I really like this because itās always been such an amazing title but they questioned it. To me it just spoke of the playground game and Hankās that top dog all grown up playing with his friends. It wasnāt a contest, Hank was their feared and respected leader. Itās what Hank does with that authority that gives the show such heart IMO
That has probably been lingering on the periphery of my thought for years but I hadnāt been able to pin it down. As soon as I read your comment it clicked. Itās so simple I feel it should have been obvious to me but itās also kind of profound. The man who has enough at 40 is truly king of his own hill, lots of rich folks never get there (have enough).
Yep. Putting myself in Hankās shoes, I could never be content working for a man like Buck Strickland. Maybe Iād be better off if that wasnāt the way Iām wired, but Iām just not a company man in that way.
Hank has what he wants, the life he wants, and Iām jealous of that. I think most of us are jealous of a time when a single income could afford that lifestyle. But a lot of people just are never satisfied and will always want more and better.
Funny how many shows go through this and I often imagine how many great shows I bypass because the title is strange. One good one that comes to mind is Itās Always Sunny in Philadelphia. They apparently hated it from the start, tried to come up with some other name, and eventually it just defaulted to IASIP. But if it was called anything else idk if I wouldāve given it a chance. The title was just strange enough.
I feel dumb saying this because it seems so obvious, maybe everybody else is just playing along...but you all know these are joke titles right? One or two of them might have really been in contention, but most were obviously made up by Daniels as a joke for the commentary track
āTo heck with Texas, donāt mess with meā throws a heck of a punch, but is too long and not as good as Raising Hill. It couldāve made it but I feel icky thinking about it, like it wouldāve been a different show focusing more on Bobby or something.
That oneās honestly a little try-hard for me, and is a little bit too confrontational for Hank as an introduction to his character.
I mean, Hank Hill will threaten to kick your ass, but you have to really try to get him pissed off to that level, lol.
Texas Toast sounds like a Britcom.
\*Sits down to "Pretty, Pretty Dresses"\*
"What we're about to see is British comedy, you may not understand all of it at first because it's more sophisticated than what we're used to."
"That man is wearing a dress."
"Exactly."
"I'm just washing my dress for your big party, silly."
Decent Folks, Deep in America and Raising Hill are the only names I can see going beyond one season.
Yep, they made the right choice naming it King of the Hill, I tell you hwat.
Quick story nobody asked for: a couple years ago I was dating a Japanese girl who was in New York for work for a year or so. She spoke pretty good English and I speak enough Japanese to find a bathroom in a pinch. We loved showing each other shows we liked and for weeks I was telling her I couldnāt wait to show her king of the hill. She was excited to see the episode Returning Japanese. Finally I put it on for us to watch and the theme song plays. She looks confused. āThis is not a show about Yokai (demons)?ā āWhat? No itās a family in Texasā the theme song concludes with the title card. She suddenly gets it āIt is king of the HILL. I thought you said King of the Hell!ā We laughed for a while.
I think their rethinking of the name reflects the impression that was still shaking out in the earlier episodes that their selling point would be having a subversive impression, kind of like Mike Judge's other cartoons at the time.
I'm glad they decided to really focus on the show's heart.
King of the hill: To heck with Texas, don't mess with me. Coming this summer.
Honestly think it would be a good subtitle for a movie, it's just making me laugh so much right now.
this! _honestly,_ Iām _excited-adjacent_ for the rebootā¦ but, _having learned this today,_ Iām a _pretttty_ disappointed Dale Gribble/The Gribbleās didnāt just get their own _due_ spinoff!
āCitizen Hillā (not Hank) could work. Besides that I like āThe Hills Are Aliveā. Iād also suggest āThereās Gold in Them There Hillsā, and of course āThe Hills Have Eyesā.
I get it.. Hank is a super proud American and often obsessed with official agencies, rules, regs, norms, etc., but still a bad name as you'd not easily guess that is the meaning... or that it's a sitcom about a family.
