King of the Hill is coming back for new episodes with Hulu later this Summer, and one of the creators behind the series has confirmed how many episodes Dale Gribble’s original voice actor, Johnny Hardwick, will be featured in. King of the Hill is coming back for a new season of episodes 15 years after the original series came to an end, and a lot has happened since that original finale. This includes the tragic passing of some of its key stars in the time since, and Johnny Hardwick unfortunately passed while in the midst of production on the new episodes.
Hardwick passed away in the Summer of 2023 at the age of 64, and it was initially reported that he was able to record for a few of the new King of the Hill revival episodes before his death. The new series has since recast the voice of Dale Gribble, but during the ATX TV Festival reunion panel featuring its creators and cast (of which ComicBook was in attendance), King of the Hill co-creator Mike Judge revealed that Hardwick will be featured six episodes of the new revival season (but unfortunately did not give any more concrete details about his appearances).
King of the Hill Announces New Dale Gribble Voice Actor
Ahead of the King of the Hill panel at ATX TV Festival, it was officially announced that Toby Huss would be taking over the role of Dale Gribble in the new episodes. Huss has provided tons of voices for the original series, with his most notable roles being Cotton Hill and Kahn Souphanousinphone, and it was revealed during the panel that they essentially wanted to keep the role within the family. Speaking to taking on the new role during the panel, Huss noted just how much heart he’s trying to put into it to honor the work Hardwick had done to craft the character.
“The fact that you guys trusted me to do his voice again is really humbling…all I’ve been trying to do is…I’m not trying to copy Johnny as much as I guess as I’m trying to be Johnny,” Huss stated. “Hopefully Dale comes out through that. But it’s with a lot of love and respect for that guy because he laid down a really wonderful, goofball character that…had a lot of weird heart to him. That’s a credit to Johnny, so all I’m trying to do is to hold on to that Dale-ness…We love our guy, Johnny, and it’s so sad that he’s not here.”
RELATED: 10 Best Episodes to Watch Before King of the Hill’s Revival Premieres
When Does King of the Hill Season 14 Come Out?
King of the Hill Season 14 will be officially premiering with Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ on August 4th, and will be running for ten episodes. The synopsis for the new season teases it as such, “After years working a propane job in Saudi Arabia to earn their retirement nest egg, Hank and Peggy Hill return to a changed Arlen, Texas to reconnect with old friends Dale, Boomhauer and Bill. Meanwhile, Bobby is living his dream as a chef in Dallas and enjoying his 20s with his former classmates Connie, Joseph and Chane.”
Much like all of the changes in the real world, King of the Hill has gone through some extensive changes with its own time skip. It’s been about eight years since the events of the original series, and the characters have each gone through some big changes as each of them have gotten older. Now it’s just a matter of seeing how much Dale has changed in other ways.
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