‘Bob’s Burgers’: Top 40 greatest episodes ranked worst to best

Fox
Bob’s Burgers

Bob’s Burgers
40. FOOD TRUCKIN’ (S. 2, E. 5)
39. LICE THINGS ARE LICE (S. 6, E. 10)
38. THE QUICK-DUCERS (S. 7, E. 6)
37. HUMAN FLESH (S. 1, E. 1)
36. FRIENDS WITH BURGER-FITS (S. 5, E. 3)
35. THE KIDS RUN AWAY (S. 4, E. 19)
34. CAN’T BUY ME MATH (S. 5, E. 11)
33. MOM, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE (S. 7, E. 20)
32. THE KIDS RUN THE RESTAURANT (S. 3, E. 20)
31. IT SNAKES A VILLAGE (S. 3, E. 18)
30. THE KIDS ROB A TRAIN (S. 4, E. 15)
29. MAZEL-TINA (S. 4, E. 13)
28. SHEESH! CAB, BOB? (S. 1, E. 6)
27. THE LAST GINGERBREAD HOUSE ON THE LEFT (S. 7, E. 7)
26. TINA TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (S. 5, E. 7)
25. FULL BARS (S. 3, E. 2)
24. DR. YAP (S. 2, E. 6)
23. TURKEY IN A CAN (S. 4, E. 5)
22. A FEW ‘GURT MEN (S. 7, E. 11)
21. BRUNCHSQUATCH (S. 8, E. 1)
20. CARPE MUSEUM (S. 3, E. 22)
19. STAND BY GENE (S. 6, E. 12)
18. WHARF HORSE (OR HOW BOB SAVES/DESTROYS THE TOWN) PARTS I & II (S. 4, E. 21-22)
17. BAD TINA (S. 2, E. 8)
16. EAR-SY RIDER (S. 3, E. 1)
15. THE LASER-INTH (S. 7, E. 18)
14. BOB FIRES THE KIDS (S. 3, E. 3)
13. EAT, SPRAY, LINDA (S. 5, E. 18)
12. AIN’T MISS DEBATIN’ (S. 7, E. 15)
11. CRAWL SPACE (S. 1, E. 2)
10. BOB AND DELIVER (S. 4, E. 7)
9. HOUSE OF 1000 BOUNCES (S. 6, E. 11)
8. THE BLEAKENING: PART 1 & 2 (S. 8, E. 6-7)
7. THE MILLIE-CHURIAN CANDIDATE (S. 5, E. 12)
6. BOB, ACTUALLY (S. 7, E. 9)
5. O.T.: THE OUTSIDE TOILET (S. 3, E. 15)
4. BOYZ 4 NOW (S. 3, E. 21)
3. DAWN OF THE PECK (S. 5, E. 4)
2. BROADCAST WAGSTAFF SCHOOL NEWS (S. 3, E. 12)
1. THE BELCHIES (S. 2, E. 1)

Fox’s animated sitcom, “Bob’s Burgers,” has returned for its ninth season. Loren Bouchard’s show centers on Bob Belcher (H. Jon Benjamin) who runs his burger restaurant along with his wife, Linda (John Roberts), and three children, Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal). While we don’t have a special Burger of the Day to celebrate the return of this magnificent cartoon, we did put together the 40 greatest episodes of the series, ranked from worst to best. Click through our photo gallery above and see if your favorite episode made the list.

The program debuted midway through the 2010-2011 television season on January 9, 2011. Critical reaction to the show was initially all over the map, scoring 54 out of 100 on Metacritic. Robert Lloyd of “The Los Angeles Times” liked the show and wrote, “Apart from the fact that characters look funny, the comedy is primarily verbal: You could just as easily film the script with live actors.” Brian Lowery of “Variety” was much more mixed in his review, where he said, “the show too often falls on the wrong side of that ‘entertaining’/’annoying’ divide.” Matt Roush of “TV Guide” could not stand the show, writing, “This crudely mean-spirited cringe of a show isn’t even medium well-done, and here’s this customer’s tip: Avoid at all costs.”