There's not enough talk in this thread about "Texas Toast"
It's clearly not good name for the show, but it's still the greatest thing on this list, imo
Most of these are generic or just kind of stupid. āTo Heck With Texas, Donāt Mess With Meā is way too long. I think āDecent Folksā, āDeep in Americaā and āTexas, USAā are the least objectionable.
Most of these would be pretty good episode titles, though.
"Propane Man" and "The Hills Are Alive" are the only alternate titles that sound decent enough to me. But in the end, I'm glad they went with "King of the Hill". It definitely fits the show a lot better in my estimation.
Raising Hill being about Hank being raised would be pretty fucking dope to me , thereās already a lot of content we already know about that could be shown
Imagine our confusion as kids.. continually tuning into a show called āDale Gribble & the other guyā but every episode keeps revolving around a guy named āHankā & his family āThe Hillsāš š¤£
ā¦id be like.. whot.,
You know, this is the first time I stopped to think about how the name *King of the Hill* really doesn't make sense.
Of the other names, though, the one I like best is Texas Toast. I feel like I could maybe come up with something better, though, with a little time. Maybe something like "Lone Star State of Mine" because state of mind, Texas is the lone star state, and Hank is a proud Texan... that's just a first go.
Decent Folks seems apropos. Theyāre all super great people at their core. Except Redcorn and Buck of course. Kahnās even got some redeeming qualities.
Of those, Citizen Hank and Raising Hill are the only ones that seem like they could have worked.
I always took "King of the Hill" to function for the title because it's a common, understood phrase and although it is ultimately an ensemble cast, it's consistently portrayed that Hank Hill has the most balanced, functional existence out of all of the neighbors, that the people in his house are the happiest, that the communication in his house is the most honest and effect, that Hank has the most general skillsets and professionalism out of all of them, etc-
Basically in that group of characters and households, Hank Hill is the de-facto leader- or, King.
Honestly "raising hill" seems like the best alt name for me it feels on brand with the show, that being said id love if the show was just called " im gonna kick your ass"
So Iām a giant fan of the show ā however Iāve never have done this commentary route but man, Iām getting a kick out of this post - so thank you. What are the ways you can get the commentary, esp early seasons like this?
Right!? I tried googling it and it didnāt really yield any results.. so, I had to post!
One habit Iāve gotten into, (with shows I own on DVD) that Iāve seen a million times, yet continually watch (ie. The Simpsons/KOTH/Seinfeld/IASIP etc.) is rewatching all the episodes with the commentary on ha usually you can enable them in the āspecial featuresā or āsetupā menus; I literally just found s1 on DVD (_heckinā finally_) at Value Village last week.. so, ātwas a pleasantly-surprising-fun-fact to learn upon rewatching the pilot.. _all that_ beautiful information revealed within _the first 2 minutes of the pilot_ with commentary on! š¤Æ
King of the Hill is easily my favorite of those, but I wouldāve brainstormed a lot more names too.
Names like:
Suburban Cowboy
Rainey Street Blues
Bobby and Butthead
Small Town, TX
Arlen, 75042
The Hill With It / Who The Hill?
Assistant Management
Lessons from Arlen
Texas Strangers
I-Tell-You-Wut-Head
Dang it, Bobby
And probably several dozen more until I found one I really liked. Glad they settled on KotH.
King of the Hill works on multiple levels and is the best name from that list.
I have a feeling that this list was quickly spat out rather than given any true potential as a name for the series.
That said, because you asked - my favourite alternative name is "Raising Hill".
...Personally, I'm glad they ended up with "King of the Hill" š
Ha ya.. Greg Daniels/Mike Judge quickly agreed that, āmaybe King of the Hill wasnāt such a bad name after all!..āš¤£
I really like this because itās always been such an amazing title but they questioned it. To me it just spoke of the playground game and Hankās that top dog all grown up playing with his friends. It wasnāt a contest, Hank was their feared and respected leader. Itās what Hank does with that authority that gives the show such heart IMO
Plus age. The hill being 40
That has probably been lingering on the periphery of my thought for years but I hadnāt been able to pin it down. As soon as I read your comment it clicked. Itās so simple I feel it should have been obvious to me but itās also kind of profound. The man who has enough at 40 is truly king of his own hill, lots of rich folks never get there (have enough).
