#bob's burgers the sofa queen

[theromanticscrooge]

Top 10 Favorite Bob's Burgers Episodes

In my not so humble opinion, Bob's Burgers is the best animated American sitcom currently airing. It's managed to recreate the charm a lot of nostalgic Millennials and Gen X have for early Simpsons episodes followed by their own uniquely lovable sitcom family and peripheral set of equally fun, wacky characters.

A lot of the dialogue feels organic in large part because of the off-hand banter and improvised lines. The humor is couched between shameless 80's references, the most ridiculous "you shouldn't say that out loud" lines, and playing one kind of relatable awkward against another. There's recurring regulars like Teddy and Mort as well as one episode wonders like the Sofa Queen that I'd love to see make a return. Bob's Burgers can be really fun and dumb, absurdist to the point it pushes the envelope of its more grounded setting, and sweet in a way that reminds you of your own family or makes you wish you were part of the Belcher family. Or at least that their restaurant was down the street so you could pop in on their wacky slice of life shenanigans.

These are my top 10 favorite episodes. Considering how often I watch through this series, these were picked because a certain character moment and song stood out or I think the episode did something especially interesting. And especially interesting is saying a lot since this series consistently goes very odd and unexpected places. Without further ado:

10.) "Art Crawl" -Season 1, Episode 8

Viewers are introduced to Linda's unhinged younger sister Gayle. Gayle is eccentric, overly sensitive, lives in her own world, and can be more unpredictable than most of the cast. It's especially eyebrow-raising when she's the voice of reason considering her life is held together by strings, duct tape, Linda's enabling, and her herd of cats. How Gayle lives alone in her one-room apartment with no consistent job and vet bills is as much a mystery as how Dan from Dan Vs isn't behind bars yet. Bob skirts by on his weird relationship with his landlord. Gayle doesn't have an in-universe explanation other than she's an audience favorite and so entertaining the story will hand-wave practical details about her life in favor of headlining her weird, scene-stealing shenanigans.

In "Art Crawl," Linda forces Bob to let Gayle hang her animal anus paintings around the restaurant. He's initially against it because the paintings deter customers from their already treading water business. Then the surly proprietor of the local art store and chairman of the local Art Week Edith expresses how much she hates the paintings. She insists that Bob has to take them down because of how 'obscene' they are. Edith in general provokes the pettier, schoolyard bully side of Bob's personality that viewers see most often when Jimmy Pesto antagonizes him. Edith is forceful and stubborn about her beliefs and attitude with everybody. Jimmy goes out of his way to be an ass to Bob specifically. The bulk of the episode is Bob doubling down on squicking out Edith and getting egged on by his kids to lean further into his immature antics.

Of course the highlight is the Pinnochio pink elephant inspired montage featuring a horrified Linda surrounded by Gayle's anus paintings. Linda can't handle Gayle's unappreciated artistic genius and this establishes how much of a running gag "Linda refuses to straight talk with her sister" becomes. Any Gayle episode will hinge on miscommunications and how much Linda loves and grossly enables her sister. This one just happens to foil Linda's sisterly bond with Bob's penchant for petty. It's fantastically set up.

This episode made my list solely because of the "butts" song, though.

9.) "Christmas in the Car" -Season 4, Episode 8

Linda is absolutely the kind of person that belts Mariah Carey the minute November starts. She brings a similar overzealous energy and enthusiasm to Christmas that Bob does with Thanksgiving. The episode starts with a montage of setting up a Christmas tree too early only for a shriveled, browning mess to get dragged out to the dumpster before Christmas day. Fed up, Linda drags the Belchers on a misguided venture to pick up a new tree last minute. Where Bob seems to keep his Thanksgiving spirit restricted to the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Linda's need for the full, genuine article can come up at any time and for any reason. When she wants a quaint bed and breakfast or the perfect family portrait, she will bend everyone and the world around her until she either gets talked down or reaches a satisfying conclusion.

