We’ll tell you what: ATX TV Festival to feature sneak peek of ‘King of the Hill’ reboot

Grab your propane because Hank, Peggy, Luanne, and, dang it, Bobby are coming back.

15 years after its last episode, “King of the Hill” is returning to TV. It’ll be on Hulu starting this summer. But those coming to the ATX TV Festival at the end of the month will get a sneak peek, complete with a panel including co-creator Mike Judge and some of its cast.

That’s just a little of what’s to come at the 14th annual festival celebrating the small screen. Festival co-founders Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson say there’s a lot more to look forward to. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: Well, Caitlin, this was a pretty big deal – to get the sneak peek of “King of the Hill.” How long have you guys been working on this?

Caitlin McFarland: Actually like a couple of years. We have a very good partnership with Hulu and they let us know it was coming.

Obviously it’s all around the release dates and it being done. So I think it was this September that we ran into our partners and they were like, “we’re saving it for you. We’re not going to South by Southwest or Tribeca. It’s coming to the ATX.”

Very big deal. Emily, do you have any idea of what we can expect from the new “King of the Hill”? I mean, is this like 15 years after the original or has no one aged or are we even allowed to tell that? 

Emily Gipson: I was about to say I’m afraid to say anything. My lips are sealed.

All I can say is I think we’ve gotten the most response out of this announcement than maybe anything previously. The amount of excitement both in Austin, outside of Austin, people I know from all parts of my past life are reaching out about coming.

I had no idea. You never know 15 years later what people’s sentiments are and people are very excited.

Well you guys continue to announce new additions to the lineup. I just read John Slattery will now be joining Jon Hamm in a “Mad Men” retrospective and Austin’s Noah Hawley, who’s behind TV’s “Fargo” and the upcoming “Alien” will be moderating that.

Which one of you is most excited about “Mad Men”?

Caitlin McFarland: That would be me. This has also been very long in the making. I rewatched “Mad Men” last summer with my husband and my infant at the time who loved the theme song – like she would dance every time it came on.

And I will only name drop a little bit that we were lucky enough to be at an Emmy party last September and Jon was there because he had been nominated for “Fargo” with Noah and I introduced myself to him and said that Noah was on our advisory board and that we ran this television festival and that, didn’t know if he remembered, but it was 10 years since the show ended and would he ever… And before I could finish the sentence, Jon Hamm was like, “yes, I love Austin. I absolutely would.”

And I was like okay, we want to keep it small because it’s either two people or 10. So we’re thinking about inviting John Slattery. And he was like “we’re very close friends. That’s a perfect choice.” And just revisiting the characters… So we’re just like beyond for this conversation.

Well, how fun. I mean, another one that caught my eye, I guess this one for its Texas connections, is Mark Duplass’s just-debuted, I believe, TV series, “The Long Long Night,” starring him and his real life childhood friend. So that’s a screening and a conversation. What can you guys tell us about that?

Caitlin McFarland: It’s part of a new track that we’re doing for indie TV, which has been around for a long time, but is definitely having a new conversation about distribution and Mark, obviously starting in film and his role in television, is just like the aficionado on where that is in the market.

And so they actually launched something in March with Seed and Spark and Kinema for a sort of self-distributed television show, which is a new version of this. So they’ll all be talking about that model, but also screening the show and why he made it the way that he did.

That’s really interesting. I mean, so from indie to like super broad appeal, I would think there’s really something for everyone here.

And in “General-appeal Land,” there’s Seth Meyers. So what is the plan with him? I guess this is his first year at the ATX TV Festival.

Emily Gipson: It is. I will say, second to “King of the Hill,” Seth Meyers is probably the second most out-of-everywhere response that I got from friends and family.

We wanted to have him come for a couple of years and he was actually supposed to come two years ago and had to cancel because of the strikes that were happening. So this also, as a lot of our programming this year, feels a couple years in the making, which is just a nice full circle for us.

Caitlin McFarland: Seth is our opening night conversation and one of the things yet to announce is a special guest that he will be having that conversation with, so people should keep an eye on that for that name.

He’s so fun with his late night show, but he does a “Day Drinking” YouTube series as well, and he’s going to be both comedy, but just conversation, which is the thing that we love the most.

We also announced that we’re doing a “Bill Lawrence & Friends” conversation, and it’s Bill Lawrence with Brett Goldstein – from “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking” – and Zach Braff. That panel is also just going to be kind of wrangling cats of stories and making fun of one another and just seeing where the tales take them.

Well, and then we get as niche as Hallmark’s “Finding Mr. Christmas,” which I say, actually, a lot of people love those Hallmark movies. But this is a reality show? Emily, you get to take this one.

Emily Gipson: I know. I love this show. It’s a competition reality show. I believe it’s the first unscripted on Hallmark.

But it is a competition they did last year where actors got to compete in Hallmark-esque competitions and a winner was chosen. And then that winner got to be in the lead of a new Hallmark movie, which is just really fun.

And Jonathan Bennett – who, I mean, we love from many things, but definitely “Mean Girls” fame – was the host of it. And it was just a really fun show. And then for it to be partnering with Hallmark on this has just been a fun thing to get a little behind-the-scenes look in.

What else, if you could mention one more thing, Emily, are you excited about?

Emily Gipson: Well, we did announce recently Deborah Cahn, who is the creator/showrunner of “The Diplomat” is coming to receive our Impact of Storytelling Award. We’re partnering with Human Rights Watch on that, and we have been wanting to get Deborah to the festival for a while.

We’re obsessed with “The Diplomat,” and to then also partner with Human Rights Watch, which is an organization that we really love and are working with for the first time, I think it’s a cool new addition. We have a few new awards this year and this one I’m really excited about.

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And Caitlin, what do you think?

Caitlin McFarland: I mean, there is so much. Sometimes I think it’s a little too much.

But we are doing our first live late night show. We’re partnering with Plex, which is an app where you can create your own watch list and rate and review things. And they are presenting as our official sponsor of our first late night show which is also being written and hosted by a writer named Greg Iwinski, who has worked for “The Colbert Show” and John Oliver. And we’re going to have like the monologue, the live music, the guests, and have just like a whole bunch of fun on Friday night.

So it’s both nerve-wracking… We’ve done like script-readings, but never a whole live late night show, like start-to-finish segments and everything. So we’re really excited.

TV can be a thing that you really just enjoy by yourself on the couch, and so bringing people together is really what’s unique about this – for something that usually is sort of experienced alone. I mean is that one of the things you guys love about this festival?

Caitlin McFarland: 100 percent. We say a lot that TV is one of the most intimate mediums for that reason, that you watch so much of it at home and in small groups. But also, a lot of people spend most of their time engaged in it.

So you have this very strong bond with it. So when you come out and you sit in an audience, it’s like you have a hundred new friends around you because you have so much to talk about and share and recommend.

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