"Father of the Bob" is the third Christmas episode of the FOX animated series Bob's Burgers, aired as the sixth episode of the show's fifth season.
Synopsis[]
Bob's father, Big Bob, is throwing his annual Christmas party at his restaurant, Big Bob's Diner. Linda urges them all to go, though Bob and Big Bob do not get along. Bob institutes a "15 Minute Rule", which represents Big Bob's ability to say something offensive enough to him within 15 minutes that Bob can't stand to be around him and must leave. Since he was a child working at the restaurant, Big Bob has not understood nor respected Bob's desire to make creative burgers. As a boy, the first time he made one (called the "Baby, You Can Chive My Car" Burger) for Big Bob's regular, Henry, Big Bob threw it away and made Henry "the usual", a tuna melt, before he could have a taste.
At the party, Big Bob is cooking for his customers. The kids greet him, then head to his basement to build Bob a last minute Christmas present out of the junk in it. Meanwhile, Bob and Linda meet Big Bob's regulars, Henry, Max, and Pete, who owns the gay bar, The Junk Yard, next door. Learning that Big Bob is short staffed that night, Linda suggests that Bob help him in the kitchen in an attempt to get them to reconcile. He reluctantly does so, setting the 15 minute timer. They trade awkward small talk. 20 years earlier, Big Bob's Christmas gift to Bob, then a young man, was to reveal his plan to change the diner to "Big Bob & Son's Diner" and make Bob his business partner in front of all his friends and customers. However, Bob snaps, saying that he doesn't want to work with Big Bob because he is rigid and puts down all his creative ideas. Humiliated in front of his friends, Big Bob angrily tells Bob to leave, which he does, storming out and saying he will start his own restaurant with creative, interesting burgers.
Down in the basement, the kids' makeshift presents all fail, and with nothing else to give, they hastily wrap a snow globe with a newspaper in Big Bob's desk. Upstairs, he gruffly criticizes Bob's ability to make a simple grilled cheese just as the timer goes off. Linda then submits Henry's order: the usual. Seeing this as his chance to prove himself, Bob announces that he'll make Henry the exact same burger he never got to try 20 years ago and that he can decide which of their food tastes better. They race to make their food and despite Big Bob's pleas, Henry ultimately gives in and eats Bob's burger, announcing how irresistibly delicious it is. Bob triumphantly gloats and Big Bob, humiliated once again, sadly tells Bob he won and leaves. Bob is immediately ashamed and when the kids give him their present, he sees that the newspaper has the first review of his burgers ever written. Realizing that Big Bob saved it all these years, he goes with Pete to The Junk Yard, where Big Bob is sulking.
The Junk Yard is having its Country Line Dance Night, and Bob is surprised to learn that Big Bob has since taken up line dancing. They talk it over during the line dance, with Bob expressing his frustrations, but recognizing that Big Bob always loved him and even secretly supported him, and that it was wrong of him to embarrass him in front of his friends tonight and 20 years ago, even if he isn't sorry that he struck out on his own. Big Bob admits that he understands why he had to leave and knows he is hard to work with, saying that things were hard after his wife was no longer around. Theu later stand outside the diner and see Linda and the kids running the restaurant in their absence. Big Bob tells Bob that he has a great family, happy kids, and is a good father, and theu rejoin the party to the customers' cheers. Big Bob wishes everyone a Merry Christmas.
Cast[]
Voice actor/actress | Character |
---|---|
H. Jon Benjamin | Bob Belcher |
Dan Mintz | Tina Belcher |
Eugene Mirman | Gene Belcher |
Larry Murphy | Teddy |
John Roberts | Linda Belcher |
Kristen Schaal | Louise Belcher |
Bill Hader | Big Bob Belcher |
Nick Offerman | Pete |
Carl Reiner | Henry |
David Herman | Dancer |
Jordan Peele | Max |
See also[]
- "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins"
- "Christmas in the Car"
- "Nice-Capades"
- "The Last Gingerbread House on the Left"
- "The Bleakening"
- "Better Off Sled"
- "Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas"
- "Yachty or Nice"