But the show did find an audience with the first season averaging over 5 million viewers per episode. As the show has progressed, the fan base of the show has steadily built to the cultural landmark that the show has become and the show has become a favorite of many critics as well. The show has spawned a comic book series, national tours featuring the cast and creator, an album of the show’s original music and even a feature film version that’s scheduled to be released in the summer of 2020. It’s also made brilliant use of several recurring guest stars (sometimes in several roles) including Kevin Kline, Megan Mullally, Zach Galifianakis, Aziz Ansari, Billy Eichner, Jenny Slate, Bill Hader, Molly Shannon and Jordan Peele.

Emmy voters didn’t take notice of the show during its first year on the air, but they did take notice after the second season. It received its first Emmy nomination for Best Animated Program in 2012 and has been nominated every single year since then. The show has won the honor twice: in 2014 for the episode “Mazel-Tina” and in 2017 for the episode “Bob, Actually.” The show has also received two nominations in Best Character Voice-Over Performance category: Roberts in 2015 for “Eat, Spray, Linda” and Kline in 2017 for playing the eccentric landlord, Mr. Fischoeder, in “The Last Gingerbread House on the Left.”

Frustrated with his lack of business, Bob decides to purchase a food truck so he can start bringing back in the customers he’s been losing. Paul F. Tompkins provides a welcome return as Randy and Tina taking a walk on the wild side as “Dina” is magnificent. Megan Mullally also provides the voice of hippie singer Tabitha Johanson, who sings suggestively about “oil spills.”

Tina assists the school nurse (Samantha Bee) to earn a Thunder Girls badge when a lice infestation breaks out. At the restaurant, Bob has trouble with the new seat cushions he’s installed at the bar. When Louise accuses the nurse of misdiagnosing the lice outbreak, Regular-Sized Rudy gets the best line when he says, “Like when my asthma was misdiagnosed as having a bad attitude.”

Louise gets the idea to sabotage the school's Thanksgiving play so they can get a half day. Linda becomes obsessed with a potato that she believes resembles her dead grandfather. A lot of credit goes to the animators for this episode. The way they made Louise's plan look when it's actually executed is fantastic and disgusting at the same time.

The restaurant gets shut down by Hugo, the health inspector, when a rumor starts circulating that the burgers are made from human flesh. Bob forgets his anniversary. Bob's line about his family perfectly encapsulated what the series would become, "You're my children and I love you but you're all terrible at what you do here."

Bob tries to get Teddy to start being healthier after he hears that his health is dangerously bad. The kids start an ice-wrestling tournament in the basement freezer that Linda becomes a referee for. Teddy gets the best laugh in the episode when Bob and Linda remember the last time Teddy carried a briefcase was when he was in a play, which cuts to Teddy in a production of "Glengarry Glen Ross" yelling "Coffee is for closers only!"

When Louise develops her first cavity, she runs away to Gayle's apartment to avoid getting the filling. Bob and Linda attempt to use Gene and Tina to drive Louise out. All the ways that the parents try to force Louise out of Gayle's apartment are great but nothing will top the nonsensical board game, "Gayle Force Winds."

Tina and Darryl (Aziz Ansari) pretend to be dating so they can win Cupid’s Couple and then be able to date whoever they want after they break up. Linda plans a week’s worth of Valentine’s Day activities for her and Bob. Watching Bob and Linda fail repeatedly at Valentine’s Day activities is great but Bob committing to doing a striptease for Linda brings the story to a heartfelt conclusion. This episode was nominated at the 2015 Emmy Awards for Best Animated Program.

When Linda is too sick to go to the school's Mother's Day assembly, Bob volunteers to videotape it. When the camera fails to work, the kids create their own versions of each skit from the assembly. The standout of the three vignettes is definitely Louise's "The Town With No Moms," which makes excellent use of the other characters in Louise's class including Regular-Sized Rudy, Chloe, Millie, Andy and Ollie.

When Bob cuts himself and has to go to the emergency room, Louise decides to turn the restaurant's basement into an underground casino. At the emergency room, Bob is the first patient ever for a new doctor. Any episode with the character of Marshmallow is great in my book but nothing beats Gene and his girl group, The Cutie Patooties. When they bail on him and Gene is left wearing a dress and wig, he declares in a frustrated tone, "I'm just a girl with a dream who got tired of hearing the word, 'No.'"

