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Bob's Burgers
The Belcher family. Clockwise from top left: Bob, Linda, Louise, Gene, and Tina.
Genre	Animated sitcom
Created by	Loren Bouchard
Developed by	Loren Bouchard Jim Dauterive
Voices of	H. Jon Benjamin Dan Mintz Eugene Mirman Larry Murphy John Roberts Kristen Schaal
Theme music composer	Loren Bouchard
Opening theme	"Bob's Burgers Theme"
Composers	John Dylan Keith Loren Bouchard
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5 (Currently in Season 4)
No. of episodes	61 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Loren Bouchard Jim Dauterive
Camera setup	Animated rendition of single-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production companies	Wilo Productions Buck & Millie Productions Bento Box Entertainment 20th Century Fox Television
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	January 9, 2011 (2011-01-09) – present

Bob's Burgers is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Belchers – parents Bob and Linda, and their children Tina, Gene, and Louise – who run a hamburger restaurant. The family was conceived by Bouchard after developing Home Movies for UPN.

Since its debut on January 9, 2011, the series has broadcast 56 episodes. While reviews for the first season were mixed, subsequent reviews have been positive. The series premiere, "Human Flesh", drew in 9.38 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series premiere of the season and also finished 9th in the ratings for the week it aired.

On October 16, 2012, Fox renewed Bob's Burgers for a fourth season consisting of 22 episodes. The series started airing past aired episodes in syndication on Cartoon Network's late night adult programming block Adult Swim on June 23, 2013. On September 26, 2013, Fox renewed the series for a fifth season ordering 22 additional episodes.

In 2013, TV Guide ranked Bob's Burgers as one of the top 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time.

Plot

The show centers on the Belcher family, who run a hamburger restaurant on Ocean Avenue.

Characters

The Belcher family runs a hamburger restaurant. Bob is the restaurant's owner and husband to Linda. Their three children include Tina, the oldest, Gene, the only boy, and Louise, the youngest. All three kids help out around the restaurant to some extent. Louise is known for altering the "Burger of the Day" titles to inappropriate plays on words. Gene is known for offering burger samples to individuals leaving the neighboring crematorium and using his megaphone and electric keyboard for questionable purposes. Tina is known for helping out on the grill while at the same time dealing with her budding puberty.

There are various recurring characters in the series including Jimmy Pesto, Bob's rival who owns a pizzeria across the street, and his sons Jimmy Jr. (Tina's love interest) and hyperactive twins Andy and Ollie, who are friends of Louise. Other recurring characters include Bob's friend Mort, who owns the mortuary next door, and Teddy Francisco, a regular customer at Bob's Burgers and avid storyteller.

Production

Creator Loren Bouchard said Bob's Burgers came about because Fox's animation brand centers mostly on family, but he also wanted to dabble in workplace comedy. The show is said to fill the void created by the conclusion of King of the Hill, which Bob's Burgers executive producer Jim Dauterive worked on for nearly its entire run.

Proof of concept

Before the show was aired, the team created a proof of concept so Fox Broadcasting Company knew what to expect if they bought the show. Jay Howell had his art featured in a test animation based on Bob forgetting about his and Linda's wedding anniversary. The actual show has never used a word that needed to be censored by the network. The proof of concept eventually turned into the pilot episode. It had the same synopsis as the official pilot (aired in 2011) but had both cosmetic and substantial differences. These included:

• Cruder animation
• Character models having longer noses
• Bob wears a white tank top/singlet (in the series he wears a white shirt)
• The eldest child is male, and called Daniel
• The intro had slower animation due to budget cuts
• Extra lines
• In the proof of concept Gene drops the hamburger samples when the elderly mourning lady leaves and comes back to kick him onto the ground. In the actual episode, she flips the pan of samples out of his hand.

The original pilot can be seen on the DVD release of the first season, released on April 17, 2012.

