An ode to Bob’s Burgers‘ Bob Belcher, TV’s best dad
Bob's Burgers is back this weekend, and with it, one of the greatest sitcom fathers of all time
TV Features Bob's Burgers
It shouldn’t be radical to like your kids—but on TV, and especially in comedy, it absolutely is. Homer Simpson doesn’t like his kids. Peter Griffin doesn’t like his kids. Everybody Loves Raymond’s Raymond didn’t like his kids. It’s baked into the DNA of the sitcom dad: You love your kids, you provide for them, you have the occasional heartwarming moment when the writers realize they’ve left the heartstrings un-tugged too long. But like them? Genuinely enjoy their company? It simply isn’t done.
And that’s what makes Bob’s Burgers’ Bob Belcher, back this week for his 13th season on Fox, the greatest sitcom dad on TV.
He didn’t start that way, admittedly. This is a guy who, in his very first appearance, grouses (in H. Jon Benjamin’s beautifully grumpy voice) that “You’re all my children, and I love you, but you’re terrible at what you do.” For most of the show’s weak-by-comparison first season, Bob is often the stereotypical sitcom dad: The guy who constantly tells his kids to stop having fun and get back to work, threatening groundings aplenty, and only occasionally humoring Gene (Eugene Mirman), Tina (Dan Mintz), and Louise (Kristen Schaal) and their various weirdo impulses.
But the first signs of cracks forming in Bob’s grouchy-and-mustachioed exterior came pretty quickly, as early as season one’s “Spaghetti Western And Meatballs.” That’s the episode that establishes that he and Louise—the Belcher kid who most closely shares her dad’s sarcastic but secretly sweet worldview—have a standing date to play “Burn Unit,” a game where they flip through TV channels and make fun of whatever they see. It’s one of the show’s first signs that Bob values his kids, not just as children (or cheap burger joint labor), but as people he actually likes spending time with.
That genuine affection is an unorthodox comedy weapon, one that’s always been present in series creator Loren Bouchard’s quiver. It dates back at least as far as Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, Bouchard’s first credited gig as a writer, where the relationship between Jonathan Katz’s title character and his son, Ben (Benjamin, again) was as much “two roommates cracking each other up” as anything more filial. (Another Bouchard hallmark: Characters who actually laugh at each others’ jokes.) The novel notion that parents and kids could actually be friends was even more prominent in Bouchard and Brendon Small’s Home Movies, where young filmmaker Brendon and his mom Paula (Paula Poundstone in the first season, Janine Ditullio later on) had a relationship that was characterized by an endless desire to make the other laugh.
Bob’s Burgers operates in a (slightly) more grounded reality than Home Movies, but it’s still given Bob plenty of opportunities over the years to acknowledge that he doesn’t merely tolerate his children, but actively enjoys them. Another standout example (and another classic Bob-Louise episode) is season 3’s “Carpe Museum,” where, after some token resistance, Bob fully embraces Louise’s desire to sneak off during a boring field trip, the two making their own fun even as inevitable problems break out. (It’s also the episode that introduces Brian Huskey’s cheerfully asthmatic Regular Sized Rudy to the show’s ensemble, a character whose manifest greatness is unfortunately beyond the scope of this essay.) “Carpe Museum” establishes that Bob doesn’t need to be an authority figure to work as a dad; within the logic of the show’s universe, there’ll always be some Mr. Frond-type ready to hand out punishments. Having Bob instead act as his kids’ low-key, deeply amused ally is infinitely more fun than making Benjamin find another hundred ways to yell “Stop it!”
(On the topic of Benjamin: I note this with some regularity over in my Archer reviews, but—for all that he tends to play grouchy assholes—there really is nobody in the voice acting game better at expressing sheer delight at something. Bob’s joy, on those occasions where the world doesn’t conspire to suppress it, is really a thing of beauty.)
Even beyond his bond with Louise, though, Bob just simply gets a kick out of his kids, whether he’s cooking with Gene, indulging Tina’s various equine obsessions, or simply taking up a support role in their efforts to put on an ice show to win the mercies of a cantankerous mall Santa. The kids still annoy him sometimes, sure. He occasionally has to be the voice telling them to cut it out. But they also make him laugh more than any other sitcom dad in ready memory.
It’s an evolving process, too. As the show has progressed over its last 11 years on the air, Bob has said yes to more and more things, for the simple fact that there’s no especially good reason for him to say no. (Beyond the strictures of how TV family comedies are “supposed” to operate.) At the same time, the show has given us more and more glimpses of his own inner weirdness: His love of pranks, his running joke of imbuing all the food he cooks with silly little voices, his ability to throw himself into absurd situations with total conviction. It not only makes his relationship with his wife, the uber-hammy Linda (John Roberts), make sense, but it helps the viewer to see how the Belcher spawn are a reflection of both their parents’ oddball sides. (Even if, in practical terms, that was mostly done by making Bob more like the kids over the years, rather than the other way around.) His fatherhood grows out of their shared weirdness, and an appreciation for how strange and funny they are, not despite it.
And so, let’s raise a glass to Bob Belcher: A TV dad who surpasses 99 percent of the pack by the simple trick of liking his children. There’s not many like him; more’s the pity.
