think of a time gossipy person it was a lady i don't want to be sexist but it was a woman uh some gossip uh called the cops on me oh my goodness i was at a laundromat because we lived in a cabin with no washer dryer uh just outside of town so me and felix and felix is maybe eight We're at the laundromat. washing some clothes. sitting there you know we got nothing to do uh we're hanging out and i think maybe we had had a little disagreement um i was wondering if i like how do i go in it because because there is i'll get into it later i Felix, you know? It's a bummer to me. We can talk about it a little bit.

Ronnie: 
This being in your past life. Yeah, anymore I don't do it at all.

Rob: 
so I don't know what all I got on with us earlier in the morning but we might have been a little like Down like our spirits might have been a little down. We might have been not interacting You know, we've always been... and hung out a lot together. He's really a homebody. kind of a kid who's a lot of time with his parents, especially me, to some degree. So I don't know. I didn't think anything of it. I don't know. We sat there, waited for the clothes to be done. And we And then later that day, there's a knock on the door. which is rare. I'm a sheriff's deputy. Wow. I mean, I don't know what to do. I don't interact with cops, you know? Right. I like hear the internet telling me, well, don't invite him in because then they can like plant drugs and you have to go to prison. Like, I don't know what kind of weird paranoid thought crosses my mind. So I joined him out on the front porch and he's like, what? a call from someone who was concerned that maybe your your son was and i don't know how he phrased it right but like something may have been going on with your son i just need to come and do a check to see how things are going and i'm like really yeah wow like he's all right yeah felix come here and felix comes to the screen door The guy gave me the impression that he was like, look, some busy body. I don't want to be here, but I have to. This is my job. I got to check this off the list of bullshit today. But, I mean, he wasn't like that dismissive. He was pretty professional about it. He was like, you know, we received a call. We had to follow up on it. me as like, huh, you're just living your life. you she got my drivers your plates my plates yeah got my license plate in order to hand that over to get me identified so they could track down where we live so they could they could come check on us and i'm like good lord well So you said to him, you said, "Look, I work for a living, all right?" I work for a living. Yeah, I don't know. It was a weird feeling. It was a weird feeling being like, "Oh, man, people are out there like judging and thinking things about me."

Ronnie: 
I mean, it's a good thing, right? That people are looking out for kids. Yeah. Real quick, I mean, it's important. The CPS guy then goes and interviews others. Yes. We spend the most time with Dale. This is kind of a way for us to meet the other characters too and kind of learn more about them. This is like where we meet Nancy and John.

Rob: 
red corn and Joseph that's the big one right once again Bill an afterthought here I don't think he even talks to Bill right I don't think so I want to talk about the Gribbles but the other one is he goes to boom how our boom hard starts doing his you know redneck ramble yeah about a dog he is barking too much and

Ronnie: 
he's like going on about it. A part of that rant is inspired by a rant that 'cause he voices Boomhauer as well as Hank. he heard this voice message that was like forwarded to him, somebody calling in complaining about Beavis and Butthead on the air. So I have a clip of him kind of. about this on a talk show. Oh good. This guy, he, his message turned out, he goes, I've been calling y'all for better month now, grab back y'all every time that dang old Porky's butthole come on. He thought Beavis and Butthead was called Porky's butthole. So that's where he got the inspiration for Boomhauer. So here we have Boomhauer's like, you know, I've been calling y'all for better part month, that dog keep barking there and that computer can't stop no dog. Like he's like just going on. And the thing with Boomhauer is it's the same joke every single, And I laugh every single time. Like, it's always like he says something crazy. And then they always just find new and inventive ways for the characters to interact with him about it. Where, I mean, we'll see it throughout the show. But I'm just always delighted whenever Boomhauer has anything to say. And coincidentally, he does seem to be like the most intelligent one of the group. Like, there are moments of, like, clarity from him that are very profound. Yeah. Yeah, we didn't play it or talk about it. But earlier, he did something about what was wrong with the truck. You know, it's like, well, the dang old... like he's there in a cave and he's yelling in and he's and he rants forever. the echo or something like that or i can't understand you it's just like stupid stuff like that it's so funny to me it kind of like it i don't want to say it's absurdist humor but it's like in that vein where they always inject that with that character it's just such a delight i

