Polygon interviewed King of the Hill showrunner Saladin Patterson to address long-standing fan questions about the series revival. Regarding whether Dale Gribble knows his wife Nancy has been having an ongoing affair with John Redcorn and that their son Joseph is not biologically his, Patterson explained that Dale encounters plenty of evidence but his conspiracy-theorist mindset allows him to construct alternative explanations that feel true to him, such as aliens being responsible for Joseph's existence. This tendency reflects how conspiracy theorists navigate conflicting information by creating their own versions of reality.

When the show returned after an eight-year hiatus, two significant characters were notably absent: Luanne, Hank's niece, and her husband Lucky. Their absence is a direct result of real-world circumstances—Luanne's original actress Brittany Murphy died in 2009, whilst Lucky's voice actor Tom Petty passed away in 2017. Rather than recasting, the revival chose to acknowledge their absence through a photograph in the Hill household, with season 15's finale offering viewers additional information about what became of the characters.