Development

Bob's Burgers first appeared on the development slate at Fox on August 6, 2009. On December 1, 2009, Fox ordered 13 episodes for the first season. On May 17, 2010, Fox placed the series on the primetime slate for the 2010–11 television season. A special preview aired on Thanksgiving on November 25, 2010.

Executive producers

Creator Loren Bouchard serves as the executive producer, alongside developer Jim Dauterive. They have served as executive producers since the first season.

Writing

The team of writers includes: Loren Bouchard, Jim Dauterive, Scott Jacobson, Lizzie Molyneux, Wendy Molyneux, Holly Schlesinger, Nora Smith, Steven Davis, Kelvin Yu, Dan Fybel, Rich Rinaldi, Kit Boss, Greg Thompson, and Jon Schroeder. After the writing has been completed, the voice actors read the script as written, but later are allowed to improvise lines. The editors and director decide what improvised lines make the final cut.

Voice cast

Bob's Burgers has five main cast members: H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, and Kristen Schaal. Benjamin voices Bob Belcher, Roberts voices Linda Belcher, Mintz voices Tina Belcher, Mirman voices Gene Belcher, Schaal voices Louise Belcher.

Main cast members
H. Jon Benjamin	John Roberts	Dan Mintz	Eugene Mirman	Kristen Schaal
Bob Belcher	Linda Belcher	Tina Belcher	Gene Belcher	Louise Belcher

Hallmarks

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Opening sequence

The opening sequence begins with a burger, after which the Belcher family appears, with their restaurant sporting a "Grand Opening" sign in the background. The restaurant is then shown being damaged in a series of incidents (a fire, an encounter with a fallen utility pole, an invasion of vermin), each time returning with a sign announcing the "Grand Re-Opening", "Grand Re-Re-Opening", and so on. Finally, the view zooms in to the "Bob's Burgers" sign/logo and fades into the start of the episode. From Season 3, the sequence was slightly changed: the Belchers pose differently, Gene bops up and down during the series of incidents, Louise jumps near Gene and slightly waves her hands before the incidents and it instead zooms in on the cheese of the burger Bob is holding to start the episodes. The music was also updated. Also, Jimmy Pesto can now be seen reflected in the window of the exterminator company's van.

As with two other Fox animated series, The Simpsons and American Dad!, the show has a changing element in the show's opening credits; the store to the right of the restaurant (on the other side of Bob's from Mort's funeral home) has a humorous name that changes from one episode to the next (ex. In 'Purple Rainunion', the store was called 'Betty's Machete's'). However, during episodes, the retail space is usually vacant. Additionally, beginning in Season 2, a different company is named on the pest control truck for each episode's opening credits. On certain episodes, an element is changed for a special night (the Sunday before October 31st, a flash frame saying "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" was shown during the title sequence of Season 3.)

Credits sequence

The credits sequence of Bob's Burgers features the Belcher family at work. The scene is the kitchen of Bob's Burgers drawn with a black outline over a white background, with the credits off to the right hand side. The background often includes elements from the episode, such as a guest star or visual gag. Over time, the credits sequence has expanded from this to include things other than the kitchen scene, including Ear-sy Rider's credits sequence having the Belcher children riding their "bikes" down a highway, and in Purple Rainunion, Linda and Gayle's old band, The Tatas, performs a song while the kids and their new babysitter, Jen, sneak into the adults only concert during the credits.The end credits often have an updated version of a song or piece of music sung in the episode, such as Topsy having an updated version of the song Gene made, "Electric Love."

Daily special

Every episode features one or more "Today's Special" burgers on a chalk board on the wall behind the counter. The name of the special is usually a play on words that indicates what comes on the burger (ex.: "It's Fun to Eat at the rYe M C A Burger": Comes with Rye, Mustard, Cheese, and Avocado). Other "Special" burgers are also mentioned by the family without being written on their chalkboard.