Rob: 
really interested in Bill and can't wait for him to get some more time that And Dale too, and I do really like the scene where this, tell me his name again. Anthony Page. Anthony Page, CPS guy. Do we need his name? No, we don't either. But when he's talking to Dale and we meet Dale's hot wife, Nancy, who is leaving for migraine treatment. Way out of his league, obviously. Which I love that there.

Ronnie: 
from in my memory their relationship and she's having an affair with with john redcorn but nancy cares about dale and yeah and i mean to really jump ahead many seasons they do end up ending their relationship with john redcorn and her and dale do become monogamous at a certain point so it is a It's just a complicated relationship, I guess. Yeah. One thing I have my eye on is I think I might like Nancy a lot. I'll be curious to follow that and see. We learned she does support Dale financially. He does have his own. business as an exterminator i don't know if they even touch on that in this episode i don't think so but we learned like he basically operates at a loss if anything he breaks even yeah uh well anyway so here she's off to get her treatment with with john redcorn um dale to me he sounds a little more like suspicious and he's like you've been getting those treatments for 12 years yeah you're right and i think that's really just to convey to us the viewer of how long because you're right

Rob: 
So, the last one oblivious about it. It's such a fun running Yes. But so we see And we find out that she's been seeing this dude for 12 years. And like the way that she hops in his Jeep or whatever with music playing. to think that it's not really migraine treatments and then back in the Gribble house, Here comes Joseph and he comes around like he comes through the door and he looks like John Redcord. So like obviously if you know the show, you know that whole bit like you know this story this gag but thinking about it is if you're a new viewer.

Ronnie: 
that's gotta be something. I guess you don't miss it.

Rob: 
get it you get what they're doing but they also don't it seems to me they don't get super obvious with it right like the punchline is just the kid walks in the room and you look at him. Right. And you see what he looks like. And then you connect the dots that were just set up for you and you get what is going on and it's funny, but they don't like, that's a, subtler joke than you might be used to in television comedy. And I wonder if that kind of thing is why them ding-a-ling kids thought that the show wasn't funny.

Ronnie: 
you know Anthony page isn't like huh or anything like that you know like Joseph comes because Dale calls him into the room because they're talking about Bobby Hank hits him and it's like no you know Dale says no calls Joseph in and just like no you know I never seen him hurt him or anything like that you know

Rob: 
just continue on with the scene it's a very subtle thing like you said seems to me yeah and i i gotta think that contributes to people thinking like it's some the humor can be low-key right right some of it's easier to notice like boomhower's way of talking is just funny you know yeah um but some of the jokes are this more like low-key we're not gonna like scream in your face what we're up to

Ronnie: 
Yeah, and I'm realizing now, you know, I really doubt the first time I saw this show was pilot. and eventually saw Pilate. So I really wish I could have seen this reveal or remember this reveal or seeing it for the first time. That has to be really exciting. Because for us, we know it's coming. Right. But to see that for the first time, I would be interested to hear somebody's experience with that. It really wouldn't surprise me if I watched this the night it aired and didn't get it. I don't know. That's interesting. Did they adopt him or something? Yeah, I don't get shit. They're like, well, that's his wife. If I don't start doing something now, I think I'll become a Dale with... - I'm telling you. pointed out too how all these Characters have their shirts tucked in flattering for all of them yeah because they all have a little bit of a gut i mean here in one of the scenes when hank is in his truck or something like that like you really see he has a bit of a belly yeah you know so like if they wore looser clothing it would flatter their bodies a lot more but they don't they they show it like they show what they got in my experience that's how that's how these guys are living they're proud yeah proud of it yeah good for them but i i do like the

