Bob’s Burgers Is Doing a Reverse Simpsons
SlateIn November, Jim Vorel published a piece in Paste declaring that it’s time to stick a fork in Bob’s Burgers—it’s done. “Is that really the style of decline that any fan wants for Bob’s Burgers as well, to emulate that kind of drudgery?” he asks. “I’d rather not have to explain to a teenager in the 2030s that Bob’s Burgers was once really great, even as terrible new episodes continue to air on a weekly basis.” But the real problem with Bob’s Burgers isn’t that it’s become too much like The Simpsons. It’s not as though the show has never featured characters learning a lesson—it has—but nearly every episode now feels like the writers started with the lesson and then constructed a Very Special Episode around it. The other flaws with Bob’s Burgers follow the typical trajectory of Fox’s other long-running animated comedies, including not just The Simpsons and Family Guy but King of the Hill.
History of this topic
When Thanksgiving goes wrong, "Bob's Burgers" gets it right
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How "Bob's Burgers" and its loving queerness became a cult favorite among the LGBTQ community
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The Bob’s Burgers Movie review: TV’s loveliest animated family haven’t been corrupted by the Hollywood machine
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Review: ‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie’ makes for a hilariously tasty cinematic offering
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How "Bob's Burgers" uses "foxhole humor" to keep the American dream alive after 200 episodes
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