YMMV / Bob's Burgers

• Abandon Shipping: Although the pairing still has fans, quite a few people abandoned Tina/Jimmy Jr. after Jimmy Jr.'s actions in "V For Valentine-Detta". To list them all—leaving Tina heartbroken by getting with someone else for Valentine's Day (which by itself isn't bad, as Tina herself points out, but is the gateway to his later actions). Insensitively using Tina's homemade picture frame for a picture of said Valentine's date, then dumping said date to hook back up with Tina mid-date. This led some people to start shipping Tina/Zeke or other Tina-centric pairings instead, seeing Jimmy Jr.'s actions as too cruel and selfish to justify Tina being with him.
• Accidental Aesop:
  • "The Hormone-iums" can be seen as a PG-rated way to criticize abstinence-based sex education. Mr. Frond tries to make a play to teach the kids to not kiss, or else they will get mononucleosis and will die, accidentally tanking Tina's chances to be invited to a spin the bottle party. Tina then changes the play during the presentation, showing information that mononucleosis isn't lethal in most cases, and that you can avoid mono by just kissing people without it—you can't catch what isn't there.
  Tina: We don't have to not kiss, we just have to smart kiss.
  • Be wary of offers that sound too good to be true. Multiple times the Belchers have to deal with their shenanigans from trying to get into a good deal. "The Reeky Lake Show" has them finding what seems to be a lakeside cabin for a vacation for a very low price only to them find out they can't swim because the lake is toxic and the cabin itself is terrible despite the pictures. "The Unnatural" has Linda spending a lot of money in baseball lessons that promise unrealistic results and are clearly a scam.
  • Wisecrack argue in a video that the show has a message opposing the narrative of a nuclear family being automatically good for children. They argue for Bob and Linda's method of parenting, in which the kids are given a lot of free agencies and guidance but are almost never pushed into one direction or the other. Neither of them act as helicopter parents, letting the children learn a lot from members of their community. As a result, the kids are often shown as more resourceful, accepting, and emotionally mature than their peers with more typical family structures (see Alpha Bitch Tammy and The Bully Logan).
• Adorkable: The Belcher family as a whole, whenever they're seen doing things together, such as singing or any of their various Mundane Made Awesome activities.
  • Despite being a full-grown adult, Bob has some rather endearing qualities, from having a love of making models to constantly making pun-based names for his burgers.
  • Tina is weird, unattractive and downright creepy at times, but nonetheless completely lovable.
  • Behind Louise's cunning and borderline sociopathic behavior is a plucky and cute little girl. She can be adorably awkward when it comes to her crush on Boyz 4 Now member Boo Boo or her hidden admiration for her father (exemplified in "Carpe Museum" when Bob actually finds out about it). She also has a soft spot for puppies, and gets excited when seeing one.
  • Tina’s classmate Susmita is a smart and sweet girl who flirts with her crush in Morse Code.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Louise often invokes Never My Fault whenever something goes wrong. After considering that many of these mishaps affect Bob (such as the glue on the toilet or the restaurant fire), and that Louise is a huge Daddy's Girl (as much as she likes to deny it), it becomes less clear whether she's denying culpability out of selfishness or a refusal to accept that she's harmed someone she looks up to. While the earlier seasons lean towards the "selfishness" angle, the fact that Louise is a lot more compassionate to her family in later seasons complicates things.
  • Jimmy's Depending on the Writer tendencies make him this.
    • While most seem to agree he sunk to a new low in "V for Valentine-Detta" you have to wonder why he might have thought this behavior was acceptable. As aloof as he is around Tina, she's just about the only girl he's ever shown any interest in, while she flings herself at new love interests constantly. Sometimes right in front of him, or even announcing boyfriends during periods they're supposedly dating. You have to wonder if his stunt (and subsequent willingness to abandon the stunt for Tina once he got bored) was either him testing the waters or just assuming switching between dates is normal.
    • Owing to his constant Ho Yay with Zeke and apparent reluctance to commit to Tina, Jimmy Jr. is sometimes theorized as being a closeted homo/bisexual who hasn't accepted that part of himself yet.
  • There's an argument to be made that Bob and Jimmy suffer from Mutual Envy, and would actually be far better off as business partners than rivals. Bob is clearly the better cook, but Jimmy is much better at marketing and drawing in customers.
  • Is Gene non-binary, trans, or even gender-fluid? Gene seems perfectly comfortable with male pronouns, but many of his non-sequiturs seem to imply that he may see himself more as a woman.
  • While it manifests in very different ways, every member of the Belcher family has shown some indication that they aren't neurotypical. When you factor in Big Bob's Control Freak tendencies, you really have to wonder if there's some genetic predisposition to neurodivergence.
  • Is Al really as oblivious as he appears, or does he play it up, so he doesn't have to be responsible for Gloria's horrid attitude or his own self-centered behavior? The only time he's ever shown doing anything to pull Gloria back was during their wedding when she attacked her cousin Lorraine. But whenever Linda talks about her childhood, it sounds like Al was just as useless even before senility supposedly kicked in.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • Linda mentions she has a Spanish version of Fifty Shades of Grey named "Cincuenta Sombras de Grey". That is indeed the real name of the novel in Spanish, since "Grey" refers to the character rather than the color (which would be "gris" in Spanish).
  • In "Bed, Bob, & Beyond", when Gene's story devolves into a ripoff of Speed, Bob and Linda call him out on using miles instead of kilometers when the story is set in England. However, Tina offhandedly mentions that England actually does use miles like the US rather than kilometers like the rest of Europe, which is correct—while England primarily uses the metric system, it does use miles for road distance. This additionally makes Gene's usage a case of in-universe Accidentally-Correct Writing.
• Arc Fatigue:
  • Some fans have grown increasingly frustrated with the constant teasing of Tina/Jimmy Jr.'s relationship, as it's been ongoing since the very first season with no real progress made on either character's end since then and any development being inevitably undone by the next episode. Shippers want them to get together already, while non-shippers want Tina to give up and pursue someone else. Notably, the show itself has started lampshading the lack of progress made, with each of the other Belchers disapproving of the relationship specifically because Jimmy Jr. won't commit, and they believe he's leading Tina on.
  • The fact that the Belchers will never get ahead financially or to have their restaurant succeed beyond a (very) temporary surge in customers has also annoyed some fans after more than a decade.
• Award Snub: The show somehow managed to do this to itself. While nobody is arguing that the series earned its 2021 Emmy Award nomination, many were baffled by the fact that the episode nominated was "Worms of In-Rear-Ment", which is one of the most divisive episodes of Season 11 due to many finding its premise to be Nausea Fuel, rather than something like the 200th episode, which is near-universally considered the best of the season.
• Awesome Art: The "Some Like It Bot" two-part episode is one of the few times the show has let its writing take a backseat to the visuals, with whole sequences in Tina's Erotic Friend Fiction version of Blade Runner playing out with no dialogue. The rainy Cyberpunk renditions of the show's usual locations are gorgeous to look at.
• Badass Decay: Some fans feel like this has happened to Louise as the show's gone on: in earlier seasons, she was an utter terror who loved causing chaos to everyone (even her own family isn't spared) and would make anyone who wronged her suffer. However, as she's become nicer in later seasons, she's also become less intimidating and immoral overall, to the point where far more episodes specifically focus on her vulnerable side and hidden insecurities than the earlier seasons did.
• Base-Breaking Character: Although Bob's Burgers is known for having a cast of quirky characters, by Season 12, a lot of that same quirkiness that made them stand out has also started to make them divisive.
  • Bob Belcher himself has two camps. He's either a very sympathetic character who tries hard to support his family and do what he loves in a town that doesn't value creativity or his passion for burgers. Then there's the camp who sees him as a stubborn fool who refuses to compromise on why he wants his restaurant to be successful, namely his burgers that he puts more money into than he charges, and his horrible business sense is not something to be admired for.
  • While Tina is the Breakout Character of the series, as the show continued she underwent Character Perception Evolution. Her creepy, stalker-ish tendencies regarding boys became either seen as harmless, since she is a 13-year-old girl who isn't quite aware of social norms or the consequences of her actions, or as gross and off-putting behavior that would be completely unacceptable if she were male. There's also the fact she's fairly delusional - ignoring the advice of others to follow her own fanatical plans - and entitled - roping her parents into situations they're unhappy with just for the slightest chance of popularity - which can make viewers want to try and shake some sense into her.
