JFK, craft beer: All the North Texas references in ‘King of the Hill’ episode 2
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North Texas references for ‘King of the Hill’ Season 14 by episode
Dadgum tell ya hwhat man, “King of the Hill” is back for a new season after 15 years, and the show is still as Texas as ever. Here’s a list of all the North Texas references in the show, episode-by-episode.
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Animated sitcom “King of the Hill” is back, and it’s got more Texas references than you can throw a women’s size 16 shoe at. All 10 episodes of season 14 of the Texas-centric show are now available on Hulu. These are the first new episodes of “King of the Hill” since it went off the air in 2010. It originally ran for 13 seasons on FOX from 1997-2009, with one final episode in 2010.
This new season centers around Hank Hill (voiced by show creator Mike Judge) and his wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) returning home to the fictional DFW-area suburb of Arlen after a stint working in Saudi Arabia selling propane and gas. As they get settled into their new life back home, they start to realize Arlen — and Texas — has changed.
Arlen could be a stand-in for any Texas suburb, but Judge has said he specifically referenced North Texas’ Richardson for the original run of the show. He always made a lot of Texas references that went above and beyond its setting, and season 14 is no different. Episode 1 featured references to DFW International Airport, SMU and others.
Here’s a breakdown of all the North Texas references we spotted in Episode 2, “The Beer Story.”
Dealey Plaza and the Kennedy assassination
While Bobby (Pamela Adlon) and Joseph (Tai Leclaire) are driving into Arlen, Bobby comments on the stench of Joseph’s laundry bags in the back of the truck. Joseph tells him that those aren’t laundry bags — they’re bags of dirt he saved from his job working on a road crew near Dealey Plaza in Dallas — the site where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
He said he’s saving the dirt for his dad, conspiracy theorist Dale (voiced by Johnny Hardwick and Toby Huss): “He’s looking for Oliver Stone’s DNA.”
Stone’s 1991 film “JFK” deals with conspiracy theories around Lee Harvey Oswald and Kennedy. Stone made an appearance last October for a retrospective of his films at the Texas Theatre in Dallas, where police arrested Oswald after he shot Kennedy.
Dallas Brewery Contest
While there is no 1:1 analog to the home-beer brewing competition Hank and Bobby enter in this episode, North Texas is home to many craft breweries, including Rahr & Sons Brewing and Martin House Brewing Company in Fort Worth and Peticolas Brewing Company in Dallas.
The fictional Wild Armadillo Brewery that Hank and Peggy visit wouldn’t be out of place in North Texas. Many brew enthusiasts might like its flavors, including “Cursed Hobbit Stout” and another that “tastes like a burn pile,” as Peggy puts it.
Other Texas references
- The Mega Lo Mart is where Hank gets the idea to start home-brewing, and Dale, Boomhauer, Bill and Hank all drink Alamo beer.
- Hank references Chuck Woolery, the former “Wheel of Fortune” host before Pat Sajak took over for him in 1981. Woolery was also an actor, musician and a right-wing podcast host. He died in Horseshoe Bay, Texas in 2024 at the age of 83.
Stray observations
- Peggy’s hubris about her language skills continues in this episode, multiple times, to great effect.
- Will Disney make merch for this season? I want one of those Wild Armadillo Brewery shirts that features a skateboarding armadillo.
- Hank’s insult to an SMU kid backfiring about how the kid wishes he drove a truck is a perfect distillation of the tone of this season.
- Speaking of tone: While the first episode set the tone, it’s cemented here. This is still the old “King of the Hill,” just with new scenarios in an updated time. So far, each episode has ended on a heartfelt moment for the Hill family. Fans of the original should be very happy.
This story was originally published August 6, 2025 at 1:10 PM.
