The Best Luanne Platter Episodes from King of the Hill

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Judge, M & Daniels, G. (1997-2010). King of the Hill . Fox Broadcasting Company. Link to Image.

"I am a proud, ignorant woman."
Luanne Platter, "Pigmalion", King of the Hill

Luanne Platter was voiced by Brittany Murphy (10 November 1977 – 20 December 2009) on King of the Hill from 1997 to 2009. She was Hank and Peggy Hill’s niece and the daughter of Peggy’s brother Hoyt and his wife Leanne. Luanne grew up in a house full of abuse and domestic violence. She came to live with Peggy and Hank when she was nineteen after her parents got into a fight which saw her mother stab her father with a fork and their trailer tip over. From the start of the series, we see that Peggy has a mother's love for Luanne and that Hank feels uncomfortable living with a teenage girl. Brittany Murphy did such a fantastic job bringing Luanne Platter to life on King of the Hill. She brought a lot of adorable charm to her character who was portrayed in the series as being very sweet and hard-working, but also absent-minded, immature and naive at times. In this article, I will be looking at some of Luanne’s best episodes in King of the Hill.

1. Boxing Luanne

Judge, M & Daniels, G. King of the Hill (1997-2010). “Boxing Luanne” (Video). Fox Broadcasting Company.
Link to YouTube.
Episode Details: Season 7, Episode 11
Air Date: February 2, 2003
Written by: Dean Young
Directed by: Mike DiMartino
Best Quote:

"If you were looking at me I'm going to have to have both of your gym memberships revoked. And I would hate to do that because you both look terrible."
Luanne Platter, "Boxing Luanne", King of the Hill

The episode “Boxing Luanne” begins with Luanne being heckled and catcalled by the male students in her class at college. This outrages Luanne so she heads to the gym after class to work out her frustrations in a dance-kickboxing class called Tae Bo. After she finishes her workout, she approaches Buck Strickland and his brother Randy and accuses them both of watching the women in the class. This is one of my favourite Luanne scenes. The burn that she drops is so vicious it makes me want to stand up and applaud her. You can see how frustrated she is with men constantly ogling her. The men were there to watch women but do not admit that to Luanne. Randy tells her that they were there to scout for new boxing talent. Luanne is instantly flattered and agrees to participate in a boxing match titled “Beauty and the Beast” as long as she can be the beast.

Luanne begins fighting in boxing matches for Buck Strickland unaware that the fights have been fixed. Peggy encourages her interest in boxing but Hank is skeptical until he sees one of her matches and realizes that she has talent in the ring. Hank becomes interested in helping Luanne become a professional boxer and putting her in the ring against the best female fighter in Texas Freeda Foremen. When the truth eventually comes out that Buck had been fixing the fights, Luanne is devastated. She thought that people had been coming to see her match because they respected her but they had just wanted to see her bounce around in skimpy outfits.

Luanne makes an agreement with Buck to lose the fight to Freeda Foremen. When she arrives for the fight, Luanne is uncomfortable with the attention that she receives from the audience. After a punch from Freeda knocks her to the ground, Luanne is heckled even more, which enrages her enough to get back up and keep fighting. I love how proud Peggy and Hank are of her during her fight with Freeda. Luanne takes a lot of punches but ends up lasting 3 rounds against Freeda Foreman. She gained the respect of the entire audience at the fight as well as her classmates at college. This episode shows that Luanne is a lot more than just a pretty face. She is a woman of principles who won’t hesitate to stand up for herself and demand respect.

2. Fun with Jane and Jane

Judge, M & Daniels, G. King of the Hill (1997-2010). “Fun with Jane and Jane” (Video). Fox Broadcasting Company.
Link to YouTube.
Episode Details: Season 6, Episode 17
Air Date: April 21, 2002
Written by: Garland Testa
Directed by: Adam Kuhlman
Best Quote:

"Let's sing Lady Marmalade next! I know the words. Icky icky deet tee big ol doggie Marmaduke."
Luanne Platter, "Fun with Jane and Jane", King of the Hill

In the episode “Fun with Jane and Jane” Peggy encourages Luanne to sign up to a sorority at college in an effort to make some new friends. Luanne takes her advice and visits a sorority at her college but quickly realizes that she will never fit in there because she is not popular and wealthy. The scene where she arrives at the sorority and tries to impress the other girls by singing Lady Marmalade is one of my favourite Luanne moments. It is so adorable how she gets all of the words wrong.

