Man see like, you don even know man
July 9, 2013 3:07 AM Subscribe
Pretty much every depiction of Texas I've ever seen on TV makes me cringe, except King of the Hill.
And that was a nice song.
posted by Bugbread at 5:13 AM on July 9, 2013
And that was a nice song.
posted by Bugbread at 5:13 AM on July 9, 2013
It still amuses me how much of King of the Hill's portrayal of Texas was A)totally insane B)exactly true to life.
I've always thought of Mike Judge as sort of an underappreciated satirist. He's got such a sharp eye for what makes the world really tick, and generally approaches it with a good deal more love and respect than the (possibly similar-minded) Parker and Stone.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:25 AM on July 9, 2013 [10 favorites]
I've always thought of Mike Judge as sort of an underappreciated satirist. He's got such a sharp eye for what makes the world really tick, and generally approaches it with a good deal more love and respect than the (possibly similar-minded) Parker and Stone.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:25 AM on July 9, 2013 [10 favorites]
"I tell you what, man, you see the part where dang ol' George come in there and he's talkin' 'bout tasting his own burp and Kramer comes slidin' in there, he always does that. Them New York boys, I tell you what...just a show about nothin'."
posted by littlesq at 5:26 AM on July 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by littlesq at 5:26 AM on July 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
Ten episodes that made King of the Hill One of the most human cartoons ever.
posted by box at 5:45 AM on July 9, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by box at 5:45 AM on July 9, 2013 [9 favorites]
"goin' platinum, who knows, accounting firms."
posted by box at 5:47 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by box at 5:47 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
The original scene is so awesome that it needs to be seen first in order for the song to be appreciated, IMHO.
posted by edheil at 6:03 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by edheil at 6:03 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
The original scene is so awesome that it needs to be seen first in order for the song to be appreciated, IMHO.
Man, I love that show.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:35 AM on July 9, 2013
Man, I love that show.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:35 AM on July 9, 2013
"goin' platinum, who knows, accounting firms."
How on earth have I never seen that scene before.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:51 AM on July 9, 2013
How on earth have I never seen that scene before.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:51 AM on July 9, 2013
Of course, the meaning of life according to Dale can be found on any one of several different reddits.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:04 AM on July 9, 2013
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:04 AM on July 9, 2013
I'm still floored at quite how dark the Pretty, Pretty Dresses episode was.
My favourite Boomhauer scene is the firehouse episode, in which Boomhauer's recollection has himself speaking normally and everyone else dang ol'tell you what-ing.
posted by mippy at 8:20 AM on July 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
My favourite Boomhauer scene is the firehouse episode, in which Boomhauer's recollection has himself speaking normally and everyone else dang ol'tell you what-ing.
posted by mippy at 8:20 AM on July 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
I really appreciated the deft way Mike Judge and Greg Daniels handled Hank Hill as a "simple old-fashioned man" stereotype opening his mind to broader worldviews. Like, when Hank is showing his privilege or being backwards, it's out of ignorance and not malice. And if he's confronted on it, he's got the realistic reaction of digging in his heels and denying it and being pretty patronizing. But then inevitably he sees the other side of the coin with his own eyes and it affects him or someone he loves personally, and he changes his behavior because he's actually a decent guy, he's just not really adept at new ways of thinking without seeing the effects of the old ways in a new light firsthand.
