Community and Self Improvement, with Propane and Propane Accessories

How a nostalgic deep dive gave me insight into myself and the people that make up and made up my life.

After officially surviving both 2020 and my 20’s upon my 30^th birthday in January of 2021, a thought dawned on me. Amongst all my media intake of lockdown, I never deep dived into a series that I was familiar with since the mid 90’s, King of the Hill. Amongst all the animated series that became very popular on Fox in my youth, King of the Hill stood out for its (mostly) grounded slice of life humor. Although it never became the featured star on the Sunday Night ‘Animation Domination’ block, the residents of Rainey Street and citizens of Arlen, TX never over-stayed their welcome. That was, until the series’ initial cancellation in 2008, effectively gentrified out of the neighborhood to make way for Seth McFarland’s latest series, The Cleveland Show’. It was around that time when I first started watching the series closer. I’d catch episodes here and there, which was when I realized how funny, relatable, and heartfelt the show was. Now in 2021, when rumors of a reboot were becoming common, it was well over time to see the first 13 seasons!

The life and times of the Hill family have not only shown me the appeal of propane’s many uses, but to recurring themes such as family, honor, loyalty, justice, friendship, and perhaps most relevant and personal to today and myself, community and personal growth. My first encounter with its relevance to our modern times came when I watched the season 1 episode where Hank’s neighbors, the Laotian American Souphanousinphones, first move in, entitled ‘Westie Side Story’. Watching the serial in lieu of COVID, it was shocking to hear the main characters ask patriarch Kahn if he was ‘Chinese or Japanese’ and later have an erroneous dilemma concerning eating dogs. Although this is a rocky beginning to their relationship, and we come to find that both Kahn and spouse Mihn are often snobbish and antagonistic to the blue-collar residents they live around, they’re welcomed into the fold and become central members of the neighborhood for the next 12 seasons. Their daughter also becomes a primary love interest of Hank’s son Bobby. The series received praise for being one of the first mainstreams shows on television to bring attention to Laos culture.

A typical episode, particularly episodes centered around Hank himself, features him being faced with a problem. Hank, a problem solver by nature with a strict code of conduct and sense of responsibility, sets out to solve the problem which often leads him to situations that make him uncomfortable or frustrated. However, if that discomfort is for the sake of helping a friend, a neighbor, a customer, or family, he’ll grit teeth and go through hell for them. This is seen in episodes such as ‘Raise the Steaks’ wherein Hank sets out to find an alternative source of food after his latest neighborhood gathering had dissatisfaction with the food purchased at their local grocer. Hank is recommended to a local Co-op, an establishment that he is wary of for its association with hippies. Although hesitant, he is impressed with their methods of organic farming and cattle raising and joins the coop, bringing his salesmanship to improve the store’s productivity. In other episodes, he discovers that something he believed in was wrong (albeit it usually involves a lot of stubbornness on his end), such as when he learns the true story of the Alamo and has his encounter with then-candidate George W Bush’s infamous limp handshake. These encounters present a logical fallacy of Hank’s; he refrains from certain behavior or engaging in activities because of what he associates them with.

Mr. Hill is principled, a no-nonsense kind of guy, has a strong pride in his status as a Texan (despite being born in NYC), being the assistant manager of Stickland Propane, a romanticized view of all things American, and a moderate conservative view of life. He is the straight man in a township full of eccentric characters, including his own family, getting into escapades he’d likely describe as ‘not right’, but often comes to the realization that he likes many of these things he had initially dismissed. Be it organic farming, yoga, skydiving, ren faires, his son’s incorrectness, Hank often finds a personal value in it that changes his outlook. He has many insecurities and phobias, including physical contact and showing his vulnerability even to loved ones, but experiences growth. He truly believes it is important to realize what you must do will not always be comfortable.

His wife Peggy, son Bobby, niece Luanne, father Cotton, best friends, bosses, clientele, coworkers, and neighbors all do things to piss him off in one way or another, but he’d never give up on them (even if it means indulging their incorrectness). In the episode, Bill’s House’, Hank discovers that the clinically depressed, isolated, and clingy neighbor, Bill Dauterive, is exceptional at providing hospitality and support for those suffering from illness. He inspires Bill to open a halfway house in his home, which their neighbors are skeptical of, but Hank stands up for Bill by telling them how productive and healthy it will be for their downtrodden friend. He understands the value and skillset that each and everyone around him has and often encourages and advises them on a new endeavor or what he thinks is a terrible mistake. From this recognition of each community member’s inherent worth and value, their relationships are forged in almost every serial.

A core value I have found in my exploration of socialism (for me at least) is personal growth; recognizing the conditions that are keeping you from experiencing that and realizing that creating a better world is possible through changing and correctly the conditions collectively. It is never as easy as it sounds. I’ve seen myself as several characters in this show from time to time. At my worst, I can be like Bill, on a better day Lucky, on perhaps my best days a Hank/Bobby hybrid. I’ve had so much pain in leaving behind a sunk cost, being a people pleaser, and engaging in poor faith arguments where I acted completely asinine. Amidst that turmoil however, I learned newfound passions altogether, new community, and recognized how to better live the change I wanted to see in the world. For me, the hard work that had to be done was internal and gave me the self-respect I needed to recognize the set of skills I can bring and contribute to the world and the people around me. gaining self-respect. I’ve never considered myself a ‘people person’, but I can be a neighbor, a friend, a family member, partner, confident, comrade, customer, etc.

We all have different paths from life that gave us a varied set of skills, and our community gives us the opportunity to bring them out. I used that more recently to involve myself in local activists’ groups and organizations who I knew had events at the bar across the street from. From that, I started meeting other activists in my neighborhood, my local elected officials such as my alderperson, members of my police district council, committeewoman, and a deeper relationship with neighbors on and beyond my own block. I began participating in organized activities and expanding the way I could use my own talents and tools to support my friends, neighbors and fellow citizens of Chicago. I’m fortunate to be living in an apartment where my upstairs neighbors are extremely generous and always hosting gatherings, which often involve grilling (without propane, mind you) as my neighbors are passionate home cooks. I know couldn’t be here without the help of another however, for no man is an island. The family that I have, the friends I have made, the communities and social circles that I have been in and out of all contributed to that sense of that that I aspire to and encouraged my personal growth. A sort of social contract is formed that helps to uplift and nurture everyone within that shared commune.

Nearly after a decade since I began that rewatch, the King has returned with a 14^th season. Premiering in late summer 2025, Hank has returned to settle down and retire in his old neighborhood, along with most of the returning cast (including several who recorded lines but passed before the premiere, such as Johnny Hardwick and Johnathan Joss). The times have changed, but Arlen and its citizens are still recognizable. It gracefully tackles topics like toxic masculinity, polyamory, and cultural appropriation in a seamless transition from 2008 to 2025. The cast and crew have grown but are still recognizable in the way that one revisits their hometown after moving away. Some change for the better, some less so, and others are still working on themselves, their community there to support and dissuade them however best they can. The Hill family are not sovereigns in the sense of ruling, but in being an anchor for themselves, theirs, and anyone they find rapport with, even if they are stubborn or resistant to some ideas on reflex. With several more seasons having been greenlit, I suspect that the Hills and Rainey Street will continue commentary on where we are as a nation. We are in uncharted territories that bring uncertainty and existential dread with it, but in our communities, we can find solidarity in providing support, strengthening our bonds, and use our shared frustration for us to build, overcome, and grow.