  • Gene, who people either love for his constant jokes, upbeat and outgoing attitude, and endless stream of pop-culture references, or hate due to his amusing behavior often crossing the line into annoying and grating. Interestingly, this is something the show actually lampshaded in the first episode, suggesting it's even the case in-universe. There's also a third camp of people who like Gene just fine, but don't like how his only role in several episodes is to make jokes and one-liners. To the point that he comes across as Out of Focus compared to the rest of his family.
  • Teddy is either funny and endearing, or an irritating Manchild who frequently acts as The Load and is typically shoehorned into the episode. His stalker-like attitude towards Bob and Linda in later seasons doesn't help, either.
  • Linda is either a funny and supporting mother to her kids and a caring wife who wants to help Bob live a little, or an awful mother who doesn't keep her kids in line and annoying wife to Bob who does more harm than good, especially since she enables her sister and mother to be extremely awful people out of a misguided sense of love.
  • Jimmy Jr. has wound up becoming one, especially in later seasons. At best, he's seen as a well-meaning but ignorant guy whose occasionally poor treatment of Tina is without malicious intent. At worst, he's seen as a jerkass who's just leading Tina on, with some wondering why Tina likes him so much.
  • Gayle, like her sister, is either funny or annoying depending on the viewer. There's also her bond with Linda, which is usually considered either heartwarming or borderline parasitic (both being based on how much Linda sacrifices for Gayle). Though there are of course some who Take a Third Option and see it as both at the same time.
  • Louise, whose Troubling Unchildlike Behavior makes her either a fun risk-taker, or a genuinely unsettling threat to everyone around her that most parents would have sent to therapy instead of see it as her being adventurous. Funnily, Louise would become a base-breakin character for the opposite reasons in the later seasons. As time went on, Louise would lose her jerk-ass characteristics and become a more compassionate character who stands up for her friends and family. Some find this version more appealing due to her Hidden Depths aspects while others wish she would go back to her brattier, chaotic depiction.
• Bizarro Episode: "Brunchsquatch" is unique in that the actual plot is no more "out there" than any other Bob's Burgers episode. But every single scene of the episode has a different art style, ranging from black-and-white to even animesque, with the show's usual art style being completely absent even during the opening and credits sequences. Contributing to this is the fact that no other episode does the same. The reasoning behind this is that the episode was produced as a sort of semi-collab; fans submitted storyboards of the scenes to the studio, which then animated those scenes based on the art style of the storyboards themselves.
• Broken Base:
  • Something that becomes more noticeable in later seasons is that more episodes focus on the kids, with Bob and the restaurant barely even appearing and even then not related to the main plot despite him being the title character. As a result, this has caused some minor contention from viewers about the show overusing the kids, causing Bob himself to feel out of place despite the title having his name in it. Fans who support this think it's a fair inversion to family sitcoms, where the parent characters have gotten more focus than the child characters. On the other hand, this really depends on whether you find the kids funny.
  • More than half of the women featured on the show are voiced by men. Whether this is funny or annoying is dependent on the viewer.
  • Whether the Lighter and Softer route works for the show as a whole. Fans of the first two seasons love the constant Black Comedy and its grimmer, more surreal tone, while fans of the later seasons prefer the lighter tone for its family-friendliness and greater number of heartwarming moments. There are also fans who Take a Third Option in that they prefer the comparatively lighter tone of Seasons 3-5 but dislike how Season 6 onwards toned down the edge even further by extensively focusing on the kids over Bob and his restaurant. And of course, there are those who don't really care either way, and enjoy the show regardless of how light/dark its humor is.
  • The anthology episodes (where the Belchers tell three stories that take up the bulk of the episode). Aside from the widely-praised "The Frond Files", many fans are split over whether they're any good or not, and you're just as likely to see a fan complain about them as you are to see a fan who likes them.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Primarily since he would become an infamous Karma Houdini in his final two appearances, Chuck Charles's one moment of retribution (having his show canceled in "Beefsquatch" after egging on the Bob/Gene rivalry to the point of physical violence) can feel extremely gratifying. By trying to push the Belchers apart, he only screwed himself over, and it's oh-so sweet to watch.
  • Jimmy Pesto getting last place by a landslide in "Best Burger", especially given the last major competition he had with Bob (in "Family Fracas") ended in his unequivocal victory. There's nothing quite like watching the judges spit out his burger within a single bite to bring a smile to the audience's face.
  • The Reveal that Hugo started the fire in "Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Kids" and Ron forcing him to admit it, apologize, and also compensate Bob for the damages. Sure, the Belcher kids worked hard to atone for what they thought was their mistake, but it was nice that it wasn’t their fault in the first place and that Hugo had to face some repercussions for it.
  • For many fans who find Teddy annoying and have reached their limit with his increasingly obnoxious behavior (especially towards Bob), seeing the kids do their wrestling routine of body slamming him (repeatedly) during matches in "Crab-solutely Fabulous" is quite satisfying.
    • "The Gene Mile" has an earlier instance of this, one that's arguably more deserved within the episode's context, as Teddy singlehandedly screws up an easy attempt at Bob getting tickets to see Cake 2. After Bob blows up at Teddy and gets into a shouting match with him, he tries to apologize when Teddy comes back to the restaurant. At which point Teddy repeatedly interrupts Bob and tells him to apologize while Bob is already apologizing to him.
    Bob: YOU CAN'T EVEN LET SOMEONE APOLOGIZE! GET OUT, TEDDY!
  • "Mother Author Laser Pointer" shows Linda at her most passive-aggressive and delusional as she essentially harasses and holds captive an author, all to make her write another book to cling to her motherhood. She ends up in a half-nelson for her efforts, and anti-Linda fans will find enjoyment in the fact her shenanigans have finally seen her receive physical retaliation.
• Character Perception Evolution: While Tina was originally the show's Breakout Character, as the show continued, she became increasingly divisive. Her creepy, stalker-ish behavior regarding boys became either seen as harmless, since she is a 13-year-old girl who isn't quite aware of social norms or the consequences of her actions or as gross, off-putting behavior that would be completely unacceptable if she were male.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Pretty much 90% of the things out of Mr. Fischoeder's mouth. Whether it's a child-run coal mine or mocking his mentally ill brother Felix as Felix is leaving him for dead, he takes anything that shouldn't or otherwise wouldn't be funny and makes it absolutely hilarious.
  • Louise's Child Molester Burger special. If that's not enough, it also comes with candy.
  • Bob telling Gene that he can't be molested because he's fat.
  • Gene playing a recording of his grandparents having sex in front of his classmates? Disturbing. The happy look on Gene's face, the teacher's appropriately horrified reaction, and the fact that applause can be heard when he's done? Gut-busting.
  • A child calling their parent by their first name is usually considered rude as hell. Gene calling his mom Lin while doing a spot-on imitation of his dad? Surprisingly charming.
  • Gene's menstruation-themed table display in "Boyz 4 Now" is as offensively hilarious as it sounds. The kicker is Gene technically winning fourth place from it and Bob and Linda celebrating as if he won the entire thing.
  • In "Carpe Museum", Regular-Sized Rudy suffers an asthma attack during his escapade with Bob and Louise, and it's made clear that he could die if unaided. When Bob offers to give CPR, however, Rudy just lies there on the ground and begs him not to, being willing to die if it means avoiding CPR from Bob. This is already darkly amusing, and the fact that Bob agrees with his decision is the cherry on top.
  • In "Purple Rain-Union", Jen accidentally gives Tina a black eye. Louise's solution is to get everyone in the room to have black eyes. The kicker is that it somehow works.
  • In "Dream a Little Bob of Bob", Mr. Fischoeder's version of the hand-slapping routine is fairly tame. That is, until it gets to a line revolving a disastrous fire in which numerous people died. Mr. Fischoeder's dissonant cheerfulness makes it even funnier.
    Fischoeder: How many people died in the fire?
  • In "The Secret Ceramics Room Of Secrets", right at the beginning when Linda tells the kids to start making better gifts for Gloria and Al, Bob adds that Gloria could die that year and although Linda is horrified at the thought, Bob's tone and feigned concern clearly implies that he would not mind should such a thing happen. While it is disturbing for someone to not care if something bad happens to one's relative (related or not), because Bob's hatred for Gloria becomes more and more justified each and every time she makes an appearance, it suddenly becomes hilarious.
  • In "Manic Pixie Crap Show", the B-plot focuses on Linda's trauma from witnessing the neighborhood dog get hit by a truck. The episode plays this for drama, especially Linda's continual insistence that she's fine ... and then she casually reveals that her eighth grade teacher also got hit by a truck. Bob's reaction helps turn the whole thing from disturbing to disturbingly hilarious.
    Bob: Good God, Lin!