Rob: 
like when he asked,

Ronnie: 
Hank hit his kid, Dale's like, no. Like, I like that everybody is kind of decent at their core, right? Not that Dale would have any reason to like lie or anything. Sometimes he's shitty, but yeah, you're right. We'll see in future episodes he does fuck Hank over and lie to him and all this stuff. But yeah, no, here they're all very, you know, they're straightforward, or at least Dale is straightforward about it. And I really like

Rob: 
talking to this guy. - There's something I really like about that, that kind of attitude of Dale's. and a coward, but has the, like, He plays tough sometimes, right? again this is something I want to keep track But one reason why I'm so interested in Dale... watch him is I think that he might be like super complex and and there's notice and think through about what's going on with him. For one thing, he just lives in like a fantasy world, right? He really does. Which I really identify with. My whole life is just one big fucking fantasy. Yeah, I love Del. He's one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time. All right. Well, the way this goes is, well, first of all, Bobby and Joseph are joking around about how the CPS guy was asking if Hank abuses. and they're like, well, of course he doesn't. But then they do some impression

Ronnie: 
Yeah, so we have Joseph and Bobby outside. was talking to other neighbors, and then... As they're joking around, walks past and they're on the other side

Rob: 
Which is silly, but the impression's so fun, we've got to play that, too. Yeah, of course. You know my dad, he's all bark. Boy, that guy got him mad, though. My dad was like...

CLIP: 
Get out of my house, my boy ain't much, but he's all

Ronnie: 
He never said that. Oh my gosh, it's so funny. - He's all I got. - He's all I got. - Yeah. - And I love the visual,

Rob: 
like puffs up to like do this impression. I love that he cracks up Joseph too. Like there's something again, grounded naturalistic, about the way, who they are, how people interact sometimes in the show, right? And that's one of them, right? Throwing pebbles into the tailpipe of the truck. Yes. And just doing goofy voices and making each other laugh, having fun. I really like that. Well, so that gives the guy reason to think that something serious is going on. And Hank needs to be careful not to add any more fuel to this fire. at Bobby anymore. And Bobby takes advantage of that. He can do anything he wants. And Hank is not allowed to get too mad because now CPS is watching.

Ronnie: 
and the whole town is watching. - Yeah, they're sniffing around. - Pretty quickly,

Rob: 
CPS asks our guy Anthony Page, or whatever his name was, well, did you ask the Little League coach if Bobby did get hit by a baseball? - Yeah, like did you confirm that story?

Ronnie: 
And it turns out... uh no yeah so the case is closed right like right they're like okay this yeah this is all just circumstantial shit that you're finding we can't an eyewitness

Rob: 
cooperates Hank's story. you don't actually have anything to go on. he calls the house the supervisor does bobby answers he picks up yeah yeah and and he's like well tell your daddy that the case is closed you know no no big

Ronnie: 
The guy tells him, yeah, you know, we're calling off the investigation. Why wouldn't he ask for the parents? Like, why would you tell this to, like, a 12-year-old kid? well it's you know it's kind of an aw shucks yeah yeah but you know like we'll just tell your daddy yeah so so then bobby's like all right you know i'll tell him bye and then you know they hang up and then they overhear this hank and peggy they come in like you know bobby who is that wrong number so yeah so basically bobby knows it's off but he's using this to his advantage to be able to run rampant in the house essentially he uh He eventually sprays Hank with the water hose, which I'm like, golly, that is way over the top. He becomes a real piece of shit. Like, he's just terrorizing Hank. the whole time like he's he breaks down their fence and and then people see Hank and you can't yell at Bobby in front of these other people so he has to like use this therapy language you know yeah right he's doing his best to control his anger and everything in the case of the fence I don't "Continue being a fence!" or whatever he says. Yeah, exactly. play it cool because there's people like oh that's the guy who hits his kid yeah and here's

Rob: 
big one though is hank's working on the the garage door which his truck ran into when dale released the break earlier the brakes yeah uh and bobby's like hey watch this to joseph and starts messing with them want to see something cool what in the heck don't you see i'm

