From Mike Judge, creator of Beavis And Butt-head, and Greg Daniels, former writer/producer on The Simpsons, comes King Of The Hill. Set in Arlen, Texas King Of The Hill is about the daily life of Hank Hill, a propane salesman, and his family(wife Peggy, son Bobby and niece Luanne) and friends(Bill, an army barber, Dale, an exterminator and conspiracy nut and Boomhauer, an all-around ladies man). The show became a hit soon after its debut and the complete first season is now available to own on DVD.
Available from Fox in a three-disc box set the complete first season of King Of The Hill is presented in its original fullscreen aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and comes with an english 2 channel Dolby Digital audio track and a spanish 2 channel Dolby Digital audio track. Subtitles have also been included in english and spanish.
The special features, which have been spread over the three discs, include over 50 deleted and extended scenes, audio commentaries on selected episodes, a music video, promo spots, a behind-the-scenes featurette and more.
The episodes included on disc one are "Pilot", "Square Peg", "The Order Of The Straight Arrow", "Luanne's Saga" and "Hank's Got The Willies".
The special features include a special introduction to the DVD by Hank Hill, a making of featurette, deleted and extended scenes on all episodes and audio commentaries by series co-creator Greg Daniels on "Pilot" and by director Klay Hall on "The Order Of The Straight Arrow".
The Making Of King Of The Hill featurette, which runs for 23:51, details the show's creation from its humble beginnings to its final product. Throughout the featurette we discover, through interviews with creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels as well as with cast members and animators, how the show was created, animated and finally made it to air. We also get behind-the-scenes footage of the the actors recording their voices for the show as well as snippets of a table read.
There's also an easter egg hidden on this disc. To access it you have to go to the commentaries section of the special features. Once inside the commentaries section highlight the words MAIN MENU and press the left arrow button on your remote to access a short instructional film entitled "Mowing Lessons For Charlie".
Disc two includes the episodes "Westie Side Story", "Hank's Unmentionable Problem", "Shins Of The Father", and "Peggy The Boggle Champ".
The special features include a special introduction to the DVD by Bobby Hill, deleted and extended scenes on all episodes, Meet The Hills interactive gallery, The Do's and Don'ts animation guide and audio commentaries by Hank's good buddies Dale Gribble and Bill Dauterive on "Westie Side Story", series co-creator Greg Daniels on "Hank's Unmentionable Problem" and Bobby and Peggy Hill on "Shins Of The Father".
The Meet The Hills interactive gallery allows you to access rought sketches, first drawings and expressions for Bobby, Hank, Peggy, Luanne, Cotton, Bill, Dale and Boomhauer. Also included in Dale's file are seven clips from the show in which Dale reveals a conspiracy.
The Do's and Don'ts animation guide is a series of rules set up for the animator when animating the show. It essentially tells them things to avoid doing when drawing certain characters or objects as well as how they should properly be drawn.
Disc three includes the episodes "Keeping Up With Our Joneses", "Plastic White Female", "The Company Man" and "King Of The Ant Hill".
The special features on disc three include a special introduction to the DVD by Dale Gribble, deleted and extended scenes on all episodes except "Plastic White Female", an alternate ending for "The Company Man", a music video by The Barenaked Ladies, promo spots and audio commentaries by Bobby and Peggy Hill on "Plastic White Female", director Klay Hall on "The Company Man" and by Hank's good buddies Dale Gribble and Bill Dauterive on "King Of The Ant Hill".
There's also one more easter egg hidden on this disc. To access a clip of Hank thanking all the people who make King Of The Hill possible highlight the words SPECIAL FEATURES on the main menu and press the left arrow button on your remote to highlight the picture on the wall and press enter.
Out of all the commentaries on this set the best ones are definetely the ones provided by the characters themselves. Sure the ones provided by series co-creator Greg Daniels and director Klay Hall may be informative but the character commentaries are quite funny. If you're not sure of which one to listen to first then I'd recommend starting with the commentary provided by Bobby and Peggy Hill on "Plastic White Female". It's definetely the funniest one and a rather embarrasing one for Bobby. The only problem I have with the commentaries is that Dale doesn't seem to be himself. The voice is there but the personality of the character is missing. It would of also have been nice to have Mike Judge included on the commentary track with Greg Daniels for the pilot episode as well as having him record one in character.
If you're a fan of King Of The Hill and you don't already own the complete first season, then what are you waiting for? This box set is packed with great extras and great episodes, no fan should be without it.