Last year, FOX added a new animated comedy, Bob’s Burgers, to their Sunday Animation Domination line-up. The series follows third-generation restaurateur, Bob Belcher, who runs Bob’s Burgers with the help of his wife and their three kids. Oldest daughter Tina can’t control her hormones and is obsessed with the son of Bob’s biggest rival, Jimmy Pesto. Middle son, Gene, seems off in his own world most of the time, and loudly speaks whatever is on his mind. And youngest daughter, Louise, always seems to have some sort of scheme brewing. Business is far from booming for Bob’s Burgers, and Bob is constantly trying to figure out how to bring in the customers.

When this series originally aired, I had some trouble getting into it. I think my main issue was hearing Archer’s voice in a very different character. (H. Jon Benjamin uses the same voice for Bob as he does for Archer.) However, once I got over this, Bob’s Burgers quickly became one of my favorites of the FOX Sunday lineup. Re-watching those early episodes now on this Season 1 DVD set, I love them just as much as every other episode.

This is such a fun show–I just can’t say enough about it! The season is full of laughs, taking us from Bob’s Burgers getting shut down on suspicion of selling hamburgers made of human flesh to the Belchers getting sucked into the dark underbelly of minor league baseball. And in-between we see everything from the Belchers turning their home into a Bed & Breakfast, to Bob’s Burgers turning into a museum for questionable art, to Bob’s ongoing competition with his rival across the street. Each episode is overflowing with rapid-fire jokes and puns, but still tells a story.

Re-watching the episodes on the DVD set, I found even more jokes and humor than I saw the first time around. I think my favorite character has to be Gene. Everything he says is done with an enthusiastic yell–no matter how bizarre, stupid or inappropriate the statement. (There is some great Gene stuff in the “Bed & Breakfast” episode!)

What’s Included on the DVD:

Episodes:

• All 13 episodes of Season 1
• Audio: English 5.1 DD
• English SDH, Spanish & French subtitles

Extras:

• Audio Commentary on All Episodes
  I listened to a sampling of the commentaries with the cast and creators. While entertaining, they seem to get off track quickly. The talk seems to be more about the process of getting the show made rather than the specific episode. It’s strange hearing these actors talk on the commentary because most of them seem to use their own voices for the characters. NOTE: some of the language/topics are not kid-friendly.
• “Lifting Up the Skirt of the Night” – Music Video (1:51)
  Extended live-action music video for the song that appears in the “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?” episode.
• Audio Outtakes for “Bed & Breakfast” and “Sexy Dance Fighting” (7:08)
  Some longer improvised takes from these episodes. The actors usually end up laughing at their own lines, or curse in character. Audio plays over stills from the episodes and actors in recording booth.
• Bob’s Burgers Original Demo with Introduction by Loren Bouchard (21:30)
  This was really interesting. The creator talks about the original treatments for the show. Includes scene from the original 2.5 minute pitch where the Belchers were cannibals, as well as the follow-up 13.5-minute demo. It’s interesting to see the slightly different look of the Belchers, including the original version of daughter Tina as son Daniel (though the voice and dialog is pretty much the same.)
• Louise and the Chalkboard (2:04)
  Louise talks to the chalkboard, coming up with more burger names and describing what burger represents each of the Belcher family member’s personamilites.

Final Thoughts:

I originally watched this show on the FOX HD channel, but I don’t really notice any loss of quality on this SD DVD. The picture looks crisp and detailed and the sound is great. This DVD release also has a pretty solid set of extras.
Re-watching the episodes on this DVD, I found myself laughing all over again–this show has great replay value! I would definitely recommend picking up Bob’s Burgers Season 1 on DVD! Though, I will give one warning, despite its 8:30pm timeslot, I’m surprised at some of the more adult themes of the show, so parents may want to review the series first.