Pilot (King of the Hill)

Pilot is the first episode of Season 1. It originally aired on January 12, 1997. It marked the premiere of King of the Hill and the debut of its main cast.

Synopsis
When Bobby Hill gets hit in the eye by the other boy with a baseball at one of his little league games, rumors of his father Hank Hill abusing him start to spread. This episode guest stars Gailard Sartain as a case manager.

Plot
Hank Hill, his wife, Peggy, and son, Bobby, drive to a Little League baseball game. Along the way, Hank gives his son a pep talk, emphasizing the importance of winning. As the game gets under way, Bobby, who shows little athletic prowess, manages to get on first base, but he becomes distracted when his father offers coaching advice from the bleachers. A ball roars down the first base line and strikes Bobby in the face, leaving him with a black eye. After the game, Bobby accompanies Hank to the Mega Lo Mart. Two older women spot the pair from an aisle, as Hank throws a temper tantrum when he is unable to be directed to the hardware department, and the elderly women erroneously pass on that Bobby is being abused. Word spreads throughout the community, and eventually, a social worker named Anthony Page is dispatched to investigate the incident.

Page arrives at the Hill home just as Hank throws a temper tantrum (after banging his head on the hood of his car). As Page interviews Hank, Peggy assures Page that her husband is as gentle as a lamb and Hank tells the social worker that his son received the black eye during a baseball game. He also emphatically denies ever hitting his son, and forces Page to leave. Meanwhile, Page remains unconvinced and begins interviewing neighbors and friends of the family, hoping to uncover the "truth."

Back at the Child Protective Services Office, the social worker discusses his findings with the case manager. Through this, Page comments his personal opinion of how that it is "redneck city." However, his boss then asks how he enjoyed his conversation with the baseball coach, revealing that Page never did talk to him about the black eye, which would have cleared up everything instead of jumping to the conclusion he did, which nearly got Bobby removed from his family. He is later removed from the investigation. The boy then intercepts a phone call from the Protective Services Office, in which Page's boss apologizes for the misunderstanding. Bobby lies and tells Hank that if he continues to lose his temper, the government will take him away. Unaware that he is no longer under investigation, Hank heeds Bobby's warning and attempts to control his temper, no matter how much his son misbehaves. Eventually, Peggy learns from the case manager that the investigation was halted a week earlier and that Bobby deliberately neglected to tell anyone the truth a week later. When she confronts Bobby, he admits that he is doing it because he doesn't believe Hank loves him. Peggy tells Hank about the misunderstanding, which upsets him. Peggy tells Hank why Bobby lied and to let him know that he loves him, but Hank has trouble saying that because of his upbringing with his father. Later, Hank tells Bobby in his own unique way, how much he loves him, and they start to play fight. Anthony Page sees this from a bus, and tries to tell the man sitting next to him, but the man rebuffs him.

Trivia

 * Anthony the caseworker, or someone who looks and acts like him, is later featured as an "American with Disabilities Act" advisor in the King of the Hill episode "Junkie Business". He is also seen buying organic, vegetarian snacks for a Super Bowl party in one episode, and then later attending Luanne's wedding in "Lucky's Wedding Suit".
 * This episode is also known as "Bobby The Baseball Phenom."
 * On the DVD Commentary, Many names were considered to be the name of the show before King of the Hill was chosen including Dale Gribble and the Other Guy, I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass! , Citizen Hank , Propane Man , The Hank Hill Family Hour , and Hank Hill and His Clan.
 * According to Greg Daniels, The original script for the pilot written by Mike Judge had Hank as a more short tempered & ornery character much like Mr. Tom Anderson from Beavis & Butt-Head whom he was based on. Fox executives thought Hank was unlikable & During the rewrite, Greg Daniels made Hank Hill a more good-natured & easy going character.
 * Bill has the first line of the show.
 * Boomhauer's fast talking originated from an angry phone message Mike Judge received about Beavis and Butthead (which the caller referred to as "Porky's Bunghole") and its controversial content.
 * The original pilot included a storyline about a Laotian family moving to Arlen, but that was rejected and later became its own episode called "Westie Side Story". The original pilot also didn't have Luanne and Cotton Hill, nor did it portray Dale Gribble as a conspiracy theorist.
 * In the Spanish dub, instead of Hank, Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer talking about "Seinfeld", they talk about "Beavis and Butthead".
 * In Texas, there is a chain of cafeteria-style restaurants known as Luly's. When dining there, one can purchase what amounts to a combo meal, which consists of the main dish, two sides, and a roll. The name of this combo is the Luanne Platter, one of the characters in the show.
 * During the episode, Peggy walks into Bobby's room and he is making noises for humor. These noises sound like what Beavis and Butt-head usually make (especially the boing-oing-oing-oing-oing that Bobby makes).
 * Right before Hank Hill tells Bobby that he loves him no matter what he does, in the background of Hank's house, there is a picture of younger Cotton Hill.
 * Luanne is depicted as having automotive knowledge here, something that would all but be forgotten in later seasons where she was rewritten as a stereotypical dumb blonde.
 * Compared to later seasons, the animation quality is considerably more crude. In fact, the animation quality of the earlier episodes is not very different from that of Mike Judge's previous television series, Beavis and Butt-Head.
 * Luanne claims the incident between her parents is going to be on Real Stories of the Highway Patrol. This television series actually exists.
 * Phunny Phone Jerks is most likely a homage to the Jerky Boys.

Errors

 * Inconsistencies are made in this episode
 * Cotton is seen old despite the fact he is seen young in later flashbacks in later episodes.
 * Luanne says Hoyt was arguing with Leanne, meaning he was there, but in later episodes, he is in jail (the oil rig) and he has not seen Luanne since they were young kids.
 * At one point where Bobby and Joseph pass Hank fixing the garage door, Joseph's shirt is yellow. But when they enter the garage, Joseph's shirt turns back to green.