The voice of Boomhauer is based on a message left on Mike Judge's telephone answering machine by an irate viewer of "Beavis and Butt-Head" (1993).
The character of Hank Hill is based on a character in Mike Judge's "Beavis and Butt-Head" (1993) by the name of Tom Anderson who acted and talked exactly like Hank. Also Hank's catchphrase of "That boy ain't right" was from an episode of "Beavis..." when they're at Burger World and Tom Anderson comments on Beavis by saying "That boy ain't right in the head."
The show has many celebrity appearances, though rarely as themselves. Brad Pitt, Trace Adkins, Pamela Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Will Arnett, Tom Arnold, Diedrich Bader, Big Boi, Clint Black, Lisa Hartman Black, Brooks & Dunn, Gary Busey, Drew Carey, Kelly Clarkson, David Cross, Johnny Depp, Laura Dern, Ani DiFranco, Snoop Dogg, Dale Earnhardt, Will Ferrell, Sally Field, John Goodman, Nathan Fillion, John Force, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Vince Gill, Topher Grace, Green Day, Kirk Hammett, Dennis Hopper, Michael Keaton, Jamie Kennedy, Kid Rock, Johnny Knoxville, Laura Linney, Lucy Liu, Tone L?c, Bernie Mac, Danny Masterson, Matthew McConaughey, Willie Nelson, No Doubt, Laura Prepon, John Ritter, Chris Rock, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Simmons, Ben Stiller, Meryl Streep, Sum 41, Mikey Teutul, Paul Teutul Jr., Paul Teutul Sr., Randy Travis, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Alan Rickman, Mo Collins, Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, and all three members of ZZ Top, Jeff Goldblum, with Dusty Hill as Hank's cousin. Jazz musician Chuck Mangione has a recurring part as himself. Musician Tom Petty has a recurring role as Lucky, the significant other of Luanne Platter.
The character of Stuart Dooley is based on Butt-head from "Beavis and Butt-Head" (1993), Mike Judge's other show.
In the first season, John Redcorn was voiced by Victor Aaron. Aaron was killed in a car crash shortly after the recording of season 1 ("The Order of the Straight Arrow" is dedicated to his memory), and in subsequent seasons, Jonathan Joss has provided the voice.
Joseph Gribble was voiced by Brittany Murphy for the first four seasons. At the start of season 5 the show did an episode where Joseph goes through a growth spurt and emerges with facial hair and a deeper voice. Since then, the voice of Joseph has been done by Breckin Meyer, who played opposite Murphy in Clueless -- meaning that Joseph has always been voiced by someone from Clueless whose initials are B.M.
Tammy Wynette voiced Hank's mother, Tilly, in "The Unbearable Blindness of Laying" and "Peggy's Turtle Song." Wynette died shortly thereafter. Beth Grant has voiced the character in all her subsequent appearances.
Hank's full name is Henry Rutherford Hill.
Bill's full name, with military rank, is Sgt. Barber William Fontaine Delateur Dautrive. He was born in Louisiana, or in "Loser-ana" as Dale described it.
The school which Bobby Hill attends, Tom Landry Middle School (named after the Dallas Cowboys football coach), really does exist. It is located in Irving, Texas in the sub-division of Valley Ranch, just a few blocks down MacArthur Blvd. from the Dallas Cowboys' Office and Training Facility (most of the streets in the neighborhood are also named after Dallas Cowboy greats).
The Hills live at 84 Rainey Street, Arlen, Texas. The address is taken from Johnny Hardwick's old address in Austin.
The license plate on Hank Hill's pickup truck is JD3-170.
Kahn's license plate reads "KINGKAHN."
Stephen Root was uncredited during the first few seasons. This was because he was also on "NewsRadio" (1995) and his contract prevented him from being credited on another network's show. After the show was cancelled in 1999, he was able to be credited for "King of the Hill".
The Hills' dog is named Lady Bird after Lady Bird Johnson.
Hank, Bobby, Peggy and Luanne were animated into an episode of "The Simpsons" (1989). At one point, Homer makes a reference to the Springfield football team playing the Arlen football team, then, the shot goes to the Hill family, where Hank says "We came two thousand miles for this?" The rest of the characters do not speak. In an episode of King of the Hill, Bobby also has a Bart Simpson doll on his bookshelf.
A 1999 episode "Death and Taxes" has a death row inmate named "Wesley Martin Archer." Bobby comments that it's a good name for a killer. This episode is directed by Wesley Archer.
