Comic-Con@Home 2021: What We Learned from FOX’s “Bob’s Burgers” Panel with the Cast and Creative Team

Comic-Con@Home 2021 concluded this afternoon with a panel discussion of the hit FOX animated series Bob’s Burgers, featuring creator Loren Bouchard, executive producer Nora Smith, and cast members H. Jon Benjamin (voice of Bob Belcher), John Roberts (Linda Belcher), Kristen Schaal (Louise Belcher), Eugene Mirman (Gene Belcher), Dan Mintz (Tina Belcher), and Larry Murphy (Teddy).

In the bullet-point list below, I’ve enumerated the most interesting tidbits and factoids to come out of the Bob’s Burgers panel during Comic-Con@Home 2021.

Watch Bob's Burgers | Comic-Con@Home 2021:

  • The panel began with some clips from recent episodes of the series.
  • Lored Bouchard introduced the cast and his co-showrunner Nora Smith. He says they are glad to still be “virtual” this year, but still glad to be doing a panel.
  • He says it’s boring to talk about recording from home at this point, so he’s not going to get into it. “We’ve covered it.”
  • Apparently the cast will go back to recording the next season simultaneously, even if it may still be remotely. “I still firmly believe that it is a magic ingredient that gives a life and energy to the track and brings out the ‘A’ game.”
  • Everyone is looking forward to being back together at some point, though they each seem to have little things they don’t like about the building in which they usually work. H. Jon Benjamin really misses the snack trays at the recording studio.
  • The upcoming season was made during COVID “with the same absolute commitment and ambition” as usual.
  • Names of new episodes include “Crystal Mess,” “The Pumpkining,” “Driving Big Dummy,” “Gene’s Christmas Break,” “Video Killed the Geneo Star,” “Ancient Misbehaving,” and more.
  • Guest stars will include Doug Benson, Zach Galifianakis, Tim Meadows, Dana Snyder, Nick Kroll, Will Forte, Sarah Silverman, Molly Shannon, Wyatt Cenac, and Todd Barry.
  • Bouchard says they still can’t officially talk about the Bob’s Burgers movie, but his every waking moment is spent working on it. His pledge is to release it in theaters, and he says we should start seeing trailers soon. “It is going to be the best possible thing we could make.”
  • The movie is a musical/comedy/mystery/adventure/coming-of-age story. They do not have a release date yet.
  • They also made a Bob’s Burgers short called “My Butt Has a Fever” that is intended to play in theaters at some point.
  • They played three clips from the upcoming season. One is from the B-story of an episode where an unusual flower arrangement is delivered to the restaurant.
  • The cast talked about whether they’ve been interacting with fans more or less during the lockdown. H. Jon Benjamin liked to walk around New York City while everyone was clapping for the first responders and assume they were clapping for him. He also says he got recognized more for his voice while he was wearing a mask.
  • The second clip was from the animatic for the episode “Driving Big Dummy,” where Bob and Teddy are driving together and Teddy starts to get on Bob’s nerves.
  • The third clip featured the Belcher kids, exploring the idea of “What if Gene was afraid of growing older?”
  • There will be a two-parter at the end of next season that “breaks some rules.” A significant amount of the story takes place within Tina’s “Erotic Friend Fiction.” It breaks a general Bob’s Burgers rule of not having many too many minutes without dialogue. Bouchard says the original intent was to have the show work with only audio as well as it does with the animation.
  • At this point the panelists welcomed three fans to join in the Zoom chat and ask questions.
  • “What are the Five Sexy Parts from the song ‘Five Sexy Parts’?” John Roberts says eyebrows, lips, butt, and eardrum.
  • The Bob’s Burgers album from seasons 7, 8, and 9 is coming out from Sub Pop on August 20.
  • “When Bob retires, which of the Belcher kids would you want to see take over the family business?” Dan Mintz says it would be a Six Feet Under situation, where Tina would be the loyal one. Kristen Schaal says Louise would make the restaurant successful and it would become a chain. Eugene Mirman says the restaurant would be bought by Mike Pompeo. “I don’t know that Gene has the organizational skills to run a restaurant.”
  • “What movies and TV shows will you be referencing in upcoming episodes?” Bouchard says they’re light on movie references in the new season, except for the two-parter, which is an homage to Blade Runner and “sexy robot movies” in general. The family reads aloud from Tina’s Erotic Friend Fiction and they spin through references to Grease, Fast & Furious, Saving Private Ryan, and Jurassic Park. Another episode has a bit of The Hurt Locker in it.
  • “Who has been your favorite guest star?” John Roberts hopes Dionne Warwick comes on the show.
  • “How do you come up with the Burger of the Day?” Noara Smith says they look up ingredients and try to think of a movie or a song that goes with it. “There are hundreds of Burgers of the Day that are just in the trash.”
  • “What character would H. Jon Benjamin voice if not Bob?” Benjamin says Tina or Gene.
  • “Will Louise end up with Rudy?” “No one knows.”
  • “Are they actually cannibals?” “No, but maybe some percentage of the meat is human. It’s never been proven.”
  • Schaal says she is excited to do Comic-Con in San Diego next year.

Season 12 of Bob’s Burgers will begin this fall on FOX.

Mike Celestino
Mike serves as Laughing Place's lead Southern California reporter, Editorial Director for Star Wars content, and host of the weekly "Who's the Bossk?" Star Wars podcast. He's been fascinated by Disney theme parks and storytelling in general all his life and resides in Burbank, California with his beloved wife and cats.