Ronnie: 
here close the dang door bob just keep put stop stop hitting that button give me that thing dad that's not respectful adult child growth dialogue i'll give you dialogue that's not coming from a center of anger please return the garage door to its factory pre-set down position that is cool so they're messing with hang yeah they're really again the best way i could say is At some point, and I have to wonder why a supervisor he comes to tell peggy and hank in person that it's closed and i'm like maybe he just felt bad like wrong about just telling the kid that maybe he's like well i should go talk to them about this or and apologize to them or something he might even need a signature or something they don't they don't account for it but he might need to like officially close the case right in some way here's bobby by the way later in life i was a piece of shit he really was like

Rob: 
Which by the way, how about that cut, right? Like what is the sequence of events here? Bobby's out in the yard fucking with his dad. CPS guy comes by. Peggy knows the truth now. Next thing you know,

Ronnie: 
- No, Bobby's in his room. - Yeah, why wouldn't she just walk up Say like why wouldn't she stop Bobby Bobby? Why are you spraying your dad with a hose? Maybe she thought they were playing or something But Hank's reaction, it's clearly like a distraught. Yeah, he's not happy about it. She's like, I'm going to let that play out. She said, you know, she just I'll just wait till they're done. So, yeah, Peggy knows she goes in to Bobby's room. I think you have a clip for the sound effects he's making. I got I do. I like this. I like our look at Bobby's creative streak and the fact that he wants to be a comedian.

Rob: 
That's kind of his recurring thing, but here it's something else. This is his mom entering his bedroom.

Ronnie: 
- I decided.

Rob: 
dad can't say boo about it. So even like his big light are built on the scam he's running. He's building a future off of this white lie, I guess. But yeah, so Peggy's like, listen... came by and said that the case has been closed for two weeks or however long it's been, you know, a week. And I love there's a pause, I wish I had the clip of this made, But there's a pause and then Bobby goes, please don't tell dad. Instantly knows he's fucking dead. He's in trouble. Then he explains that he likes this arrangement where Hank can't yell. And he says, well, here's why he explains to Peggy. But I like him better this way. How come? I can make him love me even when I screw up. I can make him love me even when I screw up.

Ronnie: 
very sweet, and I understand the sentiment. Sad. Yeah, for real, it really is, but then... He wasn't screwing up. He was fucking like breaking the fence on purpose. He was fucking with his dad to make his friend laugh. Like it's a completely. different thing than they're trying to convey here. - That's true. - I kind of wish maybe that they would have

Rob: 
being weird and Hank couldn't say anything about it as opposed to him like actually breaking shit and fucking around with Hank you could even probably get him to I mean even doing things like for example what if he threw the baseball up on the roof and then as it came down he treated it like a pitch and hit it and broke a window a bathroom window you know coming up with ideas here but at least then it's not like he's antagonizing Hank on purpose malevolently

Ronnie: 
And you're right. That's all he was doing was antagonizing Hank. And I know we're hitting on this a lot, but I really didn't appreciate that until watching it for this podcast. of like, he was being a real shithead the whole time. You can't say, "Oh, then he'll love me when i screw up it's like you weren't screwing up you're intentionally boy i mean that makes me think how do you read it if you don't know anything and i don't think there's much like the music probably cues sentimental you know like they're they don't seem to be leading you to think like this is manipulation right but based on the facts that you see you might think bobby was a bart simpson like wanting to do that. That one I don't have a problem with. Even though Hank doesn't like it, it's not like the water hose thing. Yeah, that one's not, yeah, just trying to off is what it seems like a lot of the other stuff is but yeah you know we do we do learn that like a screw up around his dad he feels like he's not the son maybe that his dad wants him to be even though again earlier he was doing that impression of hangry he's like he's all i got or whatever he does so like he he does know that his dad loves him though

Rob: 
I was thinking, I mean, taking it at face value, thinking about a kid who of course wants There's love. his dad yells at him, and you can feel like a disappointment and all that it does uh no I didn't think about this while I was watching everything but as I reflected on and everything I did like I was saying earlier I yelled at Felix I I deal with my own feelings.