Unlike the bed and breakfast or her portrait quest, the Christmas tree debacle is derailed by a candy cane truck, pastries, and the threat of an overcooked ham vs Linda herself. The threat of getting run over by an oversized candy cane is the star event. Its a horror movie premise repackaged as a crazy Christmas caper. There's no clear shot or reveal of the truck driver until the tail end of the episode. He's a weird, tired man that uses bad turns of phrase and just needed a little Christmas pick-me-up. The candy cane truck is accented by the B plot of Teddy getting caught in a novel Santa trap attached to the fridge and the best-animated slapstick gag out of this entire cartoon. There's a sequence of pencil roughs to clean-up and full color of Teddy trying to wriggle out of the trap on YouTube. "Christmas in the Car" is a playful reminder that holiday spirit can be anywhere, it can be shared with anyone, and "Jingle in the Jungle" should be thrown in somewhere among the endless Drummer Boy covers.

8.) "An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal" -Season 3, Episode 5

Arguably, all of the Bob's Burgers Thanksgiving specials are a surreal treat in their own right. Most cartoons have the obligatory Halloween or Christmas special. Bob's Burgers has those, too. But in other cases, those Halloween or Christmas specials are one of the all-stops-pulled-out episodes. Bob's Burgers makes up for how underutilized Thanksgiving episodes are period. Each one is enough of a spectacle that a Bob's Burgers marathon absolutely fits between a Halloween horror movie marathon and the tradition of Rankin Bass stop-motion movie re-runs up until Christmas Day.

While it's hard to pick just one Bob's Thanksgiving, "An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal" gives viewers unwanted insights on who Calvin Fischoeder's ideal woman is. And an absinthe-induced hallucination where Bob and his family experience a Thanksgiving-flavored My Neighbor Totoro fantasy.

Calvin asks to "borrow" Bob's family for the day so he can paint a fake portrait of domestic bliss that he's a settled man with a wife and kids. He wants to entice Shelby Schnabel, a gun-toting firebrand that strives to be the ultimate homewrecker. Shelby loves drama and has built her life around realizing her fantasy of being that ridiculous villain in a long-running soap opera. She'll steal the lead woman's husband...until she gets bored and looks for an even flashier, more controversial target. Shelby is the perfect complement to Calvin's oblivious life as the missing James Bond villain who desperately wants a friend. They both live so far out of reality that it's safer for everyone to avoid getting pulled into their orbit if they're not ready for a stint in the latest schlocky, off brand Lifetime original.

Its fun to see Bob's Burgers set a soap opera drama as what ultimately ruins Bob's favorite holiday this year. The highlight is the aforementioned Totoro parody, though. It's cute. It's weird. It belongs on a shirt and emphasizes Bob's undying obsession with this holiday mixed with how much he genuinely loves his family. Playing off of the creative, fantastical imagery unique to Ghibli adds an extra something here. Ghibli movies are beloved for how evergreen and imaginative they can be; they resonate with someone's sense of wonder no matter what age they are. Bob's sense of wonder comes out in the kitchen and during food prep. Thanksgiving is the perfect canvas for whatever Ghibli fanboyisms Bob has.

In short, this Thanksgiving features one of Calvin Fischoeder's worse hits and a chaotically drunk Bob Belcher.

7.) "V for Valentine-detta"-Season 8, Episode 8

Limo driver, the world is a small place networking extraordinaire, and Louise's life goals role model Nat Kinkle gets introduced in "V for Valentine-detta." Nat is the connective tissue between ridiculous, harebrained scheme and the resources, people, and ambition needed to realize that scheme. In any other cartoon, she'd be the underappreciated second-hand man to a Saturday morning cartoon villain. Instead, she's the realized image of a confident single woman living her best life. She's the adoptive gay aunt every kid wishes they had. She supports them no matter what; even if their end goals are a bit misguided. And as charismatic as Louise is, her parents' influence and her own moral compass are the difference between another Dan from Dan Vs or an ethically dubious but ultimately force-for-good Reigen Arataka.

"V for Valentine-detta" follows a heartbroken Tina dragged on a girls night out adventure in the hopes of raising her spirits. Well, Linda wants to cushion the blow that Tina was slighted by her on-again, off-again love interest Jimmy Jr. These efforts are contrasted by Louise and Nat spitballing increasingly bad ideas for vengeance against Jimmy. When Linda discovers that Jimmy used a thoughtful picture frame Tina gifted him for a different girl's picture, she's onboard with petty revenge schemes. Linda is usually the ball of chaos that has to be grounded in some way. Bob is more likely to be the straight man or the closest any character is to reigning in someone else's antics. Here, Linda shows more restraint and care than she would otherwise. Nat is close enough to Louise's wavelength on "anything goes" that Linda is forced to be the mature one in the room.

