After years of trying to figure out what to pair with 'The Simpsons' and 'Family Guy' on Sunday nights, FOX hit on a successful formula: Give Seth MacFarlane every timeslot after the venerable 'Simpsons.' It works, even if it made the night somewhat monolithic in nature. So any attempt at bringing in other voices to the 'Animation Domination' lineup should be welcomed.

Enter Loren Bouchard, who produced the "squigglevision" cult hit 'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist' and the short-lived but well-regarded 'Home Movies.' His contribution to the FOX Sunday lineup is 'Bob's Burgers,' which debuts Sunday, January 9 at 8:30PM ET. It's a show that takes its cues as much from Adult Swim as it does its FOX counterparts. But for all of it's irreverence and oddity, there's a sweet tone underneath that makes the show more accessible than most of its AS cousins.

Oh, and it's also pretty damn funny, to boot.

The show revolves around the Belcher family, who run a greasy spoon restaurant in a small shore town. Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) comes from a family of restaurant owners and thinks his burgers are the best ever. He just hasn't had much luck with his business; the first episode has Bob's Burgers celebrating it's "grand re-re-re-opening" after a series of unfortunate incidents. His wife Linda (John Roberts) loves Bob's vision, even if she's getting a bit weary that the business seems to constantly come before her in their marriage.

Bob is not 100% happy that he depends on his kids to help him run the place. "I love you all dearly... but I need to tell you, I'd fire all of you if I could," he says to his kids. The oldest, Tina (Dan Mintz), is a big social misfit; the middle child Gene (Eugene Mirman) fashions himself as a grand entertainer, even if his idea of promoting the business is to make fart noises with his megaphone; the youngest, Louise (Kristen Schaal), really wants Bob's Burgers to succeed, but her "creativity" often makes her dad's life more difficult.

It's that creativity that forces Bob to confront someone from Linda's past in the pilot, who just happens to be a persnickety health inspector. The combination of the inspector's emotions about Linda, the antics of Bob's kids, and the restaurant's location next to a crematorium leads to one of the more unique failing grades ever given to a restaurant, real or fictional.


There are a few issues with the pilot: Benjamin's dedpan voice is so distinctive, fans of 'Archer' or any of his other voice work may have trouble envisioning him as the hapless Bob. And the pilot seems to be a little heavy on the cutaways, extended gags and flashbacks that have been done to death on their schedule-mates.

But there is definitely a warm family vibe under the oddity, something that Matt Groening has been great at but MacFarlane has always struggled to capture. Bouchard has said that he envisioned 'Bob's Burgers' as a replacement for 'King of the Hill,' and I can see where he's coming from. If Mike Judge ever combined the family-oriented 'King' with the more subversive humor of his other major efforts, 'Beavis and Butt-head' and 'Office Space,' he might have come up with 'Bob's Burgers.'

Either way, I found myself laughing hard a few times during the pilot, which is ultimately what is going to make or break this show. Is America ready for a family cartoon with an Adult Swim sensibility? I certainly hope so, because 'Bob's Burgers' deserves a chance to succeed.

'Bob's Burgers' airs Sundays at 8:30PM ET on Fox, starting January 9.

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