NHRA News: Drag racing's 'King of the Hill' meets TV's animated version (3/11/2004)

Drag racing's 'King of the Hill' meets TV's animated version

3/11/2004

John Force

Sunday night, drag racing's King of the Hill meets television's King of the Hill. The results should be knee-slapping hilarious.

At least that's the hope of the Fox television network, which for the last seven years has been the home of the Emmy award-winning animated series, King of the Hill, featuring Texan Hank Hill and his dysfunctional but lovable extended family.

In Sunday's episode, airing at 7 p.m., Eastern, Hank, Dale Gribble, Boomhauer, and the boys take a trip to Arlen Speedway where they encounter 12-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force and his Hall of Fame crew chief, Austin Coil.

Seems the guys are big fans of Force and his 325 mph Castrol GTX Funny Car and, without giving away the plot, a crisis arises and they step in to offer their help with the usual unexpected consequences.

Force's King of the Hill-themed Ford Mustang.
Racers Edge Photography

"It was fun to do," Force said. "We went down to the Fox studios and shot it last year and the episode is just now coming on. I think drag racing fans will like it. We met one of the guys who created the series (Greg Daniels) last year at the L.A. Auto Show where we unveiled a King of the Hill car (a special edition of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang featuring likenesses of the show's primary characters).

"I guess we'll have to bring that car back out now that the episode finally is going on TV."

According to the 109-time NHRA POWERade tour winner, both he and Coil are identified in the episode and there is a brief shot of the racecar and the Castrol transporter.

Force ran the special King of the Hill body on his national record-holding (4.721 second) Ford at the 2003 O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, losing to then-teammate Tony Pedregon in the second round.

That car was one of several "special edition" Mustangs created for Force by Action Performance Companies, Inc., which manufactures replicas of John Force Racing vehicles for sale in the collectibles market.

Hank Hill is a noted gearhead.
Image courtesy of Mike Judge and Fox.com

King of the Hill has received numerous awards since it premiered on Fox in 1997. They include the 1999 Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, a Nancy Susan Reynolds Award (1997), and an Environmental Media Award (2001).

It also has been nominated for Annie Awards, Prism Awards, and Shine Awards and, after its 1997 debut, was hailed as the Best Television Show of the Year by TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, and Time Magazine.

The series currently is licensed in 39 countries including Germany, France, Chile, South Africa, Kuwait, Norway, Spain, Ireland, Mexico, Israel, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In addition, it is among the most highly-rated comedy series in syndication.

Force joins an illustrious list of celebrities whose voices and likenesses have been used on the show. Past celebrity guests have included Chris Rock, Sally Field, Willie Nelson, Renee Zellweger, Billy Bob Thornton, Burt Reynolds, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew McCounaughey, Heather Locklear, Meryl Streep, Drew Carey, Reese Witherspoon, Lisa Kudrow, Bernie Mac, Jennifer Anniston, Kid Rock, Pamela Anderson, Lucy Liu, Michael Keaton, and George Foreman.

Daniels, co-creator of the series with Mike Judge, became interested in a Force-themed episode through an association with Fred Wagenhals, president of Action Performance, which brokered the deal for the King of the Hill racecar.

King of the Hill, the series, is a 20th Century Fox Television Production in association with Deedle-Dee Productions, Film Roman, Inc., Judgemental Films, and 3 Arts Entertainment. Michael Rotenberg, Howard Klein, John Altschuler, and Dave Krinsky are the shows executive producers along with Daniels and Judge.

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