From the moment she's introduced, Nat is a very welcome sound board to the Belchers and an absolute delight every time she appears. More Nat antics for what she adds to the character dynamics in general, please. I'm holding out hope for a contrived situation where Nat is somehow involved with a grenade pin-pull set of Gayle nonsense.

6.) "Topsy" -Season 3, Episode 16

Louise tries to skate by on her science fair entry with a previously constructed and presented baking soda volcano. The obnoxious Edison-fanboy substitute teacher not only shoots down her volcano, but mercilessly destroys it in front of the class and strong-arms her into an Edison-focused project. Mr. Dinkler is a fantastic antagonist; he's immediately unlikeable and it doesn't take much to want to see him taken down a few pegs. While Dinkler is a jerk, Louise has been established as a morally dubious gremlin. When she beefs with a teacher or bully or otherwise, the interesting part is whether she takes the high road or escalates. She fluctuates between her bark is worse than her bite and an earnestly intimidating threat when she's pushed far enough. Her tenacity and resourcefulness are some her biggest strengths. "Topsy" is the more extreme end of where Louise's determined pursuit for petty means can go.

Louise decides to format her entire science project around the story that Thomas Edison electrocuted Topsy as part of the war of the currents. Supposedly, Topsy's death was an example of how dangerous and ineffective DC current was when compared to AC current. While Thomas Edison has done plenty of controversial and questionable things, he didn't electrocute Topsy. He wasn't even physically present at the event and the war of the currents happened ten years prior. If you're curious about the real story behind Topsy, check out her Wikipedia page.

That said, this episode relies on this myth about Edison. Louise's project features an ambitious musical flavored re-enactment with a life-sized alternator. She has tunnel vision about the end goal of humiliating Dinkler; she callously dismisses Gene's input and redirection with the musical number and comes up with ridiculous mental gymnastics to continue despite Tina almost getting murdered via electrocution. Ultimately, Louise is forced to rethink how much she prioritizes her pride and ego. She compares her reckless quest with the mad scientist depths and depravity Edison would go to prove a point. Louise is still a gremlin, but she refuses to become a true villain that prioritizes personal glory over everything else.

On a separate note, "Electric Love" is an absolute banger. I think it'd be a fantastic supplementary piece for any history teacher that wants to correct the Edison myth about Topsy.

5.) "Glued, Where's My Bob?" -Season 6, Episode 19

A prank war goes wrong and leads to Bob stuck on the restaurant toilet via an unmarked, mystery goop Louise applied to the seat. The mystery goo is something from Teddy's home-brewed set of handyman solutions. It will take something serious and unconventional to get Bob un-stuck. Plus the clock is ticking. Bob's humiliating set of circumstances coincides with a big Coaster's magazine interview that could net Bob's Burgers some much-needed positive press.

"Glued, Where's My Bob?" is a classic nightmare scenario where the humor lies in how much worse things can escalate. Bob's a few steps down from Orin Scrivello dentist Dr. Yap is recruited in the various attempts to remove him. Everybody Bob knows, maybe even the entire town, sees him in this compromising position. Jimmy Pesto is ready to lob insults as the sprinkles on a shit cake. It even looks like Coaster's passes on his interview. Despite what looks like a net loss, Bob's family and customers try to pull together and paint a more positive image of the beloved, local burger man. He's a good cook, a beloved father, and considered fondly by most members of his community. It's a bizarre, but sweet story about the community banning together to help someone during one of his lowest moments.

This is also another case of Louise feeling conflicted. She blames Gene's interrupted routine despite knowing that this is her fault and should be the end of gooping shenanigans. An extra layer to this is how much Louise genuinely admires and looks up to her dad. She doesn't lean into her usual contrarian "the worse, the more entertaining it is" mindset. She immediately regrets her actions and shifts towards solutions-mode. The contrast between Bob's flimsy optimism and Louise trying to reassure herself is captured beautifully in the music number "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom."

Bob gets a win with a positive, albeit embarrassing, article about his toilet stint in Coaster's. While not the press he wanted, framing Bob as a celebration of an awkward and eccentric figure is an accurate reflection of Bob's Burgers period.