• Delusion Conclusion: A fan theory claims that the kids are dead, and the entire show is all in Bob's mind. The only real piece of evidence for this is that Bob has a history of hallucinations and vivid imaginations. But either way, it's pretty blatantly jossed given just how many episodes focus on the kids by themselves—not to mention, there's no way a show that prides itself on quirky yet wholesome humor would take this kind of Darker and Edgier turn after over a decade on the air.
• Designated Hero: Tina's detractors tend to view her as this. While yes, she is just a 13-year-old girl who isn't aware of the consequences of her actions, there are many, many different reasons why she went from an Ensemble Dark Horse to a Base-Breaking Character.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: It's a common fanon that at least some members of the Belcher family are neurodivergent, with some fans even going as far as to say that the whole family is autistic.
  • Bob's social awkwardness and obsessive passion for cooking are sometimes chalked up to autism. Some fans explore the idea that the kids inherited it from him.
  • Though it's never definitively confirmed in the show^note "Human Flesh" has Bob deny it while Gene and Louise believe it, Tina is frequently believed to have Autism because of her single-minded obsessions with horses and butts, lack of social skills, odd body language and Creepy Monotone. Her arc about feeling judged in "Some Like It Bot," particularly the song "What If They're Right?" in her fanfiction, is often cited as a story about what it's like to be autistic and be judged for not fitting social norms.
  Feels like something's wrong with me and they know it
  They took one look my way and exposed it
  • Gene struggles to pay attention and has a compulsive habit of making noise that can be interpreted as stimming, which is often interpreted as either ADHD or autism. "The Laser-inth" makes a strong case for him having sensory issues, as the intense music and visuals of the laser light show send him into a screaming fit that strongly resembles an autistic meltdown. As such, the episode strongly appeals to autistic fans.
• Do Not Do This Cool Thing: In "Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible..." Linda tells the kids they shouldn't break windows or steal things, "even if that's fun." The way she describes both makes it sound like Linda did her own fair share of vandalism growing up.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Of the Belchers' many Sitcom Arch Nemeses, Mr. Frond easily gets this the most. In canon, he's a pathetic, egotistical hypocrite whose attempts at reaching out to kids are motivated by his goal of making a name for himself, and he's also shown to have somewhat of a superiority complex. Many fans, however, like to see him as a genuinely well-meaning if incompetent goofball who really does care for the students of Wagstaff, but just doesn't know how to endear himself to them.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Calvin Fischoeder has a ton of fans, primarily because of just how hilarious and off-kilter he can be. Being voiced by the legendary Kevin Kline certainly helps.
  • Regular-Sized Rudy has found many fans for his positive attitude and thrill-seeking tendencies in spite of his asthma. Originally just a secondary character in "Carpe Museum", he was quickly brought back for the next episode and rapidly became a major supporting character in episodes focusing on the kids. To the point that he's one of the most recurring Wagstaff students, in spite of being one of the last to debut.
  • Millie Frock from "Fort Night" gained fans from being so hilarious and disturbing, and they've repeatedly brought her back for more episodes. Thankfully, since her appearances have been far enough apart, she hasn't lost her entertainment value.
  • Marshmallow, for being one of the few positive portrayals of a transgender person in fiction when introduced in Season 1's "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" from 2011. She doesn't appear often, but when she does, fans are all over her.
  • Nat Kinkle, the limo driver from "V For Valentine-Detta". Fans ate her up after just one appearance, leading to a return in two episodes during Season 10. She even got her own focus episode in her third appearance, revealing a lot more about her as a person.
  • Jessica gained a lot of fans for being a Worthy Opponent towards Louise and one of the few people she’s close to. Many wish she appeared as much as Rudy.
• Fan Nickname: The guy who flirts with Bob in "Turkey in a Can" is technically a butcher (and that's how he's listed in the episode's credits), but many fans call him "Deli Guy". It helps that a popular clip of the scene on YouTube (with over 3 million views) lists him as such.
• Fandom Rivalry: Seems to have become a Take a Third Option to the pre-existing one between The Simpsons and Family Guy, primarily in regard to the latter. It doesn't help that Family Guy has repeatedly gone out of its way to mock Bob's Burgers. Including a minute-long scene that's just Peter insulting the Belchers for incredibly shallow and flawed reasons (like calling Louise "Bunny Ears" and saying her hat's the only reason she's funny^note . Which further falls flat when one considers that the ears are referenced maybe twice a season at most, and when they are they are very rarely used as a joke). The tone of all these jokes repeatedly come across as petty jealousy over how well Bob's Burgers has done for itself. And even if it's in good fun (which many argue is the case given H. Jon Benjamin's roles on both shows) many fans have noted the jokes tend to come across as a bit too mean-spirited. Compare that to The Simpsons doing a Couch Gag featuring Homer Simpson ending up in the restaurant during the show's opening credits while the Belchers discuss whether they should adopt him, if he's looking for the bathroom, or if he's trying to rob them. That being said, there is still a third party that likes both shows equally.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • The origin of where Louise got her bunny ears and why she's so fixated on them is a very big source of this. Common theories include them being used to cover hearing aids (the bunny ears cover her actual ears), used to cover a bald spot (for whatever reason a 9 year-old might have one), or simply a cherished gift given to her by her parents. The movie ultimately confirms their true origin to be the last of these—Bob and Linda created it themselves and based it on a cap Bob's late mother wore; Louise has viewed them as a Security Blanket ever since.
  • The original pitch for the show, where the Belchers were cannibals who really did use human meat in their burgers, has gotten more than a few people interested in how such a series would turn out. Many in particular are interested to see how much darker Louise would have turned out. Especially considering the original concepts for Bob and Linda were at least ten times more unhinged than Louise could ever claim to be in canon.
• Fanon:
  • Bob has never stated having a favorite child (whereas Linda at one point claims hers is Gene), and he seems to go to great lengths to defy Parental Favoritism (making significant bonding attempts with all three of his kids). That said, quite a few fans agree that if he ever did play favorites, it would almost certainly be Louise.
  • Although several episodes imply that she's on good terms with characters like Zeke, Andy and Ollie, a lot of fans like the idea of Tina having a Friendless Background, with her siblings being the closest things she's got to actual friends.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: While Tina/Jimmy Jr. does have its fans, it pales in comparison to Tina/Zeke, which is arguably the most popular ship in the series (besides Bob/Linda, of course). Due to Jimmy Jr.'s Base-Breaking Character status, loads of his detractors pile onto this ship. The pairing has plenty of Ship Tease in the show itself that Tina herself seems to notice. And most fans seem to believe he'd be the only guy who would treat her right (at least, the only guy whose ship hasn't been sunk, like Josh).
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Though it's unknown if it had saved the episode's reputation outright and no footage of said ending exists, many fans prefer the original conceptualized ending for the hated "Family Fracas" (which would have involved the Belchers dumping silly foam on Jimmy Pesto's ill-won minivan) for at least granting Jimmy Pesto some form of karma compared to the final ending where he gets away scot-free with cheating and the Belchers force Bob to fix a puncture in Jimmy's minivan. Worth noting is that Loren Bouchard himself also prefers the cut ending.
• First Installment Wins: The first five seasons are widely considered the best seasons across the board, with every following season being either contested or outright Seasonal Rot due to general Flanderization of the cast and a much Lighter and Softer tone.
• Fountain of Memes: The entire Belcher family has more than a few memes under their belt. Tina seems to be the biggest source, followed by Bob and Louise.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With Archer due to H. Jon Benjamin starring as the titular characters in both series and even using the same voice for both. The Season 4 premiere of the latter was a crossover episode where Archer has amnesia and thinks he's Bob Belcher, even getting John Roberts to reprise his role as Linda. The Season 4 finale guest starred Eugene Mirman and Kristen Schaal (as Cecil Tunt and his girlfriend respectively), with both voicing their characters using the same voices as Gene and Louise respectively (Cecil in particular also looks just like an adult version of Gene).
  • As mentioned in the main page's description of the show, many fans are also fans of King of the Hill with many considering it to be a Spiritual Successor. Apart from Showrunner Jim Dauterive having been a writer/producer for nearly the entire run of King of the Hill, a common trait the two shows share is that it is generally more grounded in reality compared to other adult animated shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy, though Bob's Burgers is a little wackier than King of the Hill. Fans of both Bob's Burgers and KotH also share a Fandom Rivalry with Family Guy. Some characters in the show are also compared to KotH characters; Teddy shares many traits with Bill Dauterive and Regular Sized Rudy's clothes and hair make him resemble a skinny Bobby Hill.
  • Fans of Bob's Burgers also tend to be fans of The Simpsons due to them being Fox animated series with similar tones and family dynamics. The Simpsons even had a Couch Gag involving the Bob's Burgers cast!
