Fox always seems to have the most success on Sunday night with animated series that don't stray too far from what's already successful — namely, anything from "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane.
Last year, "Sit Down, Shut Up," from the executive producer of "Arrested Development," was a bomb. But I hope the network has better luck with "Bob's Burgers" (7:30 p.m. MST Sunday), an unexpectedly amusing comedy meal.
The first episode begins with the grand re-re-reopening of Bob's Burgers, a burger joint in a beach town, just down the street from an amusement park. Bob (voice of H. Jon Benjamin) assigns his children their tasks, but that often seems like more trouble than it's worth. Grill cook Tina (Dan Mintz) has an itchy crotch, son Eugene (Eugene Mirman) doesn't know the difference between being entertaining and annoying as he tries to get passers-by to sample the burgers, and youngest daughter Louise (Kristen Schaal) wants to change the burger of the day to "The Child Molester." On top of that, Bob's wife, Linda (John Roberts), expects a surprise wedding-anniversary gift, but Bob has forgotten about the occasion. And then the health inspector shows up.
From there, the absurdities only grow as the public comes to believe Bob is serving burgers made of human meat harvested from the crematorium next door.
Created by Loren Bouchard ("Home Movies"), who wrote the premiere with fellow executive producer Jim Dauterive ("King of the Hill"), "Bob's Burgers" benefits greatly from a voice cast that's unique for the number of men who play women, giving the show an off-kilter sound.
Benjamin, who gives voice to Bob, is also the voice of Sterling Archer on FX's soon-to-return "Archer," and he sounds identical on both shows. That was a little distracting at first, but by the end of the first episode, the writing was strong enough to overcome the dissonance.
It remains to be seen if there's a vision for "Bob's Burgers" that can propel it beyond the first episode — Fox only made Sunday's pilot available — but so far this animated comedy is truly well done.
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