KD^3C^3 - 20251130 They can't fly but they can dance
In its sixteen seasons, Bob’s Burgers has put out 11 Thanksgiving episodes. If you aren’t familiar with Bob’s Burgers, it’s a fun animate d sitcom about a family that owns a struggling restaurant Almost every episode also comes with its own original song that if it doesn’t happen in the episode itself, will at least show up in the credits, making the whole thing stealth musical to boot. I like Bob’s Burgers a lot, and although I don’t keep up with it regularly as much as I used to, I’m glad it’s still out there chugging along. This Thanksgiving, for a challenge, I decided to watch all 11 thanksgiving episodes. This was made easier because Hulu had a playlist already made called Bobsgiving for me. ANd because what’s. marathon without a ranked list, I have now ranked all 11 episodes from worst to first, with bonus pointes added to everything for the quality of the songs that appear in the episode. If a song only shows up in the credits, it’s going to be rated worse than if there’s a song in the show itself, those are the rules I made up. A song-less episode could still rank high if the rest of the episode is good enough, but a better song will push a good episode even further up.
So from worst worst to first, here we go.
11. Now We’re Not Cooking with Gas
This isn’t a terrible episode, but we’ve got high standards. Bob gets a rare heritage turkey from a specialty farm, but can’t cook it because the gas is out. So he gets increasingly desperate to cook the turkey in increasingly silly ways. Culminating in him sitting in the rain with a makeshift campfire and burning his socks. I see this one working more in theory than practice. In most of the Thanksgiving episodes Bob cares too much about the holiday, but he cares more about his family and so ends up putting aside his desires for theirs. Here, the majority of the episode is Bob failing to do that. It feels out of character. The joke of Riverbrook Lake Farms being the supplier of the heritage turkey did consistently make me laugh though. It’s just a good funny name. There’s a song, but I had to go look it up because i couldn’t remember it at all. so not doin any favors for this ranking.
10. Putts-giving
This honestly feels like we’re running out of ideas. The family has to use a coupon for mini golf that happens to expire on Thanksgiving. There’s a schism between Tina and the other kids because she feels like she has to appear mature and obedient while trying to ask permission to attend a party. But Gene and Louise would much rather have more fun being chaos gremlins. It mostly resolves how you expect. In the b-story Linda becomes obsessed with getting another hole-in-one. Nothing special. This is the last episode to be released as a “Thanksgiving episode” before the show stopped doing them all together. And it’s barely a Thanksgiving episode at all. Yes it takes place on the day, but the conflicts are all things that could have happened any other time. There are rumors that the show stopped doing Thanksgiving episodes after this one because there was pressure from the studio (Allegedly thanksgiving episodes don’t perform well outside the US) but I could see them just wanting to give it a rest after this barrel scraping episode. It gets a little bonus for having a song in the episode proper, before the credits, but that’s really what’s keeping it out of the bottom.
9. I Bob Your Pardon
The kids uncover a conspiracy! The town’s turkey pardoning ceremony turns out to be a sham when they discover the pardoned turkey is still going to be sent to the slaughterhouse. A chase ensues! I think this one is as low as it is because it relies on guest stars. We get multiple new characters and I did it really care about them. Turkey pardoning is weird, and I appreciate that this show knows that. Te song is pretty bland. mostly repeating “Saving the bird” and “Keeping our word” over and over again.
8. Thanks-hoarders
This is another episode that, like Putts-giving feels only incidentally about Thanksgiving. The family has to help their friend Teddy host Thanksgiving for his family, and in the process discover he is a hoarder. Like any sitcoms do with most complex psychological issues, they over simplify it and come to a relatively pat solution in 22 minutes. Which is fine! But I didn’t laugh much, rather I just felt kind of sad for Teddy. The song isn’t even about Thanksgiving, but rather that Teddy likes to collect and fix broken things. It’s kind of catchy, but that is all it has going for it.