4.) "Sacred Couch" -Season 6, Episode 9

Bob's Burgers has so many one episode characters with lives and dramas that would be so fun to follow up on. The Sofa Queen is my personal pick for an unexpected spin off or a feature in one other episode. The Belchers meet the wacky faces behind the poorly thought out local commercial. Linda has reverence for the Sofa Queen in the way so many people carry ironic fondness for the store owners in the East Hills mall commercial. The Queen and her staff gladly commit to the roles of furniture royalty on screen and off. Its the best parody of and love letter to cheeky, overly gimmicky commercials for smaller local businesses in general.

The Sofa Queen easily carries the episode but the Couch Burners are an added bonus. I really appreciate that everyone supports this teen punk band. Nobody calls it ridiculous or writes them off like other sitcoms do. Instead, the bar manager hosting their next gig makes an honest attempt to keep up with their name changes, Teddy fully intends on going to their show, and Bob helps take pictures for their promo art. The focus is on the nostalgia for the gross couch, but I love the candid approach to the up and coming teen punk band.

The core of the episode is the Belcher family's overly sentimental attachment to their couch. For them, the stains may as well be pictures in a scrapbook and the couch is somewhere between an heirloom and a family member. If there was a sequel series following Louise taking over the restaurant, the couch would definitely be present. "Sacred Couch" features an example of what it looks like when Louise pulls Bob into her schemes. She expects him to be on her wavelength. Sometimes he is but when he isn't, it's likely that he'll play along with whatever she cooks up.

This is easily more about the peripheral events and characters than the main plot for me, though. The Sofa Queen is just that iconic.

3.) "Something Old, Something New, Something Bob Caters For You" -Season 8, Episode 21

Bob is experiencing some self-doubt and existential dread around his life choice to become a grill cook and start a restaurant. He feels like grilling burgers doesn't compare to how important a war zone doctor is. Then Bob is asked to cater last minute for the young couple Connor and Farrah's upcoming wedding. They tell him his burgers are a key part in how they met and Bob takes this as an opportunity to prove himself. He unilaterally decides that his burgers are the ultimate centerpiece of the wedding, if not the lynchpin for Connor and Farrah's future success as a married couple. Bob's personal career angst is contrasted against Connor and Farrah's doubts about their ceremony and marriage. The young couple's special day is a series of disasters. It's so windy that it messes with the A/V equipment. There's dead butterflies. The Belchers accidentally drop and smoosh the cake.

Linda tries to reassure Bob that their catering isn't as make or break as he thinks it is. She also expresses her concerns about how quickly the young couple is jumping into married life. Linda's commentary is pitted against Bob's inner monologue in the number "This Wedding is my Warzone." This is one of the strongest and catchiest musical numbers in the series. It's a mix of whimsical, melancholic, and Linda as somewhere between the voice of reason and moral support. Ultimately, Bob and the young couple are course-corrected when Linda gives Connor and Farrah a pep talk. They persisted despite every misstep and bad omen. If they can navigate a nightmare wedding day and still want to be together, then they can build the resilience and cooperative troubleshooting long-lasting couples have.

She reminds Bob that he shouldn't compare his life with a war zone doctor. He should focus on being the best Bob that he can be. He isn't responsible for someone else's happiness; he can and does contribute to others' life in a positive way. But his contribution shouldn't be a game of comparison. It should be what he can offer because he can and he wants to.

2.) "Radio No You Didn't" -Season 13, Episode 20

Bob shares the story of his great-grandmother Gertie thwarting a Russian spy. The episode cuts between Bob recounting the story and flashbacks featuring Gertie, her daughter Lily, and her mother. Similarly to the higher stakes in the Bob's Burgers theatrical movie, this is another example of Bob's Burgers' ability to shift between goofy and legitimate stakes. Viewers are sat on pins and needles as much as the laser-focused Louise. Bob is hinted as a compelling storyteller if his words are enough to paint the vivid picture of what a slice of Gertie's life looked like. There's enough present for a glimpse at how brave and resourceful Gertie was as well as how snarky and judgey Gertie's mother could be. The Belcher kids would never meet Gertie but they have a solid mental image of who this woman was; enough to keep her alive through the art of vocal storytelling.