Home media

The first season of the show is available on the iTunes Store for download and was released on DVD on April 17, 2012. The first 3 seasons are available from Amazon Instant Video, along with season 4 episodes. As of February 1, 2014, the first two seasons are available on Netflix. As of April 1, 2014, Season 3 is also available on Netflix. Episodes are aired on Hulu for the current season only.

Reception and achievements

Success

Initial reviews were mixed, with a Metacritic score of 54 out of 100. The Washington Post described the show as "pointlessly vulgar and derivatively dull", while Reuters stated that "It's unwise – and unnecessary – to launch an animated sitcom on Fox that appears intent to ape the vulgarity quotient of Family Guy." USA Today stated that "Bob's Burgers isn't very tasty" describing the comedy as just "lop along, stumbling from one tasteless moment to the next" The New York Times described the show as having "a lackadaisical vibe; its humor, no matter how anarchic, slides by in a deadpan monotone."

However, as Season 1 progressed and concluded and Season 2 began, critics began giving the series praise. Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club has recalled, "...the show was amusing, yes, and there was certainly potential, but it took half a dozen episodes before it really began to meet that potential." Season 2 has a Metacritic score of 78 out 100.

Entertainment Weekly gave the show an A− grade in its review, remarking that "a comedy this well done is very rare indeed." Ain't It Cool News called Bob's Burgers "perhaps the funniest half-hour currently airing on broadcast TV." In its review, CNN called the show "wickedly funny" and said there are "too many highlights to list here." Speaking about the show during its second season, The A.V. Club's Rowan Kaiser said "After an uneven start, Bob’s Burgers is becoming one of television’s best comedies!" Since the debut of season two of the series, the show's positive reception has increased. The AV Club voted Bob's Burgers as the 10th best TV show of 2012, and the 3rd best show of 2013.

Accolades

Bob's Burgers was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2012 along with fellow FOX shows The Simpsons, American Dad, Comedy Central's Futurama and Nickelodeon's The Penguins of Madagascar.

Ratings

After airing, the show became the highest-rated series premiere of the season and also finished 9th in the ratings for the week it aired. Despite this, the ratings went on a slide with ratings expert Bill Gorman of TV by the Numbers calling it a "toss up" for renewal before the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on March 11, 2012.

Syndication

On May 1, 2013, Adult Swim acquired the rights to air the first three seasons of Bob's Burgers. The series aired on June 23, 2013 at 11:00 ET.

Broadcast

Episodes

In popular culture

On January 6, 2011, some Fatburger locations were re-branded as Bob's Burgers for the day as a promotion. It also offered limited-time offers, such as a free burger giveaway, and a special, "The Thanks a Brunch Burger", on the menu until February 2011. There were also "Bob's Burgers" coupons offered for a free medium Fatburger special. Across the United States, 4 locations were re-branded as Bob's Burgers, in California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Illinois. At least one restaurant location in California continues to use the Bob's Burgers appellation into 2012.

In the Family Guy episode "Space Cadet", the principal shows Peter and Lois a picture of Bob Belcher as a sign that Chris is doing poorly in his Advanced Art class. Peter mutters "I'm very embarrassed," and the principal replies "Yeah, well, someone should be."

The season 4 premiere episode of Archer features a crossover where Bob is revealed to be Sterling Archer (also voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) in a fugue state. The menu board plays on once-amnesiac fictional secret agent Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon in a novel series by Manning Coles.

"Homerland", the season 25 premiere episode of The Simpsons, features a couch gag in which the Belcher family (skinned yellow according to the standard character coloring of the series) attend a 25th anniversary party in the Simpson family living room with the main characters of their fellow Animation Domination series.

See also

• List of animated television series from 2000s
• List of programs broadcast by Fox

References

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External links

• Official website
• Bob's Burgers at IMDb
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• Template:Bcdb

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• Bob's Burgers
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• Fox network shows
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• Television series by Fox Television Studios
• American animated television series
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