Bob’s Burgers: “Bob Fires the Kids” (Episode 3.03)
As great as an episode of Bob’s Burgers can be when the kids and the adults are given their own separate stories, such as in “Full Bars,” there’s something much more rewarding about a storyline that combines the two groups in an almost Simpson-ian manner. When the Bob and Linda story coincides with the stories of Tina, Gene and Louise, the family bonding aspect of the show almost always works greatly. With “Bob Fires the Kids,” the story revolves around Bob’s fears that he is an insufficient father, overworking his kids like his own father worked him.
Bob takes a look back at his childhood with some of his old toys—including a scrubbing pad, a dirty spatula and a dog made of soap—and worries that he is becoming too much like his own father, who wanted more work and less play. To make sure his kids maintain some semblance of their childhood, Bob fires the kids. But the kids are kind of terrible at being normal kids, as they can’t jump rope or fill water balloons and a trip to the beach ends in a wave of used diapers.
The kids would rather spend time with their family at the restaurant, but Bob fights the urge to keep them around by trying to hire a new employee. Since he can’t exactly pay a new employee, he hires Mickey, the recently released bank robber who took Bob hostage last season, voiced by Bill Hader.