Movies - TV
A Studio Break-In Cost The World A Live-Action King Of The Hill Spin-Off Special
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
While “King of the Hill” didn’t seem to have quite the same level of appeal compared to Mike Judge’s previous project, “Bevis and Butthead,” the show was a smashing success lasting for 15 seasons. “King of the Hill” did so well that Fox ordered a spinoff series around the show’s fifth season, but it would never come to be due to a break-in.
“Monsignor Martinez” would have been a live-action take on the fictional vigilante priest TV show that the Hill family occasionally watches. Unfortunately for fans, there was a break-in at Judge’s studio where the unfinished pilot was stored, as the animator explained, “I had it on my editing system in Austin, but my studio got broken into and all of that got destroyed.”
According to Judge, “Monsignor Martinez” was going to be sillier than “King of the Hill” would have allowed him to be, adding, “The script for that pilot is funnier than any of the bits we did for ‘King of the Hill’ with [Monsignor Martinez], although those were just, like, short little pops [...] it’s something that every few years we talk about again as something that maybe we should try to do something with.”
Although the project might never truly resume, a VHS copy of the original unfinished 18-minute TV pilot has been discovered and was posted to YouTube for fans to enjoy. The idea of a live-action “King of the Hill” spinoff seems like a tough sell, but the “Monsignor Martinez” series might have surprised viewers.