Welcome to TV Recap, in which we look at modern shows and analyze them on an episode-to-episode basis. This one focuses on the cartoon sitcom Bob's Burgers, a very funny show that is capable of rivaling old school Simpsons in terms of irreverent humor and off the wall zaniness. With a cast of modern alternative comedian heroes, the story follows the Belchers as they run a burger joint. Join me as I take part in dissecting the show in its first full season. Check back on Tuesdays for the next exciting installment.
One of the greatest tragedies of the past month is that Bob's Burgers is officially over for the season. On the bright side, it is coming back for yet another full season of wacky hi-jinks in the Fall, but the time waiting that long will mean having to moan like Tina until something better comes along. Still, what makes this uneven season practically a brilliant example of TV and how it is the successor to the Simpsons is how it managed to satirize the family dynamic in clever new ways.
True, people used to claim that Family Guy was the new the Simpsons. Think about that for awhile. While both were edgy, Family Guy was more reliant on cutaways and ADHD level humor that got worse as the show went on. It never cared about the family nor did it produce any story that could be seen as a satirical element of the average sitcom. Bob's Burgers on the other hand is an uncanny candidate for the Simpsons mantle in that it manages to not be very much a clone as it is contextually similar without too much other fringes.
For example, the show managed to be outrageous without coming across as mean. In the episode "Mother Daughter Laser Razor," Louise and Linda bond over a massacre against a terrible mother-daughter counselor in laser tag. It is such an ingenious moment that manages to take the episode's arc of them bonding and take the concept into an unexpected, original area. It is as funny as it is heartwarming. Most of all, this is only one of numerous examples where the family has bonded in clever ways. In "Nude Beach," the show not only manages to do the time honored clever nudity censorship gag, but turns a voyeuristic peep at a nude beach into a family event without at all coming across as perverse. Maybe weird, but never perverse.
Also explored was the satirical elements involving holidays. Notably during the first half of the season, the show challenged holidays that it wasn't able to in the Spring time slot that it resided in the previous two seasons. Holidays like Halloween produced episodes like "Full Bars," which managed to not only make a great new holiday episode, but become a parody of the Warriors without being overly annoying about it. There were also Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes that involved crazy events and a mannequin loving maniac, which was a show staple that I am glad was tampered down in the second half, as it was almost too expected for the newest characters to just be weird one-offs.
In another brilliant twist, the show did its best to humanize the kids by giving each of them the most bizarre fetishes imaginable. Gene was the maestro this season, as he fell in love with a puppet, another man's music room, and a talking toilet. Gene has always been the weirdest character on the show, and Eugene Mirman does a great job making the character's off hand remarks into the show's centerpieces almost every time. It is more impressive that despite him being a somewhat dim character, he isn't played for stupid humor in the grand context. He is just a very passionate kid who is misunderstood.
If there was one aspect of the children's relationships that I wasn't a fan of, it was Tina's. Where Louise falling in love with the kid from Boyz 4 Now was a touching coming of age story, Tina choosing between two guys was a very dull plot, especially as the supporting cast of the series isn't quite as established as the Belcher family. Characters like Andy and Ollie are funny in small doses, but spread throughout the season, they are best left in those small roles, as their gimmicks tend to wear thin if given more than five minutes of screen time. At very least, this is the show's one downfall.
However, Tina remains one of the more fascinating characters simply because she's not a girl, not yet a woman. She acts mature, but essentially is so insecure that she can't do anything without groaning. Still, the show doesn't treat this as a handicap and soon they are doing great stories about Tina solving school issues and running basement casinos. Some of the episodes' plots were a stretch, but the more likable and fleshed out these characters get, the easier it is to root for them. By the time that "O.T.: The Outside Toilet" came around, we have spent a great amount of time accumulating to this weird world and it no longer seems weird that Gene is in love with a toilet. What's weird is that it is voiced by Jon Hamm and is probably one of the greatest E.T. parodies of the past 10 years.
The other reason that it is practically the heir to the Simpsons throne is simply because of its weekly use of song. Where it was a key element in the Simpsons' early run, this show manages to make almost three original songs on a weekly basis that may be crude in production, but always have a level of craft to them that creates the fun vibe necessary. Whether it is Linda singing about Harry Truman, Gene writing a musical about Topsy the elephant, or just about how snakes are scary, this show revels in brilliantly simple songs that often play over the credits, making it a reverse of the Simpsons where the best gag comes at the end, almost making the credits the most desirable part of the show.
I also just love the satirical element to the show. "The Deepening" may be the greatest example, as it manages to turn Jaws into a fresh new concept. I am pretty sure that they are trying to knock off all of the 80's Amblin films, but with "The Deepening," they took it to a new level by forcing the jaws character to be played by a mechanical shark and have him run amok on land. It is probably one of the greatest episodes of the entire season, if just because of the parody aspect and that it shows everyone working together: which is often when the show is at its best. I still consider a scene in which they try to stop the machine, but only give it more power to be one of teh most inspired cartoon gags of the past year.
Bob's Burgers works because despite its often over the top nature, it finds time for its characters to relate. They have episodes dedicated to exploring Bob's past involving a love tester. They even have episodes with geriatric swingers. It is always weird, but Bob's Burgers is cutting edge when it comes to modern comedy. By being different, it almost evolves from the cult show that barely had an airing to the best thing in the Animation Domination line-up. With the Simpsons starting to pale, it is possible that this show will finally be accepted and get the recognition that it deserves, though who knows if it should last 25 years in any way but in the collective love that we have for it.
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