Bob’s Burgers is one of the most wholesome adult animations you can find on TV right now, and perhaps ever. The core of the characters feels real, even if there are features or events that end up exaggerated for the sake of entertainment so that each episode has its own plot. Despite that, there are some elements in Bob’s Burgers that never change, and those are what makes the show so special. The Belcher family always stands together at the end, even if they have arguments at times and don’t agree on every topic. Compared to some cartoon families, it’s refreshing to see how much the Belchers value each other.
When it comes to cartoon dads, Bob Belcher is a cut above the rest. Not because he’s perfect, but because of his honesty and dedication. He knows that he’s failed in some respects, and he knows that making mistakes is part of life, but he always does his best to make his wife and kids happy.
1) Bob Becomes an Equesticle
In Season 4, Episode 17, Tina wants to go to a convention for one of her favorite shows, “The Equestranauts.” Unfortunately, she’s swindled by a collector who wants her rare Chariot doll, which has a manufacturing defect. After Louise overhears somebody admitting to swindling Tina, the family forms a plan to get her Chariot doll back.
This plan has Bob infiltrate the swindler’s group by becoming an Equesticle and attending the convention to gain their trust. In the process of getting Tina’s doll back, Bob learns everything about Equestranauts, parties with others at the convention, and even gets a partial tattoo to prove his dedication to the show.
2) Bob Leaves the Community Garden
This is from Season 5, Episode 10. Bob keeps getting denied when he applies for a plot in the community garden, and he finally seeks out the head of the community garden to ask why. The head of the garden ends up being Cynthia, who is frustrated with her son, Logan, when Bob goes to talk to her. They strike a deal that Bob can have a plot in the garden if he hires Logan to work at his restaurant.
Unfortunately, Logan and Louise hate each other, and Linda and Cynthia aren’t fond of each other either. As Bob goes to tend to his plants, Logan and Cynthia spend more time at the restaurant. The tension builds until Bob understands that Louise’s comfort at the family restaurant is more important than his plants. So, he lets her fire Logan, knowing that it means giving up the garden he loves.
3) Bonding Over Spaghetti Westerns
In Season 1, Episode 9, Bob and Gene get an episode that focuses on their bond. Specifically, Gene catches a glimpse of a Western that Bob is watching, and he falls in love with the movie. This starts a series of nights that Bob and Gene spend watching Westerns together, finally finding a common interest.
Unfortunately, Louise feels left out, having the time she usually spent with Bob now being taken by Gene, so she worsens the relationship between Gene and his rival at school. Of course, this is a terrible idea, but it leads to a heartfelt moment between Bob, Gene, and Louise as they hide in a tube slide. Bob talks about learning more about Gene an ways that they’re alike, but he also admits that it wasn’t fair for him and Gene to leave Louise excluded.
4) Bob Raises Money for Tina’s Birthday
In Season 1, Episode 6, the deep fryer ends up broken, and now Bob has to pay to repair it on top of having enough money to give Tina the best birthday he can. Unfortunately for Bob, that means he has to take up a second job as a cab driver at night. It’s a temporary arrangement to help him get through a financially strained period of time, but it still takes a toll on him.
Staying up to drive at night leaves Bob rather sleep-deprived, and he has to worry about cleaning the cab regularly on top of that, since it’s not unusual for him to be driving people who aren’t in a state to drive and then end up vomiting on the backseat. Still, Bob becomes a cab driver night after night to pay for Tina’s party, and even shaves his mustache so Jimmy Jr. can attend.
5) Bob Calms Gene Down
In Season 7, Episode 18, Bob learns that a laser rock show he loved as a teenager will be playing for the last time at the planetarium. Linda suggests that Bob goes to see the show one last time, and that he takes Gene with him for some bonding. The rock show starts, and Gene is quickly overwhelmed by the music and lights, which leads to Bob taking him back to the car and sitting with him.