  • A lot of Bob's Burgers fans tend to be fans of Gravity Falls due to Kristen Schaal's involvement in both shows.
• Genius Bonus:
  • In "Crawl Space" Gene insists that the heavily Christian-coded The Chronicles of Narnia was written by Salman Rushdie, a fellow also known for writing The Satanic Verses.
  • The ending of "Hawk & Chick" features the Belchers being forced to make a live dubbing of a Japanese film, and they (especially Bob) quickly descend into Lemony Narrator territory. It primarily serves as a heartwarming/tearjerking scene between Bob and Louise (though with many moments of Mood Whiplash given just how ridiculous Bob's dubbing is)... but to those who know of the benshi (silent movie era "narrators" who had a tendency to act exactly as hammy as the Belchers, if not moreso), it becomes a great Historical In-Joke.
  • The Ominous Latin Chanting voices in "Worms of In-Rear-Ment" are singing "Enterobius vermicularis," the scientific name for pinworms.
• Growing the Beard:
  • The writing really improved halfway through Season 1 and never really slowed down. Episodes like "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" and "Art Crawl" introduced much of the show's core cast such as Mr. Fischoeder, the Pesto family, Gayle, and Marshmallow, setting up the show's universe on a larger scale, and episodes like "Spaghetti Western & Meatballs" helped set the stage for the series' quirky but heartwarming family dynamics that would later become one of the show's biggest appeals.
  • Arguably, the second jump in quality was by Seasons 3 and 4, where the show focused on the kids and their bizarre adventures alongside the adults and the failing restaurant. These seasons also gave more insight into the relationships of specific members of the Belcher family, not just the family overall (such as the relationship between Bob and Louise or Linda and Gene). Helping flesh them out even more and creating some of the show's most heartwarming (and amusing) moments.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • When Bob unintentionally neglects Louise to hang out with Gene in "Spaghetti Western & Meatballs", Louise's response initially seems like jealousy over the fact that Bob isn't hanging out with her anymore. However, it takes on an entirely different context after the final scene of "Hawk & Chick", where it's revealed that she's terrified her father will one day stop talking to her. Suddenly, Louise's attitude goes from just petty jealousy to seeking reassurance that her fear isn't coming true before her eyes. It's no wonder she broke down crying when she finally called Bob out.
    • "Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise" also counts for the same reason—Bob unintentionally neglecting Louise in favor of his garden plot becomes ten times worse to look back on with the context of "Hawk & Chick".
  • Bob's desire to stop Gloria and Al from moving in with his family in "It Snakes A Village" initially comes across as self-serving. However, by "The Terminalator II: Terminals of Endearment," it becomes painfully clear that Gloria's a total asshole who inconveniences Linda and outright steals from her while lying about it. And not only that, but Linda doesn't mind because she thinks since Gloria and Al are her parents, and she loves them, that makes it okay for them to walk all over her. Suddenly Bob's desire to not have his in-laws living with him becomes totally justified, not just for his sake, but to keep Linda's horrible parents from exploiting her as much as Gayle does.
  • In "The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle, & Her Lover", Louise tries to break up Gayle and Mr. Frond. She spins a story about how their relationship can only end in pain, telling Gayle to dump Mr. Frond to protect her heart. Louise doesn't believe in anything she's saying, and her motives are entirely selfish, which she rightfully gets called out on ... Cut to "Lice Things Are Lice", however, and it turns out that everything Louise said was true—Mr. Frond was cheating on Gayle, and the two break up offscreen, presumably with a lot of emotional pain on Gayle's end. Everything Louise said was for her own sake, not Gayle's, but she still hit the nail on the head.
    • Watching the relationship itself and how happy Gayle is can be painful, knowing how it ends with Mr. Frond two-timing her. Tina defending Mr. Frond from Louise also gets much more painful, knowing that he doesn't deserve a bit of the praise Gayle or Tina give him.
  • In "Brunchsquatch", Bob refuses to let the kids get a dog. Linda, who is usually on-board with her kids' crazy stunts, also refuses to let them get a dog. It initially seems like Linda holding onto the Sanity Ball (as if even she realizes that the Belchers can't take care of a dog) ... until "Manic Pixie Crap Show" reveals her rather traumatic history with dogs, namely having front row seats to a dog she was close with getting fatally run over. Linda was still so shaken up about it that she didn't even want to consider doing anything that could rehash the trauma of the Bottlecap incident.
  • In "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?", Bob refuses to agree to Jimmy Pesto's demand to shave his mustache, likening it to negotiating with a terrorist. At the time, it was just a humorous comment showing how irrational Bob acted in regard to Jimmy Pesto. However, him calling Jimmy Pesto a terrorist became a bit too on the mark after Jimmy's original voice actor Jay Johnston was fired for his alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol insurrection.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: In "The Kids Run the Restaurant", Louise is the one pushing her siblings to open the restaurant for the day, and it's not until her attempt at running things fails miserably that she opens the casino in the basement. While it initially seems like just another attempt to make money, "Carpe Museum" reveals that Louise wants to run the restaurant for real as an adult. Louise's pushiness to open the restaurant suddenly gains another context—she wants to try out her dream job, even if just for a day.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • At one point in "The Belchies", Louise sarcastically mentions a "grappling hook" when Bob asks if anything in the pit she's trapped in can help her escape. Shortly after the episode first aired, Gravity Falls aired and Kristen Schaal’s character ends up using one.
  • In "Bed & Breakfast", Teddy mentions having been in a threesome that was just him watching the other two people make love. As it turns out, none other than H. Jon Benjamin has done the exact same thing.
  • There is a real-life Working Girl musical in the works. It probably won't cross over with Die Hard, though.
  • Topsy the Elephant was sold by P.T. Barnum to Thomas Edison, which makes it rather hilarious that Gene made a musical where Thomas is the hero, despite killing animals (though Topsy was killed by one of his inventions, rather than the man himself). About six years later, they made a musical where P.T. Barnum is portrayed as a hero to the disabled, despite abusing them in real life. Both the real film and Gene's play were praised for their music, as well.
  • In "Something Old, Something New, Something Bob Caters for You", the wedding guests receive boxes that, when opened, were supposed to release butterflies. However, all the butterflies were revealed to be dead, and the crowd threw them into the air to pretend they were flying. One month later, something very similar happened during Asia O’Hara’s performance on the 10th season finale of RuPaul's Drag Race. The article in question even lampshades that this show predated the events of the latter.
• Hollywood Homely: Bob is frequently referred to as being particularly fat and/or unattractive (including by himself), but due to the show's art style he doesn't look any more so than the other characters.
• Ho Yay:
  • Bob's interactions with the butcher in "Turkey in a Can", helped by the fact that the latter is clearly interested in the former. While Bob turns him down, he's also extremely flustered, and implies that if he weren't already married things might've gone differently.
  • Ron seems ... quite enamored of Hugo.
  • Zeke and Jimmy Jr. have a considerable amount of this going on, most notably in "Stand By Gene" in which Jimmy Jr. is jealous of Zeke suddenly being all buddy-buddy with Gene. Hell, Zeke and Gene bonding in that episode could arguably count in and of itself.
  • While Bob and Hugo usually don't have this, there's a lot in the scene in "Nude Beach" where Hugo and Bob wrestle ... while naked. Perhaps the biggest moment is when Bob falls to the ground and Hugo starts sitting on Bob's stomach.
  • Bob and Jimmy Pesto Sr. could have hints of Foe Yay Shipping going on.
  • Andy and Ollie Pesto, doubling as Twincest. They seem a bit too close at times to just be brotherly love.
  • Jimmy Pesto Sr. and Trev seem to spend a lot of time together outside of work, and Trev bends over backwards for Jimmy. Given Jimmy's apparent divorce, it's not outside the realm of possibility.
  • It's been strongly implied that Hugo isn't just mean to Bob because he hates Bob, but because he's attracted to Jimmy Pesto. Hell, Hugo called Jimmy "gorgeous" once.
  • There's also a fair share of Les Yay in some episodes. Special mention goes to Millie's (one-sided) obsession with Louise, basically being her stalker and wanting nothing more than to be very close to her, much to the latter's chagrin and annoyance. Also comes off as Foe Yay Shipping too given how Louise wants nothing to do with her.
  • The very close friendship between Bob and Jairo in "Sexy Dance Healing". In-universe as well, because Gene outright assumes there's something going on between them.
  • Teddy is canonically obsessed with Bob, and there are some implications that this extends to romantic obsession.
