Top Fifteen Celebrity Guest Stars From King of the Hill
The Top Fifteen Guest Stars from King of the Hill
King of the Hill has been woefully overlooked in the history of adult animation. Despite its 13 seasons, multiple awards, and tenure as one of the top ten longest-running animated series ever, I am still on a personal crusade to prove to everyone around me how worthy of praise this cartoon truly is. (Seriously, I bring it up in casual conversation and it is either ignored or mocked.)
Throughout my crusade, I’ve tried to appeal on multiple levels: comedy, social conscientiousness, voice acting talent…the list goes on. Throughout all this, I have been slowly working my way back through all 259 episodes, and, in doing so, it dawned on me just how many surprising acting greats spent some time in the King of the Hill universe. So, my next appeal to the masses will be one of celebrity; from the first season to the last, King of the Hill has never been short on star power.
- Willie Nelson as Himself in “Hank’s Got the Willies” Season 1 Episode 4
When Bobby tries getting Hank’s attention by playing his beloved guitar, Betsy, with a block of cheese, Hank decides to take Bobby golfing in an attempt straighten him out. On the way to the golf course Hank suggests some possible heroes for Bobby to look up to, like his own hero, Willie Nelson. Once they arrive at the golf course Bobby has some beginners luck, and Hank is so proud he lets Bobby to tee-off. After a solid smack, Bobby’s ball manages to land right in the face of Mr. Nelson himself. Still injured, Willie is unable to respond well to Hank’s adorations and quickly speeds off in his golf cart. Bobby feels terrible that he screwed up his Dad’s one chance to talk to his hero, so he rides his bike down to Willie’s mansion, with Betsy in tow. Willie invites Hank down for a barbecue and reveals that he has autographed his guitar and invites Hank to play a song with him. Although Willie Nelson’s voice acting is nothing to write home about, the themes of heroism and love in this episode is enough to have anybody strummin’ and singin’ in no time.
2. Sally Field as Junie Harper in“Hilloween” Season 2 Episode 4
Sally Fields turns her sweet voice to the saccharine, over-zealous Junie Harper, a wildly religious woman with a mission to ruin Halloween for everyone in Arlen. After being tipped off that Hank is planning on doing a Haunted House for the local middle school, Junie quickly corners the principal and bullies him into cancelling it. When Hank and Bobby attempt to TP her house she accidentally runs over her beloved cat to chase after them, which only serves to galvanize her vendetta on Halloween. The next day she crashes a city hall meeting, claiming that Satanists attacked her and murdered her cat, which she shrewdly brought to the meeting in a lunch pail as evidence. The council, horrified, agrees to ban Halloween and endorses Harper’s alternative “Hallelujah House.” On Halloween night, with all the neighborhood kids at the “Hallelujah House” Hank, clad in his ill-fitting boyhood Devil costume, storms the heavenly home to bring Halloween (and candy) to the children of Arlen. Junie Harper’s last words are her yelling down the block that there’s more heaven for her then. Sally Fields, famous for her kind, motherly persona in films, does an amazing job channeling the well-meaning madness of Junie Harper’s cause.
3. Chris Rock as Roger ‘Booda’ Sack in “Traffic Jam” Season 2 Episode 16
The episode begins with Hank getting into an accident and choosing to attend “Defensive Driving School” to avoid increasing his insurance rates. He gets quite the shock when he realizes that the class is being run by an energetic stand-up comedian with an outrageous sense of humor that Hank finds extremely embarrassing, Booda Sack. When Bobby finds out who the teacher is he is beyond excited, apparently he is a huge fan, much to Hank’s chagrin. He goes out to watch one of Booda’s routines and is blown away but takes this inspiration in the exact wrong way. The episode ends with Bobby floundering at a comedy club with some unsavory racial material, but thankfully Booda comes to his rescue and diffuses the situation whilst teaching Bobby an important lesson about his unique perspective in comedy. Afterwards, Hank is so grateful that he even offers Booda, well technically Roger, a full-time job at Strickland Propane. Which is basically the highest honor Hank can bestow on anyone. Roger even appears in several episodes throughout the series as a continuing Strickland employee, though he is no longer voiced by Chris Rock.
