King Of The Hill Star Talks Replacing ‘One Of A Kind’ Johnny Hardwick As Dale Gribble, And I Love Mike Judge For Revealing How Much Of The Late Actor We’ll Hear
Not a moment too soon, the long-gestating King of the Hill revival unveiled its first official footage — the new opening credits — ahead of announcing its early August premiere date. Making it even more of a big weekend for fans of the Hill family, co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels joined the cast of returning voice actors for a revealing Q&A at ATX Fest while also revealing longtime cast member Toby Huss took over the role of Dale Gribble after the death of Johnny Hardwick.
Hardwick passed away in August 2023 at 64, with fans and co-stars paying tribute soon after. It was revealed at the time that he’d recorded some audio for the new season, but it was clear that another actor would be needed to fill those intimidating and conspiracy-obsessed shoes. Among other characters, Huss provided the voice of Cotton Hill and Kahn Sr. in the O.G. run, and feels to me like a natural fit to take over as Dale. And he sounds humbled to have been given the task, telling the ATX Fest crowd:
Johnny was one-of-a-kind and a wonderful fellow. I’m not trying to copy Johnny...I guess I’m trying to be Johnny. He laid down a really wonderful goofball character...he had a lot of weird heart to him and that’s a credit to Johnny. So all I’m trying to do is hold on to his Dale-ness. We love our guy Johnny and it’s so sad that he’s not here.
Gotta love that approach to replacing a beloved actor. Don’t just attempt to pull off the best impression possible. Go for broke trying to fully embody the person. To that end, I can already hear Dale himself questioning why he sounds different, and whether or not the government has replaced him with a lizard creature or some other sentient organism.
It’s assumed that Huss won’t be reprising the role of Kahn Sr., for culturally sensible reasons, but one can only hope that he’ll be filling in for other one-off characters as well as reprising some of his other recurring roles like M.F. Thatherton or Coach Kleehammer. In the meantime, fans will be able to see Huss popping up on the 2025 TV schedule in live-action alongside Glen Powell in his upcoming Hulu series Chad Powers, and in Zach Creggers’ new horror Weapons.
Mike Judge Shares Update About How Much Johnny Hardwick We'll Be Hearing
In the immediate aftermath of Johnny Hardwick's death, the word was that the actor had filmed a couple of episodes' worth of material for the Hulu revival, but Mike Judge went on the record at ATX Fest to reveal that initial assessment undershot things entirely. From the voice of Hank Hill himself:
Johnny Hardwick is in six episodes. He's still going to be in the show.
Huzzah! Rather than only appearing for a few eps, Johnny Hardwick's Dale will be heard as the doctor ordered for six episodes, with Toby Huss' voice arriving in the seventh episode of the revival. That's literally more than half of the show's first season back, which feels a lot more meaty than what first didn't seem like it'd be all that much.
From Bobby now being a 21-year-old chef to Hank and Peggy returning to Arlen after years living in Saudi Arabia, quite a few changes are in store for viewers with King of the Hill's revival season debuts on Hulu on Monday, August 4.
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