King of the Hill: Hank Fixes Everything

Well, my Tivo listed last night's episode of King of the Hill as "Hank FIRES Everything" which didn't sound quite right to me. TV.com has the episode name listed as "Hank FIXES Everything," so I'm going with that, since I don't recall Hank doing any firing during last night's episode, although one of his workers, Joe Jack, is fired by Mr. Strickland when a price war with other propane and fuel salesmen in the area gets out of hand. Mr. Strickland figures firing Joe Jack will save about $400 a week.

I've come back to this time and again in my other KOTH reviews, but I like how the show has a "human" element other primetime cartoons don't have. However, once in a while a show, animated or otherwise, will have to bend the rules of what makes sense in order to move the plot along. The idea of a price war was a great idea for a show, but why would Arlen, a small town, need not one, but FOUR propane dealers?

All in all, a good episode, and the subplot featuring Tom Petty as Luanne's philosophical redneck boyfriend convincing her and Bobby to camp out for Brownsville Station tickets (seats in front of the speakers on the left side of the stage, to be exact) was pretty funny, especially when, after eating nothing but bread for five days, Luanne fears she may have contracted "bread poisoning." And let's not forget an appearance by the American Chopper guys, who incite a mass riot at the propane expo. My only minor disappointment was a lack of Peggy, who, if she isn't my favorite character, is the one I find most intriguing. It's as if her mind receives the same information as everyone else, but is then sent through some bizarre filter only she has, which results in her tossing out little gems like, "more people would rather see someone killed on TV than watch real people make love."