The King of Texas

One of the best TV shows of all time was King of the Hill.  Over the years the Hill family traveled across the Lone Star State and some things weren't terribly accurate but some things were surprisingly accurate.  Let's take a look.

In the Season 13 episode "Nancy Does Dallas" the show heads to, you guessed it, Dallas.  Check out the "cartoon-ized" version of the downtown skyline:

The did a pretty good job of matching the skyline details. (By the way, it's very difficult to take a picture of downtown from this angle without getting hit by a car.)

Later in the episode Nancy and her new co-workers check out a basketball game (between the Mavericks & Spurs, no less) at the American Airlines Center:

Again, they got lots of the details right (with the exception of the "AA" logo).

Here's some video we shot awhile back about the building's architecture and some of the science behind it:

At the end of the Season 11 episode "Hank Gets Dusted," Cotton's beloved Cadillac is buried at the world famous Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX along the world famous Route 66!


The occasion is event is even more Texas-centric with he inclusion of ZZ Top. The non-animated version of the Cadillac Ranch looks like this:

Other stops on the King of the Hill tour include the Marfa Lights, the Alamo, South Padre Island and many others.

Dallas Times Herald Ads

For over a century the Dallas Times Herald brought North Texans all the news worth reading.  They closed up shop in 1991 but the memory remains.  Here's an ad from the 80's that breaks down the economic benefits of buying a subscription:

The youth of the past also benefited economically from a sweet Dallas Times Herald paper route:

I'm not sure why the kid in the ad seems so horribly uninterested or why he's sitting on a skateboard in a belly shirt and holding what may or may not be an Oreo.  But, hey, it was the 80's.

Justice League Texas

The newly revived comic book Justice League of America from DC Comics is shipping with 52 different variant covers.  Each cover shows the cast raising a flag (Iwo Jima-style) with the regular cover featuring the United States flag.  The variant covers feature the flag of each individual state as well as Washington DC and Puerto Rico.

Here's the Texas cover:

And just for contrast, here's the regular cover with the American flag:

As far as variant covers go, there's not a lot of difference...just some flag Photoshopping but it's always nice to see Texas represented!  The issue arrives in stores today.

A Tip of the Hat

Here's some video we shot recently about the construction and installation of the giant bowler hat in south Dallas:

Pee-Wee Visits the Alamo

Remember when Pee Wee Herman visited the Alamo?


As you may recall, Pee-Wee was sent on a quest to find his beloved bicycle which he mistakenly believed was stashed away in the Alamo's nonexistent basement. As a kid I always wondered if that actually shot in San Antonio.

The IMDb page lists San Antonio as a filming location and visual looks legit:


Compare that to the picture I took a few years ago and I think we have a match:

In the upper right of each picture you can see the sign for the Crockett Hotel which is near the Alamo. So I think it's safe to officially add Pee-Wee Herman to the list of the millions of yearly travelers who have visited the historic site.

Pee Wee's return to the Alamo, years later, is less widely known.  Apparently the Alamo does have a basement of sorts and Pee Wee was on hand to personally investigate:

Dallas Railway Company Token

Here's a token I stumbled across when I was going through some old stuff.  It says Dallas Railway Company and according to Wikipedia it would range from 1917-1926.  Any additional info would be appreciated if you have it.

KTVT - The Super Ones

TV stations periodically update their "brands" (meaning their logos, colors graphics, etc.) in order to stay "current."  These changes are meaningless to 99% of the population but the stations seem to think they are very important and once they change they seldom go back. But there are some that are worth revisiting.

In the 1980's Channel 11 in Dallas made a big push with their kids-themed logo and programming.  With this as their starting point:

It wasn't a far trip to get to this:

Meet the Super Ones!  Get it?  They're both the number 1 and they are both super.  They were robots of some sort and they pretty much just stood there and talked in a robot-like manner.  Here's what they sounded like:

Yep, those robot voices are very robot-esque.  They showed up from time to time to announce contests, cartoons and other types of whatnot that might appeal to the kiddie market.  I was reminded of these two guys when I stumbled across this promotional pin in some of my old stuff:

If I recall correctly I picked up this little beauty at the KTVT booth at the Fort Worth Stock Show in the 80's.  This picture may be deceptive because the pin is only about 3/4 of an inch tall.  As you can see it's made of that cheap kind of plastic that doesn't hold up well over the decades.  But it was free so I can't really complain.

I don't know if the Super Ones had any kind of back story.  They might have been a couple of hip alien robots who came to earth to promote quality children's television programming.  As many hip mascots frequently do, they occasionally wore sunglasses and were a little more animated which can be seen on the Kid's Club poster behind this guy:

Assuming that my outer space back story is true then at some point their work here on Earth was done and they went back to space to share cartoons and Gilligan Island reruns with another world's youth.