"The Bluegrass is Always Greener" is the one hundred-thirteenth episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on February 24, 2002. The episode was written by Norm Hiscock and directed by Tricia Garcia.
Summary[]
Connie plays the fiddle in Hank's bluegrass band, but keeps it a secret from her father, who wants her to go to Van Cliburn's violin academy.
Plot[]
The guys are drinking beer in the alley while listening to Connie play her violin (Mozart specifically). Hank finally has enough and brings out his guitar. Bill requests "Puff The Magic Dragon" but Hank Hill rejects the song due to it being "about a dragon" and starts to play "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in waltz tempo. Connie stops playing and informs Hank Hill and his friends that she likes the music. She begins to play the violin like a fiddle.
Later at dinner that night, Hank Hill discusses with Peggy and Bobby that Connie is naturally talented with bluegrass. Bobby Hill explains that both him and Connie had a dream of playing at Carnegie Hall (Bobby on comedy; Connie on violin). At the Souphanousinphone house, Kahn is forcing Mozart on Connie and drives her to practice, but she secretly listens to bluegrass. The next day, Hank Hill and the guys are in the garage looking at a level when Connie appears with her violin offering to "throw down with a hoedown" since her father is gone for an hour to dye his hair. Everyone gets excited leading to Hank getting his guitar, Bill getting his washboard, Dale getting his keyboard, and Boomhauer getting his banjo (alongside singing lead). They perform "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in an up-tempo arrangement. Bobby tries to join in on the song while blowing in a jug, but Hank tells him to put it down since it is the jug that he keeps stuff in. When Hank tells Connie to "saw that thing" (her violin), she accidentally pops a string. They then go to Earl's Music Shop to fix her violin. When they arrive, Earl fixes and plays her violin and asks her to play "Twinkle, Twinkle". Connie amazes him with her prowess, and Earl suggests that she should go to Branson, Missouri, for a fiddle contest. They all agree to go which creates The Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience. Connie is bummed because she realizes that she has to travel to Fort Worth for another contest.
The Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience
While the group rehearses in Hank's garage, Kahn spots Connie with the guys playing "Blue Moon of Kentucky" much to his dismay. He immediately demands that Connie go home and pack for Fort Worth. She boards a bus at the Arlen Bus Depot, but once her parents leave and before the bus gets on the road, she goes back to Hank's house to continue playing. She informs Hank that she can go, causing The Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience to drive (in Dale's van) to Branson, for the country contest.
Bobby tries to come to attend a Yakov Smirnoff show claiming that it would be beneficial for his comedy. Like the other two incidents, Hank reluctantly says yes but insists that he should "sleep the whole way". Later into the drive, they stop at a gas station and Connie calls her dad with Kahn thinking that she is in Fort Worth. Kahn asks about Tim Wu, a fellow violinist, with Connie replying that "He hurt his hand stealing a Coke from a Coca-Cola machine." In the middle of the payphone call, Bobby interrupts her asking, "Is my tongue blue?" from the Slushee he is drinking. Kahn asks who it is, prompting Connie to answer, "Tim Wu's tongue is blue." She then tells her dad that she loves him, but Kahn shouts at her to practice, so she angrily hangs up. Once back in Dale's van, Bobby is explaining how to tell a proper Yakov Smirnoff joke and demonstrates a joke. Everyone wants to hear it except Hank, because he thinks the band should be practicing, but Connie states that she still wants to hear the joke. After Bobby tells the joke, everyone laughs, but once again Hank does not laugh due to his strict mood, and Connie feels pressured to do good again.
Once in Branson, everyone wants to go to a Yakov Smirnoff show, but Hank exclaims that he still wants Connie to practice some more. While everyone else goes, they stayed behind. Back in Arlen, Kahn and Minh decorate Connie's bedroom thinking that Connie is at the violin competition in Fort Worth. They were going to hide a gift for her under her pillow, but once Kahn picked it up, he found all of Connie's bluegrass CDs. Suddenly, Kahn remembers how Tim Wu hates Coca-Cola as Connie said in the phone call. He immediately finds a Branson country flyer causing him to drive there. At the Yakov Smirnoff theater, Bobby and Dale meet him after the show. Bobby sells a joke to him and Yakov buys it for $20. Dale, in a fit of paranoia, handcuffs Smirnoff to a brass rail and pepper-sprays him in the face. A security team at the theater scares Dale away and work to free Smirnoff.
The Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience with Charlie Daniels on fiddle.
Once back at the country contest, Hank scolds the guys for being late. Bobby shows Hank the $20 that Yakov gave him with Hank thinking that Bobby stole the money from his wallet and takes the $20 from him. Connie notices how Hank has been rude to Bobby ever since the first rehearsal and how he also has been strict on her like Kahn. She runs out of the building and away from Hank along with Bobby who is also furious. Outside, while Hank is searching for Connie and Bobby, Kahn confronts Hank for taking Connie to the country contest instead of her going to the Fort Worth violin contest. He puts a lot of the blame on Bobby. After hearing his son badmouthed, Hank admits that Bobby got a joke sold to Yakov, and even Kahn ends up acknowledging that he finds Bobby's joke funny. Connie and Bobby both agree that they would like to go to the Appalachian Mountains to perform violin and tell jokes. They try to buy tickets but do not have enough money so they street perform to raise money. While Connie plays her violin, Bobby blows into a bottle. Hank and Kahn both later find them. They enjoy the performing leading to Hank playing the guitar and Kahn singing.
At the country contest, Bill, Dale, and Boomhauer need a fiddle player, so they lie to Charlie Daniels that Connie's dying wish was to meet him. He believes it and plays with them, earning great applause from the audience. Once the musical number is over, Yakov Smirnoff shows up with three Branson police officers who subsequently subdue Dale.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Dale Gribble
- Bill Dauterive
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Connie Souphanousinphone
- Kahn Souphanousinphone
- Minh Souphanousinphone
- Earl
- Ladybird
- Tim Woo (mentioned)
- Yakov Smirnoff
- Bluegrass Brothers (non-speaking)
- Manager
- Charlie Daniels
Stinger Quote[]
- Hank: "Hmm... I like it."
Trivia[]
- The episode title is a reference to the saying "the grass is always greener on the other side."
- Dale reveals that he has the same birthday as the American pianist Van Cliburn, which is July 12.
- Hank mentions The Dixie Chicks in this episode. The country music group were previously featured as special guest voices for characters featured in the Season 4 episode "A Beer Can Named Desire". Singers Natalie Maines voiced Violetta, Emily Robison voiced Rose, and Martie Seidel voiced Lily.
- Kahn states that his hometown is Luang Phabang (Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ). This city in Laos was referenced in the Season 2 episode "The Son That Got Away" as the city where Kahn hit his first "home run".