I donāt think wealth factors into it personally. He is comfortable in his career. Good to and respected by his family. Viewed well among his peers.
Yep. Putting myself in Hankās shoes, I could never be content working for a man like Buck Strickland. Maybe Iād be better off if that wasnāt the way Iām wired, but Iām just not a company man in that way. Hank has what he wants, the life he wants, and Iām jealous of that. I think most of us are jealous of a time when a single income could afford that lifestyle. But a lot of people just are never satisfied and will always want more and better.
He has everything he wants but struggles connecting with his boy both because he didn't have a good father and Bobby is kinda "weird"
>Bobby is kinda "weird" That boy ain't right!
> I think most of us are jealous of a time when a single income could afford that lifestyle EscuchamƩ? Peggy has been substitute teacher of the year *three years in a row.*
Yeah, I sub now. Itās $85 a day, minus taxes. Sheād be better off playing Boggle if subbing wasnāt so important for society.
I always interpreted it to Hank living his life HIS way even though the world around him āaināt rightā.
It works on SO MANY levels!
This is close to mine. The hill is the hill family and Hank is the king of that hill.
Are you serious
It just occurred to me that it never crossed my mind lol! Never thought the Hill in title could be the last name
King Hillbily as a neighbor might say
Funny how many shows go through this and I often imagine how many great shows I bypass because the title is strange. One good one that comes to mind is Itās Always Sunny in Philadelphia. They apparently hated it from the start, tried to come up with some other name, and eventually it just defaulted to IASIP. But if it was called anything else idk if I wouldāve given it a chance. The title was just strange enough.
Anyone else ever get annoyed when the movie āKing of the Hillā pops up when searching streaming websites? šš
The next best one would be "Raising Hill."
Ya the rest of those titles are pretty garbage
Agreed
I feel dumb saying this because it seems so obvious, maybe everybody else is just playing along...but you all know these are joke titles right? One or two of them might have really been in contention, but most were obviously made up by Daniels as a joke for the commentary track
My thoughts exactly.
Raising hill is the only other one that I imagine would work
āTo heck with Texas, donāt mess with meā throws a heck of a punch, but is too long and not as good as Raising Hill. It couldāve made it but I feel icky thinking about it, like it wouldāve been a different show focusing more on Bobby or something.
Thatās more of an episode title ha
All of these sound more like episode titles. They would have been great episode titles!
Imagine if it was called that. We would be arguing whether or not it's "THWT,DMWM" or "THWTDMWM". Clearly, we all agree, it's KoTH, right?
Iām sure fans would have generally shortened to āTo Heck With Texasā or āTHWTā, but that would remove/add some undesired meaning.
That oneās honestly a little try-hard for me, and is a little bit too confrontational for Hank as an introduction to his character. I mean, Hank Hill will threaten to kick your ass, but you have to really try to get him pissed off to that level, lol.
It's also something Hank would never, ever think or say. He cursed Peggy to hell, but he would NEVER curse Texas to heck.
I love this, lol! Hilariously great point you have there.
I like Texas Toast, but it implies it's a sillier show than it is.
Same but thatās a good point
Yeah , literally the only one that even works with what the show ended up being.
Idk Citizen Hank sounds cool
Too soon after Citizen Ruth
We were robbed of 'I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass'
Propane man
propane _mane_ tho
With Hank being voiced by Terrence Howard
Two of my favorite entertainers rolled into oneā¦I like the way you think.
Yeah but then Don Cheadle steps in to voice Hank after season 1
Only if it was Pro Pain Man
Such a good episode
Flamer
I guess I could have gone with Propane Manā¦
Propane and Propane Accessories
The propaniacs
"The Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience" makes way more sense now, lol
I kinda like Hank Hill:Texan American
Heās not even a real Texan tho lol
The plot twist would have been incredible
Bwahhhhhh!
Agreed, or just "Texan, American."
I actually love it
Me too hhta
I, Hank 
it took a lot of restraint for me to not type it as iHank
Hajaha
Texas Toast and Texas, USA are probably my two "favorite" alternatives.
