"The Miseducation of Bobby Hill" is the one hundred-forty-second episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on March 16, 2003. The episode was written by Tim Croston and Chip Hall, and directed by Tricia Garcia.
Summary[]
Bobby uses unethical tactics (as taught to him by Joe Jack) to sell grills at Strickland Propane. Meanwhile, Dale gets a weather balloon and Bill goes on a test flight, which ends with him trapped in the backyard of some Mexican teenagers who beat him.
Plot[]
In the alley, Dale visits the guys while carrying a weather balloon, exciting Bill because he believes it is either Joseph, Nancy, or his birthday. Hank reminds Bill of his birthday last week, prompting him to wish him a happy belated birthday. Hearing Dale clarify that he has 18 more balloons, Boomhauer recalls the Lawnchair Larry flight, claiming that Bruce Dern acted as the man in a popular movie. Thinking that the possibility of recreating the lawnchair event is ridiculous, Hank remarks that he has to keep his mind focused on Strickland Propane's upcoming biggest propane sale of the year. As soon as Hank enters his house, the guys signal to each other that they will recreate the lawnchair flight. Arriving at his workplace, Hank greets Enrique and Donna but is baffled at Joe Jack's magician hat. The latter confidently asserts that he will sell more grills than Hank this year. Unconcerned, Hank tells Joe Jack that he sells the most propane each year because he informs the customer to make an educated decision. As Hank gets to work, Joe Jack realizes the rabbit under his hat has urinated on his head.
That night, getting to bed, Hank relays Joe Jack's antics to Peggy, and he suddenly gets the idea to "give character" to Bobby by bringing him to work. The next day, Bobby accompanies Hank and is delighted to see a plate of cookies at the counter. Hank elaborates that the treats are sales cookies for employees each time they make a sale, with Joe Jack taking one after a sale. Intrigued by his father's explanation of the sales, Bobby asks what he can sell first, causing Hank to chuckle and agree to show him what he means. Going up to a customer, Hank offers him a brochure and advises him to review it and then come back if and when he is ready. Confused, Bobby wonders why he let the customer leave, but his father states that all of his customers come back at the end of the month for his sales. Claiming that he has a lot to learn before he can properly sell, Hank brings Bobby to the back of the store and has him start with grunt work, particularly tank wiping.
Elsewhere, at Bill's house, Dale finishes the final touches on the lawn chair ride. As he sits on the chair, Bill wonders why Dale carries a revolver, to which the latter explains that he will shoot him to relieve pain if he develops high-altitude pulmonary edema, worrying the former. To Bill's reluctance, Dale orders Boomhauer to remove the sandbags, and the tethered lawn chair begins floating. Although ecstatic at first, Bill panics when Boomhauer removes the rope, and he almost falls off the lawn chair but floats upside down just above the ground because of the balloons suspending him. He begins being involuntarily dragged by the balloons through the adjacent street and into the sky. Dale tries to shoot at the balloons but misses, allowing Bill to soar away uncontrollably. At night, after work, Bobby's arm feels strained when he tries to reach for a piece of chicken at dinner. Hank commends him for being a hard worker.
On his second day of work, Bobby asks Joe Jack if the flanges he is toying with are calibrated. Responding that he has no idea, Joe Jack states that he never did grunt work, causing Bobby to think that his father only wanted him to work as an excuse to do his grunt work. Deciding against it, Bobby goes to the main room and improvises a grill sale to two customers. Seeing him, Hank is worried and becomes even more so when he sees Buck Strickland eyeing the boy. Running up to him, Hank tries to apologize to Buck, who is happy that Bobby sold a Char King. When Buck deputizes Bobby as a "sales boy", Hank professes that he does not know the fundamentals of propane, but Bobby takes a sales cookie and affirms that he is ready, much to his father's displeasure. He warns Bobby that beginner's luck is a curse, though his son retorts that doing grunt work is not his way. Hank assures him that the non-sales work is the right way to proper propane education, but Bobby disagrees. Thinking that his son will fail, he agrees to compete against Bobby for the most sales.
