King of the Hill's sixth season, one of the best of this underappreciated animated series, is anything but "the same-old same-old" (Hank's euphemism for regularly scheduled Tuesday-night sex with his wife, Peggy). Fun-loving son Bobby (Pamela Adlon) and "nerd" neighbor Connie (Lauren Tom) break up (albeit amicably). "Renaissance woman" Peggy (Kathy Najimy) stirs up rebellion at the local Renaissance Faire. Luanne (Brittany Murphy) becomes the unwitting member of a cult. Conspiracy theorist Dale (Johnny Hardwick) discovers his father working in a gay rodeo. Through it all, Hank Hill (series creator Mike Judge) struggles to hold on to his core beliefs. It's not easy. "My wife lies to me, my beer company betrays me, Americans are giving Mexicans diarrhea," he complains in "Beer and Loathing." "What the hell's going on here?"

But not to worry. We can count on Hank, one of TV's few good men, not to waver. In the episode "Joust Like a Woman," a season benchmark, he is a vigilant father. "No tights, tassels, or skirts on the boy," he directs Luanne as he puts her in charge of the Renaissance Faire spending money, adding, to Bobby's disappointment, "Oh, and no bells." And he is a devoted husband, accepting "King Philip's" (regally voiced by Alan Rickman) jousting challenge to defend Peggy's honor. "No chump in a velvet costume is ever kickin' my ass," Hank declares. There's no two ways about it, as one Asian character looking for a token Caucasian observes in "A Man Without a Country Club." Hank is "super-white." In "Bobby Goes Nuts," another classic episode (and the sixth season is loaded with them), Hank beams after Bobby beats up a bully at school, thanks, he believes, to "good old American YMCA know-how." He is therefore shocked when he discovers that Bobby's been attending a self-defense class for women, and kicking his victims "below the belt" (while screaming, "Let go of my purse"). No matter how his sensibilities are offended, Hank manages to keep an open mind and heart. When aspiring comedian Bobby sells a joke to Branson's own Yakov Smirnoff in "The Bluegrass Is Always Greener," Hank is compelled to admit, "That is a good joke; it's Branson good." And this sixth season is great; it's King of the Hill great! --Donald Liebenson