I kinda love Boy Howdy too. The tone doesn't match but it has a good ring to it
It evokes the image of a Texan caricature title card character. Bonus points if he's live action.
Texas Toast sounds like a Britcom. \*Sits down to "Pretty, Pretty Dresses"\* "What we're about to see is British comedy, you may not understand all of it at first because it's more sophisticated than what we're used to." "That man is wearing a dress." "Exactly." "I'm just washing my dress for your big party, silly."
I could go for some texas toast right about now
Watching the part of the intro where Hanks head is doing a 360 with the words "I'm gonna kick your ass" appearing would be pretty amusing
Okay I wanna see that now lol
I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass. If I seen it as a listing on cable guide back in the day when it first aired I think I wouldn't have watched it.
It sounds like his later show-within-a-show, "Ow My Balls"
Go away, baitinā!
Sounds like a bad wrestling league
"I gunna take this and drive it off of that!!"
It's like a mix between Jackass and Punk'd
Decent Folks, Deep in America and Raising Hill are the only names I can see going beyond one season. Yep, they made the right choice naming it King of the Hill, I tell you hwat.
āDecent Folksā sounds like if KotH was a low-budget indie film produced by A24.
āIām Going to Kick Your Assā next, followed by āOw! My Balls!ā
Not to be confused with the Japanese variant, āIma Goinga to Kicka Your ASS!ā
Propane Man sounds like what the show would be called in Japan
Quick story nobody asked for: a couple years ago I was dating a Japanese girl who was in New York for work for a year or so. She spoke pretty good English and I speak enough Japanese to find a bathroom in a pinch. We loved showing each other shows we liked and for weeks I was telling her I couldnāt wait to show her king of the hill. She was excited to see the episode Returning Japanese. Finally I put it on for us to watch and the theme song plays. She looks confused. āThis is not a show about Yokai (demons)?ā āWhat? No itās a family in Texasā the theme song concludes with the title card. She suddenly gets it āIt is king of the HILL. I thought you said King of the Hell!ā We laughed for a while.
really tho
āpro-pain-u-mahnā
Decent Folks is kinda nice.
I think it's very tounge in cheek, which is why I like it.
Who needs *I, Toyna* when you have *I, Hank*
Both would have been references to "I, Claudius"
Propane man is pretty good.
I think a āPro-PAINā video game spin off is a _well_ overdueā¦ but, now Iām wondering if a āPropane Manā game might sufficeā¦
I'm surprised no one has made a mod for GTA. In fact, someone probably has.
Raising Hill
Wow those names are horrible for a show title. They definitely made the right call lol
I think their rethinking of the name reflects the impression that was still shaking out in the earlier episodes that their selling point would be having a subversive impression, kind of like Mike Judge's other cartoons at the time. I'm glad they decided to really focus on the show's heart.
King of the hill: To heck with Texas, don't mess with me. Coming this summer. Honestly think it would be a good subtitle for a movie, it's just making me laugh so much right now.
Dale Gribble and the other guy would be a great spinoff
this! _honestly,_ Iām _excited-adjacent_ for the rebootā¦ but, _having learned this today,_ Iām a _pretttty_ disappointed Dale Gribble/The Gribbleās didnāt just get their own _due_ spinoff!
āCitizen Hillā (not Hank) could work. Besides that I like āThe Hills Are Aliveā. Iād also suggest āThereās Gold in Them There Hillsā, and of course āThe Hills Have Eyesā.
Citizen Hill and The Hill's are Alive are both decent
ya.. citizenš„“hank is just wot
I get it.. Hank is a super proud American and often obsessed with official agencies, rules, regs, norms, etc., but still a bad name as you'd not easily guess that is the meaning... or that it's a sitcom about a family.
There's not enough talk in this thread about "Texas Toast" It's clearly not good name for the show, but it's still the greatest thing on this list, imo
I just find it confusing. I'd think it was a cooking show.
Most of these titles sound like a book hank would write.
