Bob's Burgers is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is centered on the Belcher family – parents Bob and Linda and their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise – who run a burger restaurant in New Jersey and often go on adventures of many kinds. The show premiered on January 9, 2011. The series was conceived by Bouchard after he developed Home Movies. Bob's Burgers is produced by Wilo Productions and Buck & Millie Productions in association with 20th Television Animation. The series is animated by Bento Box Entertainment.
While reviews for the first season were mixed, feedback for subsequent seasons has been more positive. The series premiere, "Human Flesh", drew in 9.39 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series premiere of the season and finishing ninth in the ratings for the week it aired. Since then, the series has grown to be a critical and cultural success. In 2013, TV Guide ranked Bob's Burgers as one of the 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time. The series has been nominated for several awards, including the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program fifteen consecutive times (2012–2026), winning in 2014 and 2017. Reruns began airing on Cartoon Network's programming blocks Adult Swim in June 2013, and ACME Night from 2021 to 2023, and began airing in syndication on local stations in September 2015.
A feature film was released in theaters in May 2022. A comic book series based on the series, published by Dynamite Entertainment, began in September 2014. A soundtrack album was released on Sub Pop Records in May 2017, with a second volume released in August 2021.
In April 2025, it was announced that Bob's Burgers would be renewed for four more seasons in what is considered a "mega deal" with Disney Television Studios. This renewal will take the show through the 2028–29 television season.
Premise Bob's Burgers centers around the Belcher family, a blue-collar family consisting of Bob Belcher, his wife Linda, and their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise. The Belchers run the titular hamburger restaurant in the fictional shore town of Seymour's Bay, New Jersey.
The restaurant is located on Ocean Avenue in a slightly neon-green, two-story building sandwiched between two other commercial buildings, one of which houses a funeral home and crematorium whose owner, Mort, is one of the restaurant's regulars. Their other most loyal customer, Teddy, is a sweet-natured but somewhat dense handyman who considers Bob and Linda his closest friends. Bob's business and personal rival is Jimmy Pesto, who runs Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria, an Italian restaurant located directly across the street. The building to the right of the restaurant is typically vacant, though the opening credits depict a different, wittily named business inhabiting the space in every episode. On very few occasions, the store has stayed part of the episode.
All three Belcher children work part-time in the restaurant – unpaid – and attend Wagstaff School, run by Principal Spoors. Thirteen-year-old Tina, in the throes of puberty, struggles with her obsession with boys, particularly Pesto's aloof son Jimmy Junior. Eleven-year-old Gene strives to be a musician, very often carrying a keyboard and noodling with it. Nine-year-old Louise is the scheming troublemaker, seeking revenge, riches, or adventure, often dragging her siblings along; she puts on a face of fearlessness but is still afraid of some things (such as the dentist or being without her pink rabbit-eared hat). Gene and Louise usually spend their free time together, while socially awkward Tina tries (often unsuccessfully) to get involved in more adult pursuits.
Episodes typically follow the family's experiences running the restaurant and interacting with the eccentric members of their community, though some episodes feature them outside of their usual setting of the restaurant. Many episodes contain musical numbers, either in fantasy sequences, as diegetic music, or over the episode's closing credits.
Episodes
Characters
Main characters
The Belcher family runs "Bob's Burgers", a hamburger restaurant. Despite routinely cycling through seasons and holidays, the characters remain perpetually the same age.
Bob Belcher (H. Jon Benjamin) is the owner of Bob's Burgers. He is Linda's husband and Tina, Gene, and Louise's father. He is 46 years old and has black hair with male pattern baldness and a thick mustache. Bob's youth mostly consisted of working in his father's diner after his mother died, before he left to start Bob's Burgers against his father's wishes. Bob typically serves as the straight man to the antics of his family and friends, though he is also quite stubborn and is prone to being very petty and competitive, especially against people he dislikes. Despite his pessimistic personality, Bob loves and cares for his family and his restaurant, and tries to do what is best for them. He enjoys cooking, restaurant appliances, foreign films, and Thanksgiving. In the restaurant, Bob is the cook. Linda Belcher (John Roberts) is Bob's wife and Tina, Gene, and Louise's mother. She is 44 years old, always wears her signature red glasses, and speaks with a thick, heavily-pronounced New Jersey/New York accent. Linda is quirky, happy-go-lucky, and enthusiastic in whatever she does, to the point of sometimes bursting into made-up songs about everyday things, serving as a foil to Bob. She is very supportive of her family and her children's schemes, and provides advice or assistance where she can, though she can be strict as well, showing less leniency when Louise does not listen to her. Linda frequently winds up in comedic situations trying to prove herself to be a loving wife and mother. In the restaurant, Linda is the