I grew up in a family that was perpetually late to everything. It is the curse of the big family. I was one of four kids with two parents. Mom was in a wheelchair for a good portion of my youth. Things were tough. It was hard to get places on time, even if we felt we budgeted enough time. The result? I am forever phobic of arriving late to ANYTHING. I will even drive to meetings super early if it means that I am not late. I don’t give a shit if I have to wait around. At least I won’t be late. I love my family, but dammit, even as a kid this annoyed the hell out of me.
I imagine that one of the three Belcher children, Tina, Gene, and Louise, or maybe all three of them, would end up with similar phobias as adults. Their dad is Bob Belcher. He’s the Bob of Bob’s Burgers, a hole in the wall burger and fries joint in an unnamed coastal town that is the setting of the animated series Bob’s Burgers. The uniquely voiced H. Jon Benjamin, who sounds like a a drunken teen in the throes of puberty, voices Bob. He is worlds away from Sterling Archer, Benjamin’s character in Archer, in this series. Bob is a greasy spoon cook who is living his dream. He feels that he has mastered the art of the burger. His dream began, as one Christmas episode explores, in Big Bob’s Diner. Big Bob (Bill Hader) is Bob, Jr.’s dad and when a customer orders “the regular,” Bob, Jr. begins to dream. At the age of 14, he creates the “Get in Your Car and Chive” Burger. Bob is inspired by burgers and there is a creative artist living within him that needs some room to express himself. Big Bob won’t stand for it. About the matter Big Bob and Bob, Jr. have an argument which results in Bob, Jr., as a man in his early twenties, leaving his dad’s diner and starting a restaurant of his own.
Unlike Peter Griffin from Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy and Homer Simpson from Matt Groening’s The Simpsons, Bob Belcher is not part of the “death of the patriarch” movement in TV and cinema. He is not depicted as a total idiot who is hated by his children and constantly disappoints his wife. In this way, Loren Bouchard’s Bob’s Burgers is a very different show. I have heard some viewers explain Bob’s as “The Simpsons in the early days, before it forgot how to be funny.” Make no mistake, however, Bob has his quirks. He has an ongoing and childish competition with Jimmy Pesto (Jay Johnston) whose faux Italian sports bar and eatery is right across the street. He has a nostalgia for his childhood which he deeply believes his children and spouse will appreciate, but alas, they do not. Bob also has a habit of carrying on conversations with small, common household items like his spatula, his favorite veggies growing in the community garden, the turkey he is preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, etc. Despite all of his obvious oddities which make him funny, not stupid (there is a difference sometimes), Bob is a poor, hard-working father and spouse who really cares about his family and loves his job, despite the fact that he only has two regular customers named Teddy and Mort. Burgers are his passion, yes, but so is his family.
Linda Belcher is voiced by John Roberts. She is one of the most comedic of the bunch. She is extraordinarily neurotic but she lives for fun! She is always singing made up songs for anyone who will listen and she has an intense passion for musical theatre. Linda Belcher loves and empowers her children, in the midst of all of their extraordinary oddities, by making them see that weird is truly wonderful and awkward is awesome. Linda is a bit on the intense side when it comes to encouragement, however. When her awkward adolescent daughter Tina asks if she can have her birthday party in a “sexy ketchup factory,” Linda responds with her usual “ALRIIIIGHT!” Linda is a lover and a fighter, so it turns out. When her loud, inappropriate son Gene tries out for the cheerleading team, Linda gets very competitive on his behalf and believes that she, herself, can relive her lacking-in-glory days. Linda devises insane cheerleading routines for Gene and the young ladies on his elementary school team. When her youngest daughter Louise discovers that Bob has been tricked into hiring her “arch-nemesis” to work at the restaurant, Linda gets involved and fiercely protects her daughter by going head-to-head with the boy’s entitled snob-of-a-mother. When Linda wants to have a “scheduled sex night” with Bob, the love of her life, and Bob refuses because he finds himself too overworked again, Linda responds with “Bawby WHYYYY???” She’s hilarious. She is empowering. She is just what her family needs.