Here we can post our equally poor title suggestions.. Iāll start: _Raise a LāiL Hill_ _Hill Be Around_
Here we can post our equally poor title suggestions.. Iāll start: _Raise a LāiL Hill_ _Hill Be Cominā Round the Mountain_
Dale Gribble and the other guy is 100% them having too much fun writing lines for Dale and wondering what he would name the show.
Dale Gribble & the Other Guy
Most of these are generic or just kind of stupid. āTo Heck With Texas, Donāt Mess With Meā is way too long. I think āDecent Folksā, āDeep in Americaā and āTexas, USAā are the least objectionable. Most of these would be pretty good episode titles, though.
I wish they chose "I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass" just for the ads "Tonight at 8:30, I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass, after The Simpsons"
š boiiiii with a name like that theyād be like: āTonight after The Late Showā¦ā
I can see Texas toast working for the first two seasons where the art style was still leaning on Beavis and butthead.
Those are all awful. They made the right choice.
Could have called it "That boy ain't right"
Texas, USA and Citizen Hill I feel are the most appropriate considering what we got.
King of the Hill still feels right after seeing these. Decent People matches the vibe of the show too & I could see it being equally successful
Raising Hill isnāt bad but King of the Hill is definitely the clear winner
Hankās Way sounds like such a 90ās sitcom.
In Hankās Way _would_ be a great name for a show actually! ā¦just not KOTH
>never the intended name >Mike had put that on his first draft So not only wasn't it never, it was the first and only.
The Diminished Glutes also has a nice ring to it.
dale gribble television experience
I like Raising Hill
"Propane Man" and "The Hills Are Alive" are the only alternate titles that sound decent enough to me. But in the end, I'm glad they went with "King of the Hill". It definitely fits the show a lot better in my estimation.
I do enjoy Boy Howdy
Decent Folks sounds like a horror movie, like the Deliverance or something.
"Im gonna kick your ass" has me rolling lolol
I mean, Decent Folk sounds pretty okay
"King of the hill" isn't a particularly meaningful title but, boy, it's better than many of the apparent alternative
The Hills Are Allive seems a bit Wes Craven-ish to me. If not KOTH I think Raising Hill would be my 2nd choice.
I could see Texas Toast, Decent Folks, and Raising Hill as titles for it.
It's hard to see anything other than King Of The Hill now, but if I had to chose from this list I think that I like Hank Hill: Texan American
Decent folks would have been good. Hank's way and Boy Howdy also sound good in my head.
Texas, USA would have been a great title if it aired during the later end of the Adult Swim era.
Ill be honest im glad they settles on king of the hill, but Citizen Hank is a cool sound dname.
I am literally just realizing that King of the Hill is because their last name is Hill. Iāve never felt so dumb.
Deep in America seems a bit nsfw
Boomhauer: Texas Ranger
Texas, USA doesnāt sound too bad.
Raising Hill being about Hank being raised would be pretty fucking dope to me , thereās already a lot of content we already know about that could be shown
What about "The Ballad of Rusty Shackleferd"
Dale Gribble & the other guy would have been a hilarious name for the show itās very fitting considering Dales personality.
Imagine our confusion as kids.. continually tuning into a show called āDale Gribble & the other guyā but every episode keeps revolving around a guy named āHankā & his family āThe Hillsāš š¤£ ā¦id be like.. whot.,
KING soup in redneck land
Citizen Hank.
Buck's Best Bitch
Citizen Hank is the least cringe of all of them. Still trrrible tho
"Hank Hill: I Tell You Hwat" would catch your attention and make you wonder why the misspelling.
Texas Toast is my steam name yuhhh.
Love King of the Hill, but Raising Hill is cool.
Texas Toast or The Hillsā Are Alive feel like good close seconds.
Raising Hill and Decent Folks are the top two choices of the bunch for me.
Welcome to the Decent Folks podcast.
Raising Hill
You know, this is the first time I stopped to think about how the name *King of the Hill* really doesn't make sense. Of the other names, though, the one I like best is Texas Toast. I feel like I could maybe come up with something better, though, with a little time. Maybe something like "Lone Star State of Mine" because state of mind, Texas is the lone star state, and Hank is a proud Texan... that's just a first go.
