King of the Hill: Season One

Tell you what: with this fit-for-a-king DVD set, the Hills of Arlen, Texas, emerge from the shadows of their Springfield brethren, the Simpsons. Co-created by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head, the cult classic Office Space) and The Simpsons veteran Greg Daniels, this brilliant series boasts an impeccable voice cast, bulls-eye writing, and the most rollicking theme music on television. Unlike The Simpsons, which got a running start on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Hills may take a little warming up to. In the early episodes, Hank Hill (voiced by Judge) is more of a stereotypical, quick-to-temper redneck than good ol' boy. But as this inaugural season unfolds, he empathetically struggles to be the voice of reason in an ever-changing world where his substitute teacher wife, Peggy (Kathy Najimy), is forced to teach sex ed (Hank's reaction when the repressed Peg blurts out the word "vagina" is noteworthy), his son Bobby (Pamela Segall) wants to be a prop comic, and his neighbor, Dale (Johnny Hardwick) finds government conspiracies under every grassy knoll. But Hank is that sitcom rarity: a good man and father who's devoted to his job (selling propane and propane accessories) and his family, which includes Peggy's niece, nubile aspiring beautician Luanne (Brittany Murphy). For the uninitiated, the second disc of this three-disc set may make a more favorable first impression, as it contains some of the season's best episodes, among them "Shins of the Father," which pits feminist Peggy against Hank's incorrigibly sexist father (when Peggy tells him that Bobby is a good helper in the kitchen, he responds, "Whatever you say, Hillary"). The set is loaded with rib-ticklin' bonuses, from deleted scenes to episode commentaries by the series' creators and the characters themselves. Highly recommended. (K. Lee Benson)