It's a sneaky end-run around teaching "lessons" with the show that was really masterfully done, and the mix of bullheadedness and a capacity for change and the fact that he's always still a work in progress and sometimes even totally unaware of the strides he's making (it's just natural to him because he's a good guy, no further thinking needed), AND the way so much of his ignorance clearly came from his father and his culture really humanized a character that's a joke on the surface and made Hank and his (difficult but inevitable) capacity to change kind of a point of entry for people who just came in for the lowbrow blue collar joke stuff. Not to deride the lowbrow stuff because that's almost always got extra layers with Judge and Daniels. I'm not sure because I don't know much behind the scenes stuff, but I wouldn't be surprised if Daniels was responsible for that aspect of Hank's characterization, because there's a lot of shades of Hank Hill in Michael Scott.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:05 AM on July 9, 2013 [13 favorites]
It's a sneaky end-run around teaching "lessons" with the show that was really masterfully done, and the mix of bullheadedness and a capacity for change and the fact that he's always still a work in progress and sometimes even totally unaware of the strides he's making (it's just natural to him because he's a good guy, no further thinking needed), AND the way so much of his ignorance clearly came from his father and his culture really humanized a character that's a joke on the surface and made Hank and his (difficult but inevitable) capacity to change kind of a point of entry for people who just came in for the lowbrow blue collar joke stuff. Not to deride the lowbrow stuff because that's almost always got extra layers with Judge and Daniels. I'm not sure because I don't know much behind the scenes stuff, but I wouldn't be surprised if Daniels was responsible for that aspect of Hank's characterization, because there's a lot of shades of Hank Hill in Michael Scott.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:05 AM on July 9, 2013 [13 favorites]
He's got such a sharp eye for what makes the world really tick, and generally approaches it with a good deal more love and respect than the (possibly similar-minded) Parker and Stone.
Counterpoint: the Goode Family. It was the complete opposite of King of the Hill- unfunny, heavy-handed, and contemptuous of the subject matter.
posted by Challahtronix at 9:28 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Counterpoint: the Goode Family. It was the complete opposite of King of the Hill- unfunny, heavy-handed, and contemptuous of the subject matter.
posted by Challahtronix at 9:28 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
...meaning there's already music in the way he speaks and forcing his speech pattern into chords completely strips it out.
that's what we tell ourselves, isn't it?
posted by mrgrimm at 9:39 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
that's what we tell ourselves, isn't it?
posted by mrgrimm at 9:39 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
the Goode Family
Huh ... I don't watch a whole lot of TV, and I guess it's because this only ran for a few months during baseball season, but I have literally never heard of it. And wow, does it sound dreadful.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:45 AM on July 9, 2013
Huh ... I don't watch a whole lot of TV, and I guess it's because this only ran for a few months during baseball season, but I have literally never heard of it. And wow, does it sound dreadful.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:45 AM on July 9, 2013
Oh man, I love Boomhauer. I'm from West Texas so I can basically always tell what he's saying. Is that a life skill I can add to my resume?
I moved to Boston just as KoTH got popular, and people there were amazed that I understood every word out of Boomhauer's mouth.
It still amuses me how much of King of the Hill's portrayal of Texas was A)totally insane B)exactly true to life.
I've always told people this. I don't think people understand unless they've lived there for any period of time.
posted by mudpuppie at 10:05 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I moved to Boston just as KoTH got popular, and people there were amazed that I understood every word out of Boomhauer's mouth.
It still amuses me how much of King of the Hill's portrayal of Texas was A)totally insane B)exactly true to life.
I've always told people this. I don't think people understand unless they've lived there for any period of time.
posted by mudpuppie at 10:05 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Half of my family are from Texas, so I've always shared Judge's special affection for that enormous Southern loony bin. That's what made the show rise to levels so much higher than most other TV shows, animated or not: Judge's wry yet *affectionate* examination of the average (i.e. bizarre relative to the rest of the country) Texan family. Goode Family didn't work because he had no affection whatsoever for East Coast liberals, and probably nothing even close to the kind of intimate knowledge that allowed him to write so truthfully in KotH.
posted by Mooseli at 10:32 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Mooseli at 10:32 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
I grew up in the boonies outside of Phoenix. I discovered very quickly that I can't watch KotH at all. It's not funny, because it's not comedy, it's a documentary, and it just sets off all my triggers at once.
posted by darksasami at 11:08 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by darksasami at 11:08 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
I've mentioned this in other threads, but it's not come up here, so I'll say it:
The voice of Boomhauer is Toby Huss, a.k.a. "Artie, the Strongest Man in the World" from The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
posted by JHarris at 11:10 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
The voice of Boomhauer is Toby Huss, a.k.a. "Artie, the Strongest Man in the World" from The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
posted by JHarris at 11:10 AM on July 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
And yes, King of the Hill is amazing and wonderful. There was a previous thread about the show's animation guide and how to draw the characters. Interesting stuff there too.
