Wait scratch that.
I LOOOVE Bob's Burgers.
I can't believe that the show recently finished its 7th (SEVENTH?!?) season. To celebrate I thought it would be appropriate to make a Top 10 list. I mean, y'all know how much I love Top 10 lists. Almost as much as I love... well you know. BOB'S BURGERS!!! So without further adieu here are my 10 favorite episodes. And yes this list took forever to compile. Enjoy!
Honorable Mention: "Sheesh Cab, Bob" (S1), "Bad Tina" (S2), "Boyz 4 Now" (S4), "The Gayle Tales" (S5), "The Runway Club" (S5), "Hawk & Chick" (S5), "The Hauntening" (S6), "Glued, Where's My Bob" (S6), "There's No Business Like Mr. Business" (S7), "The Laser-Inth" (S7)
10) "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl"
"Everybody knows Working Girl is the sister film to Die Hard." I couldn't have put it better myself. This season 5 opener takes the love/hate relationship between Gene and his ex Courtney to a whole new, 80s abusing level. I love every second of it! Not only do we get to see fragments of Gene's Die Hard: The Musical, we also see fragments of Courtney's Working Girl Musical. It's when the two ultimately agree to meld the two together that every 80s fiber in my body explodes. A classic for sure.
9) "Mother Daughter Laser Razor"
There are plenty of episodes that feature the mother/daughter struggle between Linda and Louise. It's never featured more prominently or better than in this season 3 episode. Linda just wants Louise to like her so of course her attempts get more and more aggressive. She finally decides to take Louise to an all-day seminar. That's when the episode gets reallllly good. Like Freaky Friday references and "Harry Truman" good.
The B-plot about Bob taking Tina to her first leg waxing is also hysterical, as both Bob and Gene end up getting their legs waxed too. There's an awesome Terminator 2 reference with Tina and her little furry friends. Also Bob and Gene itch like crazy the rest of the episode.
And like Harry Truman I am dead. Dead dead dead dead dead.
8) "Bob Actually"
7) "The Kids Run Away"
Louise hates the dentist. Take that idea and run with it.
While Dr. Yap (hysterically voiced by Ken Jeong) informs Louise she has a cavity and needs a filling, Louise promptly runs away. She ultimately finds herself staying with their Aunt Gayle (yay Megan Mullally!!! yay cats!). When Bob and Linda find out Louise's whereabouts, they send Tina and Gene to run away with her. The deal is if Louise can make it through the weekend without Aunt Gayle driving her crazy, she doesn't have to get her filling. But of course she has to get it anyway.
The shenanigans the kids get into at Aunt Gayle's is just hilarious. I will never think of gale force winds the same way again. And the ending is very touching. Aunt Gayle ends up out-parenting Bob and Linda when she helps Louise face her greatest fear: getting a filling.
SQUAT!!!
6) "Hamburger Dinner Theater"
Season one of Bob's Burgers is kinda hit or miss. I loved it when I first watched it, but everything from the animation to the storytelling has vastly improved over the show's run. There are episodes that truly shine though. Like this one!
This is the episode where we first find out about Linda's passion to randomly break into song, Tina's stage fright (uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh), and just how twisted Louise can really be. There's also Bob's obvious love for his family even though he can't stand what's happening around him, and of course Gene gets to play some tunes. Well, tones.
After attending her latest dinner theater, Linda wants to put on a show at the restaurant. Bob is completely against the idea but allows the show to happen anyway. For one weekend only. That's when insanity strikes. Every failed effort to put on the show is amazing. Anything that could go wrong does go wrong, but in typical theater style, the show must go on! And thank groodness it does.
5) "Burgerboss"
Oh man. What is there to not love about this episode?
Bob is excited when he adds a childhood favorite arcade game, Burgerboss, to the restaurant. Then Jimmy Pesto of course shows up. Not only does he best Bob at his favorite game, he also puts "Bob Sux" on the leader board. Bob goes crazy trying to one-up his competition, but of course to no avail. Never fear though. Jimmy Pesto, as usual, gets some form of comeuppance.