cashier and clerk. Tina Belcher (Dan Mintz) is the eldest of the Belcher children, at 13 years old. She has myopia and relies on her distinctive large glasses for sight. Tina is socially awkward, insecure, easily influenced by peer pressure, and tends to freeze up and produce a long groaning sound when faced with decisions or conflict, but she is also capable of showing courage and taking responsibility when she has to. She is often assigned caretaker for Gene and Louise when they are home alone, though they frequently take advantage of her naivety to bring her along in their plans. Tina is going through puberty and has many crushes on many boys, primarily Jimmy Jr., one of her classmates and the son of Bob's rival Jimmy Pesto. She has some sort of fetish for butts and zombies, reflected in the fan fiction and "erotic friend-fiction" she tends to write. Tina obsesses over what others think of her and struggles to fit in with her friend group at school, consisting of Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Tammy, and Jocelyn. She is interested in horses, the fictional tv show The Equestranauts, and the popular boy band Boyz4Now. In the restaurant, Tina is a server, but is not good with customers. Gene Belcher (Eugene Mirman) is the middle child and only son of the Belcher family, at 11 years old. Gene is confident, laid-back, enthusiastic, and loud, like Linda, though he also resembles Bob when he was young. In many cases Gene serves as comic relief, often by making double entendres or cultural references. He is the least mature out of his siblings, being distracted often (called "Gene-ing out" within the family), exhibiting poor hygiene, and playing make believe often, though he can also show resolve and do what is right. He regularly expresses oedipal tendencies. He is open to conversation and has many friends in school, including Alex, Courtney, Lenny, and Peter. Gene is an aspiring musician and often plays with his sampling keyboard and megaphone while dabbling in writing songs and musicals on various topics. Besides music, he also enjoys fashion in which he occasionally cross-dresses without judgment from his family or neighbors. In the restaurant, Gene advertises out front in a burger costume, but often also works as a server. Louise Belcher (Kristen Schaal) is the youngest of the Belcher children, at 9 years old. She always wears a distinctive pink hat with long bunny ears that she has had since preschool. She is a mischievous schemer with an egotistical and cynical personality who is experienced in manipulating others to get her way, but in many cases her conscience intervenes and she becomes a reluctant antihero who ultimately does what is right, though she tries to hide her honest feelings. Amongst the siblings, she takes leadership and authority, and often challenges traditional gender roles with her assertive, intense nature. She strongly cares for her family (particularly Bob), and plans to take over the family business when she gets older, but is also willing to take advantage of her family when it suits her. Her friends at school include Regular-Sized Rudy, Darryl, Andy and Ollie, and (mostly one-sidedly) Millie. Louise enjoys Burobu, a Pokémon-like collectible card game, as well as Boyz4Now member Boo Boo, though she strongly represses her interest in the latter. In the restaurant, Louise is often a server but mostly helps her siblings with cleaning, refills, and other busywork. Teddy (Larry Murphy) is a bumbling but kind handyman. He is a regular at Bob's Burgers, to the point of being described as "living" in the restaurant, and views himself as having such a dedication to Bob and the restaurant that he tries to hide his patronage at other restaurants such as Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria. Teddy regards Bob as his best friend, a sentiment Bob begrudgingly reciprocates, and is honorarily considered an uncle to Tina, Gene, and Louise. He admires the Belcher family dynamic, particularly Bob and Linda's marriage, and frequently joins the Belchers in their schemes. He is often shown to be lonely and unlucky in love, but eventually falls in love with Helen, before later starting a relationship with Kathleen. Teddy is prone to extreme emotions, somewhat socially awkward (especially around women), and frequently goes off on very long stories and tangents about mundane topics.
Recurring characters There are various recurring characters in the series, including Jimmy Pesto Sr. (Jay Johnston, 2011–2021; Eric Bauza, 2023–present), Bob's primary business and personal rival who owns an Italian-themed restaurant across the street with his friend Trev, and his three sons: Jimmy Jr. (Benjamin), Tina's somewhat oblivious love interest who just wants to dance, and hyperactive and childish twins Andy (Laura Silverman) and Ollie (Sarah Silverman), who are friends of Louise. Other friends, and frenemies, of the Belcher kids include Jimmy Jr.'s best friend, the rebellious yet soft-hearted Zeke (Bobby Tisdale); Tina's frequent rival, spoiled valley girl Tammy (Jenny Slate) and her airheaded sidekick Jocelyn (Roberts); anxious nerd Darryl (Aziz Ansari); the timid and asthmatic Regular-Sized Rudy (Brian Huskey); Louise-obsessed Millie (Molly Shannon); and the necklace-sucking Courtney (David Wain). Louise's self-declared arch-nemesis/bully is antagonistic teenager Logan (Kurt Braunohler), an abrasive boy that is perhaps the only person Louise has been intimidated by. Mr. Frond (David Herman) is the always-stressed and generally incompetent guidance counselor at their school. The kids often have run-ins with him. Other recurring staff members include the flamboyant, sarcastic, and dramatic school librarian Mr. Ambrose (Billy Eichner); school janitor Mr. Branca (Herman), and Louise's chain-smoking teacher Miss LaBonz (Benjamin).