The long running prime-time cartoon King of the Hill has returned to DVD with the release of the complete fourth season.  The creation of Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head) and Greg Daniels, this show really found its voice in season three and this year's worth of shows continues to be entertaining and funny.  A high point in the series.

The show centers around Hank Hill, a propane salesman in the small fictional town of Arlen Texas.  Hank's a bit of a red-neck and he takes pride in his work.  His best friends are his neighbors: Bill, a barber at the nearby Army base, Boomhauer a nearly unintelligible guy who somehow manages to be very successful with the ladies, and Dale, the bug exterminator who not only believes every conspiracy theory that has ever been put forth, but thinks that they usually don't go far enough.

Hank's family, the source of much of his joy and sorrow, are his wife Peggy, a substitute teacher, his son Bobby, a middle school student and budding prop comic, and his niece Luanne who is living with them while her mother is in jail.

The reason King of the Hill is so successful is because it's close to reality in a lot of ways. No one really knows anyone as stupid as Homer Simpson or as creatively archaic as Bart, they are stereotypes taken to extremes.  But I've known people like Hank and Peggy Hill.  There are people who take pride in their jobs even if they are just a substitute teacher or a propane salesman.  That means the show doesn't use cartoon antics and stunts for the humor.  They just accent some to the Hill's characteristic a bit to make the show funny.

Having said that, I'll be the first to admit that you have to 'get' the show's sense of humor in order to enjoy it.  Sometimes it takes a few episodes before you realize what they are poking fun at, and what the source of humor really is.  There isn't a laugh track on the show either, something I really am thankful for, which means that you'll have to decide for yourself what is actually funny.

The thing that I really appreciate about that show is that it doesn't make fun of Hank or his beliefs or of small town America.  Hank is an honest man, mostly, with a strong set of values.  Sometimes the show will poke good natured fun at Hank, but it's never mean hearted.  The people who really take it on the chin in this show are the intellectuals and government officials.

A lot of the funniest episodes of the show for me deal with Hank's relationship with his son Bobby.  Hank, as I said, is a bit of a red-neck.  He played football in high school, drives a pick up truck and does his own maintenance, and is strongly conservative.  Bobby on the other hand wants to be a prop comic.  He loves to make people laugh, even if it's at his expense.  In the episode Rodeo Days Hank is overjoyed that Bobby wants to go to a manly event like the rodeo, but this pride soon turns to horror when he discovers that Bobby want to go so that he can put on make-up and become a rodeo clown.  Hank doesn't understand his son at all, but he does love him.

So many of the shows in this season are good, that it's hard to pick a favorite.  Highlights of this season include the premier episode which wraps up the cliff hanger from last season where Peggy jumps out of an airplane but her parachute doesn't open.  Little Horrors of Shop is another great episode that has Hank volunteering to teach shop class at Bobby's school for free when the program is shut down from lack of funds.  Another show I really enjoyed was A Beer Can Named Desire, where Hank has the chance to win $1,000,000 if he can throw a football into the small hole in a can of Alamo Beer.  Though those are some of the better shows, there really weren't any that didn't work in this season.

The 24 episodes that comprise the fourth season come on three double sided DVDs.  These are housed in three slimline cases, which all fit into a slip case that matches the others in the series.

Audio:

This show is presented in stereo surround sound in both English and Spanish.  The show sounds good on these discs, with the front soundstage being used a bit.  The rear channels aren't too busy, but the music and few effects that are thrown behind the viewer work well.  There isn't any distortion or dropouts, and the dialog is clean and clear.  There are optional subtitles in both English and Spanish.

Video:

The full frame video looks very good once you realize that they aren't going for top notch animation.  The animation style is a little on the crude side, but that just adds to the charm of the show, and was the look the creators were going for.  The colors are accurate and the level of detail is good.  Aliasing, something that often plagues animated shows is very minimal in these shows.  A good looking set of shows.

Extras:

There are no extras.

Final Thoughts:

This was a very good season of King of the Hill.  The show hit its stride in its third year, and this fourth season continues with a great set of shows.  There really weren't any episodes that didn't work, and several classics.  If you've never seen the program before this would be a good place to start, and fans of the show will definitely want to pick up this set.  Highly Recommended.