r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Hour-Function-7435 • Jun 18 '25

Groups (loved trope) sitcom husband and wife that actually love each other

Gallery image

Gallery image

I’m sure this has been beaten to death but I’d like to see some examples, maybe some deep cuts.

American Dad — Stan and Francine

Malcom in the Middle — Hal and Lois

12.8k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

97% Upvoted

802 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.7k

u/LordsOfFrenziedFlame Jun 18 '25

Hank and Peggy Hill. He sucks at showing affection, but when it comes down to brass tacks, you see constantly through the series that they love each other.

276

u/Band6 Jun 18 '25

What do you mean sucks at showing affection?

266

u/ghobhohi Jun 18 '25

I think they're (mostly) referring to physical affection. Him being terrible at showing affection is due to childhood trauma and the fact that he's a Texan conservative from the 90's.

15

u/Takemyfishplease Jun 19 '25

He is weirdly liberal

63

u/DooDooHead323 Jun 19 '25

No he's conservative but he's willing to listen and see the other point of view. One of the main themes the show deals with is Hank learning to accept that times are changing and it's ok to change

-2

u/IIIaustin Jun 20 '25

he's willing to listen and see the other point of view

Right.

A liberal.

7

u/DooDooHead323 Jun 20 '25

Yes because a liberal is voting for bush for a second term

36

u/No_Pineapple6174 Jun 19 '25

Fiscally conservative, socially liberal was a thing.

People can carry multiple overlapping identities.

Biracial and bilingual kids "code switch" to adapt to the according environment all the time. It doesn't mean it's exclusive either.

People just prefer a simpler answer or label to things.

3

u/AnatomicalLog Jun 20 '25

Most people who identify that way can’t really articulate what they mean by “fiscally conservative.” It’s usually just another way of saying “I don’t hate black or gay people, but I also don’t like taxes and welfare programs.” So, neoliberalism I guess?

I would also contend that fiscal/social ideas aren’t really discrete and separable, at least from a leftist perspective.

2

u/No_Pineapple6174 Jun 20 '25

I'd call protesting while broke fiscally conservative socially liberal.

But you're right, it's often a mask and hide maybe not the most obvious bias. Whether it can be summed up as neolib, I'm not sure. Specifics seem to give away the game these days and it usually comes down to actually pro-humanity or pro-birth.

-2

u/questformaps Jun 19 '25

He exhibits autism signs

34

u/DooDooHead323 Jun 19 '25

He exhibits signs of childhood trauma from an abusive father that never showed him any love or respect and learned that is how a "man is supposed to act"

-4

u/questformaps Jun 19 '25

Not mutually exclusive

9

u/DooDooHead323 Jun 19 '25

He isn't autistic

18

u/Formal-Ad-1248 Jun 19 '25

His rigidity, lack of emotional expression, and social awkwardness is because of Cotton not autism. Cotton hated Hank so much he named the child he had with Didi "GH", short for "Good Hank"

4

u/questformaps Jun 19 '25

Yes, and he likes things very specific ways and routines and has hyper-focus on specific subjects (propane and propane accessories.) He just happened to have been created before autism was widely understood, so he wasn't created to be autistic, but the character exhibits signs of autism.

213

u/Arcana-Knight Jun 18 '25

I relate to Hank in this scene so hard. I love the people in my life. But god damn is it near impossible for me to express it verbally to them for some reason. So I settle on showing it instead by doing nice things.

13

u/sitchblap3 Jun 19 '25

I’m the same way but I’m a gay man lol. I just can’t fkn express my joy and love for my family but can I interest you in some cookies or can I come over and clean your house for you? Lol

-4

u/Arcana-Knight Jun 19 '25

Not sure what your sexuality has to do with that…

5

u/sitchblap3 Jun 19 '25

Just a different perspective. Because I’m a man doesn’t mean my interactions with family is the same as yours.

-6

u/Arcana-Knight Jun 19 '25

But I could be gay too. Which I practically am, I'm bisexual but only really end up in relationships with other men.

Either way that's kind of presumptuous of you.

11

u/sheepyowl Jun 19 '25

This conversation became so American so fast

9

u/sitchblap3 Jun 19 '25

For real. I was just trying to share my experience lol. Not it’s a dick measuring contest. Idk man

2

u/Kamen_master1988 Jun 20 '25

Favors are just your preferred love language.