7. Dawn of the Peck
So everything here on is a certified banger. I want that to be clear. Because Dawn of the Peck being number seven on the list mostly goes to show how good the rest of these episodes are. A turkey trot goes wrong and hundreds (or thousands?) of birds are let loose in the amusement park and the rest of the town and a mild zombie apocalypse happens, but with turkeys. A turkey-pocalypse. Meanwhile Bob gets day drunk as his family abandons him yet again and has a good time by himself. This is a very funny episode, and the eventual conclusion is perfect. It still ranks relatively low because there is not an original song at all! But we do get to listen to some Donna Summer so that’s an acceptable replacement.
6.Stuck in the Kitchen With You
A later period episode that manages to bring new ideas to the table as well as work with existing relationships. The family visits a retirement home and Bob ends up having to cook dinner for everyone. Things get of hand and Bob’s control in the kitchen is off-putting to Louise, who starts off willing to help, but eventually gets run out by bob’s pursuit of perfection. It handles some of the same ideas in Not Cooking With Gas, but in a better way. Bob can’t get over his excitement to see how Louise feels and he has to work to repair that relationship. The b-plot is about the other kids trying to recreate the thanksgiving parade when the TV stops working, and has a lot of very funny moments. Plus it’s the source of the in-episode song, a “Broadway medley” that lists everything the kids know about broadway (not much), and there’s a different end-credits song where Loused becomes the super hero Captain Casserole, fighting evil with a kitchen torch. Good stuff.
5. Gale Making Bob-Sled
Bob has to go pick up Aunt Gale, because her ankle is twisted, but his car gets snowed in so he has to drag her back home on makeshift sled. It’s mostly a two hander between Bob and Gale, who really nail that sibling-in-law weirdness. You have to like each other, even as you don’t really understand the quirks that the other one has. There’s a lot of good bits in here, mostly about how Gale does everything, cat in a box, salad bowl, stuff like that. The song, Thanksgiving For Everybody, is short but sweet one basically three lines that make up a joke. Plus we get Bob in-episode scat singing to attract a cat down from somewhere up high. Lots of fun!
4. Diarrhea of a Poopy Kid
This one is a bit of a departure. The closest comparison is to something like the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror or Futurama’s Anthology of Interest. Gene has the stomach flu so cannot participate in thanksgiving. His family takes pity on him and expresses it through telling him stories where the villains are food. What this means is we the audience get 3 fun and punny parodies of action movies. We get a new version of The Predator (the Breadator) Air Force One (Pear Force One) and Armageddon (Parmageddon). They’re all a little bit silly, but I enjoyed the diversion. Plus the song, Turkey I Need You is a banger, originally sung by Gene in the bathroom and reprised over the credits.
3. An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal
We’re in all time classic space now. The Belcher’s Landlord Mr. Fischoeder wants to hire the belcher family (minus Bob) to pretend to be his fairly so he can woo a former flame who loves being the “Other woman” breaking up families. It is a silly premise but it only gets sillier from here. Bob gets hired as Mr. Fischoeder’s chef and keeps trying to get his family back while also drinking too much absinthe and making dinner. Linda gets way too into character and comes up with a song for her character to sing. This is the perfect integration of song and episode as Lind breaks into the song multiple times and we get a full reprise over the credits. Its not a good song, but it really does feel like a song that Linda wrote and rehearsed for the perfect thanksgiving moment. I love it.
2. The Quirk-ducers
A thanksgiving episode that focuses more on the kids. There’s a sub-plot where Linda gets too attached to a potato that looks like her grandfather, but the meat of the story (Pun intended) is the kids trying to put on a Thanksgiving play so bad that they have to cancel it and send everybody home early for a half day. This means we got both a parody of Mel Brooks’ Producers but also an abridged set of songs written by Tina based on her erotic turkey fiction that is also lightly based on he own life. The play also features exploding giblets on the audience which is such a perfect plan that absolutely nothing could go wrong. A-Plus songs, A-Plus jokes, almost nothing could beat this one for me.