The characters all have unexpected depths. Bill's story is heartbreaking. Dale, though, starts out seeming like a one-note joke, but by the end has become incredibly endearing with the enthusiasm and love with which he interacts with his son (who, yes, isn't his son and he doesn't realize) and wife. Even the episode where he rather cruelly deflates Peggy's birthday party, it's not out of malice.
posted by JHarris at 11:27 AM on July 9, 2013
The characters all have unexpected depths. Bill's story is heartbreaking. Dale, though, starts out seeming like a one-note joke, but by the end has become incredibly endearing with the enthusiasm and love with which he interacts with his son (who, yes, isn't his son and he doesn't realize) and wife. Even the episode where he rather cruelly deflates Peggy's birthday party, it's not out of malice.
posted by JHarris at 11:27 AM on July 9, 2013
I've always told people this. I don't think people understand unless they've lived there for any period of time.
I grew up in rural Georgia, which is a similar yet subtly different kind of insane, so I've understood the exactness with which it treated its characters. When it comes down to it, Beavis and Butthead is kind of one-note, Office Space and Idiocracy are kind of obvious (if funny), but King of the Hill shows genius. It's the best thing Mike Judge has done, really.
Speaking of which, has anyone heard if the Beavis and Butthead revival is getting a second season?
posted by JHarris at 11:33 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I grew up in rural Georgia, which is a similar yet subtly different kind of insane, so I've understood the exactness with which it treated its characters. When it comes down to it, Beavis and Butthead is kind of one-note, Office Space and Idiocracy are kind of obvious (if funny), but King of the Hill shows genius. It's the best thing Mike Judge has done, really.
Speaking of which, has anyone heard if the Beavis and Butthead revival is getting a second season?
posted by JHarris at 11:33 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm having some kinda weird thing where youtube is giving me 500 Internal Server Errors, but this looks like a pretty good transcription of the original monologue-
posted by hap_hazard at 11:42 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
“Man, I tell you what Hank bout dat ol meaning of life man. Its like this, man. Like butterfly flappin its wings deep down in the forest, man gonna cause a tree falls like 5,000 miles away, man ain’t nobody see it nobody dun even know it even happen. You know baby born into this world you know ain’t got no goddang friends ain’t got nothin but they come in find out all about dat ol evil, man. Man, see like, you don’t even know, man when you gon its like you’re born into this world, man. And you got its like this, man, dust in the wind, man. Or like dang ol Candle in the Wind man you gon get it don’t matter man its like all oldies all the time. You know what I think man? Its like dang ol “I think therefore you are” man.”I love Boomhauer. and of course he's voiced by Mike Judge, you can hear it really clearly in that firehouse scene MartinWisse linked above. Judge supposedly spends a lot of time at a restaurant in my neighborhood and I figure if I ever see him I'll beg him to talk like Boomhauer for a second. Except I don't know if I'd recognize him unless he was already doing voices.
posted by hap_hazard at 11:42 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
How could that AV Club roundup have skipped the episode where Hank decides to man Bobby up by sending him off to a boxing class at the Y, but that class is full and Bobby ends up in a self-defense for women class and then spends the rest of the episode screaming "that's my purse!" and kicking people in the crotch at the slightest provocation?
posted by Naberius at 11:43 AM on July 9, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by Naberius at 11:43 AM on July 9, 2013 [8 favorites]
JHarris: "I've mentioned this in other threads, but it's not come up here, so I'll say it:
The voice of Boomhauer is Toby Huss, a.k.a. "Artie, the Strongest Man in the World" from The Adventures of Pete & Pete."
