Family Fracas

"Family Fracas" is the 19th episode of the third season–and the 41st episode overall–of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. It was written by Holly Schlesinger and directed by Don MacKinnon.^[1] It aired on Fox in the United States on April 14, 2013.

Plot

After their car breaks down, the Belcher family competes on the TV family game show Family Fracas!, which is done in the style of "Double Dare". The host, Chuck (Thomas Lennon) has history with the family (see "Beefsquatch") and, is dismayed by the family constantly winning and returning for the next show. Bob's rival, Jimmy Pesto (Jay Johnston) and his family challenge the Belchers, winning under suspicious circumstances. Bob accuses them of cheating, causing the show's producer (Rob Huebel) to send both families to Pam's Court, hosted by Chuck's ex-wife and former co-anchor Pam (Samantha Bee).

Reception

Critical reception

Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B–, saying "The inability for the Belchers to make progress renders “Family Fracas” relatively disappointing overall. Although it certainly has its funny moments, they don't coalesce into a full episode because the failures become so predictable. The Belchers may deserve fame, and fame could even good for them in their world, but it's best for us viewers in our world that they stay unrecognized in theirs."^[2] John of Bubbleblabber gave the episode a ten out of ten saying, "Its very seldom when the antagonists of any one plot loses, so that twist alone made this week’s episode pretty special. But, this show has the Belchers and they were all sorts of funny tonight all the while being wrapped up in a plot surrounded by maybe the best voice cast of the show’s entire run."^[3]

Ratings

The episode received a 1.6 rating and was watched by a total of 3.45 million people. This made it the fourth most watched show on Animation Domination that night, beating The Cleveland Show but losing to Family Guy.^[4]

References