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King of The Hill Season 10 Episode 5

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Clown

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7.6

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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Clown

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AIRED: 12/4/05

Hoping to get Bobby to stop cracking jokes in school, Hank enrolls Bobby in a clown class at the local community college. The pretentious instructor teaches Bobby classical comedic theory and sucks all the fun out of him.

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Fan Episode Reviews (5)

An interesting episode

7.0

By JuanRobles4, Mar 27, 2012

Not much to say about it, except I like how Bobby's clown class instructor considers Bobby's form of humor as the lowest form, But when bobby tried doing the classic clown/Harlequin style, he started to die during the talent show. This just goes to show you, nothing beats a good old-fashioned fart joke.
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Average.

6.0

By cactusjack39, Feb 17, 2009

I can't say that this was a bad episode. It was average in almost every way and below average in some ways. The things that I liked was the interaction between Bobby and his teacher. I thought that was the only funny part. Other than that, everything else was a bit boring and pointless. I can recall other storylines in which Bobby tried to explore a comedy career. This time he wnated to be a clown. The show had below average writing, average comedy, and a tired storyline. Overall, I must say that it was one of the more boring episodes and that is a shame. Thank you.moreless
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To try and get Bobby to stop goofing around at school, in church and at home, Hank sends him to clown class at the college. However, the tutor has very different ideas about what is funny. A very strange episode, a hard one to sum up...moreless

7.8

By Jay-Spacedust, Jan 04, 2008

I found this to be quite a strange episode of the series. I'm not sure how to sum it up; it's just so... odd.

With Bobby continually playing the fool at school, church and home, Hank agrees with Peggy's idea to send him to a clown class at the local college. But Bobby's tutor has a very different idea of what comedy is, as he lectures the class in classical comedy theory, and not the more straightforward comedy that Bobby is used to. Soon, Bobby is doing all kinds of stuff that is funny, but not 'ha ha' funny.

I couldn't make up my mind about Bobby's tutor. I kind of got it that he wasn't really funny, but at the same time, I felt that more could have been done with the character.

A sub-plot of the episode involves Hank, Dale, Bill and Boomhauer suddenly finding a stray ball in the alley. Soon, the whole gang (bar Bobby, who is too busy studying his 'comedy' homework) are obsessed with playing kick ball. [Mild spoiler] That is, until John Redcorn misses the ball and it bounces into the distance and out of their lives. [End of mild spoiler] This bizarre b-plot is as strange as the main tale, and adds to the odd feel of the episode even more.

All-in-all... strange!moreless
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Hank and Peggy send Bobby to Arlen Community College to take a clowning class after his jokes disrupt class and church, but his professor's idea of humor isn't very funny. Meanwhile, the neighbors find a kickball and pick teams to play in the alley.moreless

6.8

By darlingdarcy, Dec 02, 2006

As far as Bobby goes, this episode is not one of the best storylines following him, and the worst plot involving his quest to be a comic. Off the top of my head, the only Bobby episode that is less entertaining than this is the eighth season's "Reborn to Be Wild," where Bobby joins a Christian skateboarding club. However, as a hardcore King of the Hill fan, I enjoy every episode (to varying degrees), even if they aren't up to the stellar standards other episodes have set.

Bobby's struggle to be funny has been a story arc since the second season of King of the Hill. In the second season episode "Traffic Jam," Bobby makes the faux pas of telling racist jokes after imitating Chris Rock's character perform his racy routine with a white supremicist angle. In "The Bluegrass is Always Greener," a sixth season episode, Bobby tries out the old Yakov Smirnoff joke genre, "In Russia/In America," and the joke is actually funny, not just in the episode context.

