An obsessive aunt, skirting child labor law regulations and a pilot that's tough to
revisit. Underneath all that family fun are some questionable things we ignore in "Bob's Burgers."
Throughout the run of "Bob's Burgers," there are constant mentions of and examples pointing
to one indisputable fact: the Belchers are very poor. Whenever Mr. Fischoeder stops by,
for whatever reason, there is always a mention of Bob and Linda being late on rent. And if there
was any doubt about this fact, the characters, even Bob and Linda's kids, say it all the time.
But after watching the show for years, you start to wonder how this family has any money at all.
Most episodes show that the status quo for the restaurant is vacancy, especially compared to
the more successful Jimmy Pesto's across the street. Surely, the lack of patrons outside of
Teddy and one or two stray customers an episode is concerning. There is the occasional boom,
like the fan-animated "Brunchsquach" episode, but a rare busy night is surely not enough to
feed a family. The fact that the kids stay in the same grade and never age means that none of these
questions really matter, but adult viewers still have to suspend their disbelief just a little bit.
Some of the best parts of "Bob's Burgers'' are the little details and recurring gags. For example,
fans familiar with the show know to look out for the storefront next to the restaurant and
the moving van that appears in each opening credits sequence. Another consistently funny
bit is the burger of the day, which always changes and is always a pun. Whether it's the
Texas Chainsaw Massa-Curd Burger or the Graters of the Sauced Havart(i) Burger,
there is one thing that never changes on the board: the price.
For over a dozen seasons now, the burger of the day has remained $5.95. Regardless of the
ingredients or the absurd amount of work Bob must put into coming up with a new idea and
product each day, it remains the same price. The rest of the menu has stayed the same, too — from
Season 1 to Season 12, burgers remain $5, while fries and soft drinks will run you $2 each.
These prices were a bargain in 2011 and are even more unbelievable today.
For those with particularly keen eyes, you might also notice the Belchers still have
beer on the menu for $4, despite the restaurant almost never selling any.
The Belchers are unable to hire any additional employees thanks to their
dismal financial situation, so instead, all three of Bob and Linda's children are
put to work. Maybe Bob wants to keep it a family business, but more often than not,
it seems the kids cause more harm than good in the restaurant. The show normalizes the kids
working so much, it's easy to forget that you don't see children working every day.
Technically, minors in the United States are legally allowed to work in a business
owned by their parents as long as they aren't missing school. By this standard,
the Belcher kids putting in a few hours of work each night after school isn't illegal.
"Ugh, school again. Punching in for another day of unpaid child
labor before we go home and do MORE unpaid child labor."
However, safety is another concern. There are laws and precautions that
apply specifically to restaurants employing children that say they cannot operate or be
near dangerous equipment like a fryer or grill. Basically, every time we
see the Belchers have a family meeting in the kitchen while Bob cooks up burgers and fries,
that is probably breaking some kind of child safety law. Which is to say nothing
of all the restaurant hijinks the kids get up to behind Bob and Linda's back.
This has been an ongoing issue since the show's start that has never really been addressed,
and at this point it's such a renowned characteristic of the show it will
probably never change: two of the three women in the lead voice cast of "Bob's Burgers" are
voiced by men. Linda is voiced by John Roberts and Tina by Dan Mintz; Louise,
voiced by Kristen Schaal is the only member of the family voiced by a woman.
"I had a very interesting encounter with Mr. Frond today."
"You did?"
"Yeah, he's an interesting guy."
"Yeah, he is very interesting, Tina."
Although this isn't a dealbreaker by any means, it could be a frustrating aspect to female fans
of the show. Even more frustrating is the fact that, according to Uproxx,
as recently as 2020, creator Loren Bouchard doesn't seem to see an issue with the casting.
It isn't too taboo to cast a voice actor who doesn't match the character's gender,
especially on children's shows, but it is extremely prevalent in "Bob's Burgers."
In addition to voicing Bob, H. John Benjamin will often voice minor characters in episodes,
including a major recurring female character, Louise's teacher Ms. LaBonz. While many of
these characters have achieved icon status, their acting is just a little questionable.
It might be time to start thinking about Gayle's obsession with her
sister's husband. It's no secret that Gayle has the hots for Bob.
This awkward pairing has led to some of the series' best episodes, but seriously,
Gayle's burning passion for Bob is getting a bit creepy, don't you think?
"You ruined my Thanksgiving Dinner because you wanted attention?"
"No! I ruined your Thanksgiving Dinner because I wanted attention! Oh wait, is that what you said?"
Gayle is Linda's awkward, single, cat-loving sister,
and she has a bit of a crush on Bob. It's an awkward situation that would definitely
need some serious working out in real life. Thankfully, "Bob's Burgers" is a cartoon,
so Gayle can still be sympathetic and not some kind of home wrecking monster. Plus, Bob isn't the
only man in her life. At a certain point in the show, Gayle and Wagstaff counselor Mr. Frond date.
In the Season 5 episode "Father of the Bob," we get our first big glimpse into
Bob's childhood home life. He never had the greatest relationship with his father,
Big Bob, especially after a traumatic burger-related event when Bob was a boy.