  • Alex and Gene's first episode together has Alex try to get Gene to run away with him so they can live together in the woods. Gene is later heartbroken when Alex becomes Courtney's roller dancing partner in "Roller? I Hardly Know Her" and even sings a cover of "Alone" by Heart about Alex. Later in "Seven-tween Again," they're paired up as roommates for a life skills project and behave like a young adult couple, even mentioning that they expect to live together as roommates when they're actually adults.
  • Donald seems to be really obsessed with Josh, is always annoyed with Tina being around, and tries to get Josh's attention away from her. This actually directly parallels how Tina would behave towards Jimmy Jr. and Zeke in the early seasons.
• Hype Backlash: The amount of hype the series receives by its fan base has resulted in some people turning against it, thinking that the series gets too much praise to the point where people are willing to ignore its flaws. Considering it as an okay/decent but forgettable show at best and a mediocre one at worst. This usually stems from the show's Fandom Rivalry with Family Guy and all the emmies its won (especially the former). The backlash that was already present in Seasons 3 and 4 (when the show started Growing the Beard) only increased in Season 10 which contained some of the show's most divisive writing.
• I Knew It!: Though a minor detail, several fans had noticed that Louise's room is windowless, theorizing the space to be a repurposed closet. While Louise already implies this in "Bed & Breakfast," it's only in "Loft in Bedslation" that it's explicitly discussed.
• Incest Yay Shipping: Andy x Ollie is a popular ship. And it's entirely possible that it's canon.
• Informed Wrongness: Played with in "Are You There Bob? It's Me, Birthday". Hugo calls Bob an Ungrateful Bastard for not liking birthday parties, as he’s being unappreciative to people trying to show him that they care about him. However, while a birthday is indeed about those who love you and want to celebrate your birthday, at the end of the day it’s still about the birthday person themselves. Doing something that they hate isn’t mutually beneficial, as they aren’t enjoying themselves. However, it’s less the intent of Hugo’s words and more their delivery, as giving Bob a What the Hell, Hero? for not liking birthday parties comes off as self-serving and selfish. Similarly, Hugo teaching Bob how important his job is doesn't make him seem more important and vital to the town. It makes him come across as even more of a petty manchild because of how unprofessionally he treats Bob in comparison to other restaurants.
  • The same episode also averts it—Jimmy Pesto of all people informs Linda that not everyone likes parties, especially surprise parties, causing her to calm down, and do something Bob would actually enjoy. While Jimmy is more than a bit of a dick about it, unlike Hugo, he actually raises a valid point.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Felix Fischoeder. He's a Psychopathic Manchild who's attempted double murder, but at the same time he's also clearly insecure about living in his older brother's shadow, and Calvin frequently treats him unkindly; for example, snubbing him during the gingerbread house competition in "The Last Gingerbread House on the Left" and making him live in the treehouse in "The Oeder Games". Although this doesn't excuse his more questionable actions, it's easy to see why he's so volatile towards his brother.
  • Louise definitely reaches this point in some of her more sympathetic appearances, like "Spaghetti Western & Meatballs" and "Hawk & Chick". She's sarcastic, snarky, refuses to own up to 90% of her misdeeds, and will make a problem twenty times worse before doing anything to make it better. But she still has fears like getting a filling and getting her family into too much trouble, and for all she's shown to mock her father, she's absolutely terrified that he'll abandon her.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Calvin Fischoeder has several illegal venues and is implied to use child labor, Felix Fischoeder attempted to commit double murder of both his brother and Bob in the Season 4 finale, and the One-Eyed Snakes are meth dealers who have willingly committed murder. However, none of them fall into the Hate Sink category because they're either Affably Evil (Calvin and the One-Eyed Snakes), a Jerkass Woobie (Felix), or genuinely hilarious (arguably all of them), and all of them have a ton of fans (especially Calvin, who's even pushing Ensemble Dark Horse territory). Compare this to the show's many Jerkasses, like Jimmy Pesto, Hugo Habercore, Chuck Charles, and even Linda's own mother Gloria; while the first two do have fans who Love to Hate them, for the most part they're all Hate Sink characters through and through. Gloria's situation is especially glaring, as she started off as obnoxious but overall well-meaning and not antagonistic. It wasn't until her appearances in Seasons 10 and 11 where Gloria became an utterly horrible and self-centered woman who exploits Linda and ignores Gayle, making her a disturbingly realistic version of an abusive mom and an utterly detestable character who just isn't funny or entertaining at all.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships:
  • Tina tends to get paired with a lot of different characters in fanworks. Jimmy Jr., Zeke and Josh are the most popular options, but ships have also cropped up involving Tammy Larsen, Becky Krespe (Jimmy Jr.'s date from "V For Valentine-Detta") and even her own siblings.
  • Bob as well. While for the most part people keep him with Linda, he's also been paired with Teddy, Calvin Fischoeder, Marshmallow, Jimmy Pesto, Hugo Habercore, or the deli guy from "Turkey in a Can" (who Bob is implied to have a canonical crush on). Bob will sometimes even be paired with combinations of the above, with Bob/Linda/Teddy forming one of the show's more popular ships.
  • Louise's most popular ships are with Logan Bush and Regular-Sized Rudy, but other characters she's been paired with include the Pesto twins, Zeke, Boo Boo, Millie Frock, Jessica from "Slumber Party", and her own siblings.
  • Gene tends to not get shipped as much as his siblings or father, but he still has quite a large shipping pool. His most popular ships are with his best friends Courtney Wheeler and Alex Papasian, but in addition he's also been paired with Zeke, Jimmy Jr., and even Lenny DeStefano (who prominently appears in two Gene-focused episodes, but is at best a minor character).
  • Zeke's shipping pool is comparatively smaller to the Belchers', but he deserves mention for being one of the few characters (if not the only character period) to have been paired with all three Belcher kids (with Zeke/Tina arguably being the most popular ship in the series, Zeke/Gene gaining a ton of traction after episodes like "Stand By Gene", and Zeke/Louise having a small but noticeable following due to their similar hot-headed personalities). For ships not involving one of the Belchers, Zeke/Jimmy Jr. is by far and away the most popular option.
• LGBT Fanbase: Yessir. It helps that several characters are LGBT themselves (such as Marshmallow and Nat, and quite possibly Bob himself), and that the show itself has adopted an unassuming stance regarding gender and sexuality, allowing it to depict these characters without making a big deal out of it.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Most of Tina's dialogue in general. Just check Tumblr. Some highlights include:
    "If you need me, I'll be on the floor. Dying."^explanationTina's reaction to having to quit capoeira in "Sexy Dance Fighting" to work in the restaurant.
    "It's okay. I guess I wasn't meant to have a good life."^explanationIn "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?", Bob hints that he might not be able to accommodate all of Tina's birthday party wishes (or, in the case of getting Jimmy Jr. to the party, he might not want to). Tina responds with the above quote.
    "Non-canonical! Non-canonical!"^explanationIn "The Equestranauts", Tina was looking through her Equestranauts comics and novels that she lends Bob to study, but found a notebook where she wrote her fanfic is among them, realizing Bob's cover will be blown. Some fans have used the quote to describe an installment of a franchise that they dislike.
  • Similarly, quite a lot of Bob's lines, such as:
    "Fine, but I'm gonna complain the whole time."^explanationBob's reaction to Linda forcing him to go see Cake at the Wharf Arts Center, which gained popularity due to its relatability and many applications.
    "They certainly are... standing next to each other." ^explanationBob's response to Doug Wheeler claiming Gene and Courtney make a cute couple, often used as a reaction to a ship someone thinks is based on little evidence.
    "Well, I'm glad you kids are excited, because I am going to kill myself."^explanationBob's reaction to having to visit Gloria and Al in "It Snakes a Village". While most of these memes are popular in the fandom, it's worth noting that this one briefly saw mainstream popularity due to its blunt humor and many possible applications.
    "I'm straight. I mean, I'm mostly straight."^explanationOne of Bob's lines from "Turkey in a Can", which gained notoriety because it all but reveals that Bob is bisexual. Some fans have even used the quote in their personal lives.
    "And now I'll never know who wins Game of Thrones!"^explanationIn the song "Bad Things Are Bad", Bob lists off his many dying regrets as he believes he's about to drown. Many of them are tearjerkers, as is the whole song, but then there's this relatively out-of-place (and dated) line. The line further gained traction after Game of Thrones ended in 2019, and its extremely divisive ending led many to joke that Bob wouldn't have missed much about the series. It's to the point that on any given video about "Bad Things Are Bad", about a third of the comments are about the Game of Thrones line, even though it's only used once as the penultimate line of the song.
  • This quote from Gayle:
    Gayle: (gasps) My cat was right about you.
