# Bob's Burgers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 28, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198 "2011-03-28T00:47:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/21 "2011-03-28T04:12:36Z")

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Another vote for “I love this show and think it’s hilarious”.

But humor is subjective. If you don’t think something’s funny, nobody else can make it funny for you.

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**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/22 "2011-03-28T04:14:27Z")

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It’s got a little bit o’ funny in it, but I really don’t care for it. I love the theme song, though.

Joe

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**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/23 "2011-03-28T04:27:52Z")

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Love it: 57, married; degreed; upper middle class; huge animation fan; artist(both); lived all over the US; one dog, two cats, two fish; caucasion; pretty much crippled; planning a garden in the spring. Does this help?

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/24 "2011-03-28T04:33:44Z")

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> [@singular1](#):
>
> Love it: 57, married; degreed; upper middle class; huge animation fan; artist(both); lived all over the US; one dog, two cats, two fish; caucasion; pretty much crippled; planning a garden in the spring. Does this help?

How’s the chin?

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**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/25 "2011-03-28T04:50:46Z")

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It’s on in the background. I’m not revolted by it, but I’ve never been in stitches over anything said in there.

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**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/26 "2011-03-28T05:09:34Z")

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> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> How’s the chin?

And the anus?

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/27 "2011-03-28T05:36:27Z")

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I saw the first 3 episodes. Fucking worst cartoon ever.

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/28 "2011-03-28T05:53:20Z")

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> [@Stink Fish Pot](#):
>
> I’m glad there are a few enjoying it, but I’m still mystified. If people who respond can tell me their age, sex, education level, marital status, or whatever they feel like sharing, I’d appreciate it. I haven’t smiled once during these shows.

I’m a forty-year-old male who’s much smarter than you and gettin’ it as regular as married folk do. I have been intently interested in producing and consuming animation for nearly three decades and remember when _The Simpsons_ was just a series of shorts punctuating _Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation_. (I never saw _The Tracy Ullman Show_.)

What appeals to me most about _Bob’s Burgers_ is that is doesn’t try to replicate the formula for the successful animated series which have done well in that time slot, but instead feels more like the sort of material that the creators of these shows were producing before they had all the life sucked out of them. That is, it’s more like what Mike Judge was doing with _Milton_ and (to a lesser degree) the _Beavis and Butthead_ shorts, before he knuckled down and actively tried to produce something banal enough to play on MTV or Fox. It’s like _The Simpsons_ was when it still represented the anarchic vision of Matt Groening harnessed in a rough-and-ready manner by Bill Kopp, before it had the Disney homogenization applied to it and became so much pasteurized yellow cheese. It has the same sort of charm that _The Spirit of Christmas_ had, before it became the tired paint-by-numbers effort that is _South Park_. It’s loads better than the sort of weak corporate shit that Seth MacFarlane was grinding out before he realized that he could imitate and improve on his precursors better than they were able to imitate themselves, and certainly better than the half-hearted dessicated turds he forced out after _Family Guy_.

I like that _Bob’s Burgers_ seems to find just the right level of discomfort without going so far into the gross zone that you’re desensitized within the first seven minutes. I like that the characters have just enough humanity to them, and are failures in such an entirely plausible way - while still managing to be properly absurd.

Mainly, I like that they are doing their own thing and not timidly confining themselves within the narrow limitations of close-enough-to-previous-successes-to-be-accepted-by-the-masses-as-familiar-and-therefore-good.

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/29 "2011-03-28T06:04:55Z")

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It’s is somewhat funny to me. I like the father and the girl with the bunny ears.

The thing I find bad about it is that it seems they don’t have enough quality material for a 22 minute show. It seems to me if they did two segments of 11 minutes it would be better and funnier.

A lot of good humour gets lost in plots which seem forced and stretched out

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**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/30 "2011-03-28T06:14:40Z")

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> [@AClockworkMelon](#):
>
> Just because the Nuremburg Trials are funnier doesn’t mean that Bob’s Burgers isn’t funny. Just wanted to point that out.

I imagined these words spoken in Kristen Schaal’s voice when I read your post. Bravo.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/31 "2011-03-28T06:15:13Z")

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> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> It’s is somewhat funny to me. I like the father and the girl with the bunny ears.
> 
> The thing I find bad about it is that it seems they don’t have enough quality material for a 22 minute show. It seems to me if they did two segments of 11 minutes it would be better and funnier.
> 
> A lot of good humour gets lost in plots which seem forced and stretched out

I don’t know. I like the 22 minute format. A lot of the 11 minute shows on Adult Swim seem a little shallow - they might have an interesting concept but they’re light on story. _Bob’s Burgers_ is obviously not high concept but I think the stories work well - the writers understand how to develop a story through a series of smaller acts.