The family visits Linda's parents in Florida. Linda discovers that her parents are living in a community full of swingers. The kids get tasked with helping an old woman find proof that her dog was eaten by a python. Bob not being able to hide how funny he thinks it is that Linda's parents are in a community of spouse-swappers is priceless. The episode also gave us Gene's infamous, "The Snake Song."

Bob and Linda go on a wine train adventure. The kids get stuck in the "juice caboose" with Regular-Sized Rudy and hatch a plan to steal the train's high-end chocolate. Regular-Sized Rudy is always a welcome addition and he provides the best gag in the episode. When Rudy reveals he's allergic to chocolate, Louise asks what happens to him. He then starts gagging like his throat is closing up only to reveal that he's kidding, and he only gets a rash.

Tina is disappointed she didn't get invited to Tammy's bat mitzvah but her family gets hired as caterers. When Tammy's party planner quits, Tina takes over the role and becomes too involved with the festivities. Tina's the center of the episode but Louise has the best scene when she terrorizes and then inspires the party planner to quit her job in the middle of the gig. The episode won the show its first Emmy for Best Animated Program in 2014.

Tina desires to have a big party for her thirteenth birthday. In order to make some extra money to pay for the party, Bob takes a job as a nighttime cab driver. This also marks the first appearance of Marshmallow and her explanation of her name to Louise, "Because if you show me a sweet potato pie, I am on top of it!" Gene also gets the magnificent line, "Boys, you're the peanut butter. Ladies, you're the jelly. Let's make some sammiches!"

Mr. Fischoeder hires Bob to be a ringer in the annual gingerbread house competition he has with his friends so that he doesn’t lose. Linda and the family go caroling. Mr. Fischoeder’s (Kevin Kline) recurring lines where he doesn’t understand Bob’s love for his family is always a welcome eccentricity on his part. Kline received a 2017 Emmy nomination for Best Character Voice-Over Performance for this episode.

Tina decides to quit her Thunder Girls troop, but the troop leader brings her back in to help her find a mole who's been leaking leads on where to sell cookies. Tina gets some help in this from Louise. Linda decides to try out being a blonde. Linda gradually getting dumber as a blonde is a great bit from the episode.

While trick-or-treating in the rich neighborhood the kids get caught up in a teenage ritual. Bob and Linda go to Teddy's Halloween party where Bob is forced to wear a costume despite his objections. Gene provides the best gag when he reminisces about how he found out that hot sauce and underwear don't mix. "Mmm. Taco on the toilet. Why doesn't everyone do this?"

After Bob comes out of anesthesia at the dentist, Linda’s sister Gayle goes to pick him up and Bob, thinking she is Linda, kisses her. This leads Gayle to believe they’re now a couple. Gene and Louise get into various competitions to determine who gets to keep a jawbreaker Gayle gave as a gift. Megan Mullally brought hilarious levels to Gayle’s insanity and Rob Huebel had amazing one-liners as The Prince of Persuasia.

During Bob's Thanksgiving preparations, someone sabotages his turkey by dropping it in the toilet. As it repeatedly happens, Bob becomes determined to find out who the culprit is. Tina is determined to sit at the adult's table for Thanksgiving dinner. The episode's most memorable bit was when the man at the grocery store's meat counter believes Bob keeps buying a new turkey, so he can ask him out. Bob's reaction is priceless, "I'm married, but if I wasn't – who am I kidding? You're out of my league."

A dispute between two faculty members gets taken to student court and Louise must defend Mr. Frond. Bob becomes the victim of a scammer. Billy Eichner gets the best line of the episode as Mr. Ambrose the school librarian. When the school secretary is “testifying,” she reveals that Mr. Ambrose uses the school computer room after hours to work on a sequel to “Mrs. Doubtfire.” Mr. Ambrose yells back at her, “It’s a prequel, you ass!”

In order to bring in more business Bob starts opening the restaurant for brunch. In an effort to get money for a dog, the kids agree to hide Felix Fischoeder from his brother during an intense game of hide and seek. The show displayed the amazing connection it has with its fans by using different animation styles (submitted by fans) for the entire episode. It's kind of trippy but it's also amazing to watch.

