He left that show to join King of the Hill in late 1997, although episodes he had worked on for The Simpsons continued to be aired into 1998.

Daniels sought to bring Appel to the show not only because of his previous experience working with him on The Simpsons, but also because he was a close friend who he'd been collaborating with since the 1980s, during his days as a writer for The Harvard Lampoon.

In a December 1998 Chicago Tribune article, Daniels said, "It was essential that Rich was a good writer who could deal with people, who could help manage the business in the room.

This led to a decline in ratings, in part due to competition from WB's hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which featured Sarah Michelle Gellar, a guest voice for this season).

[3] In his October 1998 review of the episode "Peggy's Headache", Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "when it comes to spotting the subtle shadings of human behavior, there is little on TV with so keen an eye as King of the Hill."

"[6] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote in April 1999 that, "when King debuted in 1997, it was a pleasant surprise: Who knew Mike Judge, progenitor of Uberlouts Beavis and Butt-Head, had it in him to create such a subtle, detailed portrait of contemporary middle-class life?

This season, the show’s only gotten better — deeper, richer, more true to its guiding intention of presenting people with Texas twangs as something other than the media cliche of rubes with bad taste.

While Hank is busy trying to breed Ladybird, Dale decides to add a little excitement to his life by enrolling in a four-hour bounty hunter training course.