Plot: What’s it about?
Bob Belcher has two passions in life, his family and his business. He owns and operates his own diner, a joint called Bob’s Burgers where he serves up, well…burgers. The diner is small and Bob isn’t flush with cash, so his family pitches in to keep things up and running. That is where most of Bob’s problems begin, as his family is rather unusual and tends to create more chaos than fresh burgers. His wife Linda dreams of a life of romance and luxury, his oldest daughter Tina is mired in hormonal self discovery, his son Gene is upbeat, but dense, and his third child Louise is a borderline psychopath. So as you can imagine, Bob’s day to day life is rather unpredictable to say the least. Louise tells her class that her father’s burgers are made from human flesh, the kids insist on keeping a cow as a pet, Bob hides in a crawlspace to avoid Linda’s mother, the family puts on dinner theater, Linda converts a spare room into a bed & breakfast, and countless other mishaps unfold.
Fox’s Animation Domination lineup has lead pipe hits The Simpsons and Family Guy (and it’s spin-offs), but hasn’t found a new series that stuck around for a while. Bob’s Burgers tries to blend sarcastic, often low brow humor with a sense of sweetness and family bond, but does it succeed? While Bob’s Burgers isn’t a home run, it is a good series that manages to craft memorable characters, effective humor, and some moments of sweetness. The focus is squarely on the family unit here, loaded with quirks and problems, but the loyalty and bond of family is always there. The way the family plays off each other drives the series, as there is a kind of misguided desire to pitch in. Good intentions with bad ideas, so to speak. But with love and a lot of tolerance, the Belchers manage to keep hope alive. The show also tries to tell actual stories instead of rampant references and in jokes, which is a nice change of pace for Fox’s animated shows. All in all, this first season of Bob’s Burgers was rock solid. A lot of laughs, a good core established, and this release is well recommended.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The episodes look great here, with a clean and clear presentation throughout the season. The show’s animation is on the old school side, but has a nice look and is a nice variation from other current animated shows. The animation style limits the depth of the visuals, since it is rather simplistic, but the show looks quite good in this treatment.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack isn’t an explosive one, but it more than gets the job done. The show’s focus is on dialogue and little else, so the track isn’t asked to do much in terms of presence. Even so, the music sounds good and that adds some spice to the audio presentation. The vocals sound crystal clear and are never hard to pick up, which is good since the show thrives on fast paced banter and quick comments. This release also includes subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All the episodes have audio commentaries, plus you’ll find a music video, audio outtakes, the show’s original demo, and a bonus scene with Louise and the diner’s chalkboard.