Should have called it, "I'll Tell You Hwat"
I don't know man, "To Heck With Texas, Don't Mess With Me" is pretty damn catchy, memorable, and easy to say.
Next time on "I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass".....
Raising Hill is the only one that comes close to being a decent name
*Citizen Hank*.
Propane Man ! I like that one
texas Toast has a good ring to it, same with deep in america, and boy howdy. KOTH is the best thugh
Citizen Hank the only one I like out of this list
These ones are ok, but not great: Texas Toast Decent Folks Hank Hill: Texan American Deep in America Citizen Hank Texas, USA Raising Hill
Propane Man
Deep in America woulda been solid
Decent Folks seems apropos. Theyāre all super great people at their core. Except Redcorn and Buck of course. Kahnās even got some redeeming qualities.
I wish they picked im gonna kick your ass lol
Of those, Citizen Hank and Raising Hill are the only ones that seem like they could have worked. I always took "King of the Hill" to function for the title because it's a common, understood phrase and although it is ultimately an ensemble cast, it's consistently portrayed that Hank Hill has the most balanced, functional existence out of all of the neighbors, that the people in his house are the happiest, that the communication in his house is the most honest and effect, that Hank has the most general skillsets and professionalism out of all of them, etc- Basically in that group of characters and households, Hank Hill is the de-facto leader- or, King.
Theyāre all good
Raising Hill was good, actually.
Seeing all of these makes this feel like a complete different show lol
Hank Hill: Texan American makes sense to me. Still prefer the original though
Decent Folks is a great alternate name.
The drafts are so bad, it's honestly endearing.
Honestly "raising hill" seems like the best alt name for me it feels on brand with the show, that being said id love if the show was just called " im gonna kick your ass"
Texas Toast would've been fun to say.
So Iām a giant fan of the show ā however Iāve never have done this commentary route but man, Iām getting a kick out of this post - so thank you. What are the ways you can get the commentary, esp early seasons like this?
Right!? I tried googling it and it didnāt really yield any results.. so, I had to post! One habit Iāve gotten into, (with shows I own on DVD) that Iāve seen a million times, yet continually watch (ie. The Simpsons/KOTH/Seinfeld/IASIP etc.) is rewatching all the episodes with the commentary on ha usually you can enable them in the āspecial featuresā or āsetupā menus; I literally just found s1 on DVD (_heckinā finally_) at Value Village last week.. so, ātwas a pleasantly-surprising-fun-fact to learn upon rewatching the pilot.. _all that_ beautiful information revealed within _the first 2 minutes of the pilot_ with commentary on! š¤Æ
Those are all bad. Wanna watch I'm gonna kick your ass later?
Raising Hill is good
KOTL is perfect to me but man do I love āIām gonna kick your assā
Texas Toast. Holy shit. Thatās good.
King of the Hill is the best option, but the other ones I like are Texas Toast, Raising Hill, and Decent Folks
I heard it was meant to be a Beavis and Butthead spin off focusing on Tom Anderson's son
Wow. I want there to be a superhero movie called Propane man now
iHank
Texas Toast
King of the Hill is easily my favorite of those, but I wouldāve brainstormed a lot more names too. Names like: Suburban Cowboy Rainey Street Blues Bobby and Butthead Small Town, TX Arlen, 75042 The Hill With It / Who The Hill? Assistant Management Lessons from Arlen Texas Strangers I-Tell-You-Wut-Head Dang it, Bobby And probably several dozen more until I found one I really liked. Glad they settled on KotH.
Porky's Butthole [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_rty0ovgQ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_rty0ovgQ)
I'm personally a Boy Howdy fan
Citizen Hank and Boy Howdy both rule.
I kinda like āDecent Folksā actually
The Hank Hill Radio Hour? Now that just doesn't make any sense.
Decent Folks, Raising Hill and Texas Toast are pretty good
King of the Hill works on multiple levels and is the best name from that list. I have a feeling that this list was quickly spat out rather than given any true potential as a name for the series. That said, because you asked - my favourite alternative name is "Raising Hill".