Perhaps the least funny thing about this episode is Bobby's comedy professor. He is arrogant and condescending, and reminds me too much of some of my college professors who believed their word is the last word on any and every subject. While I am sure he is meant to be funny with his pompous attitude, the joke falls flat and he comes off as a discouraging jerk. He teaches comedy from books and charts instead of focusing on creativity and performance. He teaches the students historical comedy methods, and forces the students to learn and perform ancient Roman- and Greek-style comedy. That style of comedy can be good and very funny, but it applies little to Bobby's stand-up career. However, seeing Hank finally support his son's comedic efforts was worth sitting through eighteen minutes of the awful comedy professor. Hank recognizes Bobby is funny, even if he doesn't get his son's jokes, and encourages Bobby to do what he does best instead of the "jester crap" the professor is teaching him.

The secondary storyline involving Hank, Bill, Dale, Boomhauer, Peggy and Jon Redcorn's kickball game is too short overall, which forces Bobby's so-so plot to carry most of the entertainment weight. I sincerely believe if there had been more kickball action to spice up the episode the main story wouldn't have seemed so monotonous. While the scenes about the kickball game are great, overall the storyline left me wanting more, and not in a good way. It's funny to see Jon Redcorn have absolutely no coordination at all, and Dale's "custom kickball shoes" are the funniest thing in the episode, but the writers could have done more with the kickball game concept.moreless
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It\'s falling apart after Season 4.

1.0

By mitu123, Aug 21, 2006

In this episode Bobby\\\\\\\'s jokes and pranks is not accepted by Hank. Bobby decides to attend clownclass at a community college. The teacher for this class gives Bobby bad advice. Bobby stupidly takes his advice.\\\\\\\"A good joke doesn\\\\\\\'t have a laugh by others\\\\\\\", said Bobby\\\\\\\'s teacher. Bobby Hill uses bad material in the school talent show and recieved bad results from his peers. Hank comes to Bobby\\\\\\\'s rescue by giving him his propscomic material. Bobby becomes the old Bobby and has his peers laughing at him. The score I gave this episode is a well-earned, BIG-FAT 0. Why, I only laughed once, when hank screamed for 2 seconds. This episode was boring, uncreative, dull, poorly written, and was a waste of airtime. This show should been cancelled after season 9. THIS SHOW SUCKS.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Brittany Murphy	Voice of Luanne Platter
Johnny Hardwick	Voice of Dale Gribble
Kathy Najimy	Voice of Peggy Hill
Mike Judge	Voice of Hank Hill, Boomhauer
Pamela Adlon	Voice of Bobby Hill
Stephen Root	Voice of Bill Dauterive

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Paul F. Tompkins	Twilley	Guest Star
Ashley Johnson	Emily	Guest Star
David Herman		Guest Star
Dennis Burkley	Principal Moss	Recurring Role
Ashley Gardner	Voice of Nancy Hicks Gribble	Recurring Role
Breckin Meyer	Voice of Joseph Gribble	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (5)
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- Dale: (while playing kickball) A kick and a miss for Jon "No Scorin'" Redcorn!
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- Professor Twilley: Alright, our first lesson: text book chapter one, "Funny Words." (Points to Bobby) You - name a body part.
  Bobby: Uh, leg!
  Professor Twilley: Not funny!
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- Bill: I think a clown class for Bobby is a great idea. You know, I had a picture of a clown above my bed growing up. I thought it was God for the longest time!
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- (Hank walks into the kitchen and holds up a corn fork)
  Hank: I thought I smelled corn, and this confirms it!
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- Jon Redcorn: (while playing kickball) I thought we said no bouncies!
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NOTES (2)
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- Mike Myers was originally supposed to do the voice of Twilley. He had to cancel at the last minute, and writer Christy Stratton recommended Paul Tompkins as a replacement.
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- Tagline: "I thought I smelled corn, and this confirms it." - Hank
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Bobby's stage name, Tartuffe, is the titular character of 17th-century French playwright Moliere's famous comedy. Tartuffe is a hypocrite and braggart who passes himself off as a man of the cloth.
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- The episode title is a take-off on that of James Joyce's first and most widely-read novel, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."
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