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**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/32 "2011-03-28T06:19:15Z")

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Well, I don’t know about all that, but I like it, though I felt the most recent episodes are _significantly_ better than the first three or four.

I like that it’s not afraid to be weird, I enjoy how the voice actors mesh well together, and I don’t find the art off-putting. I’m happy to see how it develops from here.

I’m 23, male, unmarried, Latino, getting my Masters.

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**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/33 "2011-03-28T08:54:29Z")

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I think it is a good replacement for King of the Hill. I think it’s the funniest show on Sunday night.

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**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/34 "2011-03-28T09:57:14Z")

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I like the sort of humor Bob’s Burgers does: children smarter than parents, borderline/overt psychosis as norm, bad animation as a joke on the audience (the chinless), and I like H. Jon Benjamin’s voice timing, it adds to the humor.

I used to like The Simpsons, Southpark, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Family Guy for exactly those reasons. But I’ve become burned out on them, they’re tired and repetitious. Especially The Simpsons – oh, I chuckle 3 times an episode when they drop a zinger, but mostly, I find myself aching for this episode to end. I admit, I burned out quickly on King of the Hill, and Bob’s Burgers may not have much staying power either.

The grandmother has a New York accent because she’s voiced by Renée Taylor, Fran’s mother on the Nanny. They were probably running with the “shrieking, irritating, mother-in-law theme”, and with the 3-hour Nanny block on TV Land being my mom’s favorite, I understand that theme well.

I think it’s funny as hell that the Mom and Linda are voiced by men. Just a big joke on everyone. But that may just be me.

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**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/35 "2011-03-28T10:07:39Z")

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Missed edit window:

ETA:  
I’m one of the over 40 man children who Tivo’s (well, until it broke) Adult Swim shows. The sort who gravitated to South Park from day one. The kind who wishes Adult Swim would pick up Korgoth of Barbaria, just to hear Diedrich Bader drone his way through impossibly violent offensive DnD puns.

And I was kinda enjoying God, the Devil and Bob. Again, kinda funny, irreverent just for irreverent’s sake, funny voice by French Stewart. Kinda weak plots 'tho.

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**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/36 "2011-03-28T12:48:02Z")

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i really really really liked the 2nd episode - about the crawl space.

also, what makes you (stinkfish) think tina is gay? sexualized, yes. gay?

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**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/37 "2011-03-28T13:38:38Z")

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> [@Stink Fish Pot](#):
>
> Can anyone out there who likes it explain to me what I’m missing? I don’t see any redeeming part of the show. There doesn’t seem to be a hidden message they are trying to get across, they aren’t sticking it to corporate america… It’s just a stupid cartoon that gets worse every week.

I don’t think you’re missing anything. There’s no hidden message and they’re not trying to stick it to anybody. It’s just a TV show that’s supposed to be funny.

Funny is subjective, so we don’t all have to agree. I happen to think it _is_ funny, and you don’t. No reason we can’t still get along.

Now, I have a question for _you_: Why have you watched every episode if you hate it so much? And why take the time and effort to create a thread in which you ostesibly try to understand why other people like it, but really just to complain about how much you hate it? I’m not trying to be snarky, I’m really asking. I’ve seen lots of shows I didn’t care for that other people seem to like a lot. So basically I \*don’t watch them \*and don’t participate in threads about them, and everybody gets on with their lives. Relax, dude, and spend your time on things you enjoy.

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**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/38 "2011-03-28T14:00:43Z")

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> [@Stink Fish Pot](#):
>
> Wow. I really think I have a great sense of humor, but this show escapes me. I’d rather watch the Nuremburg trials.

Why can’t you do both?

“Damnit Louise, why would you ask people if they want dessert before even finding out what they want for their meals?”  
“I was just following orders!”

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**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/39 "2011-03-28T14:30:57Z")

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My daughters love it. I can’t be bothered with it. I hate the accents and voices more than anything.  
I love American Dad and Family Guy so I put up with it being squished in the middle.

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**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobs-burgers/576198/40 "2011-03-28T14:35:36Z")

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> [@AClockworkMelon](#):
>
> Just because the Nuremburg Trials are funnier doesn’t mean that Bob’s Burgers isn’t funny. Just wanted to point that out.

I didn’t care for the Nuremburg Trials either, mainly because of the canned laughter. Let _me_ decide what’s funny.

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