Laughs On the Menu at Bob's Burgers

Serving up crazy -- pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter

I’m overdue for a blog entry, wrestling with the writer’s block that more frequently afflicts me in my older age.   This has been a weird weekend in several respects and I was a bit distracted.  A friend’s 21 year-old son passed away last week from complications of cerebral palsy.  I attended his uplifting memorial service yesterday and came away feeling that his family will make it through OK.   I later went to a dinner party (unrelated to the memorial) and was greeted at the door by an extremely enthusiastic Labrador mix named Rosie.   The 6 year old brown and black dog was a bundle of energy and was the perfect complement to an already fun group of friends.  We ate a huge spaghetti dinner and watched House Hunters – it was a fun evening.

The weather itself has freakishly dipped from 94 degrees last week to 54 degrees this early October week… I know we’re in Texas but that’s got to be some kind of record nonetheless.  I bravely took my new Mustang to the Mi-T-Fine car wash for its first wash… it survived OK.   I’m bracing for its first ding, dent or accident.   The car has an aggressive personality and is bound to get me into some trouble at some point.

BOB’S BURGERS

OK, enough of the daily diary.  Let’s talk about one my favorite new shows, Bob’s Burgers.    It’s actually embarking on its 3^rd season although nowadays the word “season” is sketchy – you can be talking about 24 episodes that start in September or 10 episodes that start in March.   Bob actually started in January of 2011.  It centers around Bob and Linda Belcher – a middle-aged, middle class couple raising two girls and a boy.   They manage Bob’s Burgers, a greasy spoon diner.  Tina is the gawky, shy 15ish girl.  Gene is the loony, loud pre-teen son and Louise is the diabolical, precocious youngest one who is always hatching schemes.   The show is funny enough to make me fall off the couch laughing.   A staff of 5 professional comedians provide the voices and a much larger staff of wise guys write the scripts.  

What viewers might not realize is that all the regulars are voiced by men, except Louise. Voice actor John Roberts, a gentile man, imbues Linda with a hilarious harpy (albeit loveable) Jewish yenta personality.   Comedian Jon Benjamin does the voice of Bob, a basically decent, kind-hearted man who has to bring all the crazies around him back into the orbit of sanity.   The plot lines will start with things we can all relate to – a teenage crush or a professional rivalry.  Then, it will go to places no man has gone before (with all due respects to Star Trek).   The convolutions of the plot alone make it worth a look-see.  The incredible humor is a payload that follows.  

When the show first started it met with some flak.  USA Today thought it was too deadpan, and The Parent’s TV Council likened it to the crudeness of Family Guy.  But after several shows aired, there was a change of perception.  CNN and Entertainment Weekly have both described it as one of the funniest, all-around best shows on TV right now.    Unlike Family Guy, Bob is fairly innocent – it doesn’t tap into topics where angels fear to tread like abortion, animal cruelty or domestic violence.

It’s amazing that FOX, the network that gives us such a conservative twist on the news, delivers up some of the zaniest, and yes LIBERAL animated vantage points on television.   It could be that FOX execs just see the shows as “kid’s cartoons” without realizing the delightfully, frightfully subversive influence they might have on 18-24 year old youths watching. If that is the case, let’s all keep it a secret.   And tune in to Bob’s Burgers if you can survive the bruise of falling off the couch laughing.

© 2012 blogSpotter