Ronnie: 
Hank Hill situation. Yeah, that's something that they address in the show quite a bit. So...

Rob: 
in this episode if i felt flustered or confused by something you know it would come out as anger and everything i don't even have a i don't know there's kind of nowhere to go with that but if if i'm being honest listen or thinking about this episode that's part of how it connects to my life is like i've been hank yelling and then you you eventually are like ah that I got to be better to my son and grow as a person.

Ronnie: 
And so I guess we can get into how Hank tries to do that. Well, I just want to touch on that point. I think it shows the strength of this show. better. You know, it's in yourself that you've experienced. You're seeing that, you know, so it, just to go to the grounded nature it's dealing with a real issue that people So I think that's really good. Great, but they're able to find so much comedy in it, right? Yeah, that's a good point. It's certainly a really admirable quality of this show that they can manage to tell you a story that drives right at the heart of something that I think is probably pretty common. Right. Which is like, look, everyone, a lot of people struggle to deal with their own feelings and struggle with communication, and that affects other people, and you've got to work yourself through that and try to talk it out my dad doesn't really, even if his dad does love him, but doesn't know how to express it, you know what I'm saying?

Rob: 
Let's get into it. Yeah. Because, right? Like my old Gambit impression, fucking weirdo child self, I don't know what I've been carrying. with me for 30 to 40 years, you know, about my dad's inability to convey. similar to the hills. It's not like I Right. It's like as a kid, maybe you just need a or subtle doesn't work.

Ronnie: 
- A subtext doesn't work with a little kid, yeah.

Rob: 
hug me and tell me you love me and you're proud of me. Boy, did that, that never happened. You know, lots of people had way worse dads than me, but, and it might just be a generational thing. That's an oversimplification, I'm sure. But I don't know. My dad was born 58, you know, like a tail end of the boomers. And I don't know that they did a whole lot of expressing

Ronnie: 
a lot, I guess. So it's like, for me, I'd always think, oh yeah, growing up, it was great. like, well, how did that affect me in ways that I don't understand? I mean, something I think of is when I was, this was when I was 18, so I was older at this point, but I was making music with a friend electronic music I made the music and my friend was the singer and we put on his parents owned like this this ranch and we put on like a concert there where we like invited a bunch of people and my dad was a musician so I had like big speakers and stuff I heard of that Woodstock yeah exactly yeah Jimmy Hendrix was there. And so we put this concert on and my dad didn't, like he knew we were doing it. Like he let me take all the equipment, but he didn't show up for any of the, and then he shows up when we're done to load up all the equipment and then there's like a he might have seen like our last song or and doesn't say anything about the show or anything. friend and his friend's son and he's like, oh yeah, this guy plays drums, you know, you should jam with him sometime. And I'm like, well, I just did this show here and you don't have anything say about it it's just like those little things that make you wonder how much of that you carry with you i do wonder

Rob: 
I feel like here recently, I mean, before you came along, like you said earlier, I was like retired on accident from podcasting. Right. One reason why is I don't know. I'm coming to recognize a real lack of self-esteem. And some of that is, you know, I kind of train myself not to that I would follow through on things and stuff like that, right? Like a certain laziness or... but even that might be built on like stuff, you know, anyway, so I was going to with Bobby He's kind of a mixed bag in this episode. I have the impression admire that Bobby has some some like is gumption the right word but yeah got some confidence he goes for stuff that he wants he speaks up about it to his dad you know yeah here he he tells Peck

Ronnie: 
- I guess that's true. them to have this conversation. - Which, you know, if I had told my mom, she'd be like, well, you can't count on other people.

CLIP: 
You know?