Later, speaking to a customer, Bobby lies about the standards and measurements of a grill with charm, disappointing Hank since the customer is unaware of the grill's real power. At night, Bill hangs onto the chimney of a random house and calls for help. Opening her window, a little girl sees him and believes that he is Santa Claus. Playing along, Bill promises to give her a toy if she gets her parents. To her awe, the girl sees Bill's lawn chair and balloons, misidentifying them as Santa's sleigh and reindeer. Screaming, Bill flies away once more as the girl bids him goodbye and tells him she loves him. The next day, Hank once again is alarmed by Bobby's false claims about certain grills, hearing him assure a customer that the chrome grills do not blow up like less expensive grills. Joe Jack plays on Bobby's claim and secures the sale, annoying Hank, who orders both of them to speak to him in private. In his truck, Hank chastises them for their sales relying on bluffs, but the two reply that he is merely jealous of their alleged skills with customers.
At home, Hank confides in Peggy about his worry for Bobby, to which Peggy says that children imitate success, and therefore Bobby imitates Joe Jack's sales game. Though Hank tells her about his end-of-the-month sales, she advises him to try Joe Jack's way so that their son will listen to him. Back at Strickland Propane, Hank, on Peggy's advice, gives two customers an awkward sales pitch, but the two immediately leave due to his pushy attitude. Meanwhile, in the alley, Dale and Boomhauer hear Bill communicate to them via Dale's walkie-talkie. Urging them to come to the tree where he is trapped, a tired and thirsty Bill asks for water. To his initial relief, he sees some children walking up to him, but one teenager asks him if someone named Eduardo sent him. Bill tries to explain that he doesn't know anyone by that name and that he's in dire need of help. The kid who asked him if he knew Eduardo asks him why he's hanging from a tree and assumes he's a pinata. When one child pokes Bill with a stick ("Hey, pinata, it's my birthday!"), a piece of candy falls out of his jacket and the delinquent kids pick up heavy sticks and move in for the kill. Over the radio, Dale thinks Bill is having fun with fellow balloon riders.
Visiting Buck in his office, Hank promises to make up for his poor sales, but Buck forgives him and asks him to come with him to the break room. To Hank's surprise, Buck is playing poker with M.F. Thatherton and bets Hank for his play. When Thatherton shows his full house, Buck is forced to have Hank work at Thatherton Fuels for one week. As Hank leaves the building, he assures Bobby that his lessons concerning proper sales are still true. With 2 days left of Grillstravaganza, Joe Jack tries to impress a customer with a magic trick but breaks the customer's credit card in the process. At Thatherton Fuels, Hank, not wanting Thatherton to prosper, intentionally scares away a customer, so Thatherton has him do the grunt work instead of sales.
On the last day of Grillstravaganza, many angry customers arrive at Strickland Propane and complain to Joe Jack and Bobby about their sales, demanding a refund. Panicking since he does not know how to appease them, Bobby runs to Thatherton Fuels to retrieve his dad for help. In the alley, Bill, who is exhausted, walks up to Dale and claims that it is his turn to try the lawn chair ride, collapsing onto the ground. At the end of the day, Hank manages to please all of the unsatisfied customers, making Bobby and Joe Jack lose some of their sales. Nonetheless, Joe Jack brags that he has the most sales while Hank has none. One minute before closing, the customer from the beginning of Grillstravaganza sees Hank and admits that the brochure helped him be educated on propane, so he decides to buy 500 tanks for his trailer, disheartening Joe Jack and once again making Hank the sales employee of the month. At Goobersmooches, Bobby relays the story to his mother, laughing about the matter as Hank proclaims that all Grillstravaganzas end the same.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Dale Gribble
- Bill Dauterive
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Joe Jack
- Buck Strickland
- Donna
- M.F. Thatherton
- Lane Pratley (non-speaking)
- Enrique (non-speaking)
- Grill customers
- Eduardo (mentioned)
Stinger Quote[]
- Joe Jack: "Ala-ka-zizzle, ah-ha-ha-ha"
Trivia[]
- The title of the episode is a play on the 1998 Lauryn Hill album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
- The second disc of the season 7 DVD set incorrectly describes the subplot of this episode as being about Peggy buying a liver cleansing supplement and thinking it's slowly killing her. It's likely this is taken from a description of the original draft for the B-plot, before getting replaced.
- The scene where Bill takes flight with his left ankle accidentally being tied to the lawn chair with weather balloons and the scene where Bill manages to return with himself freed from the flying lawn chair's grip is digitally inked and painted.
- The lawn chair flight is based on the flight of Larry Walters, who rode in a homemade airship made of an ordinary patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons.
Quotes[]
To be added.
Gallery[]
