The 20 Best Bob's Burgers Episodes Ranked

FOX's hit animated series "Bob's Burgers" just wrapped its 11th season and has more than 200 episodes under its belt. The series follows the Belcher family, with patriarch Bob at the center as he struggles to succeed as an owner of a small-time burger restaurant. Though Bob is straight-laced and serious, his upbeat, sing-songy wife Linda and goofy kids — the pubescent, understated Tina, the wacky and creative Gene, and the devious, scheming Louise — help make sure that no day at Bob's Burgers is ever the same.

"Bob's Burgers" is beloved for its sweet and wacky ethos, genuinely hilarious jokes and voice cast, and heart. Its episodes range from the adventurous to the musical, but the show always returns to its key focus: family. It's a vast and stacked series with plenty of standout episodes — we've completed the difficult task of compiling a list of 20 of the very best.

The Season 6 premiere, "Sliding Bobs," epitomizes another one of the series' tropes: the faux bottle episode. In a "Bob's Burgers" bottle episode, while the characters are still all "bottled up" in one physical location, the show uses the opportunity as an excuse for the characters to tell stories. In "Sliding Bobs," the kids learn that Bob's mustache was what originally attracted Linda to Bob, and imagine alternative — and clean-shaven — meet-cutes for their parents.

While Tina insists that fate brought her parents together, Gene takes his family on a "Robocop"-inspired Robostache story, before Louise imagines a "Big"-style wish that makes Bob super hairy. Tina eventually admits defeat and imagines the worst alternate reality of all: Linda marrying her first fiancé, Hugo. In a very sweet resolution to the episode, Linda and Bob tell their kids that while fate may not have brought them together, the universe couldn't stop the Belchers from being a family.

"Bob's Burgers" is a very culturally literate show, and some of its best episodes are direct homages to pop culture monuments. That's the case with "Broadcast Wagstaff School News," a silly and sweet parody of the 1987 film, "Broadcast News." With the advent of a school journalism class, Tina auditions for an anchor position, but loses to her frenemy and competitor, popular girl Tammy. When the school produces fluff pieces, Louise encourages Tina to produce her own underground broadcast, leading Tina to investigate a mysterious serial pooper.

Similar to "American Vandal", the nature of the crime is absurd and silly in contrast to how seriously it is treated within the episode. "Broadcast Wagstaff School News" is also a great episode for showcasing Tina's intelligence and perseverance, as well as Gene's oddly campy sensibility when he decides to pose as Bob after realizing how much he looks like his dad.

"Bob's Burgers" never disappoints with its holiday episodes, but the show's Thanksgiving episodes are among its very best. As Bob's favorite holiday, "Dawn of the Peck" sees the emotional chef suffer through the ultimate betrayal as Linda and the kids decide to forsake Bob's all-important Thanksgiving dinner in order to go to a turkey run hosted by the eccentric Fischoeder brothers at Wonder Wharf.

However, in a true horror movie twist, the Fischoeders make a horrible mistake, leading to a wild bird attack that leads Teddy, Mickey, Linda, and the kids to escape the aftermath of the turkey run while Bob gets drunk at home and listens to Donna Summers. Between the discordant disco music and ridiculous editing, "Dawn of the Peck" is a hilarious and surprising Thanksgiving episode that gives new meaning to the holiday, even for the Belchers, who each find themselves in a different place with Thanksgiving by the end of the day.

As far as Thanksgiving episodes go, "Turkey in a Can" is one of the best "Bob's Burgers" has to offer. As he does every year, Bob tries to outdo his previous Thanksgiving dinner, this time by spatchcocking a turkey. However, holiday insanity unfolds when Linda's sister Gayle comes to stay and brings her cats along, leading Bob to take one too many allergy pills. While Tina is desperate to prove she has earned a spot at the adult table, Gene and Linda work on writing a breakout hit Thanksgiving song.

However, the holiday unravels further when Bob's turkey ends up in the toilet — literally. Though Bob lashes out and accuses the kids, the mystery is solved when he sleepwalks in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner and holds the replacement turkey over the toilet, thinking he's potty-training Tina. While it's a wacky episode, it maintains the sweet ethos of "Bob's Burgers" by showing Bob's subconscious fear that Tina is growing up too fast.

