Happy FATHER’S Day
Why Bob Belcher of ‘Bob’s Burgers’ is the best dad on TV
There is a scene in “Bob’s Burgers,” the oh-so-terrific animated show about a sweetly offbeat family, that perfectly captures the essence of busy fatherhood.
● Bob Belcher and his wife Linda own Bob’s Burgers, a greasy spoon that sits below the apartment where they live with their children, Tina, Gene and Louise. Bob’s a pretty good cook and a not-so-good businessman. The kids work at the restaurant when they aren’t in school or off working on a marijuana farm or something. (They have a lot of adventures.)
There’s not a lot of overhead at the restaurant in other words. Between his family and his business, Bob is always overworked and frazzled. So it’s not surprising that in “Crawl Space,” the second episode of the first season, Linda tells Bob she has wanted the leak in the roof fixed for a long time, and he needs to do it. Bob buckles down and heads to the attic.
He puts a bucket under the leak, and proclaims, “I fixed the leak!”
You can find that part of the scene online. It lasts a grand total of 1 second. That economy of storytelling is one of the reasons it’s a great show. That begrudging trip to the attic he’s put off for too long, the sketchy non-repair and the unearned pride he takes in it are some of the reasons Bob Belcher is the greatest dad on television.
It’s an honest moment. If you’re a parent and you haven’t lived some version of that, then please, introduce me to your butler.
The rest of us will recognize some version of ourselves in there.
There are other, more traditional reasons Bob is a great dad. He obviously loves his family. He works hard to provide for them, but doesn’t pretend it’s a one-person show; he and Linda are equal at least when it comes to bringing up their children. He is endlessly patient with his wife and children (and they with him, though he’s a pretty straightforward character in comparison).
This is not to say Bob doesn’t get exasperated. He does. Often. And it’s glorious.
H. Jon Benjamin provides Bob’s voice, and no one on TV says, “Oh my god” as brilliantly as he does. Again, I think it’s a parent thing. Bob almost always says it in response to something Linda or the kids have done. He’s annoyed, sure, commenting as an outsider. Not totally, though. That is, there is real frustration in those three words. But there’s also a tacit recognition that he’s probably playing a role in whatever madness is going on, too.
They’re basically warmup words for,
“I’m going to have to try to fix this.”
Of course part of the reason Bob is so great is because “Bob’s Burgers” is so great. It’s hilarious, and the humor can be quite dark. But you never question its heart. Above all, there’s a sweetness to it that softens the occasional acidity. And like any brilliant show, it builds its own little world that is both recognizable and unusual enough to draw you in; an episode or two under your belt and you’re comfortable there.
You may disagree. My own children think Bob isn’t even the best character on the show. Allow me to say, “Oh my god.” Besides, this is Father’s Day, so too bad. As I’ve told them, and anyone else who would listen, typically in the best shows your favorite character changes from time to time, depending on the arc of the season, etc.
Except in this case. Bob is always my favorite.
There are plenty of good dads on TV. I’ve said in the past I thought Homer Simpson was the best; a friend pointed out that the best dads probably don’t choke their sons. Point taken. But Homer loves his kids, too, genuinely. Just like Bob. And Bob doesn’t judge them, even though at times their actions seem to cry out for it. He doesn’t let them get into too much trouble (although they do wander around unsupervised a lot, but that might be more happy accident than good parenting).
He’s not Ward Cleaver, the perfect father, the paternal ideal. Like Homer, Bob is flawed. He fixes leaks, but he knows not forever. He does the best he can. He’s a dad.
My own father always thought you should wait till the last leaf fell from the last tree before raking the yard, because you’re just going to have to go back out there and do it again otherwise.