King of the Hill FOX series finale

FOX just can’t seem to decide if they want King of the Hill or not.

Back in 2005, the show was set to be cancelled but execs changed their minds when the ratings went up and the Hill family stuck around for a few more seasons.

Last October, FOX announced that they were officially cancelling the animated sitcom. Though there were still several new episodes left, the April 12th episode was initially described as the animated sitcom’s series finale. Several original episodes aired after that.

It was later confirmed that there were still six original episodes left. FOX had already licensed two of them and the network had the option to license the remaining four. FOX pulled the show completely in late July, an indication that it was gone for good.

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Last week, at the Television Critic’s Summer Press Tour, FOX’s network president, Kevin Reilly, said that it was unlikely that the network would be airing any more new episodes of King of the Hill.

Today, FOX announced that they were going to be running two original episodes together and calling them the series finale. Titled “The Boy Can’t Help It” and “The Honeymooners,” the stories revolve around Bobby being considered a ladies’ man at school and Hank’s mother’s sudden plans to remarry. The so-called “Texas-size” series finale is set to air on September 13th.

That will presumably finish off the number of episodes that FOX has licensed. So, what happens to the remaining four installments?

They’ll surely surface at some point so it’s just a question of when. The show is currently airing in syndication on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and the last batch of episodes should be available to the cable channel soon. If Cartoon Network picks them up, they’ll be aired and could be promoted as “world premieres.”

The last four episodes are titled “Bill Gathers Moss,” “When Joseph Met Lori, and Made Out with Her in the Janitor’s Closet,” “Just Another Manic Kahn-Day,” and “To Sirloin with Love.”

It’s unclear if the actual last episode, “To Sirloin with Love,” will give any more closure to the sitcom than FOX’s so-called series finale. However, it was registered with the copyright office in December 2008, two months after FOX announced the cancellation.

What do you think? Would you rather have seen the final handful of episodes on FOX or are you just as happy to see them show up elsewhere?

Image courtesy FOX.