  • This quote from Linda:
    Linda: Independent whaaaaaaaaaa?
  • The fanbase still debates the "Spiceps" vs the "Spice Rack", though the majority consensus appears to be the Spice Rack.^note Man, Bob can't even win in the fandom!
  • Bob literally grasping at straws.
  • Whenever a Marshmallow-related post shows up, expect at least one comment to quote Bob's "free spirit" dialogue from "The Hormone-iums". And if that comment has any replies, expect one of them to quote Linda's reaction to the line.
  • For non-dialogue memes, there's the scene in "Ear-sy Rider" where Louise starts Laughing Mad against a fiery background. Many have used it to punctuate a meme describing someone committing a diabolical/mischievous act.
  • "Only Bob's Burgers could make _______ wholesome/heartwarming."^explanationWhile Bob's Burgers has garnered a reputation as the wholesome sister show to most other adult animated sitcoms, many lampshade that even still it has a surprising knack for turning usually-strange or non-wholesome concepts into a rather wholesome story, a sentiment that has often been repeated on Internet posts/videos about the show. Things that fill in the blank have included "a boy bonding with a talking toilet", "a turkey getting dropped into a toilet", "a song about being glued to a toilet", and "a constipated nine year-old child".
  • After Jay Johnston (the voice of Jimmy Pesto) was fired from the show for participating in the U.S. Capitol insurrection, numerous kinds of memes revolving around Jimmy Pesto skyrocketed in popularity. Some of these memes include:
    • Jokes about Jimmy Pesto being the kind of person who'd actually be there.
    • Alternatively to the above, jokes that Jimmy would claim he was there but was in truth too cowardly to actually attend.
    • Images of the riots with Jimmy edited in. Less common are members of his inner circle (such as Trev or the twins) being added alongside him.
    • Images of the pizzeria being shut down, with a sign indicating the building is now for lease.
    • In a more sardonic way, jokes that Johnston was really just voicing himself the entire time.
• Moe: Tina, an awkward teenager with glasses and a seemingly puppy dog eye expression.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Millie Frock crosses this in the episode "Fort Night". In it, the children get trapped in their fort by a garbage truck and Millie opts to torture them instead of setting them free. It's a dick move, but it's not when she crosses it. She crosses it when Bob and Linda, worried to death over where their kids are, come this close to finding and rescuing them, only for Millie to lie to them and lead them away. Keep in mind that the children could have died trapped in there, which is hammered home when Darryl accidentally activates the truck's compactor, nearly crushing them alive.
    • And just in case more was needed to prove Millie is well beyond the MEH, in "The Millie-churian Candidate", she strangles Abby with her own braid in an attempt to kill her because it seemed she was standing in the way of Millie's plan to make Louise her best friend. And she does it in front of the whole school, horrifying the students and Mr. Frond.
  • In "World Wharf II: The Wharfening" Felix leaves his brother and Bob tied under the pier so they'll drown when the tide comes in and he can get his brother's money. Eventually subverted when he can't bring himself to go through with it and tries to save them. When he confesses his plan to his girlfriend Fanny, she's the one who crosses it by putting the plan back on and attempting to murder Mr. Fischoeder and the Belchers.
• Narm Charm: The song "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom" from the Season 6 finale. It's a duet about Bob being glued to a toilet... and between its catchiness and oddly uplifting feel to it (especially the Triumphant Reprise in the credits), it works.
• Nausea Fuel: The "Mad Pooper" plot of the episode "Broadcast Wagstaff School News" , involving a kid defecating in random places of the school. While nothing is actually shown on screen, the idea of finding feces inside dioramas or musical instruments is still pretty disgusting.
• Never Live It Down:
  • Jimmy Jr.'s jerkass behavior in "V For Valentine-detta" is almost universally regarded as his lowest point (even by people who like him), where he goes from aloof but well-meaning to outright nasty. This one episode single-handedly pushed him deep into Base-Breaking Character territory.
  • Since Teddy makes a few comments (mostly early in the series) implying he has sexual thoughts and dreams about Linda, some people conclude he's motivated to hang around the restaurant by his lust for her, believing his friendship with Bob should be on shaky ground because of this. What the series more often implies is that Teddy is obsessed with the whole family because of his loneliness, not just Linda — even his desire to roleplay as Bob and be married to Linda suggests more that he's attached to their happy marriage, and there's no indication he'd ever want them to split up. In fact, he seems just as weirdly obsessed with Bob sometimes.
• One-Scene Wonder: The guy who flirts with Bob in "Turkey in a Can". He appears in just one episode for less than two minutes, but he's fairly well-liked for his amusing yet heartwarming interactions with Bob, the fact that he's fairly fleshed out as a character for his brief screentime, and the fact that his sexuality isn't played up as a big deal like many other sitcoms would do. It doesn't hurt that he's voiced by handsome, openly gay actor Tuc Watkins.
• One True Threesome: Bob/Linda/Teddy are paired this way by a lot of the fandom, thanks to the closeness between the three (to the point that Teddy is an Honorary Uncle to the Belcher children) and the numerous implications that Teddy is attracted to both Linda and Bob.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: In early 2021, Jimmy Pesto Sr.'s voice actor, Jay Johnston was fired for his alleged involvement in the US Capitol riot. Because of this happening during Season 11, it's not very easy to talk about this season without mentioning Johnston's Capital riot allegations.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis: You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who knows about Topsy the elephant without having at least heard of the episode of this show that revolves around her.
• Realism-Induced Horror:
  • An In-Universe version happens in "Sliding Bobs". When learning that Bob's mustache played a part in Bob and Linda getting together, the kids tell three very different version of what would've happen if he hadn't had it when they met. While Gene and Louise tell ridiculous stories involving overly-advanced technology and magic respectively and are meant to make fun of Bob, Tina's story where Linda marries Hugo (Hugo using meat from real dogs to make hot dogs aside) is much more realistic and possible. Linda is stuck in a marriage to a husband she doesn't love, Bob's never opens a restaurant like he dreamed and has the real Hugo's health inspector job (which he likes just as little as the real Hugo likes his), and Linda's and Hugo's children are so far removed from how Gene and Louise act that it frightens them.
  • Part of what makes Gloria such a detestable character in later seasons is that she's not very over-the-top in her actions—she's a rather accurate portrayal of an Abusive Parent who gaslights her own family and takes advantage of her daughter's seemingly limitless generosity.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • Quite a few people became more sympathetic towards Gene after "Best Burger" took two of his least-liked qualities (his tendency to get distracted and his status as The Load) and explored them through Gene's point of view, wrenching a surprising amount of emotion from Gene's attempts at defying his usual status and his brief drop in self-esteem from believing his family views him as a screw-up.
  • Aunt Gayle tends to oscillate between annoyingly needy and an outright sociopath, but when she's at her absolute worst in "Gayle Makin' Bob Sled", she has a Heel Realization and admits that she was wrong, apologizes to Bob and makes it up to him by dragging him the rest of the way home.
  • The show in general tends to rescue characters that weren’t well-received and show them in a more sympathetic light in their future appearances. Jairo was a villain in “Sexy Dance Fighting” but genuinely means well and helps Bob in “Sexy Dance Healing.” Randy antagonizes Bob throughout “Sacred Cow” but works with the Belchers in later episodes. Felix Fischoeder was the Big Bad of "Wharf Horse/World Wharf II: The Wharfening" but is a nuisance at worst in his future appearances. Upskirt Kurt was known for trying to seduce Linda in "Seaplane!", but he helped the Belcher kids and got a sympathetic backstory in "Live and Let Fly". Long-time crank Edith gets Bob to sympathize with her in “Bobby Driver”. Kaylee was aloof and pretty careless toward Tina in “A Fish Called Tina”, but she’s very insecure and struggling to make friends in “Prank You For Being a Friend”. And even Bob's Jerkass nemesis Jimmy Pesto becomes slightly more likable in "Prank You for Being a Friend".
  • Courtney was first introduced as the most annoying girl in school (and she lived up to that reputation in her first episode), but with each subsequent appearance her personality was toned down to the point that she actually became friends with Gene and the other kids, and she's overall become much more tolerable.
  • Likewise, Courtney’s father Doug became a rather obnoxious and pushy Stage Dad after his debut, but starting in late Season 9, he got slightly better and is far less of an antagonist.
• Ron the Death Eater: Jimmy Jr. gets this treatment in fanworks, largely due to his depiction in "V For Valentine-detta". While he was pretty selfish and rude in that episode, from fanworks you'd get the impression that this is who he's been throughout the entire series. It especially pops up in Tina/Zeke fanworks.