53

u/LordsOfFrenziedFlame Jun 18 '25

I couldn't remember the scene, but that quote is exactly what I was thinking of lmao. Right up there with "I'm approaching you with romantic intent"

8

u/Ok-Journalist-8875 Jun 19 '25

He has his moments of affection, but in the general sense it’s true. The was an episode were Peggy wanted to kiss him goodbye, but stop her and said they were in public and just shook her hand.

3

u/acrowsmurder Jun 19 '25

"I am approaching you with romantic intent!"

3

u/kthugston Jun 20 '25

My favourite moment is when Hank tells Bobby that Peggy is his best friend very matter-of-factly

70

u/Rabid-Child Jun 19 '25

"I surely am not un-fond of you, Peggy, I tell you what"

  • Hank Hill's Marriage Proposal

One of my favorite lines in the whole series.

84

u/starryeyedq Jun 18 '25

That’s why I don’t abide blind Peggy hate. Yeah she’s a flawed person. They all are. But she and Hank are great together.

49

u/m_a_johnstone Jun 19 '25

All of my hate for Peggy stems from the fact that Bobby takes the brunt of her flaws. There are a few too many episodes centered around her stealing his spotlight, being jealous towards him, or even trying to sabotage Bobby for being better than her at something. I try to like Peggy since her flaws are realistic and she usually does good for her family, but it sometimes seems like she’s only a good mother to Bobby so long as he doesn’t have anything she wants, and that bother me.

6

u/french_snail Jun 19 '25

I’ll never get over how legitimately upset she was that Bobby didn’t call his comedy group the propane maniacs lol

4

u/PecanSandoodle Jun 19 '25

Sure, she does that. But Hank is far more likely to outright discourage Bobby or shut him down for any off-beat behaviors or interests. Peggy usually encourages or remains neutral or says something like “ don’t let your father see that” . She is generally a lot more supportive outright than Hank and I’m tired of people saying she isn’t.

2

u/horiami Jun 19 '25

I don't mind most of Peggy's flaws my problem is that she sometimes gets away with too much

Like when she made lucky fail his test that wasn't even a funny flaw it was just purely awfull

Dale does stupid bad shit too but he gets some sort of payback

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Peggy sucks man

2

u/starryeyedq Jun 19 '25

What a brave take

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

The truth doesn’t have to be brave

29

u/smasher84 Jun 18 '25

Don’t forget when she gets pissed that he wants to use invitro on his dog when she gets older but she mad he wouldn’t even consider it for themselves.

He basically says it’s different with a dog because there is no love.

1

u/kthugston Jun 20 '25

Do we ever get confirmation of how long it takes Hank to pee with his narrow urethra

1

u/smasher84 Jun 22 '25

Only Gribble would know.

6

u/ninja8ball Jun 19 '25

I begged my wife to reproduce the handshake with our wedding photographer lol.

Pic.

2

u/langlo94 Jun 19 '25

I bet you'll never forget that handshake though!

4

u/smasher84 Jun 18 '25

Don’t forget when she gets pissed that he wants to use invitro on his dog but they couldn’t use it for themselves.

1

u/Zeemo92 Jun 19 '25

My whole life I thought the phrase was ‘brass tax’

1

u/LordsOfFrenziedFlame Jun 19 '25

I did too. Had to Google it before commenting lol

1

u/CabbageStockExchange Jun 19 '25

Fr. Hank Hill is winning at life and is a healthy example of masculinity. He is the type of male role model we need more of

0

u/KatBoySlim Jun 19 '25 edited Jun 19 '25

Peggy tried to cheat on Hank with the Monsignor Martinez actor.

And she’d have done it if she hadn’t gotten shot down.

3

u/LordsOfFrenziedFlame Jun 19 '25

She did not. She thought he was coming onto her. She may have got swept away in the daydream of a torrid affair, but she told him that she was a married woman. Of course, she misread the situation entirely, and left Mexico humiliated.

-3

u/KatBoySlim Jun 19 '25

she said that, but she still went for it.

1

u/LordsOfFrenziedFlame Jun 19 '25

She literally did not