Bob's Burgers carries real-life stakes unlike those of The Simpsons.
Like most of the episodes of the show, The Bob's Burgers Movie focused on a grounded narrative with real-life implications for the main characters. A sinkhole created in front of the titular restaurant damaged the family business and left Bob and Linda practically bankrupt. Though its ridiculous characters and several crazy events, this plausible story drove the action of the spinoff and gave the film reasonable stakes. Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene, and Louise live in something like working-class reality, where the Homer version of The Simpsons may tip a server $10,000.
Though paradoxically the most critically praised period of the program lost this trait, The Simpsons wasn't always so disconnected from the real world. Even in the heightened reality of a cartoon, the Simpsons seasons 1–3 regularly included stories where the Family's finances were truly challenged. From about season 4 to season 9, the show's so-called Golden Age discarded these stories in favor of zanier, sillier narratives. The Simpsons become increasingly ambitistically bizarre, surreal, and experimental during this time, rejecting realistic storylines. The relatability of the eponymous family suffered in result.
The Bob's Burgers Movie Also Emphasized Its Restraints
The Bob's Burgers Movie also revealed The Simpsons has something Bob's Burgers is lacking, even while the spinoff highlighted the excellent points of the show. While The Bob's Burgers Movie was a far smaller scale drama set just at the dock, 2007's The Simpsons Movie was a massive blockbuster story spanning America. Bob's Burgers succeeds as the Comedy is so grounded, but this also means the program has less chance to pull off weird and absurd narratives without sacrificing its believability.
Regarding relatability, The Simpsons has not much to lose either. The Simpsons is a more ridiculous, crazier program than Bob's Burgers and one whose imaginary universe isn't as anchored in fact as the more recent series. Marge's adventures in The Simpsons season 35 show the show can still access anything approximating relevant stakes from time to time, even if occasionally it results in the show straying too far from its initial attraction. On the other hand, even if The Bob's Burgers Movie highlighted Bob's Burgers' merits, it also underlined The Simpsons' underappreciated breadth.
The Bob's Burgers Movie Verified It Has Something The Simpsons Is Missing
The Bob's Burgers Movie suffered at the box office, but its critical success shows Bob's Burgers has one quality absent from The Simpsons. Bob's Burgers has been often likened to The Simpsons since the show started. This is not unusual for the show since past Animated Comedy about families like Family Guy, American Dad, and King of the Hill have drew similarities to the venerable series. It is difficult to overestimate The Simpsons season 36's influence on the animated TV comedy scene as it gets ready for broadcast later in 2024. But Bob's Burgers shares a special resemblance with The Simpsons.
While Seth MacFarlane's Animated comedy series approach South Park or Rick and Morty in terms of their adult content, Bob's Burgers and The Simpsons are both essentially Family-friendly. This could help to explain Bob's Burgers' appearance on the big screen before American Dad or Family Guy in 2021. Though the narrative of The Bob's Burgers Movie drew on The Simpsons, the movie's tone and style were exclusive for the oddball series. If anything, The Bob's Burgers Movie exposed something The Simpsons has been lacking from the first seasons.
Season 35 borrowed from Bob's Burgers The Simpsons
Though The Bob's Burgers Movie failed at the box office and killed any possibility for The Bob's Burgers Movie 2, it was a critical hit much like the show itself. Season 35 of The Simpsons correctly chose to draw some of the show's real-life stakes from a particularly hit episode, "Night of the Living Wage." Marge's employment in a ghost kitchen and her accompanying financial difficulties reflected Bob's Burgers' working-class environment, in which oddball supporting characters coexist alongside relevant issues like late payments and debt. One of the strongest episodes of season 35 paid off this gambit.
The Simpsons copying from Bob's Burgers makes sense as Bob's Burgers has likewise owed a creative debt to the earlier hit since the show started. With Bob's Burgers often making its young heroes the show's actual heroes, the Simpsons episodes focused on Bart and Lisa certainly affected the many adventures of Gene, Louise, and Tina. Bob's Burgers changes its emphasis depending on the episode from the Belcher children to their overworked parents. This also takes from The Simpsons, which was once meant to center Bart until Homer became really popular with viewers.
Though interestingly lacked a solution to this mystery, the Best Episode B of the Simpsons Season 35 brought up one of the oldest plot holes of the show.
The best episode of the Simpsons season 35 highlighted one of the oldest story flaws in the show, but curiously it did not provide a fix for this riddle.
Although the show has been on the air for such a long period, some viewers might not remember these problems; this plot hole is one the show has not thoroughly addressed. Fans will have to wait season 36 and beyond to learn.