Tina Belcher has been described all over social media as a heroine and symbol of feminist empowerment. She is voiced by nerdy comedian Dan Mintz and she is Gene and Louise’s awkward older sibling. Awkward really is the best word to describe her. She embodies that strange time called adolescence. She doesn’t quite look like she fits in her body. The thing about Tina is, unlike other teenage girl manifestations in television, she is bold and very grounded in her sense of Tina. She has a butt fetish, has a crush on the equally awkward dancer with a speech impediment, Jimmy Pesto, Jr. (H. Jon Benjamin again), writes “erotic friend fiction” about her classmates, zombies, and horses. She moans when she is anxious, long and loud, and breathes quickly in short, hyper bursts when she is having a meltdown. If her boobs are sweating, she talks about it. If her crotch itches, she talks about it. Yes, she’s funny as hell, but Tina is also sending a message to young women and men all over the world: “I’m no hero. I put my bra on one boob at a time like everyone else” and “I’m a smart, strong, sensual woman.” In other words, be yourself because awkward is awesome.
Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise Belcher (Kristen Schaal) are the dynamic duo of the Belcher clan. Gene embodies a different kind of awkward than Tina. Gene is every pudgy 4th grade boy with a bad haircut who smells funny and thinks farts are the best. Gene is frequently exuberantly loud and has inappropriate outbursts in most social situations. We can imagine that the Russian-American comedian Eugene Mirman may have looked like Gene as a child. Gene might be gross, but he is so damn sincere about it, and in that way, he’s a sweet kid. Gene calls Bob his “hero” and wants his farts to smells like his dad’s. Gene also fancies himself a musician and is constantly coming up with creative new tunes on his miniature keyboard. Gene is also, ironically, the most culturally astute of the Belchers. He has a constant running commentary throughout every scene. While others are carrying on a conversation relevant to the plot, Gene is basically doing a stand up routine in the background. If you don’t think you’re silly, Gene will teach you how to not take yourself so seriously with commentary that is funnier and wittier than any cutaway Family Guy has to offer.
Louise, at only nine years old, is the shrewdest and most wicked of the Belchers. She is also, probably, the most intelligent. At least she thinks she is. Louise is voiced by Kristen Schaal and is absolutely adorable in her cute little pink bunny-eared cap, which she never removes, and her little green dress. She is always concocting schemes in which to better herself and give her more power over the family. She frequently acts cold toward her family and pretends that she doesn’t want or need their affection. In one early episode, Bob breaks his late night TV watching tradition that he shares with Louise and begins to watch a new series of Westerns with Gene called “Banjo.” Louise gets pissed and acts out but she does not let on that she is hurt. She must always remain in control. At the conclusion of the episode, Louise, Bob, and Gene are all hiding from some bullies in a playground tunnel slide when Gene farts and Bob says, “Wow Gene. Your farts smell just like mine.” Louise responds to this by shedding tears and is greeted with hugs by her caring Dad and brother.
What Loren Bouchard has gifted us with is not just another run-of-the-mill The Simpsons and South Park inspired adult animated sitcom. It is, in fact, a touching and hilarious portrait of empowered people. It is not only hilariously witty and random, but, it is one of the first and best portraits of an American dysfunctional family in animation who actually love one another in the midst of struggle and MAKE IT WORK.
Much like the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine, Bob’s Burgers draws attention to a natural hilarity that runs under the surface of the working class American family. It is the humor, the oddities, that hold them together in the storms. As one who grew up in a big, poor, working class family, I can say that Bob’s is a more honest, compassionate, and empowering portrait than most I have seen. Like MASH before it, Bob’s Burgers gets it. The Belchers know that without a good laugh or a good hijink or two that everyone will go insane.
Joey Armstrong is a hospital chaplain from Western New York. He is also a playwright and amateur cartoonist. Follow him on Twitter @chaplainmystic and Medium, where he writes more reviews for film and television.
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