Instead of being upset about having to leave, Bob shares with Gene what the laser show used to mean to him as a teenager, and he plays the tracks in the car, explaining the story behind the songs. This ignites Gene’s interest in getting back into the laser show to experience it, which means that they need help from a scalper to get new tickets. Bob and Gene are able to return and watch the rest of the show, and Bob puts some tissue in Gene’s ears to dull the sound.
6) Bob and Gene Go Trapezing
In Season 8, Episode 8, Jimmy Jr. once again breaks Tina’s heart. To make her feel better, Nat, Linda, and Louise take her for a girls’ night out. As a result, Bob ends up taking Gene to the trapeze event that Linda picked to do with him before switching plans for Tina. If you watch the show, then you’ll know that Bob and Gene aren’t the athletic type, especially for acrobatics.
Part of the trapeze event involves swinging towards each other and letting go, falling safely onto the netting set up to catch the participants. When it’s Bob and Gene’s turn, they freeze, too afraid to let go and fall to the nets. Bob talks Gene through his fear, and they eventually let go and fall safely, but not before they take up the majority of the event’s time.
7) Bob and Louise Watch Hawk and Chick
Season 5, Episode 20 focuses on father and daughter relationships through both Hawk and Chick and Bob and Louise. Bob and Louise love a movie series called “Hawk and Chick” and often see the main characters as versions of themselves. When they see the actor who plays Hawk, Kojima, in their own town, they get excited and have to meet him, which leads to them learning that he’s there to see his daughter, Yuki.
Bob and Louise involve themselves in reuniting Kojima and Yuki with a desperation that reveals their own fears. Louise even admits to this fear at the end of the show, saying that she doesn’t want to grow up if it means growing apart, and Bob reassures her that it will never happen to them. While this is meant for Louise, Kojima, and Yuki to resonate with that conversation and start repairing their relationship.
8) Bob Waxes his Legs for Tina (and Gene)
In Season 3, Episode 10, Linda wants to bond with Louise, whose favorite parent has always been Bob. In this process, Linda grows increasingly frustrated with how her attempts to reach Louise continue failing, and Tina is too scared to ask Linda to teach her to shave while she’s angry. So, she turns to Bob.
Bob doesn’t know how to shave legs, so he takes Tina to get her legs waxed instead. However, she’s afraid of the pain and won’t get them waxed if Bob doesn’t get his waxed at the same time for support. As a wonderful father, Bob agrees and ends up liking how smooth his legs are, which ends up with Gene also getting his legs waxed because he’s jealous of Tina and Bob.
9) Bob Fires the Kids
In Season 3, Episode 3, summer break has begun. Normally, this means that the kids would spend more time working at the restaurant, but Bob remembers his own childhood and how he wasn’t able to play since he was always working. As a result, Bob fires the kids, wanting them to have the chance to have the summer vacation he never got as a child.
While Bob’s intentions are good, they have unexpected results. The kids get so bored that they find a random farm to work at instead, where they pick and deliver blueberries, which is a front for the real product being sold. Bob and Linda find out and go to bring their kids back from this dangerous new job, and they end up being at the farm when it gets raided.
10) Bob Scares Louise
It’s Halloween again in Season 6, Episode 3, and Louise is upset that she’s never been scared by the usual scare tactics that are used around Halloween, even when she visits haunted houses and other events. Bob and Linda decide that they’re going to get help from Gene, Tina, and their friends to set up the perfect haunted house to scare Louise.
This requires the effort of borrowing Mort’s mom’s home, creating a fake haunted house that’s terrible, having Mort and Teddy sabotage the family car and provide ambiance through sounds and a ring of fire around the house, and having Gene and Tina in on the entire scenario. Luckily, this stunt not only proves how far the Belchers and their friends are willing to go for each other, but it does finally scare Louise.
Bob Belcher is the gold standard of cartoon dads, especially in adult animated shows where the families are often against each other and at odds in many ways. As a result, Bob’s Burgers is a refreshing show that you can put on and rewatch again and again without seeing the family it features lose their love for each other.
The post Bob Belcher Is TV’s Best Cartoon Dad and These 10 Bob’s Burgers Moments Prove It appeared first on ComicBook.com.
