Series Premiere Review: Bob's Burgers

I had a bad feeling about Bob's Burgers back when I first saw the sneak preview of the show during the premiere televised airing of "The Simpsons Movie" last year. My bad feeling was confirmed while viewing the pilot episode the other night.

This is yet another 'dysfunctional family' animated show that's been added to the Animation Domination line up on Fox. There are now a total of 5 'dysfunctional family' animated series on this one channel, 3 of which were created by the same guy (Seth MacFarlane). I have nothing against this type of show, I love The Simpsons and Family Guy, I'm even warming up to The Cleveland Show. But I feel the market is flooded with this type of show. Can't anybody come up with something different or more original?

But that's a separate issue, lets focus on Bob's Burgers. Where to begin... Lets start off with the animation. Its certainly different, but feels 'lazy' to me. There isn't a lot of imagination put into it. Second is the humor. I didn't find it funny, or even mildly amusing. There were only one or two lines of dialog where I actually laughed. I didn't find any of the characters likeable, or even love-to-hate, they were all annoying.

Overall, I felt that this series probably would have faired better as a comic strip. It feels too bland and lifeless to have been made into an animated series.

The only good thing I can say about Bob's Burgers is its story-driven rather than gag-driven, which is rather refreshing.

Unfortunately I don't have high hopes for this series staying on the air for very long... but then again stranger things have become hits...

What did you think of Bob's Burgers? Comment about it.