Episode Grade: B Well, here we are. Season 11 of Bob’s Burgers, the little show that could. After years of being shuffled around the schedule, and getting stuck in the 7:30 slot as often as not, Bob’s returns for its … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S11E01: “Dream a Little Bob of Bob”

Episode Grade: B+ I know this will be absolutely stunning to those of you who’ve read my Bob’s Burgers write-ups in the past, but I’m going to hit on some themes I’ve talked about before reviewing this show. Deepest apologies. … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E22: “Prank You for Being a Friend”

Episode Grade: B+ “Simpsons did it!” The above is not a quote from tonight’s Bob’s Burgers, but rather South Park‘s classic episode “Simpsons Already Did It”. I’ll be a bit presumptuous and assume most people reading this are familiar with … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E21: “Local She-ro”

Episode Grade: B+ Well, those of us who were worrying that Bob’s Burgers might be running out of new ground to cover have a bit of egg on our face after this one. While this is certainly not the first … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E20: “Poops!… I Didn’t Do It Again”

Episode Grade: B+/A- “You’re the secret weapon of this broken down old pile of crap!” I was sorely tempted to try and frame this episode as Bob’s Burgers’ coming to the defense of its resident handyman/best customer. Teddy’s had an … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E19: “The Handyman Can”

Episode Grade: B Confession time up front: I don’t really care for Josh as a character on Bob’s Burgers. It’s not that there’s anything objectionable about him, he just doesn’t really register at all for me. Part of the issue … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E18: “Tappy Tappy Tappy Tap Tap Tap”

Episode Grade: B- This was a tough one to grade objectively. On one hand, it was consistently funny, which is of course the primary job of an animated sitcom. It also did some nice work fleshing out Nat, almost certainly … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E17: “Just The Trip”

Episode Grade: A “So what happened? Why’d you close? Sorry, is that rude? I really just need to know because of, um, fear.” It’s not as though anyone was singing “The Fields of Athenry” or anything like that tonight, but … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E16: “Flat-Top O’ The Morning To Ya”

Episode Grade: C+ Since I’ve been doing these reviews, I’ve tried a few times to come up with a solid set of criteria for what constitutes a C-level episode of Bob’s Burgers. It’s inexact, but what I usually end up … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E15: “Yurty Rotten Scoundrels”

Episode Grade: B “Are we bad?” “We’re not great, but we mean really well.” This week, Bob’s Burgers turns in a fine episode whose only real issue was not being quite as good as it’s premise might’ve indicated. A Wagstaff-focused … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E14: “Wag The Song”

Episode Grade: B+ Earlier this season, I made the observation that Bob’s Burgers didn’t really do one-off characters. and that any character strong enough to make an impression was a solid bet to reappear somewhere down the line. For a … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E13: “Three Girls and a Little Wharfy”

Episode Grade: B+ Tonight’s Bob’s Burgers finds itself in the odd position of succeeding largely despite its a-plot. It’s not that “Tina attempting to be a mentor” is necessarily a bad premise, but it unfolded in an eminently predictable way … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E12: “A Fish Called Tina”

Episode Grade: B+ No, there was no new Bob’s, I’m just a week late. Last week’s late airtime combined with a nasty head-cold meant that there was no way I was writing anything worth reading last Sunday, then life got in … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E11: “Drumforgiven”

Episode Grade: B This is the type of Bob’s Burgers episode that’s hardest to write about. It’s not that it wasn’t funny. It was! But episodes with issues at least give us some grist for discussion. Excellent episodes are easy to rave … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E10: “Have Yourself A Maily Linda Christmas”

Episode Grade: B+ “Are you a bit much? Of course you are, and that’s great. Sometimes people can handle it, and sometimes they can’t. But sometimes it’s perfect.” This one could’ve gone wrong fast, and the above quote suggests that … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E09: “All That Gene”

Episode Grade:  B+ When it comes down to it, there’s one factor that separates an average Bob’s Thanksgiving from a great one: does Bob get messed up? “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal”? Yep. “Turkey In A Can”? Eh, kind of. “Dawn Of … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E08: “Now We’re Not Cooking With Gas”.

Episode Grade: B “Your kids drove an ice cream truck to a strip club, and now we’re all here together.” In a lot of ways, tonight’s episode of Bob’s Burgers is pretty emblematic of where the show is at this point in … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E07: “Land Of The Loft”

Episode Grade: B- While it’s not entirely accurate to say that Bob’s Burgers doesn’t do one-off characters, it does feel like any character prominent enough to make an impression in an episode is fair game to make a return appearance down … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E06: “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now”

Episode Grade: B+ “I keep going back to the purple corduroy, am I crazy?” They had some success with the format in the past, but Bob’s Burgers has generally avoided splitting up the Belchers for an entire episode, preferring instead to … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E05: “Legends Of The Mall”

Episode Grade:  B+ It’s probably been a few seasons since we got an outright classic, but Halloween is probably Bob’s Burgers most consistent holiday, give or take Valentines Day. On one hand, this level of quality should be the envy of … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E04: “Pig Trouble In Little Tina”

Episode Grade: B+ Compared to most other children in animated sit-coms, the characterization of the Belcher kids is heavily tied to their ages. Where the children of The Simpsons, South Park, or any of the MacFarlane shows could probably be aged up or down … Continue reading Bob’s Burgers S10E03: “Motor, She Boat”