Rob: 
She might go to him and be like, "Hey, listen, says that he doesn't always you love them, my dad would be like, they're probably similar to Hank like, "Well, of course I do." would never come and talk to me on the porch, like Hank's about to do with Bobby. But anyway, I was just going to say, thinking about putting myself in Bobby's shoes and being like, yeah, I kind of get what it's like to not feel super confident that your dad feels a lot of good feelings about you or has a lot of good thoughts about you or whatever like that. And I think in my case, that might be part of what created a lifelong complex or whatever. In Bobby's case, I think it's cool to...

Ronnie: 
You kind of can't keep that kid down, you know? He's got some spunk. He's got some moxie. Yeah, yeah. I think that's cool, and I'm looking forward to watching that unfold. I mean, yeah, it makes sense, you know, in your case. And I suffer with the exact same thing of, like, a low self-confidence. I have to wonder if it stems from, like... especially when you're shut-ins like you and me. Like your family is your whole world and when you're not given that confidence from them, it's like, how are you supposed to have a confidence out in the world in general? Because you're just so used to not having it, right? Yeah. Yeah. It literally took doing my podcast and then being told that what I was doing was good by like, not my father figures, of course, but like these people who's like writing I grew up on and stuff when they tell me, oh, your podcast is great. and all this nice stuff that I'm like, oh, maybe I am okay. Like these guys are saying it, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. It's so funny to hear.

Rob: 
I don't know if we're going on too long about it, but I listen to Dancing is Forbidden, and I think lots of good things about you. You know what I mean? No, thanks. I mean, when I listen to your podcast, it's the same thing. - It's funny, I don't know how you feel if I say that to you. You say it to me and I'm like, eh.

CLIP: 
saying that i don't know i don't know

Rob: 
But anyway, it is funny to think... impression I have of you. wouldn't match that at all, like that you would have any reason to like have some self-doubt or anything like that. Right, well, that's how I feel about you too.

Ronnie: 
We should just kiss and get it over with here. If only we could.

CLIP: 
-

Rob: 
It's good that we like each other.

Ronnie: 
- That is a good way to start.

Rob: 
Well, Peggy does go to Hank and says, you know, he thinks you don't always And here's Hank's reaction to that. Well, you can relax. The investigation has been off for a week, only Bobby didn't

CLIP: 
Calm down, honey. Now let me explain. He didn't do it to be mean.

Ronnie: 
love him all the time that's crazy course i love him very good now say it to bobby what are you talking about just that quick like you know what are you stupid obviously i love him and it's like wait what do you mean i gotta tell him i love the rhythm of that scene yeah yeah that's crazy

Rob: 
What are you talking about? Her tone of voice is like really motherly, right? Like, good. Now tell Bobby. What are you talking about? That's an absurd proposal. Why would I do that? And he explains why he would have a hard time doing that. We get our first look at Cotton Hill. - Yeah. - Bother, of course, we get a little flashback.

CLIP: 
I was raised what my father's like

Ronnie: 
man's machine gun so don't come crying to me with your problems and then back to the present action in the bedroom oh i'm gonna struggle with cotton as he comes up he's a he's a tough pill to swallow hannah hates him and she will skip over the cotton focused episodes because she just cannot stand him i like i like every character in this show so like i don't mind him but i totally get why people hate So it is for us. even if it is unbearable. to us. That's a good word for it.

Rob: 
- Well, Hank goes out talk to Bobby. through Trump. to be demonstrative, for one. and This will be, I think, our last - Or even more.

Ronnie: 
Oh, man, I just love so much of it. It's all worth playing. Yeah.

CLIP: 
And...

CLIP: 
You...

Ronnie: 
You know, with everything

CLIP: 
Uh-huh.

CLIP: 
Huh.

Rob: 
fondness and more, you know,

CLIP: 
Oh. Well, uh. That's a hell of a weird sound.

Ronnie: 
I, you, uh, family. You're not making this easy on me, boy. Okay. I love you no matter what you do. There, phew. Let's go get something to eat. He makes a noise there that sounds like a butthead a little bit. He's like, oh. Yeah. I just love the voice break. Oh, that's a weird noise. to Mike Judge for pulling that off. But also, Pamela Adlon is just... Nobody else could play Bobby.

