"Shins of the Father" is the 8th episode of the first season of King of the Hill. It was first aired on March 23, 1997. It was written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, and directed by Martin Archer, Jr.
Summary[]
Hank's brash, sexist father, Cotton Hill, crashes Bobby's 12th birthday party — and stays over the Hills' house, which does not sit well with Peggy when Cotton's misogyny begins rubbing off on Bobby.
Plot[]
Leafing through the mail, Hank notices that Bobby's birthday invitation to his Grandpa Cotton was returned. He then realizes that Bobby wrote "Hell, USA" as the mailing address. Bobby explains that Peggy told him Cotton was the devil (Peggy counters that she said Cotton was "evil" and doesn't know how anyone can get "devil" from "evil", despite that "evil" is in the word "devil"). Bobby then recites a list of things he dislikes about his grandfather: his big plastic teeth, his incessant screaming, and his lack of shins. Hank explains that Cotton lost his shins "defending Texas in World War II." Bobby telephones his grandfather and invites him to the celebration (but not before Hank reminds Bobby that he has to dial more than two numbers if he's going to fake dial). The day of the party (which, despite Bill crashing into the fence on a Slip-'n-Slide, is a dud), a Cadillac pulls into the driveway, a horse trailer in tow.
The trailer's ramp is kicked open from the inside, and Cotton rides the horse into the Hill's backyard. Eyes shining, and assuming the animal is a gift, Bobby tells his grandfather how much he loves the horse. However, Cotton explains the horse is being rented for only a few hours. Later, he gives Bobby his real present: a genuine Winchester 20-gauge shotgun. Outraged, Peggy snatches the weapon from his hands. When Bobby is unable to break open his birthday piñata, Cotton blows it apart with the gun. Peggy thinks that Cotton ruined Bobby's party, but Bobby tells her that Cotton made it fun, much to Peggy's dismay. Peggy asks Cotton to leave the house after he smashes her good dishes. But when Cotton attempts to start his car, the engine fails to turn on. Luanne diagnoses the problem as a solenoid plunger. Peggy tells Hank she wants the "short tempered foul-mouthed old man" out of her house, but Hank tells his father he is welcome to stay.
Instead of taking Bobby to school, Cotton takes his grandson to a local bar, where he tells him that he can get his food quicker by getting waitresses in "the moneymaker" rather than by being polite. He harasses the red-haired waitress with a rear-slap and by asking her to bring him and Bobby sandwiches in a sexist manner. Meanwhile, Peggy finds the missing solenoid plunger hidden in a pair of Cotton's pants. She tells Hank that his father deliberately removed the part so he could stay at the house. Events turn even uglier when Cotton's sexist remarks begin influencing Bobby's behavior. Bobby tells his mother to get his dinner and punctuates his point by slapping her on the rear-end.
Hank admonishes Bobby for hitting his mother. He then attempts to tell his father why his behavior around Bobby is inappropriate. But before Hank has a chance to speak, his father reiterates the tale of how he lost his shins in World War II. After listening in awe to the patriotic story, Hank decides to drop the idea entirely. Later, Bobby is sent home from school for starting a "sexist riot." Later, Cotton takes Bobby to the Hotel Arlen and tries to buy him a prostitute, as he tried to do for Hank and his friends when they were teenagers. What Cotton fails to realize is that times have changed and that the Hotel Arlen is no longer a brothel but is now a legitimate hotel and is hosting a convention of female trial lawyers. Hank decides his father has gone too far. Arriving at the hotel, he tells Cotton he will not let his son grow up to be a "woman-hating old fool" and orders him out of the house. Hank later tells Bobby that women were not put on the earth to serve men, except he then takes him to a drive-in restaurant with waitresses on roller skates.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Luanne Platter
- Dale Gribble
- Joseph Gribble
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Bill Dauterive
- Stuart Dooley
- Minh Souphanousinphone
- Nancy Gribble
- Partygoer (voiced by Kathy Najimy)
- Tilly Garrison (mentioned)
- Kahn Souphanousinphone
- Cotton Hill (in-person debut)
- Didi Hill (debut)
- Lenore Dauterive (mentioned)
- Waitress, Lager and Tap
- Dale's cousin (mentioned)
- Hotel Arlen Prostitute
- Charlie Townsend (voice; character from 1976–81 TV series Charlie's Angels)
- Charlie's Angels (voice)
- Shelley Hack (mentioned; actress from 1979–80 Charlie's Angels season 4)
- Shemp Howard (mentioned; comedian from The Three Stooges)
- Uncle Sam (mentioned)
- Fatty (mentioned)
- Stinky (mentioned)
- Brooklyn (mentioned)
- Connie Souphanousinphone (nickname debut)
- Multi-subject teacher (debut)
- Propane customer (voiced by Stephen Root)
- Buck Strickland (mentioned)
- John Candy (mentioned)
- John Belushi (mentioned)
- Jesus (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- The episode title is a play on the phrase Sins of the Father(s).
- From this episode up until I Don't Want to Wait... Bobby is 12 years old.
- This episode marks the first physical appearance of Hank's father Cotton after having only been depicted in either flashbacks or fantasies as early as the Pilot.
- It is also the first episode where Kahn Jr. referred to as "Connie", being heard when Bobby snatches her cake during lunch at school.
- Cotton's decision to buy his grandson Bobby a gun for his birthday is a possible reference to the All in the Family episode "Mike and Gloria's Will", which features Archie Bunker buying a toy machine gun for his grandson Joey for his first birthday. Like Cotton, New York-based Archie Bunker is a World War II veteran who has bigoted tendencies and who presents an image of American jingoism.
- Cotton is shown to be very astute by recognizing Kahn's ethnicity as Laotian, whereas everyone else assumed Kahn is either Japanese or Chinese. This was likely due to US soldiers being taught the differences between various Asian ethnicities during the Second World War to detect who were aligned with the Allies and who were aligned with the Axis Powers.
- This episode establishes Hank is at least 39 due to the fact that his stepmother went to kindergarten with him and is that age.
- Bobby appears to hate Cotton as opposed to the rest of the series where he loves and adores him. Hank appears to love and adore Cotton in this episode as opposed to being annoyed and uncomfortable with him in the rest of the series.
- As she demonstrated previously in "Pilot", Luanne is shown to be a gifted mechanic, trying to fix up Cotton's car and knowing what a solenoid is. This trait has only appeared once outside of the first Season, in Season 13.
Goofs[]
- When Bill starts Cottons car the window appears down. The next shot has the window up even though Bill never appeared to roll it up.
Quotes[]
"Hank: Hey, my dad's invitation to the party just got returned. (Reading the address) 'Grandpa Cotton Hill, Hell, USA'? Bobby! Why'd you write this, you know your grandpa lives in Houston?
Bobby: Mom says he's the Devil.
Hank: Peggy, how can you tell Bobby that?
Peggy: I said 'evil', Hank. How'd you get devil from that is beyond me?"
"Cotton: Oh, for crying out loud!
(Cotton shoots at the piñata)
Peggy: Ugh, Good Lord, Cotton! You gave him a loaded shotgun?!
Cotton: Well you don't give a toy without batteries. (Cocks the shutgun) Come and get your Tootsie Rolls!"
"Cotton: Hank, Bobby and me have decided he's going to stick vegetables up his nose. He is not going to take over the family gas station.
Hank: Dad, I don't work at a gas station, I sell propane and propane accessories!
Cotton: Don't sass me boy! You ain't too big for be to give you a big licking"
"Cotton: Alright hookers, listen up! I'll be up next year, so don't be jackin' up your prices! I'll be staying to Hank Hill's home."
Gallery[]