The two reconnect in the episode and reach a resolution, but there is a huge missing
link that is only briefly explained: Who is Bob's mother, and where is she?
In the episode, there is a line that implies Bob's mother died when he was a young child,
and this is part of the reason his relationship with his father became
so strained. She is only mentioned one other time — in a later episode. Bob
recalls that he used to build gingerbread houses with his Mom before she passed.
Throughout the show, Tina yearns for the love of Jimmy Jr. and his backside. This pushes her to
try and be included in his friend group of popular teens despite the fact that they constantly berate
and bully her. Still, they manage to get up to plenty of hijinks together, and over the course
of the show, Tina's relationship with her bullies changes into something more resembling friendship.
Tammy and Jocelyn are the meanest to Tina,
as evidenced in an episode like "Broadcast Wagstaff School News," where Tina is
excluded from the school news while Tammy succeeds as anchor. In episodes like this,
Tina is the odd one out of the group, and even Zeke and Jimmy Jr. aren't her friends.
However, in more recent episodes, Tina is treated almost like one of the group. Judging
by the fact that no one ages in the show, viewers can assume time does not progress
linearly in "Bob's Burgers." Regardless of this fact, it seems that as we watch the show,
Tina seems to be forming actual bonds with her peers and does indeed consider them friends.
The Season 2 episode "Burgerboss" features Bob at his most obsessive. When he recovers an old
arcade game he used to be a master at, Bob starts spending every waking moment trying
to top the machine's high score. He plays until he develops carpal tunnel syndrome and is prescribed
painkillers for his wrist. The weird part comes when Linda sends the machine to a local arcade.
First, Bob tries to enter the arcade without his children,
but is told he needs to bring them. So Bob brings the kids along and
immediately starts ignoring them in favor of the Burgerboss machine. That's bad parenting
strike number one. His second mistake is to team up with another kid named Darryl,
who gives Bob tips on how to play the game, with one in particular raising some eyebrows.
"Why are you standing way back? You gotta
press your wiener against the game like this. See? Yeah…"
"Ok, all right… Wow oh, yeah, wow."
Eventually, Darryl offers to help in exchange for Bob beating up the bullies that terrorize
him. This leads to an extremely awkward scene where Bob, high on painkillers,
attempts to beat up the bullies and, fortunately for all, fails.
"Bob's Burgers" gives the impression that Calvin Fischoeder is the richest man alive,
at least compared to every other character we meet in the still-unnamed town the
cartoon is set in. Fischoeder is a property owner, a narcissist,
and probably a billionaire. While we don't have a list of everything he owns, his attitude
points to the conclusion that Fischoeder is more or less the most powerful man in town.
"What? That's horrible!"
"You don't like it, take it up with Mr. Fischoedor — he owns the cops."
For starters, he is the Belchers' landlord, implying he owns many retail and housing units.
We know he owns the Wonder Wharf amusement park and baseball teams, and we know that his mansion
is immense. What we don't know is how Fischoeder is legally allowed to own so much property in such
a seemingly small community. He is definitely breaking some anti-competition laws here,
and "Bob's Burgers" isn't afraid to make Fischoeder a villain and put him
up to some scummy stuff. Even so, the worst of the tycoon's dealings likely happen behind the scenes.
The first season of "Bob's Burgers'' contains a series of the show's most
offensive and inappropriate jokes. For example, the show's Pilot,
notably titled "Human Flesh," includes a series of jokes and plot points that
make the possibility that the Belchers are cannibals seem relatively tame.
It all starts when health inspectors Hugo and Ron come to inspect the restaurant,
and Louise decides to have some fun with the burger of the day.
"The burger of the day is the Child Molester. It comes with candy. Get it?"
"Yes."
"No."
Later in the episode, a customer Bob says looks like a child molestor winds up ordering
the burger. Bob then tells Gene to serve him his food, making the fat-phobic comment that,
since Gene is heavy, he's less in danger of being harmed by the creepy customer.
In the same scene, Gene tries to volunteer Tina to run the food since she's the oldest. However,
Bob insists Gene do it because Tina isn't great with customers, prompting the kids to protest.
"I'm great with the customers!"
"(disagreement)"
"She's autistic, she can't help it!"
"Yeah I'm autistic!"
"Bob-"
"Just a sec - no you're not autistic Tina."
To drive the controversial point home, the rest of the scene shows Gene throwing toothpicks on the
floor for Tina to count, in a parody of the film "Rain Man," which is about an autistic savant.
The first season of "Bob's Burgers" is definitely the most raunchy - in finding
an identity that would keep it on FOX for over a decade, the show wasn't always quite
as family-friendly as it is now. In particular, the episode "Sheesh! Cab,
Bob?" contains a plotline that reinforces negative stereotypes about trans people.
In this episode, Bob becomes a cab driver to make some extra cash and
ends up picking up a group of trans sex workers. Throughout the episode,
there's some questionable stereotyping about both sex workers and trans people,
and jokes that get a laugh out of misgendering these characters - so much so that the line
between whether the show is saying the characters are crossdressers or actually trans is blurred.