King of the Hill revival: Johnny Hardwick had recorded as Dale Gribble before his death

King of the Hill fans were shocked to learn of the death of Johnny Hardwick last week. The actor was best known as the voice of Dale Gribble, Hank Hill’s conspiracy-obsessed neighbour on the animated series. When it was officially announced that Hulu had ordered a King of the Hill revival earlier this year, Johnny Hardwick was expected to return, but did he actually get the chance to record any episodes before his death?

According to TVLine, Johnny Hardwick had completed work on “a couple” episodes of the King of the Hill revival. Hopefully this means that we’ll get to hear the actor’s pitch-perfect take on Dale Gribble just one more time. As far as the rest of the episodes of the revival go, it’s not certain if someone else will take over as the voice of Dale or if they’ll retire the character.

20th Television Animation and Hulu declined to comment on the story but issued the following joint statement: “Johnny Hardwick was an incredibly beloved member of the King of the Hill family, whose tremendous talent, brilliant humor and friendship will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to work with him over the past 25 years. Our deepest condolences go out to his friends and family as we mourn the loss of one of the animation greats. His voice gave life to one of our most iconic characters, and he will be truly missed.“

Mike Judge returned for the King of the Hill revival as Hank and Boomhauer, alongside Kathy Najimy as Peggy, Pamela Adlon as Bobby, Stephen Root as Bill, Ashley Gardner as Nancy, and Lauren Tom as Minh and Connie. Judge will also executive produce alongside Greg Daniels, with Saladin Patterson serving as showrunner. “We are all so excited to welcome back Hank, Peggy and Bobby, and to see what they have to say about the world we live in and continue the conversations we began years ago,” said Craig Erwich, president of ABC Entertainment, Hulu and Disney Branded Television streaming originals. “This show has all of the perfect ingredients to meet this moment in animation at Hulu, and we’re so thankful to be having those conversations alongside this talented group.“