'Bob’s Burgers,'
flat and tasteless
Fox animated sitcom fails at almost all levels
By Tom Conroy
Jan 7, 2011
Sometimes an “edgy” TV show will contain a gag or line that seems to suggest to viewers that if they’re not laughing at the show, it’s because they don’t get the joke.
In Fox’s new animated comedy “Bob’s Burgers,” the titular restaurant owner says to his overenthusiastic son, “There’s a line between entertaining and annoying.” The son replies, “No, that’s a myth.” The creators of the show seem to agree with the boy.
Like the other shows in Fox’s Sunday animated lineup, “Bob’s Burgers” features loser characters who are drawn ugly, but unlike “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy,” this show has no character with relatable, if exaggerated, human traits. Deliberately low-key and drab, it crosses the line into depressing.
In the premiere episode, airing this Sunday, Jan. 9, at 8:30, Bob (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) prepares his family for the big Labor Day weekend at their burger joint, only to suffer various setbacks. His wife, Linda (John Roberts), thinks he’s planning a surprise for their anniversary. His son, Gene (Eugene Mirman), insists on getting in the faces of the prospective customers to whom he’s distributing free samples.
Bob’s older daughter, Tina (Dan Mintz), is having trouble working the grill because she has an itchy crotch. And his younger daughter, Louise (Kristen Schaal), brought a burger from the restaurant to show-and-tell and said that it contained human flesh.
The fact that most of the characters are played by adult male stand-up comedians gives an irritating sameness to the voices. Sometimes the dialogue sounds as if it were being improvised by one person.
The voice actors’ delivery is either grating or deadpan. Either way, it highlights the scarcity of wit in the writing.
When a health inspector comes and asks to see the parents, little Louise says, “They’re in the basement grinding the meat right now. That’s not a euphemism — they’re really grinding the meat.” And then, inexplicably, she pantomimes sexual thrusting.
The jokes aren’t particularly offensive, but they tend to be icky, covering such topics as child molestation, autism and Bob’s excessively wet kisses.
The drawing and animation are crude. This felt fresh 20 years ago when “The Simpsons” premiered. Now it’s pointless.
None of the characters are recognizable human types. Bob seems both too intelligent and too ineffectual to have wound up in this business. The other family members’ personalities are vague.
The premiere trails off into a somewhat happy ending. When Homer and Marge — or even Peter and Lois — kiss and make up, it’s always a little sweet. On this show, viewers will be merely grossed out.
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