1. Turkey in a Can
This is the episode that always comes to mind with Bobs Burgers Thanksgiving episodes. Te premise is simple enough. Someone put Bob’s turkey in the toilet. And then it happens again. The mystery of the toilet turkey and Bob’s increasingly frantic ways of dealing with it are a perfect escalation. It’s never not funny. Plus the song matches the show in structure, starting out funny and getting increasingly funnier over its short runtime. A perfect episode.
So from worst worst to first, here we go.
11. Now We’re Not Cooking with Gas
This isn’t a terrible episode, but we’ve got high standards. Bob gets a rare heritage turkey from a specialty farm, but can’t cook it because the gas is out. So he gets increasingly desperate to cook the turkey in increasingly silly ways. Culminating in him sitting in the rain with a makeshift campfire and burning his socks. I see this one working more in theory than practice. In most of the Thanksgiving episodes Bob cares too much about the holiday, but he cares more about his family and so ends up putting aside his desires for theirs. Here, the majority of the episode is Bob failing to do that. It feels out of character. The joke of Riverbrook Lake Farms being the supplier of the heritage turkey did consistently make me laugh though. It’s just a good funny name. There’s a song, but I had to go look it up because i couldn’t remember it at all. so not doin any favors for this ranking.
10. Putts-giving
This honestly feels like we’re running out of ideas. The family has to use a coupon for mini golf that happens to expire on Thanksgiving. There’s a schism between Tina and the other kids because she feels like she has to appear mature and obedient while trying to ask permission to attend a party. But Gene and Louise would much rather have more fun being chaos gremlins. It mostly resolves how you expect. In the b-story Linda becomes obsessed with getting another hole-in-one. Nothing special. This is the last episode to be released as a “Thanksgiving episode” before the show stopped doing them all together. And it’s barely a Thanksgiving episode at all. Yes it takes place on the day, but the conflicts are all things that could have happened any other time. There are rumors that the show stopped doing Thanksgiving episodes after this one because there was pressure from the studio (Allegedly thanksgiving episodes don’t perform well outside the US) but I could see them just wanting to give it a rest after this barrel scraping episode. It gets a little bonus for having a song in the episode proper, before the credits, but that’s really what’s keeping it out of the bottom.
9. I Bob Your Pardon
The kids uncover a conspiracy! The town’s turkey pardoning ceremony turns out to be a sham when they discover the pardoned turkey is still going to be sent to the slaughterhouse. A chase ensues! I think this one is as low as it is because it relies on guest stars. We get multiple new characters and I did it really care about them. Turkey pardoning is weird, and I appreciate that this show knows that. Te song is pretty bland. mostly repeating “Saving the bird” and “Keeping our word” over and over again.
8. Thanks-hoarders
This is another episode that, like Putts-giving feels only incidentally about Thanksgiving. The family has to help their friend Teddy host Thanksgiving for his family, and in the process discover he is a hoarder. Like any sitcoms do with most complex psychological issues, they over simplify it and come to a relatively pat solution in 22 minutes. Which is fine! But I didn’t laugh much, rather I just felt kind of sad for Teddy. The song isn’t even about Thanksgiving, but rather that Teddy likes to collect and fix broken things. It’s kind of catchy, but that is all it has going for it.
7. Dawn of the Peck
So everything here on is a certified banger. I want that to be clear. Because Dawn of the Peck being number seven on the list mostly goes to show how good the rest of these episodes are. A turkey trot goes wrong and hundreds (or thousands?) of birds are let loose in the amusement park and the rest of the town and a mild zombie apocalypse happens, but with turkeys. A turkey-pocalypse. Meanwhile Bob gets day drunk as his family abandons him yet again and has a good time by himself. This is a very funny episode, and the eventual conclusion is perfect. It still ranks relatively low because there is not an original song at all! But we do get to listen to some Donna Summer so that’s an acceptable replacement.