• The Scrappy: Even the more divisive characters have many fans, and of course there are the characters who are meant to be hated (like Jimmy Pesto), but one character stands out as truly despised—Chuck Charles, who constantly bullies Bob and is just an overall unpleasant character. While he's clearly meant to be a Hate Sink, what pushes him into scrappy territory is the fact that his dickish nature goes largely unpunished (particularly in the infamous "Family Fracas", where he successfully cheats the Belchers off his show), and even the other Hate Sink characters (like Jimmy Pesto or Hugo) are funny in how they're absolute assholes—Chuck Charles can hardly say the same. Let's just say that people aren't exactly mourning the fact that he hasn't appeared since Season 5.
• Seasonal Rot: Season 10 is seen as disappointing by a number of fans when compared to the earlier seasons. While every other season, including Season 1, has an audience score on Rotten Tomatoes of 80 percent or higher, Season 10 sits at a more modest 73 percent. A lack of standout episodes^note the few notable ones being the premiere, the Thanksgiving episode, "Just the Trip" for being hilarious and featuring fan-favorite Nat, and "Poops... I Didn't Do It Again!" for being yet another episode showing the heartwarming bond between Bob and Louise and a larger number of episodes that place the focus on Gene and/or Linda (who were divisive characters to begin with and only grew more divisive throughout the season) are generally seen as the reasons for the decline. Season 11 is also seen as a continuation of the decline (due to an increase in cringe-inducing moments^note with "Worms of In-Rear-Ment" and "Mommy Boy" generally regarded as the worst offenders, and more episodes that generally blend in more^note the show's 200th episode is generally regarded as the only true standout.
• Self-Fanservice: Linda gets hit with this a lot. Fanart depicting Linda often gives Hartman Hips and a massive bust even though she isn't very curvy in-universe (though a throwaway line in "The Oeder Games" suggest her bra size is DD.
• Ships That Pass in the Night: One moderately popular ship in certain circles is Mr. Frond/Mr. Ambrose. This is in spite of the fact that the two interact only a handful of times—and when they do, it's shown that Ambrose doesn't like Frond even a tiny bit, to the point that he'll trash-talk Frond behind his back.
• Signature Line: "You’re my family, and I love you, but you’re terrible, you’re all terrible."
• Signature Scene: Many people have noted the famous scene of Tina attempting to drive as a series highlight, to the point that it's often eventually quoted or referred to in stories about driving on social media such as Reddit.
• So Okay, It's Average: Despite its Seasonal Rot entry, this is the general consensus to Season 10. While it does have a few good episodes here and there such as "Just the Trip" and "Poops... I Didn't Do It Again!", it's generally considered the weakest season of the show (mostly for the increase in cringe-induced moments such as Bob mentioning that Linda once defecated in a bucket in the above-mentioned "Poops... I Didn't Do it Again!") That being said, it is widely agreed that the show did not go downhill to anywhere near the extent that Family Guy did.
• Spiritual Successor: Bob's Burgers could be read as one to TheBradyBunch. Both shows are about families that can get a little dysfunctional at times (or rarely in the Brady's case) but at the end of the day, they still care for each other. It helps that both shows are very idealistic.
• Squick:
  • Bob kissing Moolissa. It was in his dream, sure, but still.
    • Speaking of Moolissa, the very unsubtle implication that Randy may have (admittedly unwittingly) jerked off the cow. And unlike the above, this wasn't a dream.
  • When the kids attempt to fill an empty pool by spitting in it. That's not the squicky part, though. This is.
    Gene: My mouth's dry! Tina, give me some of your spit!
    (Tina spits in Gene's mouth)
  • Gene does it again in "Synchronized Swimming" by loudly snorting up his streaming boogers after coming up from under the water.
    Gene: That is good stuff. Uncut!
  • Tina's dream of the two zombies making out.
    • As if that wasn't bad enough, the zombies take on the voices of Tina's grandparents... who are having loud disturbing sex in the next room. Even Tina wakes up in terror.
  • Tina's search for Josh from Fresh Feed isn't this. What is this is that she looks for him using his dirty, still-bloody band-aid, and holds it as a souvenir of sorts, even kissing it at least twice.
  • "The Kids Run The Restaurant": The only thing worse than seeing Bob's small wound gush onto everyone is seeing Linda's disgusting, itch-inducing (she meant well) stitch job beforehand and having to see and hear it rip. Definitely one of the squickiest moments in the series.
  • Gene's incestuous comments about his mom seem to keep getting worse and worse, such as this quote from "The Wolf of Wharf Street":
    Gene: Mother, I've never been more attracted to you!
  • Ethel's squirrel taxidermy hobby, in "Mo Mommy Mo Problem", is taken up to a disturbing degree that's unusually disgusting for this show. If the bucket of squirrel blood that Ethel later covers herself in isn't bad enough, we're then treated to a graphic scene where she rips a squirrel's body out of its skin.
  • In "Poops!... I Didn't Do It Again", Bob mentions that Linda once defecated in a bucket when the line for the bathroom at a wedding was too long. Yeah...
• Suspiciously Similar Song:
  • "Jingle In The Jungle," the novelty song which Gene keeps requesting the radio station to play in "Christmas in the Car", is reminiscent of a different classic novelty song "Pico and Sepulveda," aka the theme for The Dr. Demento Show. Even better, Gene's song sounds like the kind that would be played on that show!
  • The song Zeke plays when he enters in the mascot costume in "Midday Run" sounds a lot like (but is not) 2 Unlimited's "Get Ready for This."
• Take That, Scrappy!:
  • Whenever something bad happens to Jimmy Pesto, like the time he was accidentally hit in the crotch in "Are You There, Bob? It's Me, Birthday", something Bob (and no doubt the audience) was grateful for.
  • In "What About Blob?", the other Belchers get tired of Gene's constant noise making and admit he's being annoying. The name of the preview on YouTube this scene was featured in is even called "Gene is Super Annoying".
  • Linda admits that she "isn't sold" on Jimmy Jr in "Just One Of The Boyz 4 Now", hinting she hasn't forgotten his actions in "V for Valentine-Detta".
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Quite a few people wish that Mort had more significant appearances in the show. While he was fairly prominent throughout the first three seasons, after that he appeared less frequently and often only had a few minor appearances per season.
  • Jessica from "Slumber Party", the only kid who doesn't end up dropping out of the sleepover and shows a lot of cunning, enough that Louise considers her a Worthy Opponent, but she took a long time to make her second appearance. While she has made two appearances since then she hasn't been mentioned in any episode she isn't directly in, and despite the show teasing the possibility of her entering Louise's friend group this has yet to happen, with the position of Louise's best friend going to Regular-Sized Rudy.
  • Josh from "Lindapendent Woman" was pushed as a possible love interest for Tina, which was expanded into a Love Triangle with Jimmy Jr. in "Two for Tina". However, following this, Josh would abruptly vanish from the show and wouldn't return until Season 10's "Tappy Tappy Tappy Tap Tap Tap"... at which point his relationship with Tina was abruptly sunk with little foreshadowing.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The show's original premise was Bob juggling being a family man and the owner/cook of his own restaurant. As the show progresses, the focus has been more on the antics of the Belcher family, namely the kids, with the restaurant itself and Bob's attempts at improving business being relegated to mostly b-plots. In fact, there are episodes that never take place in the restaurant itself.
  • Similarly, a running theme in earlier episodes was that the Belchers were a family of creatives in a community that valued mediocrity, i.e. Jimmy Pesto being more successful despite literally selling microwave pasta you could buy yourself at a grocery store, or how the kids were constantly being mocked for doing their own thing. This was phased out in favor of the Belchers being the only sane(ish) people in a town where everybody does their own thing.
• Tough Act to Follow: Season 10's "The Hawkening: Look Who's Hawking Now" is a Sequel Episode to Season 5's "Hawk & Chick". To emphasize just how much this trope is in play, several reviews of the former open by specifically talking about the latter, citing it as one of the most emotional episodes of the series (not to mention "Hawk & Chick" won Kristen Schaal an Annie Award for voice acting). All in all, "Hawk & Chick" set the bar pretty high for any follow-ups. To this end, several reviewers also tried to defy this trope by judging "The Hawkening: Look Who's Hawking Now" solely on its own merits and not as a sequel, but it's still generally accepted that it doesn't quite compare to its predecessor.
• Toy Ship:
  • Some viewers have posited a potential Opposites Attract pairing of Louise with Regular-Sized Rudy. In the episode "Bob Actually", she initially is disappointed to think that Rudy wants her to be his Valentine. Only to go into Green-Eyed Epiphany mode when she learns that Rudy wanted Chloe to be his Valentine. And at the end of the episode, she kisses him (and slaps him), showing that she really does like him, which only made the Louise/Rudy fanbase grow even larger.
