#2. Bob's Burgers

2. Bob’s Burgers 

(Created by Loren Bouchard) 

Instead of attacking this as a retrospective, I’ll (attempt to) keep this short. Bob’s Burgers is THE best adult animated program currently on TV. Now I’ll qualify this statement by making this a bit more clear: I am comparing the series to say, The Simpsons’ or South Park’s current output. But having said that, this could still probably contend with those guys at their peaks (time will tell on this one.) Never has a mainstream prime time comedy be both so irreverent and heartfelt. Burgers forgoes topical humor and pop culture references for honest-to-god jokes, basing gags and story lines off of wonderfully developed characters and amazingly conceived family dynamics.

Created by Loren Bouchard (he of Home Movies fame, another favorite show and possible future tribute), Burgers tells the story of a family operating a burger joint on a boardwalk in order to make ends meet. I could go on and on about what makes this series so strong; delightfully strange plot points, great guest appearances (a list that appears like a who’s who in alternative comedy), and a slew of secondary characters that rival The Simpsons or Parks and Recreation. But the shining star here is the voice work. The main cast carries this show. Not only have they perfected the improvisational humor that plays so well with a show like this, but in the process they have created an extremely strong foundation for these characters. The family, portrayed by comedians H. Jon Benjamin (Bob), John Roberts (Linda), Dan Mintz (Tina), Eugene Mirman (Gene), and Kristen Schaal (Louise), really hold this show up, so here they are playing their characters playing themselves… Or something like that.
 

Don’t sleep on this show, you jerk.