Gertie's story is tied to her old radio. When the Belchers first find the radio, Linda and the kids want to throw it out or pawn it. After hearing Gertie's story, the kids fight over who will inherit the piece. This is a great example of what weight, gravity, and meaning stories or history attach to heirlooms or even art. A lot of overlooked art installations take on new life and importance when someone takes the time to read the attached description or story. Overall, this episode is a fantastic case for sharing family history if not the smaller, more mundane stories about people in general. Its a good idea to record big events but smaller, domestic stories help paint a picture of what life looked like at that earlier point in time. It adds a very accessible, intimate dimension to history that otherwise gets lost in the rote list of facts and dates.

Also, I love the 1940's big band flavored cover of The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." It's so thematically fitting.

1.) "Amelia" -Season 13, Episode 22

I wouldn't be surprised if this episode was someone's inspiration to become a historian or sparked a more earnest interest in history at the very least. "Radio No You Didn't" shows how compelling family history can be. "Amelia" shows how recording both the life and feats of an important historical figure echoes through history. Louise is faced with casual sexism from her classmate. He insists that men are the most key figures throughout the history of flight from airplanes to space travel. When Louise locks in choosing Amelia Earhart as her report topic, she refuses to erase or overlook women's contributions to that part of history. Its one thing for women to be highlighted during women's history month or lightly featured in general lists. Its even more important for women like Amelia to be specifically spotlighted, discussed, and focused on. When faced with one of the more understated consequences of a patriarchal system, Louise pushes back with a full arsenal of creative solutions. She pulls help from her siblings, a classmate that knows how to craft and work with puppets, and even asking for advice from Linda. Pushing back against sexism, even subtle, makes a bigger impact as a group effort vs just a solitary voice.

I consider this one of the best Louise episodes in general. Its an example of the more proactive, positive side of how determined and resourceful she can be. Usually, she has a petty or low stakes goal. While this is framed as another spat with a classmate, its more about his insensitive, ignorant comments and the larger systemic issues those comments stem from. Ultimately, Louise shows how powerful a mix between careful research and her artistic talents can be. There's many examples of this part of her character but this one is my favorite because of the social commentary attached.

I hope Bob's Burgers continues awhile longer in a media landscape that has endless Simpsons and Family Guy. Bob's Burgers doesn't need to up the spectacle or drum up worse or increasingly offensive shock humor. To me, its hope that thoughtful character writing and characters that act like real people have a place among adult cartoons. It doesn't have to be more strictly satire writing. Ideally, its parents that wanted to be parents, parents and kids that make dumb decisions, and people that make mistakes period. But at the end of the day, they can be vulnerable to each other, adults can admit when they're wrong, and they try to talk things out more often than not.

As long as animated sitcoms are a thing, I'd like to see more like Bob's Burgers. Please.

[cursedbobs]

children

[lostkitty420]

Sacred couch- if you love something, set it on fire. 🎵🎶🔥🛋

[frog-whisperer]

More on the Lion King/Bob’s Burgers Crossover since it seemed to be fairly popular (hope you all realize it includes the Lion Guard too though)

Basically when I watch an episode of Bob’s Burgers sometimes I’ll imagine clips of these characters over the voices

The main family is

Bob-Simba

Linda-Nala

Tina-Kiara

Gene-Kopa

Louise-Kion

The rest of the supporting cast is under the cut

Teddy-Pumbaa

Mort-Timon

Gayle-Zira

Jimmy Jr-Kovu

Mr Fischoeder-Rafiki

Mr Frond-Zazu

Jimmy Pesto-Scar

Zeke-Beshte

Andy and Ollie-Zuri and Tiifu

Tammy-Vitani

Joceyln-Fuli

Regular-sized Rudy-Bunga

Daryl-Ono

Logan-Janja

Cynthia-Shenzi

Big Bob-Mufasa

Gloria-Sarabi

Courtney Wheeler-Jasiri

Hugo and Ron-Banzai and Ed

Trev-Nuka

Critter-Goigoi

Mudflap-Reirei

Sidecar-Dogo

Mr Ambrose-Uncle Max

Edith and Harlod Cranwinkle-The Lion Guard Aardvarks

Mort’s Mother-Timon’s Ma

The Sofa Queen-Ma Tembo

[remembermemorablememories]

Friday, February 8, 2019

post #396

main points:

- starbucks reserve roastery

- it started snowing in seattle?!?!

