Animated sitcom, King of the Hill brought fun, small-town humor during an age when Fox was progressively pushing out edgier and edgier content. At the heart of the beloved series is its quirky, lovable Texas faithful whose everyday lives and quiet ambitions fuel the humor of the series.
While it may consistently depend on humble, relatable characters for the bulk of its series, one character, in particular, stands out for his above-average eccentric behavior and outrageous adventures. The series' conspiracy theorist and gun fanatic, Dale Gribble is one of King of the Hill's most vibrant and dynamic characters, never failing to punch in with an uncannily funny line and, at times, oddly progressive ideology. This list will be giving the top exterminator his due, as it looks through his best episodes.
10 My Own Private Rodeo
Dale's wild ability to create a conspiracy out of anything takes full effect here. Leading up to his and Nancy's vow renewals, Nancy encourages Hank, Bill, and Boomhauer to reach out to his father so that they can reconnect. However, much to their and everyone at home's surprise, Dale's father has come out as gay and is currently working at a gay rodeo.
Not ones to be upfront with Dale about anything, everyone keeps this a secret from Dale, a mistake that would lead Dale to assume that his father is a secret agent and once again banishing him from his life. There really is no winning with this guy.
9 Night and Deity
The tumultuous relationship between Dale and Nancy is one of the most interesting and ever-shifting storylines throughout the series. For many of the early episodes, Nancy had been cheating on Dale with John Redcorn. After the two rekindled their marriage (without Nancy revealing a single thing), Nancy falls prey to a karmic cycle for her actions.
When the neighborhood becomes overrun by pigeons, Dale seeks out the help of a legendary exterminator who not only turns out to be a beautiful woman but who also shares the same fascinations with the job as him. This episode is an interesting change in pace for the couple's dynamic, and one really is left wondering what Dale's marriage really means to him in the face of his perfect match.
8 Dale Be Not Proud
When a legendary race car driver needs a new kidney, it turns out that Dale is a perfect match. However, while he reluctantly agrees to the operation, there's a sudden change in plans when the driver no longer needs the kidney but a dying child in the hospital does. It's only customary that being the paranoid, conspiracy theorist comes with the added benefit of being a childish coward.
That isn't to say that Dale's refusal to voluntary donate was childish but the way that he handled everything else was, panicking, sneaking across the hospital to steal his own kidney, and bribing a small child for some candy and a video game.
7 Dog Dale Afternoon
While "My Own Private Rodeo" is a nice taste of Dale's active imagination and paranoid phobias, "Dog Dale Afternoon" is that in full force. The gang, feeling that Dale has been a bit of a showoff with his new mower, decides to fake kidnap it and send Dale cryptic messages.
This, however, all goes awry when Dale takes the prank a little too far (because of course, he would). This would eventually lead to police surrounding Dale on a clocktower and everyone trying to get him down. Not even lawnmowers can be simple with this guy.
6 Megalo Dale
Let no one forget that Dale is an exterminator. Adding on top all that has been discussed above, as well as a few resources that really go outside the bounds of regular extermination, and Dale makes killing supposedly one rat look like an entire adventure.
However, suspicious of what he could do, Hank and the rest of the gang decide to help out, yet somehow fall prey to a series of other, mysterious traps. For once in Dale's life, he may actually be dealing with something a little tougher than a rat or possum.
5 The Trouble with Gribbles
To reiterate, there is no rational thinking with this man. When his wife is going through a body dysmorphia crisis, Dale's plan to make her feel better is to raise funds for plastic surgery by suing his favorite tobacco company. What could he possibly be suing them for, one may ask?
For second hand deteriorating his wife's looks. Things actually get ugly when the tobacco company legitimately tries to spy and sabotage him; and as the series has proven time and time again, this is never a good idea.
4 Now Who's the Dummy
Dale can feel threatened by virtually anything. Though this is mostly a Bobby episode, much of the humor and external conflicts are being instigated by Dale.
When a retired ventriloquist gifts Bobby his old dummy, Chip, Dale is put on the attack as mild flashbacks from his past manage to spark immense trauma. From here, the show wonderfully portrays the delicate and overly convoluted operation of Dale Gribble's assassination of a wooden puppet.
3 King of the Ant Hill
When Hank rejects Dale's lawn extermination service in lieu of his newly planted lawn grass, Dale decides to enact revenge and sabotage by planting a variety of ants on Hank's lawn. Such a dilemma becomes widespread, leading Hank to eventually ask for Dale's services.
And while Dale was responsible for the ant outbreak, that doesn't mean he was fully prepared to handle it. Dale pretty much accidentally kills Hank's lawn with poison, and Hank finds out that Dale was the one planting ants. One could almost hear what happens next.
2 Soldier of Misfortune
Though it's not mentioned too often, Dale is quite the active and ignorant gun enthusiast. Though he is the president of the local gun club, he himself is kind of an incompetent mess who shouldn't be around those explosive pieces of steel.
This would eventually lead to Dale being usurped in the gun club and him having to find a way to reclaim his status. His friends somehow get held hostage and are held at gunpoint, so one could imagine how crazy this one gets.
1 The Exterminator
One of the series' most extravagant and romanticized showings for Dale, everyone's favorite balding, chain smoker has to work in an office. After a doctor deems his lungs too sensitive to the poisons he's been spraying for years, Dale has to take up a desk job at a local, adhesives company.
Though he was put through mind-numbing, micromanaged work, he would suddenly rise in the ranks of human resources when the managers find out that he has an easy time firing people, something that comes in handy during a time of mass layoffs.
This would turn Dale into a coldhearted, business executive who starts to prioritize work over his own family. It's an interesting character transformation and fall from grace that eventually culminates in an amazing redemption sequence.