CLIP: 
Just the way that she pulls them off. I mean, well, well,

Rob: 
in an upcoming episode that I really love.

Ronnie: 
But just the one word to deliver. Now? Now? Or, okay.

Rob: 
- Okay. So good. - I tell you, I tell you what, I mean, talking about how I can kind of identify with various people. I tell Felix, I love him. like whatever my unfortunate struggles to grow as a person while also being a father, that was one thing. And I wonder if something like this, play a role. I learned everything from television. And I kind of feel like I must have just picked My classic example is always because of standup comedians. do lift the Right? Because everybody jokes about dudes peeing just live my life forever always raising the toilet seat but I also wonder something like more complex and that I wasn't quite aware is television shows you that dads don't demonstrate love and show them love. I'm like, okay, so as a dad, you got to do that. Right. You know, and I do. I guess Bobby says, you know, I'm

Ronnie: 
Not a disappointment? And then Hank says no. I'm not. Just a big disappointment to you. Disappointment? No, you make me proud. I've been disappointed by just about everything else in this town, but you? Not once. Damn it, you're my boy. Damn it. No, I don't buy it, do you? Surely Bobby is a disappointment. I don't think Bobby's a disappointment. They couldn't have more kids than a guy narrator either so everybody knows this so i you know we do see many times uh going forward in the show how bobby is like their miracle child so we don't really know that yet as the viewer but i think i do buy it you know that he is proud of bob because he's just happy to have a son because they there was a time when it seemed like they were not going to have a child right so i'm I do get that. Based on what we've seen, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Because Bobby just seems like an idiot and like a terror so far. But knowing what I do know about the show to come, I think I buy it. Because they're just so different. And Hank so often reacts to Bobby in that buoyant right way. I don't know. Maybe that's just my nonsense where I want everything to be perfect or something like that. It's like, well, how could you be proud of your son if he ever does anything wrong? knows that like look it takes all types of people right like just because Bobby's not what personally watched He wants to be himself. He can still appreciate the qualities that Bobby has, even if those qualities do make him personally uncomfortable, I guess. But I think that's a stretch. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, I do agree with you. It is a little heavy handed in its sweetness. I still appreciate it. Yeah, for sure. It shows, you know, all the different territory that this

Rob: 
this show can tackle and relatively pull off. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it occurs to me now. I mean, I'm kind of proud of Bobby in that way. I was talking about earlier where he, you know, he's like, he goes after what he wants and he's, you know, he sticks to who he is. Like he's kind of true to himself and stuff a lot of times. So even if, like you said, we don't necessarily see in this episode, in composite across the series, there's probably plenty of reason to believe that Hank could, in fact, be proud of Bobby. Because Bobby's a pretty good kid, ultimately.

Ronnie: 
Like we see he doesn't really seem to like baseball all that much, but he still plays it. And it seems like it's really because Hank wants him to. So I think that's a big plus to Bobby that like, he'd probably rather not be playing, but you know, he still does it anyways without complaining or anything like that. Well, so after Hank does finally say, they're like, I love you no matter what you do. They kind of do a little, like they break the tension by, by playing a little bit. Hank does some playful, like sock and Bobby in the arm. Yeah. Some play fighting.

Rob: 
And then a bus is going by, and Anthony Page is on.

Ronnie: 
bus leaving town i think yeah and sees that and he's like i knew it did you see him he's punching him or something like that to this this good old boy on the bus and the good old boy calls him a twig boy yeah he's just like shut up twig boy or whatever whatever he says yeah interesting to me that a bus like that is going through their back alley yeah why would that why that's a very uh cartoony tv show thing but it's still a funny end there where um anthony page presumably going back It's still him, but it's kind of like he doesn't have any recollection of past events.

CLIP: 
Yeah.

Ronnie: 
So that is the pile. of King of the Hill, but before we go, - Oh man. other so one of the things I'm most excited about to podcast and I don't know how much decide did it today, but is to do these very fun voices and accents from King of the Hill. So my question for you, who does the very first Hank Hill impression ever?

