"No Bobby Left Behind" is the 5th episode of the 13th season of King of the Hill and the 240th episode overall. It originally aired on November 9, 2008. The episode was written by Chip Hall and Tim Croston, and directed by Tricia Garcia.
Summary[]
Principal Moss puts Bobby and Joseph into a "special needs" class to keep the low-testing students from taking an upcoming standardized test as part of the "No Child Left Behind" program, which irks Hank, who believes his son's mediocre grades are from lack of trying.
Plot[]
A math teacher meets with Hank and Peggy after Bobby receives a "D-minus" on a test. Bobby says he's not very good at math and apologizes. The math teacher considers the possibility that Bobby is simply a "bad test taker." However, Hank blames Bobby's low score on his son being lazy. Peggy vows to improve Bobby's grades by tutoring him with flash cards. Meanwhile, a school board member named Stu tells Moss about their "No Child Left Behind" problem—namely, that the students have not passed the yearly standardized test in two years. If the students fail again, the state will fire the teaching staff, including Moss. The teachers have only a few weeks to prepare the kids for the test. Principal Moss addresses the student body, telling the kids that if they do not pass the test, they will be shipped off to a school in Durndle. This gets the kids' attention—and they gasp in horror. With the test rapidly approaching, all classes, including gym class, focus on math and reading. Coach Kleehammer uses different-sized medicine balls to demonstrate a math problem. When the dumbfounded kids cannot answer the question, Kleehammer tells Moss the situation is hopeless. Moss notices something in the standardized test manual that offers a loophole: any child labeled as "special needs" is exempt from taking the standardized test. At first, Bobby isn't too sure about the idea. But when Moss states that any child labeled "special needs" is exempt from homework, Bobby embraces it. To top things off, the "special needs" kids can accompany the honor roll students on a field trip to the Alamo Land theme park the following week. Later, Mr. Terkelson evaluates the students and categorizes Bobby as "special needs." Bobby returns home and tells his parents the news. Hank reacts with irritation.
Hank drives to Bobby's school to speak with Moss, but Moss bolts out in a panic to escape Hank's wrath, so instead he speaks to Mr. Terkelson. He accuses the school of placing his son in the "special needs" class to prevent him from taking the standardized test. Hank demands action, but Terkelson assures Hank he has the final word in such matters. Later, Moss speaks with the math teacher, telling him that all "C" and "D" students have been accounted for. But when the math teacher points out a student named Jack who appears to be daydreaming, Moss has Jack removed from the classroom and placed with the "special needs" kids. Jack tells Bobby that he doesn't belong in the class. But when Bobby lists the advantages—including ice cream treats, a beanbag chair, and the trip to Alamo Land—Jack changes his mind and embraces the class. Later, Bobby and his fellow "special needs" students accompany the honor roll kids to Alamo Land, with Dale coming along as an effectual chaperone. There, Bobby, Jack, and Joseph take an interest in a log flume ride. As the log is about to plummet into a "bottomless pit," the boys stand up—and are tossed into the water. As horrified bystanders observe, Bobby and his friends plunge over the edge and into the water pool below.
When Peggy finds out about the flume ride incident, she vows that someone will pay for letting it happen but Hank points out that Bobby is partly at fault since he is well aware of his actions that led to the others overcrowding the boat and goofing around on the ride. The local news media picks up the story, prompting Stu to warn Moss that he will probably lose his job. Moss confesses to Stu he put the children in the "special needs" class so they would be exempt from the standardized test. Stu walks out in disbelief at what he heard and leaves Moss to face his fate. A short time later, Moss tells Hank about the situation at hand but receives little sympathy from Hank for the problem he caused. Hank decides there's only one thing left to do: let Bobby and the other slow learners take the test as he suspects the kids just need to be pushed. Later, Bobby learns that he passed the test. However, because of Moss' attempt to keep the slow-learning kids from taking the test and the flume ride incident, the school as a whole fails, with the test scores dropping lower from the previous year. Principal Moss is put on suspension for his unethical actions, and Coach Kleehammer is made interim principal. Later, Hank and Peggy discover that Moss now earns a living selling "J-bone" steaks in the school drop-off and pick-up parking lot.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Dale Gribble
- Bill Dauterive
- Jeff Boomhauer (non-speaking)
- Carl Moss
- Coach Kleehammer
- Joseph Gribble
- Clark Peters
- Stuart Dooley
- Lori
- Ramon Alejandro
- Jack
- Emily
- Mr. Terkelson
- Kahn Souphanousinphone
- Connie Souphanousinphone (non-speaking)
- Miguel Hernandez
- Stu
- Math teacher (voiced by Breckin Meyer)
- Jamie
- Melissa
- Susie (non-speaking)
- Tom (non-speaking)
- Leventhal (non-speaking)
- Shawn (non-speaking)
- Judy (non-speaking)
Stinger Quote[]
- Kahn: "Gribble! Where your dumb kids?"
Trivia[]
- The title of this episode is an allusion to "No Child Left Behind", the 2001 U.S. government initiative designed to reform public schools.
- It is revealed that Bobby was afraid of puppets when he was a little kid and didn't like Sesame Street.
- When the teachers prepare the students for the test, the song "Kids in America" by British singer Kim Wilde can be heard in the background.
- Bill has one line in this episode while Boomhauer does not have any lines. Also, they both appear in only one scene together.
- When Hank goes to the school to see Bobby in the special class he approaches and opens a door that has had rounded cardboard corners added to it, but in the shot right after he enters the door-frame is squared off with no cardboard corners, while all subsequent depictions of the doorway in background scenes while Hank is in the classroom show the rounded corners of the cardboard added to the door-frame. The classroom looks like a preschool but is nonetheless in a middle school.
- This episode revealed that Bobby has a "Banky" he still sleeps with and that Hank does not know about it, but Peggy does.
Quotes[]
- Coach Kleehammer: "Okay, students, circle up! Today, the only muscle you'll be stretching is your noggin."
Bobby: "What happened to kickball?"
Coach Kleehammer: "Gone. Over. Eliminated. Effective immediately, all classes, including gym, will be teaching math and reading to help prepare you for the test. Okay. Dooley! I've got a five-pound medicine ball in this hand and a ten-pound medicine ball in this hand. If you were to multiply the weightage of both balls together, what would you get?"
Dooley: "I pass."
Coach Kleehammer: "Oh, for..."(groans) "Hill?"
Bobby: "Can you use it in a sentence, please?"
Coach Kleehammer: "I just did, you little knucklehead!" - Peggy: "I will tutor you, and flashcard you until you're up to a C-."
- Bobby: "I hate letter grades. Why can't we just go back to the gold star smiley face stage?"
Gallery[]