Boomhauer is actually Mike Judge! Toby Huss voices Cotton Hill (similar to his voice for General Treister in Venture Bros) and Kahn Souphanousinphone.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:53 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
The voice of Boomhauer is Toby Huss, a.k.a. "Artie, the Strongest Man in the World" from The Adventures of Pete & Pete."
Boomhauer is actually Mike Judge! Toby Huss voices Cotton Hill (similar to his voice for General Treister in Venture Bros) and Kahn Souphanousinphone.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:53 AM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Wait, voiced by Mike Judge? Where did I pick up the notion he was voiced by Huss? To the IMDB....
Results:
It lists Toby Huss as voicing Kahn. It doesn't give a voice for Boomhauer, but sometimes that happens on credits when the voice is done by other staff or something like that. That seems to support Judge voicing Boomhauer.
But I've said Huss voiced Boomhauer for so long, where did I get that? I think I first got it from the credits. Now I'm all a-muddle, hmm. Anyway, sorry for the mistake! I try to correct these things when I discover them.
posted by JHarris at 11:55 AM on July 9, 2013
Results:
It lists Toby Huss as voicing Kahn. It doesn't give a voice for Boomhauer, but sometimes that happens on credits when the voice is done by other staff or something like that. That seems to support Judge voicing Boomhauer.
But I've said Huss voiced Boomhauer for so long, where did I get that? I think I first got it from the credits. Now I'm all a-muddle, hmm. Anyway, sorry for the mistake! I try to correct these things when I discover them.
posted by JHarris at 11:55 AM on July 9, 2013
Judge supposedly spends a lot of time at a restaurant in my neighborhood and I figure if I ever see him I'll beg him to talk like Boomhauer for a second. Except I don't know if I'd recognize him unless he was already doing voices.
Here's what he looks like making Zach Galifianakis absolutely lose his mind laughing.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:57 AM on July 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
Here's what he looks like making Zach Galifianakis absolutely lose his mind laughing.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:57 AM on July 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
That's good stuff, Porky's Butthole would make a heck of a sockpuppet account-name.
posted by hap_hazard at 1:12 PM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by hap_hazard at 1:12 PM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
but that class is full and Bobby ends up in a self-defense for women class and then spends the rest of the episode screaming "that's my purse!" and kicking people in the crotch at the slightest provocation?
"I don't know yew!"
posted by mudpuppie at 8:33 PM on July 9, 2013
"I don't know yew!"
posted by mudpuppie at 8:33 PM on July 9, 2013
I always loved the detail that Hank's torso and legs were a shade lighter than his head and arms, and when you saw him remove his underwear, that was a shade lighter again.
posted by mippy at 3:02 AM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mippy at 3:02 AM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't know if I'd recognize him unless he was already doing voices.
He was himself (or a character using his voice) in that You and Your Fucking Coffee sketch posted recently.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:51 PM on July 10, 2013
He was himself (or a character using his voice) in that You and Your Fucking Coffee sketch posted recently.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:51 PM on July 10, 2013
Beavis and Butthead is kind of one-note,
There's a fair bit of subtlety and considerable empathy involved in its depiction of a couple of poor, learning disabled half brothers (?) growing up in a social system that fails them utterly.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 10:18 AM on July 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
There's a fair bit of subtlety and considerable empathy involved in its depiction of a couple of poor, learning disabled half brothers (?) growing up in a social system that fails them utterly.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 10:18 AM on July 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
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Oh man, I love Boomhauer. I'm from West Texas so I can basically always tell what he's saying. Is that a life skill I can add to my resume?
It still amuses me how much of King of the Hill's portrayal of Texas was A)totally insane B)exactly true to life.
posted by nicebookrack at 3:57 AM on July 9, 2013 [17 favorites]