While Bob chaperones a trip to the museum, Louise and Regular-Sized Rudy ditch the group and go on their own adventure. Linda helps striking museum workers come up with catchy chants for their picket line. This marked the first appearance of one of the show's best secondary characters, Regular-Sized Rudy. The eagerness he shows to take chances and live the life that his asthma normally prevents him from living instantly made him one of the show's standouts.

When Gene hears a rumor about a two-butted goat, he and a group of kids embark on a journey to find it. Bob and Linda's competitiveness gets taken to another level. While the group journeying to see the goat wonders out loud about the possible mechanics of a two-butted goat, Gene has a genius thought: "Does that mean it can fart in harmony? Fart-mony!"

Felix wrangles Bob into convincing Mr. Fischoeder to sell Wonder Wharf so Felix can begin putting up high-end condos. At first it works, but Bob has second thoughts after considering what the wharf means to the town, leading Felix to take drastic measures to get what he wants. Two guest stars steal the episode. The first is Zach Galifianakis as Felix Fischoeder who is determined to be taken seriously. The second is Jordan Peele as Felix’s psychotic girlfriend, Fanny, who will get the song, “Mr. Dance Floor,” stuck in your head.

When Tina is tasked with showing the new girl, Tammy (Jenny Slate), around school, she coerces Tina into shady behavior which Gene and Louise use to blackmail her. Bob becomes obsessed with a stage show made up of guys playing patty cake. Tina’s best moment is when we see all the erotic fan fiction she’s written including “Sexy Simpsons,” “Erotic Law and Order,” “Sexy 60 Minutes” and “Erotic Muppets.”

A teenager steals Louise’s bunny ears prompting her to become consumed with getting them back. A biker gang, the One-Eyed Snakes, becomes indebted to Bob after he lets them party at his restaurant following the funeral for their chapter president. Robert Ben Garant and Wendi McLendon-Covey make fantastic guest appearances as Critter and Mudflap, of the One-Eyed Snakes.

Bob takes Gene to see a laser light show at the planetarium that he used to love when he was growing up but the noise and effects end up frightening Gene. Linda, Tina and Louise enjoy a meal at a doll store restaurant. It sometimes feels like Bob bonds more with Louise and Tina so seeing a genuine moment between Bob and Gene sharing an experience together makes this episode very special.

When Bob realizes that his childhood was miserable because his father always made him work, he decides to “fire” the kids so they can enjoy the summer. The kids end up working on a marijuana farm and Bob hires Mickey (Bill Hader), the ex-con, to work the restaurant in exchange for housing. Gene provides the best bit when he declares that the kids are all working girls now. Mickey, being confused, asks Gene if he’s a girl. Bob says, “No,” and Gene replies, “Tell that to my vagina!”

Bob and the kids try to surprise Linda with a spa day on her birthday. While Linda is out of the house, she encounters one disaster after another including locking her keys and cell phone in her car, tearing her pants and getting sprayed by a skunk. Linda gets a great scene of retribution when she is chased through the chalk festival by a woman who was taking too long in line at the grocery store. John Roberts was nominated for an Emmy in 2015 for Best Character Voice-Over Performance for this episode.

Tina is recruited to join the debate team. At first she’s a dud but a spark is eventually lit in her that explodes with passionate arguments. She also begins dating Henry Haberman. Gene and Louise use Bob and Linda to help create a stop-motion film using a main character made out of raw meat. Tina has the best part when she succumbs to her attraction to rival debater, Duncan (Rhys Darby) from New Zealand. He says that in New Zealand they call turning off the light, turning on the dark. Tina loses it and makes out with the adorable debater.

When Linda's parents come to visit, Bob pretends to be stuck in the crawl space. When Linda finds out that he wasn't really stuck, she cancels Teddy's visit to get Bob out, trapping him for real. Linda's parents have their own fun one evening not knowing that the rest of the house can hear them. This leads to the best moment of the episode when Gene has to present a history report that he didn't do. Observing a sign on the classroom wall about prohibition, he improvises, "Both of my grandparents were alive during prohibition, so…this is what it sounds like when they have sex in the room next to mine!"

Bob becomes a substitute home-ec teacher. He wins over the kids and starts an in-school restaurant with the students much to the chagrin of the corporate cafeteria workers. Linda helps teach Teddy to dance for an upcoming wedding. One of the great joys of this episode is watching Zeke blossom as a chef and it's actually kind of heartwarming.