32 Comments
Bob Belcher might like his children, but it takes a special kind of dad to teach their children how to defend themselves, and still respect them when they later use that knowledge to take the upper hand in their relationship
Man, I should give that show a rewatch.
Hal could only be a great dad because Lois was the best mom. The scene of her burning Francis’ teddy bear is parenting goals.
Easily my favorite TV dad, well family. He also over extends him self for his family like tina’s birthday party. I also like that he does things for them but will complain about it.” It is like a real family that enjoys their time with each other most of the time.
I’ve always liked the Belcher family because they like each other so much. Sure, there’s a lot of teasing, but it’s always gentle and never mean-spirited.
The birthday party episode and Bob’s dad on Xmas episode have me and my wife yelling at the screen every time.
Tina saying Bob is selfish, and Bob’s dad being a manipulative baby after making Bob look like the bad guy in front of people just get us riled every time.
We really just want Bob to be happy
Another way Bob eschews the typical sitcom dad trope is he’s not an overgrown manchild that needs to be babysat by the overly stern wife. A wife that is only overly stern BECAUSE she’s married to someone who isn’t pulling his weight in the parenting department.
The fact that Bob and Linda also actually like each other and have fun together sets them apart from other sitcom couples.
It actually almost feels like a reversal – Bob kind of plays the role of the ‘put-upon husband’, often acting as the voice of reason and having to endure the repercussions of a family that doesn’t heed his advice. Just like with the ‘traditional’ sitcom format, it doesn’t always work in my opinion – there are some episodes where his family seems outright shitty to him and then Bob still has to learn a lesson or find a way to accept it when he shouldn’t have to. The one where Bob gets a plot in the community garden is one such example.
I do agree that the show is at its best when everyone is on the same page and united as a family – Bob and Linda getting drunk together is always a treat.
The Community Garden episode was a bad example. Bob was completely in the wrong in that episode. He made his 9 year old daughter work with her bully. You are supposed to protect your children.
Also, Linda works.
Lot of people from king of the hill on this show.
It also serves to set him apart from Jimmy Pesto. One of the things that makes Pesto a bad guy is that he’s ashamed of his kids’ weirdness.
And participating in a coup d’état isn’t being a great dad either
Also storming the capital. Don’t forget that real life Pesto did that and cartoon Pesto would’ve probably done it too
It’s actually kind of amazing how quiet Jay Johnston has been. A lot of the 1/6ers feeling the squeeze couldn’t wait to crybaby to NewsMax or Fox or whatever.
I hope that you’re A woman because men don’t gossip.
Keith Mars has entered the chat…
Now I introduce Burt Chance from Raising Hope, who would covertly frighten his son on Halloween because he loved comforting him when he would run home. Not great parenting, but genuinely loving.
i absolutely loved burt!
I think the change really turned the corner in “Bob Fires the Kids” when he realizes how miserable his childhood was because of his own dad, and so made more effort to not pass that down.
While not necessarily the direction Bob really excelled in, I do think that ‘I love you, but you’re all terrible’ line did do an understated amount of weight-pulling in defining Bob as a good, caring dad right from the jump. It’s one thing to say that at the end of a story, in private, or when it’s really important, but it’s another entirely to just throw it in as a casual assurance while scolding them.Homer Simpson shows he loves his kids when it really matters. But Bob shows he loves his kids even when it really doesn’t matter, and that’s the big difference.
“Understated” is a great way to describe much of how Benjamin portrays Bob. I’ve mentioned it in other Bob’s Burgers posts: he gets so much mileage out of a simple “hmm” mumble-grunt after one of the kids has said or done something troubling, if not awful.
Agreed. Much like the quietly tossed off, cautionary “Gene…” when Gene is being particularly Gene-ish. It shows that he knows and respects who Gene is, but sometimes has to remind him here/now may not be the best time for whatever particular bit of Gene-ish-ness is happening at the moment. Less a scold than a gentle correction that has no expectation of altering Gene’s personality, just his behavior in the moment (which BTW never works, lending to it’s sweetness). Best TV family ever.
wow sounds hilarious
Bob isn’t just the best dad; this is the best TV family. Bob and Linda love and support each other (Bob cheering for Linda during the game of wet napkins, wanting to make out after a Valentine’s all-nighter helping the kids). The kids love and stand up for each other. The kids love and respect their parents (sometimes it’s hidden, but it’s there deep down). Linda loves the weird things about her kids. Bob gives genuinely good advice to Tina when she’s down about some teenage thing (and took a second job and shaved his mustache for her happiness). The whole family likes being around each other (some of the funniest episodes are when they’re stuck in the car). Even the two pairs that don’t always see eye to eye (Bob and Gene, Linda and Louise) have their important bonding moments.
I’m rambling and I could easily make this a lengthy essay so I’ll stop.
any dad who goes deep undercover as a fan of an animated horse show to help is daughter is all right with me!
And gets a TAH-too.
“Homer Simpson doesn’t like his kids.”cultural children just write whatever they want online
Explains your comments.
Bob is definitely my #1 TV dad. #2 is a tie between Carl Winslow and Uncle Phil.
Best TV Dad since Hank Hill.