An episode that may hit a bit too close to home during the pandemic, the "Bob's Burgers" Season 7 premiere follows Louise who comes home sick from school with the flu, delighted to have a few days sick at home ahead of her. As the rest of the family attempts to take care of her, they accidentally ruin her favorite toy, Kuchikopi, leading Louise to have a psychedelic, musical fever dream about her family's betrayal.

While Louise's instinct is to lash out in anger and never forgive them for their mistake, her dream leads her on a Willy Wonka-esque path of understanding, with each member of her family appearing as one of her toys. "Flu-ouise" is a genuinely sweet episode that also has beautiful moments of animation and funny songs that allow for rare moments of vulnerability from the ever-tough Louise, making it one of the series' best.

While Bob can be a bit of a stick in the mud, one of the things that makes him a character to root for is that he has many eccentric interests. In "Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise," this is seen when Bob finally gets a spot in the community garden, leading Bob to slowly descend into madness as he tries harder and harder to hold on to his little patch of earth.

Making matters worse, in order to earn his spot, Bob has to give a job in the restaurant to Louise's nemesis, Logan, making Louise angry. While she tries to reason with her dad, he insists that the arrangement is the best for all of them, leading to the episode's charming and funny musical number. "Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise" is a prime example of Bob and Louise's sweet relationship as well as the way "Bob's Burgers" uses music for comedy.

Louise's ongoing quest for vengeance leads to some of the series' funniest and most outlandish episodes. This is on outstanding display in "Topsy," during which Louise's substitute science teacher won't let her reuse her old volcano exhibit for the science fair and instead insists that the Wagstaff kids learn about Thomas Edison. In an act of revenge, an outraged Louise decides to put the sinister truth about Thomas Edison's experiments on display, including the (real-life) myth that he once electrocuted an elephant.

When Gene gets involved, Louise's exhibit turns into a musical extravaganza, with Mr. Fischoeder and Gayle playing the parts of Edison and Topsy respectively. In a moment of life imitating art, Louise almost electrocutes Tina, leading Louise to see the error of her ways and realize how she's become exactly like Edison in her quest to show his villainy. With some truly stellar musical moments and superb voice acting, "Topsy" easily belongs on our list of best episodes.

If it were not already clear, "Bob's Burgers" holiday episodes are some of the series' best. "The Hauntening" is another great Halloween episode that sends the Belchers on a haunted house adventure in an effort to scare the unshakable Louise, who desperately wants to be spooked like everyone else. While Bob and Linda initially plan the hilariously not-scary haunted house themselves, things quickly become worse when the Belcher family finds spooky and strange things happening.

As the Belchers find their tires slashed, leaving them with no way to get home, and hear more and more strange noises, they begin to think that they may not be alone in the house. "The Hauntening" has some genuine (family-friendly) scares that lead to Louise screaming her head off, but a sweet and funny twist ending reveals the real source of the terror. Watch and find out ... if you dare

As previously mentioned, "Bob's Burgers" excels when both homaging other pieces of pop culture and also creating absurd but deeply felt character studies. "O.T.: The Outside Toilet" excels on both fronts when, after failing to parent a sack of flour, Gene finds a fancy talking toilet in the woods and starts speaking to it. However, the toilet turns out to be stolen, and the thief is on Gene's trail, leading the Belcher kids to save the toilet, which has now become Gene's friend.

Meanwhile, with the kids distracted, Bob gets a fancy new suit from Mort, and he and Linda decide to go out on the town. As Bob and Linda get drunk, the episode's rescue montage not-so-subtly mimics "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," with Gene tearfully saying goodbye to his new toilet friend before it's returned to its real owners.

In a standout two-part Christmas spectacular, "The Bleakening" is a standout achievement in the "Bob's Burgers" canon. The episode begins with a musical fever dream as Linda wakes up with the singular vision of bringing the gift of a perfect Christmas to the town. Even more frenzied than she usually is during the holidays, Linda goes above and beyond, decorating and planning a Christmas party for the customers in the restaurant.

Of course, everything goes sideways when some of Linda's decorations go missing, leading Teddy to suggest it could be the Bleaken, a mythical Christmas villain. Spurred on by Louise, the kids decide to hunt down the Bleaken and find Linda's missing decorations. Meanwhile, Linda goes on an investigation of her own. All paths converge when the Belchers finally find out what happened in a surprising, sweet, and spectacular musical that leads the Belchers to discover more about Christmas in their community.