TV #22 of 2024:
Bob’s Burgers, season 14
This is a weird season to review, because I actually don’t remember most of it particularly clearly! The writers and actors strike resulted in the episode order getting slashed from 22 to 13 installments, eleven of which aired from October 2023 to January 2024. Then one more episode randomly followed in March, and finally a belated finale just now in May.
So, is it any good? Well… it’s at least baseline Bob’s Burgers, which in recent years has generally meant competent humor and comfortable character-based storytelling, but little that still pushes the ensemble forward in personal development or adds any fun new recurring members to its ranks. Behind the scenes, however, it’s worthwhile that this season recasts the role of Marshmallow from a white cis actor to a Black trans actress, and hilarious that it likewise replaces the guy who formerly voiced Jimmy Pesto — not for issues of authenticity and representation in that case, but because the old one was arrested for storming the Capitol on January 6th, which is absolutely something Jimmy Pesto would have done as well.
I’m feeling charitable towards the program for those unusual production moves, and sympathetic over the unique constraints placed upon it by outside forces at the network. I suspect an audience watching straight through might enjoy this year even better, and I will specifically highlight the early episode “The Amazing Rudy” for doing exactly what I’d like to see more of on the show, diverging from the typical formula to deepen a minor character with a richer sense of interior life. Not every half-hour reaches those heights (from what I can recall), but the fact that one such entry does is ultimately enough to tip the scales for me overall.
★★★★☆
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