Bob's Burgers Information

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 show has broadcast 38 episodes, and the second season started airing on March 11, 2012. 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. The first season received an average of approximately 5 million viewers, and it ranked 59th in ratings share, tied with 60 Minutes, The Middle, and Outsourced.

The third season premiered on September 30, 2012.

On October 16, 2012, Fox renewed Bob's Burgers for a fourth production cycle of 22 episodes.

Plot

See List of Bob's Burgers episodes for more information The show centers on the Belcher family, who run a hamburger restaurant. 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.

Characters

The Belcher family are a typical family and run a hamburger restaurant. Bob is the restaurant's owner, and is a father. Linda is Bob's wife. Tina is the oldest child, who helps around Bob's restaurant along with Gene, the only boy, and Louise, the youngest girl.

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

Production

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. In this demo Bob uses the word "shit" without it being censored. 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 (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 intended, but later are allowed to improvise lines on the spot. 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

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.

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 (on the other side of Bob's from Mort's funeral home) changes from one episode to the next. However, during episodes, it is almost always vacant. Additionally, beginning in Season 2, a different company is named on the pest control truck for each episode's opening credits.

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.

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 (e.g. "It's Fun to Eat at the rYe M C A Burger": Comes with Rye, Mustard, Cheese, and Avocado). Similar "Special" burgers are also mentioned by the characters without being written on the board.

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 season is also available for streaming on Netflix. The first 2 seasons and all episodes are available from Amazon Instant Video, along with season 3 episodes. Note: Season 3 is in progress, the most recent episodes become available with a few days of their TV airing.

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[ing] 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." The Parents Television Council, a conservative media watchdog group, named two of the shows episodes ("Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" and "The Belchies") as the Worst TV Show of the Week.

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 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." On blogcritics.org, JeromeWetzelTV commented that "[w]hile not preachy, Bob's Burgers is certainly the most wholesome of the Sunday night cartoons. The series is not all about the heart, though. There are plenty of great jokes. For instance, when Gene wins a gold medal in the race, his mother, Linda (John Roberts), wants to have it bronzed. This is just one example of the off-beat brand of humor that Bob's Burgers brings to a night full of the same type of show, setting it apart." 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.

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.

Year	Award	Category	Recipients and nominees	Outcome	References
2011	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV: Animated Show	Bob's Burgers
2012	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV: Animated Show	Bob's Burgers
2012	Critics Choice Award	Best Animated Series	Bob's Burgers
2012	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Animated Program	Bob's Burgers for "Burgerboss"

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.

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Sunday 8:30 pm	13	January 9, 2011	9.38	May 22, 2011	4.31	2010"11	#117	5.07
2		9	March 11, 2012	4.04	May 20, 2012	3.57	2011"12	#142	4.18
3		19	September 30, 2012	5.46	May 12, 2013	TBA	2012"13	TBA	TBA

Broadcast

Episodes

International broadcast

Country	Network	Premiere date
United States	Fox	January 9, 2011"?
Canada	Global	January 9, 2011"?
Australia	Eleven	January 26, 2011"?
United Kingdom	E4 4Music Channel 4	April 2011"?
Philippines	Jack TV	May 5, 2011"?
New Zealand	Four	June 2011"?
Ireland	3e	August 2011"?
Brazil	FX Latin America	August 2011"?
Argentina	FX Latin America	August 2011"?
Mexico	FX Latin America	August 2011"?
Italy	Fox	September 2011"?
Norway	TV 2 Zebra	September 21, 2011"?
Hungary	Comedy Central	October 4, 2011"?
Ukraine	[[2+2 (TV channel)|2+2]]	October 2011"?
Estonia	TV6	October 13, 2011"?
Czech Republic	Prima Cool	December 25, 2011"?
Greece	FX Fox	January 2012"?October 2012 February 2013"?Present
Poland	Fox	March 14, 2012"?
Russia	2x2	May 7, 2012"?
Arab world	Fox	May 2012"?
Netherlands	Comedy Central	August 2012

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.

In the Family Guy episode, "Space Cadet", Chris gets in trouble and his parents come to the principal's office. The principal shows Lois and Peter a picture of Bob Belcher, which was Chris's advanced art project.

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.

See also

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