Ranking as one of my personal favorite animated shows, it is a pleasure to see the Bob’s Burgers panel return back to the (virtual) Comic-Con stage. Alongside cast members H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Dan Mintz, and Larry Murphy, the panel also included supervising producer Janelle Momary, and showrunners Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith, with Bouchard serving as moderator. The panel provided new clips from the upcoming 11th Season of the show, along with future episode title reveals and teasers, plus bringing in fans for a Q&A.
Fans will be delighted to hear that the series is still on track to premiere on time with animators and writers being able to work from home through the pandemic. Production is running smoothly and at this time, Season 11 of Bob’s Burgers will be premiering September 27, 2020. The panel debuted scenes from two episodes, one featuring Louise in a bolo tie and the other featuring Bob speaking to kitchen appliances, so of course, they were fantastic.
For the production team, Bouchard commended Momary for the efficiency and speed in which she was able to set everything up for the team to work from home. And while it seemed like the infrastructure was always there for them, there was something that was missing from the office environment. “The biggest challenge for us is that collaborativeness,” Momary explained. “There are all those hallway conversations that you just walk by and hear and when you’re able to jump in and have those right creative voices. It’s able to elevate every episode. I think we missed that.”
Full of bandying jokes and banter, the best thing about this panel is just getting to watch the cast and creators talk behind the scenes and putting real faces to animated characters. Bouchard, Momary, and Smith discussed the second episode of Season 11 called “Worms of Enrearment” in which the Belcher family is infected with pinworms and how it accidentally became timely due to the parasitic nature of the worms and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before “Worms of Enrearment”, the premiere episode is titled “Dream a Little Bob of Bob,” a dream-like episode inside Bob’s mind. Eagle-eyed fans who have spotted the hotel at the end of the Belcher’s street will get a treat this Halloween as the Belcher kids go to deliver a burger there on Halloween night. Along with Halloween is also a Thanksgiving and Christmas episode in typical Bob’s Burgers fashion.
Season 11 will also feature the 200th episode titled “Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids.” Bouchard described it as, “A little bit of a Rashoman story, not really. But there’s three kids and three levels of guilt that pertain to a disastrous event.”
Alongside the clips, jokes, teasers, and questions, Bouchard also took a moment to praise the efforts of the show to cast more women, crediting Kristen Schaal for challenging them to hire more women. He took some time to list some of the actresses brought in for Season 9 and 10. “It’s important that we celebrate those women and that we make a place for them on Bob’s, and we continue to try to do that,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of bringing women into the animation industry. “You know, the animation industry was a bit on the white male side, I would say until very recently, you know, historically,” he said. “But I think a lot of us are actively trying to change that.” He identified nearly 50% of the writing team and 31% of roles at Bento Box Animation to female employees. And while he admits that that’s not enough, he voiced an effort to reach at least 50%. “I think it’s up every year,” he said. “And that’s the goal, just to keep going and going and going.”
On top of that, there was some mention of the Bob’s Burger: The Movie although a release date is still unofficial. It sounds like the team has been working on it and is simply waiting for theaters to open up so they can release it to general audiences.
Be sure to check out the official panel for a look at those exclusive clips!
Bob’s Burgers returns September 27th, 2020 for Season 11 on FOX.