6.Stuck in the Kitchen With You
A later period episode that manages to bring new ideas to the table as well as work with existing relationships. The family visits a retirement home and Bob ends up having to cook dinner for everyone. Things get of hand and Bob’s control in the kitchen is off-putting to Louise, who starts off willing to help, but eventually gets run out by bob’s pursuit of perfection. It handles some of the same ideas in Not Cooking With Gas, but in a better way. Bob can’t get over his excitement to see how Louise feels and he has to work to repair that relationship. The b-plot is about the other kids trying to recreate the thanksgiving parade when the TV stops working, and has a lot of very funny moments. Plus it’s the source of the in-episode song, a “Broadway medley” that lists everything the kids know about broadway (not much), and there’s a different end-credits song where Loused becomes the super hero Captain Casserole, fighting evil with a kitchen torch. Good stuff.
5. Gale Making Bob-Sled
Bob has to go pick up Aunt Gale, because her ankle is twisted, but his car gets snowed in so he has to drag her back home on makeshift sled. It’s mostly a two hander between Bob and Gale, who really nail that sibling-in-law weirdness. You have to like each other, even as you don’t really understand the quirks that the other one has. There’s a lot of good bits in here, mostly about how Gale does everything, cat in a box, salad bowl, stuff like that. The song, Thanksgiving For Everybody, is short but sweet one basically three lines that make up a joke. Plus we get Bob in-episode scat singing to attract a cat down from somewhere up high. Lots of fun!
4. Diarrhea of a Poopy Kid
This one is a bit of a departure. The closest comparison is to something like the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror or Futurama’s Anthology of Interest. Gene has the stomach flu so cannot participate in thanksgiving. His family takes pity on him and expresses it through telling him stories where the villains are food. What this means is we the audience get 3 fun and punny parodies of action movies. We get a new version of The Predator (the Breadator) Air Force One (Pear Force One) and Armageddon (Parmageddon). They’re all a little bit silly, but I enjoyed the diversion. Plus the song, Turkey I Need You is a banger, originally sung by Gene in the bathroom and reprised over the credits.
3. An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal
We’re in all time classic space now. The Belcher’s Landlord Mr. Fischoeder wants to hire the belcher family (minus Bob) to pretend to be his fairly so he can woo a former flame who loves being the “Other woman” breaking up families. It is a silly premise but it only gets sillier from here. Bob gets hired as Mr. Fischoeder’s chef and keeps trying to get his family back while also drinking too much absinthe and making dinner. Linda gets way too into character and comes up with a song for her character to sing. This is the perfect integration of song and episode as Lind breaks into the song multiple times and we get a full reprise over the credits. Its not a good song, but it really does feel like a song that Linda wrote and rehearsed for the perfect thanksgiving moment. I love it.
2. The Quirk-ducers
A thanksgiving episode that focuses more on the kids. There’s a sub-plot where Linda gets too attached to a potato that looks like her grandfather, but the meat of the story (Pun intended) is the kids trying to put on a Thanksgiving play so bad that they have to cancel it and send everybody home early for a half day. This means we got both a parody of Mel Brooks’ Producers but also an abridged set of songs written by Tina based on her erotic turkey fiction that is also lightly based on he own life. The play also features exploding giblets on the audience which is such a perfect plan that absolutely nothing could go wrong. A-Plus songs, A-Plus jokes, almost nothing could beat this one for me.
1. Turkey in a Can
This is the episode that always comes to mind with Bobs Burgers Thanksgiving episodes. Te premise is simple enough. Someone put Bob’s turkey in the toilet. And then it happens again. The mystery of the toilet turkey and Bob’s increasingly frantic ways of dealing with it are a perfect escalation. It’s never not funny. Plus the song matches the show in structure, starting out funny and getting increasingly funnier over its short runtime. A perfect episode.