King of the Hill - The Complete Third Season (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)The third season of KING OF THE HILL is perhaps its best, with the writing at its peak and with as varied and well-defined a group of characters as you'll find on any sitcom. Here's a brief rundown of the 25 episodes in this set:
1. "Death of a Propane Salesman" -- The long-awaited conclusion to the cliffhanger that ended season two. A darkly funny opening to a great season, finding humor in the question of how we deal with death and fear of dying.
2. "And They Call It Bobby Love" -- Bobby (Pamela Segall) falls in love with a girl (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who's two years older than him. This episode won KotH the Emmy for outstanding animated series.
3. "Peggy's Headache" -- Peggy (Kathy Najimy) finally realizes that Dale's wife Nancy (Ashley Gardner) is having an affair with her Native American "healer," John Redcorn (Jonathan Joss). Another episode that takes a tough subject, adultery, and makes it funny.
4. "Pregnant Paws" -- Hank (Mike Judge) tries to find a breeding partner for his dog Ladybird, which makes Peggy jealous, as she's the one who really wants another baby.
5. "Next of Shin" -- To add to Hank's frustration over not being able to have another child, his father Cotton (Toby Huss) reveals that he's going to become a father again. As you can see, this season of King of the Hill is one of the few seasons of an animated series that incorporates some continuing story arcs; the story points introduced in this episode will continue in other episodes and come to a head in the season finale.
6. "Peggy's Pageant Fever" -- Peggy enters a beauty pageant and becomes insecure both about her looks and her accomplishments. Contains some of the show's best moments, especially a hilarious throwaway scene where Bill (Stephen Root) sings "Takin' Care of Business." Guest stars include Carol Alt and Kathy Ireland.
7. "Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men" -- Hank, his friends and his father sit on a focus group, and Hank is the only one who objects to the company's plans to redesign its product. Guest-stars, Billy Bob Thornton and Dwight Yoakam.
8. "Good Hill Hunting" -- Hank wants to take Bobby on his first hunting trip, but is unable to get a hunting license. Like the gun episode from the second season, this episode both satirizes Texas culture and takes it as a given; and it's not so much about guns as about a father-son relationship and the significance we attach to coming-of-age rituals.
9. "Pretty, Pretty Dresses" -- The strangest Christmas episode ever: Hank's lonely divorced friend Bill tries to kill himself, and then decides that if he can't get his wife back, he will become her by wearing her old clothes. It sounds depressing, but it's actually one of the funniest episodes of the season -- with a genuinely touching ending capped by a great closing gag. What makes King of the Hill so good is its ability to be realistic and bizarre and affecting all at once, and this is one of the best episodes.
10. "A Firefighting We Will Go" -- Hank and his friends become volunteer firefighters. An unabashed slapstick episode, full of Three Stooges references, crazy physical gags, and funny lines. One of the funniest episodes of the season demonstrates that KotH can do a "wacky" episode as well as anybody.
11. "To Spank With Love" -- Peggy gets in trouble for spanking a student, but then becomes a hero as "Paddlin' Peggy," and starts to use her reputation to scare her students.
12. "Three Coaches and a Bobby" -- When Hank gets his tough old coach to run Bobby's football team, Bobby decides he'd rather play on the more fun, less regimented soccer team. Includes Hank's infamous description of soccer: "Soccer was invented by European ladies to keep them busy while their husbands did the cooking." Guest star: Will Ferrell.
13. "De-Kahnstructing Henry" -- Hank's overachieving neighbor Kahn (Toby Huss) tries to make Hank jealous of his great new job -- but in the process, he gives away government secrets and gets fired.
14. "The Wedding of Bobby Hill" -- Bobby and his cousin Luanne (Brittany Murphy) compete for the attention of a concert promoter and self-proclaimed genius, Rad (Matthew McConaughey). When things get out of hand, Hank and Peggy teach Bobby a lesson by convincing him that he got Luanne pregnant and has to marry her.
15. "Sleight of Hank" -- After seeing a magic show, Bobby incorporates the tricks and patter into his Sunday School report on Jesus. Besides this hilarious scene ("I am The Amazing Jesus!") the episode is a character study of the differences between Hank and Peggy.
16. "Return to La Grunta" -- The story of Hank almost getting sexually assaulted by a dolphin is combined with a parallel subplot about Luanne getting sexually harassed at work. One of the show's most famous and unique episodes. Guest star: Billy West.
17. "Escape From Party Island" -- Hank takes his mother and her friends to a miniatures museum in Port Aransas, and winds up caught in the middle of MTV's Spring Break. Guest stars: Pauly Shore, Phyllis Diller, Uta Hagen, Betty White.
18. "Love Hurts and So Does Art" -- Nervous about the idea of going to a dance with Connie (Lauren Tom), Bobby starts overeating and develops gout.
19. "Hank's Cowboy Movie" -- Hank tries to get the Dallas Cowboys to move their training camp to Arlen by making a promotional video for the town. Everything goes farcically wrong, of course, but the episode has a surprisingly touching undercurrent about Hank's fear that Bobby will leave Arlen when he grows up.
20. "Dog Dale Afternoon" -- Dale (Johnny Hardwick) is driven round the bend when his friends steal his new lawn mower as a prank.
21. "Revenge of the Lutefisk" -- The new female minister (Mary Tyler Moore) serves a midwestern fish dish, which somehow indirectly leads to Bobby accidentally burning down the church.
22. "Death and Texas" -- Peggy goes to visit a death row convict, and unwittingly winds up smuggling cocaine in to him.
23. "Wings of the Dope" -- Luanne thinks that her boyfriend Buckley (David Herman) has come back as an angel. Contains the famous use of the song "Life in a Northern Town" by Dream Academy.
24. "Take Me Out of the Ball Game" -- Peggy becomes the star pitcher for Hank's softball team, but Hank's over-managing causes her to lose her touch.
25. "As Old as the Hills" -- In the season finale, Hank and Peggy mark their twentieth wedding anniversary by lamenting their lost dreams, and they decide to do something crazy. This episode ties up the themes that have run through the season (such as Peggy's frustration and Cotton's new baby) into another funny, touching and well-constructed story.

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The adventures of Hank Hill and his family and friends in a modern Texas town.Genre: TelevisionRating: NRRelease Date: 6-FEB-2007Media Type: DVD

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