- snowed in and hanging out at airbnb all afternoon :( 

- dinner at fogon cocina mexicana

- video editing at airbnb

today i:

- woke up at 8:30am, even though my alarm was set for 9am. i just chilled in bed watching some youtube. then jwoos woke up around 9am to his alarm and we both got ready and left the airbnb around 9:30am. the sun was out and it didn’t look like it was gonna snow at all. we ubered over to starbucks reserve roastery

we knew there was gonna be a snowstorm later this afternoon so we wanted to make the most of it in the morning time by going to starbucks reserve roastery and then kerry park

- we got to the reserve roastery around 10:30am. we wandered around the shop a bit, in awe at its massive glory and tools. we tried to sample some sun brazil thing around the bar. then i ordered a classic affogato, which is two espresso shots over ice cream. and i got a raspberry pastry. the affogato was pretty bitter :s but the ice cream helped sweeten the after taste. jwoos got a flight of two different coffees and something else i’m not sure what the name was

we gave up our seats at the bar and moved to a sitting area where jwoos did some photo editing work and i just kind of chilled on my laptop. i looked at bus prices from here to portland and it’s like $88. renting a car for the day would be $45 so that might be a better option (weather permitting). and also watched some smash gameplay, looking at fatality vs mkleo again and then actually saw an old game between the both of them in smash 4. smash 4 looks so weird now when you get knocked bag, cause i’m used to the balloon effect in ultimate

around 12:30pm, just as we were getting ready to leave to go to kerry park, it started snowing... sigh. the weather app said it would start snowing around 2 or 3pm >:( 

we decided to walk home, stopping by a park and katsu burger to pick up some takeout burgers

- we brought it back home and it was really starting to blizzard outside. we ate the burgers while we watched another episode of bob’s burgers, “sofa queen”. the airbnb’s cat came to chill on jwoos’ lap during the episode, then on my lap. i felt the vibrations of her purring which was really nice

then we weren’t really sure what to do because it was like 1:30pm... we watched some youtube videos on why college is expensive and why medical bills are expensive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWJ0OaojfiA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NvnOUcG-ZI

then we weren’t sure what to do so we started watching more vine compilations lmaoooo. it was a dandy old time. we tried to play some super smash flash 2 which was pretty cool, but we only played individually on our own computers. we also tried to play the tongue twister racing game i had made a few months ago but the microphone was initially working on jwoos computer and then stopped working for some reason so we couldn’t play it :’( 

the entire afternoon was spent chilling in the airbnb. i watched some more youtube videos and just started editing the travel video when the power went out... LOL rip. i guess the snow was really heavy so the power must’ve gone out. but when we stepped out of our room, the rest of the house still had power...? anyways, we decided to go get dinner. jwoos picked out a taco place

- we walked for about 20 minutes, in a very light snowfall. the snow had started to die down but it was like a drizzly snowfall. we got seated right away at fogon cocina mexicano and ordered nachos for appetizers and i got a burrito as my main dish while jwoos got a plate thing. we talked about favorite movies, tv shows, life goals post grad, and some other stuff. our food came and it was pretty solid, i was pretty bloated and still had like a quarter of my burrito left to take home. also apparently everyone got free hard shell taco appetizers on the house? it was interesting but oh well, free food is awesome

- we walked back home, stoping by walgreens so jwoos could get some tissues. he packed a bunch but had run out. it was hailing lightly, then it turned back into normal snow :o

- we got back around 9pm, and then i spent the past two hours editing the travel video until 11:15pm ish. i like how it’s turning out :D i have a rough cut of chicago and the first day in seattle, and will probably color correct later on, but the cut is really nice i think. a lot of the time was spent just looking through all the clips and seeing which ones fit the sequence well enough

- took a long shower until 11:40pm, and now i’m typing up this post at 12:07am on the top bunk bed but i’m standing on the ground so it’s like a really elevated standing desk LOL. i still need to type up yesterday’s blog post but too tired to right now

it’s 12:08am and my neck hurts from craning like this on an elevated standing desk

i’m gonna go to sleep

the end

sad but chill day i guess, what can ya do about snow?