After being kicked out of the sorority, Luanne is approached by a girl who invites her to visit another sorority called “Omega House.” Omega house turns out to be a cult where all of the members are re-named “Jane” and encouraged to give up their old lives and move to a farm to help make jams and jellies. It takes the cult a while to break down Luanne. When she first arrives she is excited to be a part of the group and ignores the obvious red flags that something is wrong. When the woman in charge tries to change her name, Luanne cheerfully corrects her, and even gives her an a tip on how to remember her name. In another scene, she orders a pizza to be delivered to the house instead of eating rice with the others which results in her being locked in a closet.

Eventually, Luanne can’t take anymore, and flees the house. When she returns back home, Peggy convinces her it was just hazing, and takes her back to Omega House. The cult welcomes Luanne back and is able to entice Peggy into joining as well by complimenting her. When Hank hears about the cult, he rushes to Omega house and lures Peggy and Luanne outside by grilling some steaks. This episode is a real-stand out for me. The Omega House is so creepy and it is hilarious watching them brainwash Luanne and Peggy.

3. Texas City Twister

Judge, M & Daniels, G. King of the Hill (1997-2010). “Texas City Twsiter” (Video). Fox Broadcasting Company.
Link to YouTube.
Episode Details: Season 2, Episode 2
Air Date: September 28, 1997
Written by: Cheryl Holliday
Directed by: Jeff Myers
Best Quote:

Hank: "A man came by from the Shiney Pines trailer park, and he said you still got a trailer there."
Luanne: "No I don't, it tipped over."
Hank: "But it's still there."
Luanne: "No, it tipped over!"
Hank: "Luanne, let me try to explain. I have a beer can. I tip it over. Now, is it still there?"
Luanne: "I can't live in a beer can. I can live in a trailer, but I don't have a trailer because the trailer tipped over!"

Hank and Luanne, "Texas City Twister", King of the Hill

Hank Hill was never happy when Luanne came to live with them. In the episode “Texas City Twister” Hank is irritated when he learns that Luanne owes six months back rent on the trailer she was living in at the Shiny Pines Trailer Park with her parents. When he confronts her about it, Luanne argues that she cannot live in the trailer, because it tipped over. Hank gets his friends together and they use a winch to lift the trailer back up. He goes back home and tells Peggy that it is time for Luanne to move out. Luanne feels hurt that he wants her gone and Peggy wishes that Hank could show a little bit more kindness to his niece.

When it is time for them to say their goodbyes, Hank gives Luanne his business card, and offers her a ten percent discount on her propane needs. He is so cold towards her, Luanne turns away crying, which causes Peggy to lose her temper at Hank. She calls him a blockhead for being so heartless and he tells her to go to hell. Peggy and Luanne get into a car and leave to go the trailer park. Hank goes back inside and turns on the TV and sees a weather alert warning of an approaching tornado. Panicked, he grabs Bobby and orders him into the car and tells him they are going to the trailer park to get Peggy and Luanne. Hank reaches the trailer park just as the twister touches down. Peggy and Luanne call out to him from an underground bunker. Hank grabs onto a telephone pole and cries out in fright as the wind picks him up off the ground and tears off all of his clothes. He apologises to Peggy and tells her how much he loves her, Bobby, and even Luanne. The tornado passes them all by leaving them all unscathed. Hank rushes over to the shelter and lets Peggy, Luanne and Bobby out. When he sees that the storm destroyed her trailer, Hank offers to let Luanne move back home, finally accepting her as part of the family.

I was never a fan of Hank in the earlier seasons of King of the Hill. I found him to be a conservative, old-fashioned, quick to anger and judgemental. He only started to grow on me when I realized that a large part of the show was about him learning to become more open-minded, accepting, and unafraid to express his emotions. The episode “Texas City Twister” does a good job showing what a complicated man Hank Hill is. I like that he finally admits that he does care for Luanne and invites her to come back home. It is the start of a relationship that will see him become a positive and stable father figure in her life.