All I have to say is: YES! This season two episode introduces Aziz Ansari's Darryl, who is perfectly nerdy in every way. It also introduces Linda's bizarre love for porcelain babies (LIL BABIES!!!) and capitalizes on her catchphrase (ALRIIIGHT!!!). There's also arcade game references galore. So there's that. What a winner!
4) "The Kids Run the Restaurant"
Bob slices his hand so Linda rushes him to the hospital. The kids are told not to keep the restaurant open but per Louise's insistence, they do anyway. Only it's not so great. Then Louise hatches the scheme to open up a casino in the cellar. Which is just genius.
Bob and Linda's trip to the hospital is absolutely hysterical, but it's the casino scenes that really make the episode. I mean come on. We get a Marshmellow cameo! Who doesn't love that?! It all culminates in a perfect game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Then Linda gets a song over the closing credits. This episode is by far the best out of all the kid-centric episodes.
3) "Topsy"
"They'll say 'Aww Topsy' at my autopsy!"
Those are just some of the wonderful lyrics to what is the greatest of all the Bob's Burgers songs: "Eletric Love". And that is only one of the many reasons this season 3 episode is one of my top 3 favorites.
Louise's substitute science teacher is an Edison nut. The substitute destroys Louise's chances of phoning in her science project, and she is forced to come up with something Edison related. That's when she, with the help of the bitter librarian Mr. Ambrose (voiced by BILLY EICHNER! woo!), discovers the story of Thomas Edison and Topsy the elephant.
To bring the substitute down, Louise enlists the help of Tina and Gene to put on a show at the science fair. Both Mr. Fischoeder (KEVIN KLINE!) and Aunt Gayle (MEGAN MULLALLY!) also get roped into assisting, Singin' in the Rain-style. The last five minutes are just pure magic, and if "Eletric Love" doesn't get stuck in your head, I'm not even sure we can be friends.
2) "Fort Night"
Bob's Burgers has terrific holiday episodes. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, you name it. Like The Office good, you guys. No episode is better than the season 4 Halloween episode though.
Molly Shannon guest voices as Millie, one of Louise's classmates. Millie is obsessed with Louise and the chance to trick-or-treat with her. Louise is not having any of that crap. Unfortunately that comes back to bite her and the gang in the butt (BUTTS) when Millie discovers Louise doesn't really like her, and the kids end of trapped in their fort in the back alley.
Meanwhile Bob and Linda have no idea where their kids are. They've been slaving away over a dragon costume for their kids all day, and when the kids don't show, well... just watch the episode and find out. The whole 22 minutes is just wonderful. It's my go-to every Halloween. And whenever I want really... except for...
1) "The Equestranauts"
Y'all. This episode... I have no words.
This season four episode is the greatest Bob's Burgers episode ever, and if you disagree... you are wrong.
Dan Mintz (the voice of Tina) wrote this episode, and it really shines. I just... I can't. But I will try.
Tina's love for her favorite show "The Equestranauts" reaches new heights when she gets to attend Equestra-Con with her Chariot doll. (Bob gets a great line here. "Hey who's pulling the chariot? It's Chariot. Oh my God, why am I analyzing this show?") Tina gets more than she bargained when, in a hilarious reference to the "Bronies" culture, she discovers that the Con is for grown men who love to dress up like their favorite characters. THEN she gets swindled out of her doll by the evil Regina George of Equesticles, Bronconius (hilariously voiced by Paul F. Tompkins). Bob gets roped into going undercover as an Equesticle to retrieve Tina's beloved doll.
I think that's reason enough this is the best episode ever. It's always hilarious when Bob gets roped into things to help out his beloved family, but it's even better when he actually finds himself enjoying what he's doing. Tina realizes over the course of the episode just how ridiculous the whole Equestranauts universe is. The last few seconds between Bob and Tina are pure comic gold.
EQUESTRANAUUUTS!!!
Well there you have it. My absolute favorite Bob's Burgers episodes. Wow. What a terrific show. I'm gonna go watch it right now. Peace.