  • Tina and Henry Haber. They got paired together in "Carpe Museum" where they try to determine which of them is the "biggest dork". In "Ain't Miss Debatin'", the two decide to be a couple, until they break up in the end.
  • Tina and Darryl. In " Can't Buy Me Math" they pretend to be a couple in an elaborate plan to ask out their desired crushes (Rosa for Darryl and Jimmy Jr. for Tina), though briefly Tina thought she fell in love with Darryl for real.
• Trans Audience Interpretation:
  • While not universal due to his young age, quite a few people have taken Gene to be trans or genderfluid, due to several comments he and other characters (such as his sisters) make about him being a girl, as well as him crossdressing on more than one occasion.
  • Though not nearly to the extent of Gene, some fans have interpreted Tina as trans due to her somewhat androgynous design and distinctly male-sounding^note Dan Mintz uses his natural voice to play Tina voice. The fact she was originally meant to be a male character in the pilot further supports this.
• Ugly Cute:
  • Tina. She's supposed to be a plain-looking teenager, but many viewers have said that she's the kind of girl they would have had a crush on at that age due to her adorkable personality.
  • Similarly, Bob. He's outright called ugly in-universe, but much like his daughter he has a downright adorkable personality, and his admirable work ethic and extremely caring nature to his kids only make him more endearing.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic:
  • Bob in general gets hit with this a lot. In particular episodes, the plot wants us to be angry with Bob for being too grouchy or stubborn. But the reason behind his attitude in those situations is more than justified. One example being in "The Unnatural"- Linda calls out Bob for not being supportive to Gene's baseball ambitions despite how Bob points out their son's lack in talent and how the so-called trainer is a scam artist. And then Linda steals their espresso maker, which could've made them more money, something he calls her out on. However, not only does she not apologize for her actions, it's Bob who "learns his lesson.
  • Moody Foodies is a genuine Jerkass but the humiliation he endures in his self-titled episode is a little hard to stomach upon closer inspection. He's only doing his job by giving honest, even though mean-spirited, reviews on the restaurants he dines at. And many of them have done some borderline disgusting things (i.e., reserving leftover noodles, using stale bread, forgetting his order, etc.) However, he is later kidnapped and given uncalled for "punishments" by Bob, his family, and other restaurant owners he reviewed. The Foody Moodie may be a jerk but he didn't do anything actually illegal.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • It's not uncommon for Tina's detractors to view her as this. We're supposed to feel sorry for her because she's a socially awkward teenage girl who just wants to make friends and get along with others. However, a lot of her behavior, while kind of justified since she is a 13 year old girl who isn't quite aware of the consequences of her actions, come off as creepy rather than endearing. For example, whenever Tammy does something bad to Tina, we're supposed to feel sorry for her but the thing is, Tina brings a lot of the Tammy-drama on herself. Despite knowing very well that Tammy is an awful person, there are a few episodes that show that Tina didn't learn her lesson and STILL tries to hang out with her, trusts her even when she knows she shouldn't and often fails to realize that Tammy is obviously manipulating her.
  • We're supposed to feel sorry for Linda because due to Gayle's inability and unwillingness to better her living arrangements, Linda has no choice but to act like Gayle's parent. However, the fact that she doesn't mind and actually ENCOURAGES Gayle's questionable behavior such as her painting portraits of animal anuses and posting them in her husband's restaurant and never allowing others to call Gayle out on her crap doesn't exactly paint her in a good light. Later episodes has Linda loaning Gayle lots of the family's money for her "passion" of the week even though Linda clearly knows these passions won't lead to anything successful or, worse, they're blatant scams.
  • Bob himself can fall into this at times, as he refuses to compromise on his restaurant (which is his family's only source of income) even if the compromise is the only way he can be successful and actually provide for his family. His Burgers of the Day, which he puts more money into than he charges, never reuses a recipe so he's wasting money on ingredients that will be wasted, and his horrible business sense also is the main reason why his family is in Perpetual Poverty in the first place (and the only reason why Bob's restaurant hasn't gone out of business a long time ago is because of Status Quo Is God).
• Vanilla Protagonist: Bob can hardly be considered a Flat Character, but a good amount of the show's comedy comes from all the quirky characters he's surrounded by.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Had it not been for her breasts, it'd be very easy to mistake Tina for a boy, owing to her somewhat androgynous design and having a distinctively male-sounding voice^note It helps that Dan Mintz uses his natural voice to play Tina.
• Vindicated by History: Season 1 was for a long time generally regarded as the worst of the show, as it was more inconsistent regarding characterization and used much darker humor than the show used from Season 2 onwards; in general, it was clear that the writers hadn't yet hit their stride. As time has gone by, however, many fans have looked back on Season 1 and concluded that it was a good season in its own way, with its uniqueness now considered a positive rather than a negative.
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • The horse animation in "The Horse Rider-er". Horses are notoriously hard to draw, let alone animate, and all of them in this episode are meticulously well-animated, especially Jericho's dancing.
  • The conversation the kids and Nat have while floating on inner tubes down a lazy river in "The Ring (But Not Scary)" is impressive, especially the shots of all four slowly rotating with the camera at water level.
  • The shadow puppet effects in "Amelia" are smooth and beautiful, teetering on the edge of Impossible Shadow Puppets, but nevertheless making you very proud of Louise and her team for the effort put into their project.
• The Woobie:
  • Bob, being the Only Sane Man in a world of crazy people. Growing up with an overly controlling father, he just wants his restaurant to succeed and just live a normal life. His business and simple way of living is constantly mocked or endangered because of his otherwise uninterested and unsympathetic family. His wife is a ditzy woman who enjoys drinking and bizarre interests while encouraging their kids in talents that interfere with his business. His oldest daughter is the most loyal, but her obsessions with horses, boys and butts constantly get on his nerves and her puberty and personality often causes problems. His son is an obnoxious and loud Attention Whore constantly doing gross things. His youngest daughter is a schemer who always shows no respect for his restaurant and constantly lands him in trouble. Even moreso outside his family, there's his Affably Evil landlord, said landlord's unstable younger brother, his obnoxious rival who runs a more successful restaurant, a health inspector who has it on for him for "stealing his woman", a borderline insane sister-in-law and plenty of one-shot characters who seem set on making his life a living hell.
  • As much of a Base-Breaking Character as Linda can be, "Eat, Spray, Linda" has even her detractors feeling sorry for her. It's her birthday, the least favorite day of the year for her, and she ends up receiving rude treatment at a grocery store (for rightly calling out a woman taking up the line that shoved her way forward), locking her purse (containing her keys and cell phone) in the car, getting gum in her hair, ripping her pants and having to wear a 'street diaper', taking the wrong bus and getting further from home, having a Smelly Skunk spray her twice, breaking her glasses, getting in another argument with the lady from the grocery store and being chased through the chalk festival. She finally makes it home, defeated and miserable, but she admits that it was the best birthday ever and wants it to be a tradition.
  • Like him or hate him, there's no denying that Teddy has had a rough go of life. His ex-wife emotionally abused him and regularly cheated on him, leaving him with so much trauma that merely seeing something tangentially related to the latter causes a full-blown flashback. He has next-to-no friends, with only the Belchers and Mort willing to show him any respect or care. He constantly tries to help, only to make things ten times worse, leaving even his closest friend sick of him on more than one occasion. While he can be a bit too attached to the Belchers, it's because they're the closest thing to a functional family he's got and he doesn't want to lose them from his life.
  • Regular-Sized Rudy, the asthma-ridden kid who's frequently caught up between all the Belcher kids' craziness ^note though he does highly enjoy getting caught up in the Belcher kids' craziness, due to his adrenaline junkie tendencies and desire to be like other kids in spite of his health problems. Especially in "Carpe Museum", where he has an asthma attack while stuck atop an observation deck with no way down, and in "The Amazing Rudy," which shows how much anxiety he gets trying to keep his separated parents and their new partners happy.
  • Tina. Most of the episodes focusing on her have her as a Butt-Monkey, and she's very socially awkward.
• Writer-Induced Fanon: Bob is hinted to be Ambiguously Bi throughout multiple episodes (most notoriously in "Turkey in a Can"), but an overwhelming majority of the fanbase does away with the "ambiguously" part entirely, and in general it's widely accepted that Bob is in fact bisexual, even though neither the show itself nor its writers have explicitly confirmed it. It's to the point that arguing otherwise is a borderline Fandom-Enraging Misconception.

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