This story is part of “The Hills Are Alive,” a tribute to King of the Hill that appears in Texas Monthly’s August issue. Read an interview with the creative minds behind the show, learn what’s new in Arlen, and catch up on essential episodes before you start the new season. King of the Hill debuted in January 1997, the winter after I left Texas for the first time. Looking back, it was a watershed moment. The animated series from Austin’s adopted son Mike Judge offered, ironically, a far less cartoonish depiction of Texans than the countless cowboys, hicks, and oil-rich megalomaniacs who’d dominated the small screen for decades. When Hulu announced that new episodes would arrive this summer, sixteen years after King of the Hill…