4. Will Ferrell as Coach Lucas in “Three Coaches and a Bobby” Season 3 Episode 12
Hank Hill is eternally disappointed in Bobby’s lack of athletic ability, and in this episode Bobby refuses to put up with it. At first, Hank attempts to revitalize Arlen’s football team by bringing back the ruthless Coach Sauers, Hanks high school coach. Unfortunately, this completely backfires as one by one the team quits football in favor of the friendly soccer team practicing in the next field over. Coach Lucas, with the gregarious voice of Will Ferrell, runs this team like one giant participation award-show. At first, this bolsters Bobby’s confidence; he has no problem with the soft-coaching methods during practice. But as the losses begin, Coach Lucas remains gratingly happy. At one point he even suggests that the team tries not to score, so their opponents won’t feel bad. Thus, the tide begins to turn towards football. In a triumphant finale, Coach Hank takes over the football team and convinces his wayward team to abandon their current game and charge the football field, soccer be damned.
5. Betty White as Delia “Escape from Party Island” Season 3 Episode 18
Hank’s mother Tilly is absolutely obsessed with miniatures. And so are her three friends: Lillian, Maureen, and Delia (voiced by the incomparable Betty White). Hank offers to drive the four of them to a miniatures museum in Port Arasnas, worried that the ladies won’t be able to handle themselves on such a long journey. Shortly after they arrive, it becomes apparent that Spring Break has started up in full swing and the streets are packed full of bikini clad co-eds and drunken frat boys. It was pretty touch and go there for a while, but somehow Hank manages to usher the women out amidst all the chaos, whilst learning an important lesson on the importance of miniatures in their lives.
6. Meryl Streep and the Dixie Chicks as Aunt Esme Dauterive and the widows in “A Beer Can Named Desire” Season 4 Episode 6
This appearance is definitely one of the more minor of all guest stars in terms of screen time, but I simply could not deny Meryl. Plus, she does a charmingly morose Louisiana accent that demands to be appreciated. Aunt Esme Dauterive is the remaining matriarch of the Dauterive family whom we meet on a road trip with the entire Rainey street team. Bill becomes entangled in a semi-incestuous love triangle/square with his three widowed cousins (voiced by The Dixie Chicks), two through marriage and one through blood. The cousins are all after carrying on the Dauterive name, and fortune. Throughout the episode Bill must unravel the mystery of which one he is related to, in order to cash in on the fact that two women actually want to sleep with him. Aunt Esme is watchfully in the background for this familial farce, but upon realizing Bill’s lack of commitment to the family-line, sends him away with a searingly serene “I think it would be best if you took your leave” (though not before he got some fun in).
7. Snoop Dogg and Renee Zellweger as Alabaster Jones and Tammi Duvall in “Ho Yeah!” Season 5 Episode 13
This is one of the many episodes that show Hank’s complicated relationship with morality. When Tammi Duvall (voiced by Zellweger) begins work at Strickland after moving to Arlen she causes quite the stir, which leads Hank to missing his lunch date with Peggy. Thankfully, Tammi is more than happy to fill in and the two become gal-pals in a snap; soon enough Peggy offers her a place to stay in their den (despite Hank’s disapproval) and begins tutoring her to get her GED. Tammi proves to be a generous tenant, gifting Hank both rent and a cowboy hat with a big feather. In a show of good faith, he eventually begins taking her with him on propane maintenance outings. Unbeknownst to him, Tammi is a prostitute trying to get back on her feet, and she begins catering to Hank’s clientele. Hank is completely innocent of Tammi’s behavior; he even approves when she gives Peggy a scandalous makeover, but that all changes when Alabaster Jones shows up. Snoop Dogg’s iconic voice is a hilariously incongruous pairing to Alabaster’s skinny, white frame and it only gets funnier when he and Hank get into a fight over Tammi’s freedom. When Hank realizes what Tammi’s true occupation is, he is shocked to say the least, but when push comes to shove acts as her pimp in shining armor. Saving the day and allowing Tammi to regain her freedom from the aggressive Alabaster, leaving Oklahoma city behind her once and for all.
8. Alan Rickman as King Philip “Joust Like a Woman” in Season 6 Episode 8
This is not only my favorite guest appearance, but also one of the best episodes of the entire series, though I’m definitely biased as this episode contains an undeniably feminist theme. On a noble quest to supply the entire local Renaissance Faire with propane, Hank is introduced to King Philip, the owner of the fair who has a particularly medieval idea of gender roles. Enter: Ms. Peggy Hill, who immediately finds herself in King Philip’s hot seat after belittling the accuracy of his English accent. Peggy Hill gets assigned to work the wench tent, where she discovers a litany of workers rights violations all at the expense of the women workers whom King Philip delights in abusing. Peggy continues to butt heads with the King, which eventually results in her being thrown into the stocks. Hank attempts to save Peggy’s honor by challenging King Phillip to a joust. Which he loses. Yet all hope is not lost! Peggy valiantly charges in on a wily steed and bests King Philip with the very rug beater he assigned to her. But the ultimate defeat comes when King Philip is served a lawsuit by the rest of the mistreated wenches and he finally breaks character into a Texas twang. If this episode’s story doesn’t appeal to you, it is at least worth the trouble to hear the dulcet tones of Alan Rickman breaking into a southern accent.
9. Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Vayzosa in “The Substitute Spanish Prisoner” Season 6 Episode 10
Jeff Goldblum’s seductive vocals are used to great affect as the sinister scam-artist Dr. Vayzosa. A failed diet product salesman, Dr. Vayzosa moonlights as the head of the “Intelligence Institute of Texas” an online program that claims to host an at-home IQ test that identifies geniuses and simultaneously offers a one thousand dollar, one-night, online PhD program. “Dr.” Peggy Hill gets wrapped up in his scheme, losing a thousand dollars of her and Hank’s retirement fund in the process. In an attempt win back the money of Dr. Vayzosa’s victims, she develops a complicated two-level sting operation that eventually results in his financial demise. Throughout the episode, Goldblum distinguishes himself with his unfailing ability to make Dr. Vayzosa somehow charismatic yet undeniably vile.
10. Michael Keeton as Trip Larson “Pigmailion” in Season 7 Episode 9
This is one of the guest stars most prominently featured in a single episode, as well as most oddly characterized. Michael Keeton plays Trip Larson, a successful pork-product entrepreneur who sets his sights upon Luanne when she attends his business seminar. They quickly become deeply infatuated with each other as Trip continually pulls hugely grandiose rich-guy gestures of affection. When Trip suddenly moves Luanne in with him, things take a much more worrisome turn. He dyes her hair overnight while she sleeps, mulches all her clothes, and forces her to dress up like his childhood dream girl: the advertisement model for Larson Pork Products who once graced the walls of his neglectful childhood home. Hoping to debut Luanne’s new persona, Trip hosts a grand Halloween shindig. Trip decks himself out as the Larson pig, snout and all, and after scaring Luanna he chases her into the slaughter house where they both get stuck on the sausage conveyor belt. Trip is ecstatic at the thought of their poetic demise, but Luanna quickly frees herself. Trip, laughing maniacally at the deadly spike that is about to impale him, exclaims “Momma, Poppa, I’m coming home!” The episode ends with Trip briefly regaining his sanity before being turned into sausage off-screen, and a final a nod to Luanne for eventually standing up to be her own woman. Michael Keeton’s hauntingly insane characters solidifies this as one of the strangest and most morbid episodes of the series.
11. Brad Pitt and Laura Dern as Patch Boomhauer and Katherine in “Patch Boomhauer” Season 8 Episode 1
This is one of the few episodes that gives you some deeper insight into Boomhauer as a character, and it is only improved by the fact that Brad Pitt is doing his best Boomhauer impression in his portrayal of Patch whilst Laura Dern is caught in the middle as Katherine, Boomhauer’s ex-girlfriend and Patch’s current fiancé. Patch and Katherine arrive in Arlen and announce their surprising engagement. While Rainey Street does their best to prepare for the unexpected nuptials, Boomhauer must wrestle with the fact that he is still deeply in love with Katherine. She is the only one who could ever sway him from his womanizing ways, but the same cannot be said for Patch who proves himself to be an unfaithfully raunchy Romeo.
12. Ben Stiller as Rich in “That’s What She Said” Season 8 Episode 10
Ben Stiller spends this entire episode getting on Hank’s nerves, to hilarious effect. When and elder member of the Strickland Propane family retires, they hire Rich to step in. Initially, he seems like an ideal employee, but once his lewd sense of humor becomes apparent Hank realizes he has a major problem on his hand. Unfortunately for him, the rest of Strickland seems to revel in Rick’s comedic stylings. Strickland himself soon opts to take Rich on a golfing trip, rather than his usual partner, Hank. Hank attempts to put up with the madness, but it gets so ridiculous that he begins to look into filing for sexual harassment against Rich. Too embarrassed to make any legal moves alone, he works on convincing his coworkers to stand up for decency. The last straw is when Rich begins playing an aggressive game of ass-tag, forcing everyone to remain seated for the entire work day lest they receive a swift spanking. Hank is the final victim. After his spanking, Hank stands for himself, and the rest of Strickland Propane admit that they’ve begun to hate the lewd jokes and constant ass-tags too. Thus, ends Rich, and Ben Stiller’s, time with Strickland Propane.
