Summary
AlthoughThe Bob’s Burgers Moviestruggled at the box office, its critical success provesBob’s Burgershas one thing thatThe Simpsonslacks. Since the series began,Bob’s Burgershas frequently been compared toThe Simpsons. This isn’t unique to the show, as earlier animated comedies about families likeFamily Guy,American Dad, andKing of the Hillalso earned comparisons to the iconic series. AsThe Simpsonsseason 36prepares to air later in 2024, the show’s massive impact on the animated TV comedy landscape is hard to overstate. However,Bob’s Burgershas a unique similarity toThe Simpsons.
Bob’s BurgersandThe Simpsonsare both mostly family-friendly, whereas Seth MacFarlane’s animated comedy shows are closer toSouth ParkorRick and Mortyin terms of their adult content. This may explain why, in 2021,Bob’s Burgersmade it to the big screen beforeAmerican DadorFamily Guy.The Bob’s Burgers Movieborrowed fromThe Simpsonsin terms of plot, but the tone and style of the movie were unique to the quirky series. If anything,The Bob’s Burgers Moviehighlighted something thatThe Simpsonshas been missing since the show’s earliest seasons.
The Simpsons Season 35’s Best Episode Highlighted A Major 35-Year-Old Mystery
The Simpsons season 35’s best episode brought up one of the show’s oldest plot holes but, interestingly, didn’t offer a solution to this mystery.
Bob’s Burgers Has Real-Life Stakes (Unlike The Simpsons)
The Bob’s Burgers Movie Centred Around The Restaurant’s Fate
The Simpsonsseasons 1—3 frequently featured storylines where the family’s finances were realistically strained, even within the heightened reality of a cartoon.
Like most of the show’s episodes,The Bob’s Burgers Moviecentered on a grounded storyline with real-life stakes for the main characters. When a sinkhole opened in front of the titular restaurant, this threatened the family business and left Bob and Linda almost unable to pay the bank. This believable plot drove the action of the spinoff, providing the movie with realistic stakes despite its goofy characters and some outlandish sequences. WhereThe Simpsonsseason 35’s version of Homercould tip a waitress $10,000, Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene, and Louise exist in something like working-class reality.
The Simpsonswasn’t always so out of touch with the real world but, ironically, it was the show’s most critically acclaimed era that lost this quality.The Simpsonsseasons 1—3 frequently featured storylines where the family’s finances were realistically strained, even within the heightened reality of a cartoon. The show’s so-called Golden Age, from approximately season 4 to season 9, jettisoned these plots in favor of zanier, sillier storylines. During this period,The Simpsonseschewed realistic plots and became more ambitiously weird, surreal, and experimental. This came at a cost to the eponymous family’s relatability.
The Simpsons Season 35 Borrowed From Bob’s Burgers
Marge’s Kitchen Job Mirrored The Belcher Family’s Struggles
AlthoughThe Bob’s Burgers Moviefailed at the box office, killing any chance ofThe Bob’s Burgers Movie 2, it was a critical hit much like the series itself.The Simpsonsseason 35 wisely opted to borrow some of the show’s real-life stakes in a particularly successful outing, episode 14, “Night of the Living Wage.”Marge’s job in a ghost kitchen and its attendant financial stress mirrored the working-class world ofBob’s Burgers, where wacky supporting characters exist along with relatable problems like overdue bills and poor pay. This gambit paid off in one of season 35’s best episodes.
The Simpsonsborrowing fromBob’s Burgersmakes sense when, since the series began,Bob’s Burgershas also owed a creative debt to the earlier hit.The Simpsonsepisodes centered on Bart and Lisaclearly influenced the many outings ofBob’s Burgersthat center Gene, Louise, and Tina, withBob’s Burgersoften making its young heroes the show’s true protagonists. Depending on the episode,Bob’s Burgersswitches its focus between the Belcher children and their overworked parents. This also borrows fromThe Simpsons, which was originally going to focus on Bart until Homer proved more popular with audiences.
The Bob’s Burgers Movie Also Highlighted Its Limitations
The Series Can’t Get As Outlandish As The Simpsons
While the spinoff highlighted the show’s strong suits,The Bob’s Burgers Moviealso provedThe Simpsonshas somethingBob’s Burgersis missing. 2007’sThe Simpsons Moviewas a huge blockbuster story that spanned across America, whereasThe Bob’s Burgers Moviewas a much smaller scale story that took place entirely at the wharf.Bob’s Burgerssucceeds because the series is so grounded, but this also means the show has less room to pull off surreal and absurd storylines without compromising its believability.
In contrast,The Simpsonshas little to lose when it comes to relatability.The Simpsonsis a more outlandish, weirder show thanBob’s Burgersand one whose fictional world isn’t as rooted in reality as the newer series. This can sometimes result in the show taking its absurdity too far and losing touch with its original appeal, butMarge’s stories inThe Simpsonsseason 35prove the series can still access something approaching relatable stakes from time to time. In contrast, whileThe Bob’s Burgers MovieprovedBob’s Burgers’ strengths, it also highlighted the underrated scope ofThe Simpsons.
