Sunday night, FOX aired the series finale of their long-running animated sitcom, King of the Hill. The series has had a good long run on the network but it’s still hard to say goodbye to any characters and series that you’ve enjoyed.

When FOX cancelled the show last Spring, it didn’t look like King of the Hill fans would get a chance to see the last episode for quite awhile. Production of animated shows takes quite a long time and studios sometimes order larger-than-needed batches of episodes in the expectation that a network will order them.

According to Variety, the FOX network had purchased the rights to air 13 episodes of the series’ final season. The 20th Century Fox studio however had produced 17 episodes, with the last one being the series finale.

The network didn’t own the rights to air the last episode so Sunday night’s pair of installments were originally scheduled to be general episodes. The finale looked destined to air for the first time in syndication.

But, in the end, 20th Century stepped up and renegotiated the deal with the network. FOX still paid for the rights to air 13 installments but one of the regular episodes was traded out for the finale. The other four will debut in syndication at some point.

The last episode, titled “To Sirloin, with Love,” revolves around Hank (Mike Judge) and Bobby (Pamela Adlon) finding a common interest. It seems that young Bobby has a real talent for judging the quality of beef. He joins a local “meat examination team,” they compete, and make it all the way to the state championship.

While the finale doesn’t include any big changes for the Hill clan, it was written with closure in mind and does have some sentimental moments. The episode performed well for the network, attracting over six million viewers and performing well above average. Take a look…

Image courtesy FOX.