King of the Hill: Season 3 (1998)

[Review 1 of 2] TV. You've gotta love King of the Hill. In every episode, you learn more about the past and present psychology of each of the characters, and every quirky, blurted factoid only makes them shine as flawed yet functioning family members and neighbors. The Hills live in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas in Heimlich County, which several episodes place as a 4-hour drive from Dallas as well as Port Aransas. While other episodes present inconsistencies that suggest Arlen is closer to Houston or Laredo, the most likely fictional milieu is the central Texas vicinity of Austin (home of series creator Mike Judge, whose address the Hills are said to share), which is exactly a 4-hour drive from Port Aransas but a 3.5-hour drive from Dallas or its suburbs Garland or Denton. Disc 1: Peggy Pageant Fever (Peggy decides she can win the Mrs. Heimlich County beauty pageant, forcing Hank to find a middle path between loyalty and reality); Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men (Hank's obnoxious father subverts his riding-lawnmower focus group but Hank empanels the jury to win the day); Good Hill Hunting (Hank fails to give Bobby every Texan son's rite of passage: his first deer kill); Pretty, Pretty Dresses (when the pathetic Bill finally wigs out--literally--Hank turns therapist: "He's just suicidal, he's not crazy"). Disc 2: The Wedding of Bobby Hill (Bobby is made to wed Luanne to teach him responsibility); Sleight of Hank (a magic act drives Hank crazy); John Vitti Presents: 'Return of La Grunta' (the vilified resort causes Hank and Luanne to crusade against sexual harassment); Escape from Party Island (Hank rescues his mother and friends in Port Aransas during spring break). Disc 3: Death and Texas (a prison inmate turns Peggy into an unwitting cocaine mule); Wings of the Dope (Luanne's late boyfriend returns as an angel); Take Me Out of the Ball Game (Hank learns to trust Peggy's killer pitching talent); As Old As the Hills: Part 1 (Hank and Peggy get drunk on their 20th anniversary, with a season cliffhanger). It all happens in Texas, where hunting, grilling, and mowing compete as religions with churchgoing. (As Dale chides Hank: "You go to church more than you go huntin'. You should be ashamed.") [Note: This season includes 25 episodes on three double-sided discs; this review covers all episodes on side 1.] 5 stars.