4. Luanne Virgin 2.0

Judge, M & Daniels, G. King of the Hill (1997-2010). “Luanne Virgin 2.0” (Video). Fox Broadcasting Company.
Link to YouTube.
Episode Details: Season 5, Episode 15
Air Date: March 11, 2001
Written by: Kit Boss
Directed by: Adam Kuhlman
Best Quote:

"Woo-hoo! I'm a virgin!"
Luanne Platter, "Luanne Virgin 2.0", King of the Hill

Luanne Platter is a very attractive young woman who has always shown a big interest in dating and relationships. In the episode “Luanne Virgin 2.0” Hank is dismayed when Luanne reveals that she has been sexually intimate with four partners. He takes her to visit Reverend Stroup at his church who suggests that Luanne take a Youth Abstinence Course and become a born again virgin. Stroup suggests that Peggy and Hank come along to the class as well and sign up to become Luanne’s celibacy sponsors.

Peggy and Hank agree to go with Luanne to the Youth Abstinence course. Eager to impress her Aunt and Uncle, Luanne becomes wrapped up in the idea of abstinence, and becoming a born-again virgin. She agrees to go down to Lake Arlen and be baptised in the lake. She puts on a white robe and lets Reverend Stroup push her head underneath the water. When she pops up again her robe is wet and clinging to her body revealing her feminine curves. Luanne lets out a whoop that attracts the attention of a group of boys playing frisbee on the shore. I like how Hank steps forward to shoo away the boys and wrap her in a towel. His relationship with her has grown so much at this point in the series he has become a strong and stable father-figure in her life.

Hank gets the idea to set up Luanne with a young man named Rhett that he met at the Youth Abstinence course. Rhett and Luanne go bowling together and to a swing dance. Rhett is desperate to remain a virgin before marriage but also very aroused by Luanne. When he impulsively asks her to marry him, she instantly agrees. Hank is supportive of them getting married, but Peggy is not. She wants to see Luanne get married, but she doesn’t think it should be to Rhett, because they do not know each other well enough and were rushing into things for the sake of having sex. At the end of the episode, Luanne decides to call off the wedding, and tells Hank that Peggy was right to call her out about her relationship with Rhett. They were rushing into marriage so they could have sex without it being a sin. This episode is a favourite of mine for a lot of reasons. The baptismal scenes in the lake are hilarious, Rhett’s naivety about sex is kind of adorable, and I like the advice that Peggy gives Luanne about marriage and relationships.

5. Wings of the Dope

Judge, M & Daniels, G. King of the Hill (1997-2010). “Wings of the Dope” (Video). Fox Broadcasting Company.
Link to YouTube.
Episode Details: Season 3, Episode 23
Air Date: May 4, 1999
Written by: Johnny Hardwick
Directed by: Cyndi Tang-Loveland
Best Quote:

Luanne: "You are an angel! Unless you're just a hallucinogen of my mind. If you're really Buckley's Angel, then tell me something only the real Buckley would know."
Buckley: "Uh...you have a birthmark on your butt the shape of a Honda key."
Luanne: "You are a real angel!"

Luanne and Buckley, "Wings of the Dope", King of the Hill

In the earlier seasons of King of the Hill Luanne had a boyfriend called Buckley who rode a motorcycle and worked at the Mega Lo Mart. Buckley was an incompetent sales clerk in his job and a selfish and rude boyfriend to Luanne. Buckley was killed in the episode "Propane Boom" after he mishandled a propane tank and caused a gas leak which led to an explosion inside the Mega Lo Mart.

In the episode "Wings of the Dope" Buckley returns to Earth as an angel. Luanne discovers him jumping on his old trampoline still dressed in his Mega Lo Mart work uniform. The scene where they reconnect is so sweet. Luanne and Buckley’s angel hold hands and jump together on the trampoline while the song “Life in a Northern Time” by Dream Academy plays in the background. This is one of my favourite Luanne moments. It’s just perfect. Buckley’s Angel tells Luanne that he has a message for her. Jesus wants her to quit beauty school and go to college. It is this good act that earns Buckley a halo.

“Wings of the Dope” is a really sweet episode. I like that it gives Luanne’s relationship with Buckley the respect that it deserves and explores her religious side in a way that gives her character a chance to grow.

More TV Show Reviews by Marisa
The Best Peggy Hill Episodes from King of the Hill
The Best Dale Gribble Episodes from King of the Hill
The Best Bobby Hill Episodes From King of the Hill
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