Animated series King of the Hill may be given a lifeline, with news that ABC is in negotiations to pick up the show.

King of the Hill looked set to close at the end of its 13th series after Fox passed on renewing the series for a 14th season, as we reported October 30.

According to Variety, King of the Hill would make a strong companion to ABC’s upcoming animated comedy The Goode Family, which comes from King of the Hill executive producers Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky.

If ABC does pick up the show, new episodes may not appear on ABC until the second half of 2009 or early 2010.