The Luann Platter is a type of combination plate available at Luby's Cafeteria, a popular restaurant in Texas (In the show, it's referred to as "Luly's"). It has a meat, a roll, and a side for a low price.
Dale Gribble's last name is a tribute to Mike, who died of cancer in 1994. Gribble, along with Spike, founded the "Spike and Mike" Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in San Diego. The Festival is considered the birthplace of "Beavis and Butt-Head" (1993), since Spike and Mike produced Mike Judge's first two Beavis and Butt-head shorts.
The town of Arlen is in Heimlich County, Texas. Both are fictional.
According to the Season 1 DVD commentary, Bobby Hill's full name is Robert Jeffrey Hill.
In the episode "Death and Taxes", on the list of prison guards is the name Alex de Large - the central character in A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Stephen Root, who voices Bill, originally auditioned for the part of Dale.
Peggy's shoe size is size 16 triple E
Though Boomhauer's first name has never been spoken on the show, numerous websites list it, for unknown reasons, as Jeff.
In the episode where Bobby is afflicted with gout, he eats at a deli that has portraits of famous comedians on the wall. One portrait is Johnny Hardwick, the voice of Dale.
This show features the last television appearance of John Ritter, who reprised his role as Eugene Grandy (supplying the voice), the junior high school teacher during season 8. The episode was "Stressed for Success" which was broadcast on May 2, 2004.
Dale's middle name is Alvin
Joseph Gribble is the name of a character in the Marx Brothers movie Room Service (1938)
Dale Gribble is named after the late Mike Gribble, co-founder of the "Spike and Mike" Animation Festival in San Diego, which premiered Mike Judge's first two Beavis and Butt-Head shorts.
The local minister, Reverend Karen Stroup, gets her name from a female minister at Central Christian Church in Springfield, Tennessee.
Kahn, of course, is just an anagram of "Hank."
Dale Gribble's looks are based on actor Robert Patrick.
The last name of the character Bill Dauterive is based on King of the Hill series writer Jim Dauterive.
Peggy's favorite song is Gloria Estefan's, "Can't Stay Away From You."
Mike Judge came up with the idea for this show in 1995.
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels pitched the show to Fox network executives, as an animated pencil sketch, featuring all the main characters with Hank doing the pitch.
In the episode about voting for the presidential candidate, Dale suggested to Hank that he was born in Ecuador; in real life, co-creator Mike Judge (voice of Hank Hill) was born in Ecuador.
In 2001, Fox ordered a live-action pilot called "Monsignor Martinez," based on the lead character of Hank and Peggy's favorite Mexican soap opera. The pilot starred Argentinian actor Ivo Cutzarida as Monsignor Martinez, and the supporting cast included King of the Hill's David Herman. The pilot was written by longtime KotH writer Jim Dauterive (who came up with the Monsignor Martinez character in an episode he wrote called "The Son that Got Away"), directed by Mike Judge, and executive-produced by Dauterive, Judge and Greg Daniels. The pilot was not picked up as a series. David Herman recalled in an interview that the pilot was very funny and full of social commentary but that "I don't think they [Fox] wanted a Catholic priest going around shooting at people."
There is no beer based on King of the Hill's "Alamo Beer". The Real Ale beer is actually called "Remember Alamo Golden Ale" but only in San Antonio, everywhere else it is called "Real Ale Firemans #4".
From the second season on, each episode ends with a line of dialogue from that episode being repeated.
Bass Pro Shops, the company that appears on Hank's fishing hat, is an actual chain of stores.
King of the Hill was passed over for renewal in September 2005, which would have made season ten its final season. The order for new episodes was only made after production had ended on the show. The renewal for the eleventh season was due to the high ratings of season ten.
Stephen Root (voice of Bill) also worked with Mike Judge in "Office Space", playing the character Milton.
In the episode with the diving pig at the fair, the pig's most difficult dive is called the "Johnny Cash", and it must dive through a flaming ring. This is a direct reference to Johnny's song �Ring Of Fire�.
When Cotton flees to Las Vegas, all of the hotel/casino names are fictional, but are parodies or real ones. For instance, the Golddust is a parody of an actual hotel/casino called the Stardust.
The melody played by Mr. Strickland's car horn is �Yellow Rose of Texas�.
Dale wears a hat with Mack (Truck Company) on it.