Twelve years ago, Mike Judge debuted one of the longest-running animated shows in television history. After a successful, if occasionally controversial, run with MTV's Beavis and Butthead, Judge introduced America to King of the Hill. As that show runs down its final season, Judge has a new program that launched this past Wednesday on ABC, The Goode Family. While this show has some potential, it doesn't strike a very flattering comparison with King of the Hill. Too bad it practically begs for one.

Much like King generated its laughs from the idiosyncrasies of conservative suburbia, The Goode Family lampoons the far left by centering around a family of crunchy vegans. The problem is that, at least so far, The Goode Family relies too heavily on its gimmick and not enough on the sympathetic humanity of its characters. King of the Hill got its start in the middle of the Clinton era, long before the national dialog consisted of people categorizing each other in the stark generalities of liberal and conservative stereotypes. Hank Hill and his all of his friends and family were never antagonized as being backward or ignorant. At worst, they were portrayed as being quaint and over-earnest. The Goode Family posits its protagonists as laughable caricatures. Just like the gas-guzzling habits of Humvees, this approach is neither organic nor sustainable.

This isn't to say that some of the gimmicky jokes aren't funny. My favorite bit was the running gag about the family dog, Che. The Goodes have been keeping him on a vegan diet, but being a dog he voraciously craves meat, so he turns to secretly consuming the neighborhood pet population. (South) African American son Ubuntu's driving obsession was also fun, if only because its conventionality was refreshing among all of the instantly dated cultural pieces. The rest of the jokes, like the whirlwind conservationist humor of the One Earth organic grocery store, were hit and miss.

In addition to Mike Judge voicing patriarch Gerald with a rehash of Mr. Van Driessen from Beavis and Butthead, The Daily Show and The Office alum Nancy Carell (nee Walls) plays Gerald's wife Helen, frequent Judge collaborator David Herman is son Ubuntu and ER's Linda Cardellini voices daughter Bliss. Brian Doyle-Murray guest stars in the pilot as Helen's father.

Best Moment: Watching Che snag a bird in mid-air. That dog is the strongest argument for keeping this one cartoony.

Biggest Laugh: "Attention One Earth shoppers. The driver of the SUV is in aisle 4. He's wearing the baseball cap."

Episode Rating: 3/5- I'm not sure how much mileage The Goode Family is going to be able to get out of highlighting the absurdities of various political extremes, but I do know that if Judge and company want it to survive, it's going to have to take on some greater depth. I doubt it will ever aim for the down-to-earth attitude of King of the Hill, especially if the bizarre proportions of some of the characters are any indication. Still, it's worth sticking it out through the customary rough patch of a new comedy to see if this one has legs.