Bills are Made to be Broken

Bills are Made to be Broken
Air date	October 24, 1999
Written by	John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky
Directed by	Jeff Myers
Episode guide
Previous	Cotton's Plot
Next	Little Horrors of Shop

Bills are Made to be Broken is the sixty-third episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on October 24, 1999. The episode was written by John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, and directed by Jeff Myers. The episode name is a spoof of the phrase, "Records are made to be broken."

Summary

When Bill's high school touch down record is broken, Hank finds a loophole that could allow Bill to reclaim his title.

Plot

The episode begins with Hank, Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer drinking in the alley while listening to the "Sports Jock and Chad" show on the radio. Arlen is buzzing about Ricky Suggs, who is threatening Arlen High's career touchdown record. The trivia question is who currently holds the record. Hank, Dale, and Bill scramble back to their houses to call in, while Boomhauer pulls out a cell phone and correctly answers that it was Bill. As Ricky gets closer and eventually ties the record, people begin paying attention to Bill. He even earns an interview with the Sports Jock and Chad. Hank is understandably worried about Bill's mental state as one of the great accomplishments in his life comes under threat. However, Bill seems fine and even supportive of Ricky. In the next game, Ricky gets the ball with a chance to break the record, but takes a vicious hit and has to leave. Everybody claps, Dale misinterpreting this as meaning they share his happiness at the injury. In the next game after that, Arlen gets the ball near the goal line and bring in Ricky. The defense opens up for him and he limps in, even at one point dropping the ball and having an opponent pick it up for him.

The crowd cheers, only Hank, Boomhauer, and Dale seemingly realizing the depravity of what they'd just witnessed. Hank attempts to go to the schoolboard, led by Eustice, to right the wrong, but they, like the rest of the town, seem to find nothing wrong with it. Bill is a good sport at first, but this can only stretch so far and he finally admits his true feelings as he and Hanks sit on the football field at night reliving their glory days. As they talk, Hank remembers that Bill shipped out before the end of their last season and didn't graduate, meaning he still has red-shirt eligibility. Hank talks the coach into putting Bill on the team, despite a flurry of anger from the community. The coach puts Bill in and he plays like the Billdozer he once was, dragging defenders into the end zone with him to score and tie the record. However, the effort leaves him unable to move. The episode ends with Bill working out as he listens to the Sports Jock and Chad compliment his performance.

Characters

• Hank Hill
• Peggy Hill
• Bobby Hill
• Luanne Platter
• Dale Gribble
• Jeff Boomhauer
• Bill Dauterive
• Ricky Suggs
• Chad (cameo) - voiced by Clint Black
• Sports Jock (cameo) - voiced by Mac Davis
• Coach Sauers (cameo)
• Announcer
• Eustace Miller
• Unknown Male person (cameo) - voiced by Phil LaMarr
• Unknown Male person (cameo) - voiced by Warren Lieberstein
• Unknown Female person (cameo) - voiced by Jill Parker
• Lane Pratley (cameo)

Stinger Quote

• Bill: "(stammering unintelligibly)"

Trivia

• The "short pants" that Bobby wears and refers to, were actually worn by him at the very beginning of the episode where part of Bobby is seen in the risers wearing the same pair of shorts.
• Coach Sauers makes a brief appearance as coach in the flashback where Bill scores a touchdown.

Gallery

Goofs

to be added