13. Jason Bateman as Dr. Leslie in “The Petriot Act” Season 9 Episode 6
In this episode Hank gets suckered into shelling out thousands of dollars for the care of a single cat, all thanks to Jason Bateman’s opportunistic Dr. Leslie. Hank Hill is a Texan first, but a patriot and dog-person second and third. So, when Bill volunteers to take care of an active duty soldier’s perfect golden retriever, Hank jumps at the chance to sign up (despite his family’s disapproval). Unfortunately, when his temporary pet arrives, a week before a planned family vacation, he is surprised to find not the handsome canine he expected but a vicious cat. As Duke makes himself at home by spewing hairballs all over the floor, Hank is forced to take him to the most expensive vet nearby. Here, he meets Dr. Leslie, who is legally obligated to give this pet the highest quality care possible in accordance to the papers Hank signed when he agreed to take care of her. Dr. Leslie proceeds to do every expensive test in the history of veterinary science, and each time Hank attempts to put a stop to it the doctor kindly reminds him of his legal obligation to Duke. Thankfully, Hank eventually wriggles his way out of the situation, but not before spending the family’s entire vacation fund first.
14. John Goodman as Tommy in “SerPUNt” Season 11 Episode 2
When Bobby becomes jealous of Hank’s love for the family dog, Lady Bird, Lucky takes him out to get a pet of his own, a giant snake named Jake. But the rest of the family is terrified by their household’s newest addition, in response to their screaming Jake escapes down a toilet. Hank reports this to the lackadaisical County Animal Control that is run by the opportunistic Tommy, along with his lackey Rollo. When Tommy and Rollo realize they can make overtime to hunt for this snake, they convince the county put extra funds into the venture to catch the creature whilst they rake in the benefits. The entire town blames Hank for irresponsibly releasing this monster into their sewage and everyone is afraid to use their own toilets. Meanwhile, Tommy and Rollo are living it up with the extra money they’ve been receiving for the extra work they aren’t doing. Eventually Hank and Dale manage to infiltrate their snake-hunting operations to restore Hank’s honor and allow Arlen to once again poop in peace.
15. Will Arnett and ZZ Topp as Portis and themselves in “Hank Gets Dusted” Season 11 Episode 5
Hank is heartbroken when his Dad gives his beloved Cadillac car to Hank’s cousin, Dusty Hill. Yes, that Dusty Hill. Dusty and the rest of ZZ Top journey to Arlen to pick up the car, with a reality show crew in tow run by the aggressive Portis, Will Arnett. Portis continues to encourage Dusy and the gang to play cruel pranks on Hank simply to get a rise out of him for the benefit of their series. But eventually Portis goes one step too far when he gets his hands on the Cadillac. Dusty and Hank eventually work out their differences, but Dusty Hill has never again been seen or referenced on the show.
And finally, honorable mention of the century goes to Tom Petty, who was such a popular guest star that the creators eventually wrote his character, Elroy “Lucky” Kleinschmidt, into the series full-time for the final season. Because of his multiple appearances, he could not fairly be included on this list, but I would be remiss to go without mentioning this loveable lunk. Lucky’s nickname-sake comes from his fortuitous fall in a Costco bathroom, which afforded him a considerable settlement amount that he now lives off. One of his other crowning achievements is marrying Luanne Platter, Peggy’s niece and a key character since day one, in a surprisingly sweet shotgun wedding. This character is known to be one of the most impressive “guest“ appearances in the entire series, mainly due to its perfect fit and impressive longevity. John Altschuler, showrunner for the last seven to eight years of the series, created the character and described his appearance as “Tom Petty without the success.” According to Mike Judge, the team thought “what if we tried to get Tom Petty?” And after one killer table read, it was set; Petty continued to esteem himself for his remaining five years on the series, becoming a series favorite with his 28 total episodes as the hillbilly philosopher.
Other Notable Guest Stars Include: David Cross, Jennifer Anniston, George Foreman (as himself), No Doubt (as themselves), Chuck Mangione (as himself), Lucy Liu, Kid Rock (as himself), Pamela Anderson, Milla Jovovich, Yakov Smirnoff (as himself), Kathy Bates, Gary Busey, Nathan Fillion, Owen Wilson, Lisa Kudrow, Ann Richards (as herself), Andy Dick, Reese Witherspoon, Don Meredith (as himself), Sarah Silverman, Pauly Shore, Billy Bob Thornton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Wallace Shawn, Gene Simmons, Sum 41 (as themselves), Amy Adams, Anna Faris, Elijah Wood, Lindsay Lohan, Alyson Hannigan, Henry Winkler (as himself), Christopher Lloyd, Jason Bateman, Brendan Fraser, Drew Barrymore, Big Boi (“Antwan Patton”), Justin Long, Ricki Lake, Randy Savage, Dax Shepard, Johnny Knoxville, and Colin Mochrie