The kids are eager to attend Regular-Size Rudy's birthday party but a mix-up results in no bounce house being provided. Louise gets the idea to steal the bounce house from a rival birthday party. Bob must overcome his immense fear of pigeons. Bob's journey to conquering his fear is fun and the last part with him giving the pigeon a bath is wonderful. But the real gem is seeing Rudy's play that he has everyone act out. The first character says, "Last time I saw you, you were prom queen." The second character replies, "Oh yeah? Well, now I'm a hooker!"

Linda is inspired to throw an amazing Christmas party but her elation is cut short after the party when several homemade ornaments are stolen. The kids are concerned that the mythical "Bleaken" is responsible for this and that it will be coming for their Christmas presents next. This musical episode is spectacular and the finale is absolutely beautiful with the gorgeous Miss Triple X-Mas singing "Twinkly Lights."

When her arch-nemesis, Millie (Molly Shannon), runs for class president to gain control over her, Louise becomes the campaign manager for Jimmy Jr. Bob purchases and becomes obsessed with a $300 Japanese knife. One of the episode’s best parts is the montage of campaign ads that Louise makes for Jimmy Jr.’s campaign to run on school television and seeing how they all backfire against him for various reasons.

Everyone's celebrating Valentine's Day! Bob takes a (hip-hop) dance class to impress Linda. Tina finds herself unable to do a "sky kiss" with Jimmy Jr. because of having diarrhea. Louise is worried that Regular-Sized Rudy wants her to be his first kiss. Gene is introduced to the beauty of dark chocolate by a striking Italian substitute lunch lady. Linda helps a friend get through a breakup. While everyone's storyline is great, the Louise and Rudy storyline is the standout. It gets the emotions right without abandoning what makes the characters appealing.

Gene befriends a talking toilet and fights to keep it away from someone who he believes will do harm to it. Bob starts wearing a suit, on loan from Mort’s funeral home, and everyone starts treating him differently. Using “E.T.” as the basis for the story gives the episode an amazing amount of heart and Jon Hamm makes a fantastic cameo as the talking toilet. Gene and the toilet have a hilarious farewell where Gene tells the toilet he loves it and the toilet believes he’s requesting it to be ready for vomiting. The episode was nominated for the 2013 Emmy Award for Best Animated Program.

Louise is forced to go along with Tina to a concert for the boy band, Boyz 4 Now. At first she can’t stop mocking it but when she sees Boo Boo (Max Greenfield), one of the band members, in person she develops her first crush. Bob and Linda accompany Gene to his table-scaping competition. Louise’s attempts to get backstage are very funny including putting on a southern accent and saying, “I’m Detective Brenda Leigh Johnson. There’s been a murder backstage!” But it’s Tina’s wisdom about handling crushes that wins the day: “I’m no hero. I put my bra on one boob at a time like everyone else.”

Linda and the kids go to a turkey trot fun run but things go seriously wrong when the turkeys and other birds start attacking the runners and throw the wharf into chaos. Bob decides to boycott Thanksgiving due to the family going to the turkey trot and discovers the perks of relaxation with help from whiskey and Donna Summer. Summer deserves a shout out here because there are several sequences of the birds attacking people that’s set to the Donna Summer song, “Dim All the Lights.” The result of the mixture is incredible.

Tina tries out for the school news but doesn't make the cut. She puts on her own news program when she discovers there's a person pooping throughout the school that she dubs the "Mad Pooper." Gene, convinced that he'll end up looking like Bob when he grows up, enlists Louise to make him into a mini-Bob. Gene gets the best line of the episode. During one of Tina's "Mad Pooper" segments, Gene is interviewed while still dressed as mini-Bob. He says, "My message to the Mad Pooper is: Grow up! I did."

The kids sneak into an abandoned taffy factory set to be demolished with hopes of finding legendary treasure that's been stored there. Bob and Linda try to introduce some variety into their scheduled sex night. Tina gets the best line of the episode and one of the all-time great lines when her parents read her diary to find out where the kids went and you hear it being narrated in Tina's voice: "Dear Diary, Tonight we're sneaking into the dangerous taffy factory. Also, if boys had uteruses, they'd be called duderuses."

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