The fifth season of King of the Hill originally aired Sundays at 7:30–8:00 p.m. (EST) from October 1, 2000 to May 13, 2001.

[3] In November 2000, David Bianculli of the New York Daily News labelled it as an "especially ambitious season", citing the episode "I Don't Want to Wait..." where the character Joseph hits puberty, commenting that he is "one of the first regular animated characters in a TV series to enter adolescence.

"[4] Diane Werts of the Los Angeles Times wrote in February 2001 that, "King of the Hill is blissfully free of tired irony and sarcasm, while still sharp and contemporary.

Young viewers are especially lovin’ it, landing the show in prime time’s top 20 among teens and adults 18 to 34.

Judge, for one, has been pretty clear in interviews that he thought the show was going wrong in these seasons, making too much fun of Hank and reflecting the obsessions of the Harvard-educated writers who were running it.