Rob: 
now I kind of want to, maybe, are you tricking me? Because I'm trying to think of if, uh, any of like the gossiping people act out, but I, my answer is Bobby. Get out of my house. My boy ain't much, but he's all I got.

Ronnie: 
Bobby and I guess you know I said Hank Hill I guess that is true I'm sure there were people doing Mr. Anderson impressions before King of the Hill was a thing, but that doesn't matter. I would think, right? Unless somebody heard them making the show and then did the voice too to be Hank Hill. You know, you got the commercials running, right? So people hear Hank Hill before the pilot airs. First impression in the episode, then you're correct. It is Bob.

CLIP: 
is the...

Ronnie: 
impersonator. Very good.

Rob: 
has their can of beer and a koozie.

Ronnie: 
Oh, I'm going to... say that's a good question oh my god that's the kind of question i should have came up with i'm gonna go with

Rob: 
Dale nope ah who is it I don't have a sound bite for it it's boom how dang it oh that's a good question dude oh follow-up yes Hank goes to get new cans for everybody right like who's ready yeah who does not get another can of beer is it Bill no it's Bill no it's Bill no it's Bill

Ronnie: 
It's Dale. I'm just throwing darts at this point. I'm just blindfolded throwing darts. That one, I better note, pretty sure. That one's one I thought of on the spot. I didn't double check. I'm pretty sure Dale doesn't get a new beer, and then he brings up Seinfeld. Okay, well, that is the caliber of question I will have for you next time. But I guess just some closing thoughts on the pilot episode. All I'll say is, growing up, I wasn't crazy about this one They have a lot of these characters well established a lot of aspects of the show established um you know we weren't quite in the alley yet we'll see that to come but we did have uh the alamo beer uh the propane was mentioned you know we didn't go to strickland but they they did bring up even the and propane accessories and propane yes not just propane but also propane accessories right it's such a fleshed out world from episode one i mean what what a shame it would have been if this didn't get picked up right if think the framing device of interviewing some Neighbors is good. It's a great way to introduce us. Just that whole... That... shot of the panning across arlen to get down you know almost forest gump like in a way to get down uh to to see the guys is fantastic and I mean, anybody could hear. We were like, basically during every single clip. my rating on this one because we do want to rate these in a fun way. I'm going to give this - Yeah.

Rob: 
Rob, I'd love to hear what you thought about Pilot. One thing about the talking about us laughing, I'm interested in the combination of what they're saying can be funny and then of course how they're saying it. I don't know, like you kind of can't resist talking I can't resist laughing just at the voices of the characters and the way they talk. And then it's just really cool that that can go on. Plus... pretty human, like we said, grounded stories. That's one kind of specific way that I think that the show immediately establishes itself as great. And there's a lot here that makes me excited to keep watching so I can spend more time with these characters and the voices, of course, and then just see all the different ways that we explore what life is like for these folks. a four and a half out of five black eyes.

Ronnie: 
I like that. Well, Rob, thanks for doing this with me. Let me tell you real quick. I interviewed David Cross yesterday. - Oh, you did? - Yes, and then I had, which he comes on, shows up in my favorite King of the Hill episode. I did ask him about that. So we can talk about that in years to that one um but i had a nightmare afterwards that i was supposed to record this with you at the same time and i didn't know i accidentally double booked it oh and in the nightmare you didn't even reach out like you didn't even say hey where are you or anything I was trying to get in contact with you from you again. So I'm just glad that that didn't happen. And I'm glad that we

Rob: 
did get to record this. Me too. Because it was very fun. Listen, talking about King of the Hill with you

Ronnie: 
hours literally yeah is uh better than not doing that yeah so i'm glad we we did it yeah a lot of fun of course thank you to anybody listening in here um you could find us at yep podcast.com yep rob i believe next time we'll be talking about season one episode two's square peg what sexual education where'd you get this i told you