IN ONE OF THE BEST episodes of Bob's Burgers, "Mother Daughter Laser Razor," mother Linda bribes her youngest daughter Louise into attending a mother-daughter healing seminar at the Nurture Center. At home, older daughter Tina asks her father, Bob, to help her shave her legs, and the two end up getting waxed together. Through it all, middle child Gene runs around screaming and asking if he can get his scrotum waxed.
Now in its third season, Bob's Burgers has found its groove—it's one of the best shows on television right now. It's a little bit like The Simpsons, a little bit like King of the Hill, and a little bit like Family Guy—but only the good parts of all of them. Like the first few seasons of The Simpsons, it dances the line between the touchingly human and the totally surreal.
The animated Fox sitcom focuses on Bob (H. Jon Benjamin, also of Archer and Home Movies), who runs Bob's Burgers with the help of his wife and three kids. Bob struggles to be the man of the house and workplace, while his wife Linda (John Roberts) tries to be supportive of her husband and also to be the best mom she can be, even though she's not entirely sure what that means. Their three children are the socially awkward Tina (Dan Mintz), musician Gene (Eugene Mirman), and the rabbit-ears-wearing but preternaturally adult Louise (Kristen Schaal). Grounded in the day-to-day of trying to keep their small business afloat, the family fights with each other and against the world, but fiercely loves each other in the end. If this all sounds a little Hallmark movie, don't worry—it's not. All this family love and relationship stuff is the backdrop for the kind of weird, surreal episodes we've come to expect from our Sunday night cartoons.
Bob's Burgers deservedly has a loyal following, and fans can see the cast in person on Friday night at the Crystal Ballroom. Benjamin, Mirman, Schaal, Mintz, and Roberts will perform stand-up, introduce clips from the show, read aloud from a script, and take questions. They're all great performers in their own right, and the chance to see the likes of Benjamin and Mirman in the flesh shouldn't be missed.