Every Season Of Bob's Burgers Ranked Worst To Best

From adult animation cult hit to major motion picture, "Bob's Burgers" has been on quite the journey since the Fox show started in 2011. Even though the passage of time doesn't seem to affect the Belcher family, "Bob's Burgers" has changed tremendously over the years. Initially pitched as a show about a family of cannibals who run a restaurant, the program has toned down the edge and grown into a heartwarming comedy for all ages.

"Bob's Burgers" follows the struggles and absurd adventures of Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and his wife Linda (John Roberts) as they try to run a burger joint while raising kids Louise (Kristen Schaal), Gene (Eugene Mirman), and Tina (Dan Mintz). After 13 seasons, with at least two more to come, we've gotten to know everyone quite well.

How do each of the years match up against one another? More than just the art style has changed in the decade and a half since the show was pitched. It's fair to say that "Bob's Burgers" is still a popular show for Fox, but many consider the golden years to be behind it now. So how do these new seasons stack up to the early years, when "Bob's Burgers" is still finding its footing?

Taking into account fan ratings, IMDb scores, and our own bit of long-time "Bob's Burgers" fandom, we ranked the seasons of the hit animated sitcom from worst to best. Stick around to see which season is named Burgerboss.

Hitting double digits can often be a death knell. Even the record-breaking run of "The Simpsons" began to go stale around Season 10. And while this weak series of "Bob's Burgers" episodes has nothing on the guest-star-filled pablum of the early 2000s "Simpsons," it certainly wasn't doing much to bring in new fans either.

Funnily enough, the season begins with its strongest episode, "The Ring (But Not Scary)." No, this isn't a Halloween episode, but the kids feel frightened like never before when they lose Bob's long overdue engagement ring for Linda at the water park. The episode strikes a great balance of silly and heart-warming that much of the rest of the season lacks. New appearances from familiar characters like Hawk and Chick and Nat the limo driver failed to drum up as much excitement as even the new, albeit simple, premise of "the Belcher family goes to the mall." "Legends of the Mall" ends up being a memorable episode in a sea of mostly forgettable ones or retreads.

If you are going to venture into Season 10 and aren't a "Bob's Burgers" diehard, we recommend "Poops!... I Didn't Do It Again." The episode, like the season premiere, gets the show's balance of gross-out humor right, and ends up featuring one of the most touching Bob and Louise moments — even if it's bonding over the fear of public pooping.

Season 13 has one episode that single-handedly boosts its ranking. The highest-rated "Bob's Burgers" episode on IMDb, "The Plight Before Christmas" is a marvelous return to form even after the excellent and fan-pleasing movie performed below expectations. In the undeniably solid half-hour, every plot line comes together as Bob and Linda rush to attend each of their kid's holiday performances at school. This has everything you want from a "Bob's Burgers" episode (including holiday spirit) but the ending is a real tear-jerker that elevates it from great to all-timer status.

While the general quality of the show is still more hit-and-miss than it used to be, Season 13 had the best hit rate in quite some time. When it hit, it really hit, which is how it produced more than just one of the best "Bob's Burgers" episodes in years. In addition to the spectacular Christmas episode, the season finale "Amelia” is an honest and powerful half-hour of TV. In choosing her for an assignment, Louise has to grapple with the reality of Amelia Earhart's failure and learns a very real lesson about how even our idols are human.

Season 8 of "Bob's Burgers" gets off to a tremendous start with the fan-animated special "Brunchsquatch." The episode is well-written with a fitting conflict that leads to a half-hour full of solid chuckles. However, it's mostly memorable for the constantly shifting art styles crowd-sourced from fan submissions. The rest of the season fails to live up to these astronomical heights. It's still very much a good pack of "Bob's Burgers" episodes, but it's not firing on all cylinders compared to the seasons preceding it.

Some memorable moments include Tina spending a day as a lifeguard and the Belchers catering a wedding. It goes well enough. We do have to give a shout-out to the two-part Christmas episode from Season 8, "The Bleakening." While the series isn't as consistent as it used to be, "Bob's Burgers" is still killing it when it comes to its themed episodes, which have now come to include Valentine's Day as well. We can't deny that even in Season 8 the writers were full of new scenarios to place the family in, even if the season overall leaned too hard into making entire episodes from minor holidays. 

Season 6 has an excellent run of episodes — the only problem is that it's couched between two knockout acts. While it may not be as consistent as the season before or after it, this is still "Bob's Burgers" in its prime and you pretty much can't go wrong with a single episode from this list. From here on out, these are all top-tier "Bob's Burgers" seasons.

From excellent parodies like the robo-stache and the Gayle and Bob Christmas disaster, Season 6 is stacked top to bottom with fan-favorite moments and episodes. Let us not forget "The Hauntening," which stands out as the highest-rated Halloween episode of "Bob's Burgers" to this day. 

The best of the bunch would have to be the 100th episode and season finale "Glued, Where's my Bob?" With a ludicrous plot that feels fresh but totally on brand and the best musical number the series had yet whipped up, "Bob's Burgers" was still making major creative moves even this far into its run. Bad things do indeed happen in the bathroom, but there weren't very many bad things in this season.

It's quite a feat for any show to keep the quality as high and consistent as "Bob's Burgers" did well into its seventh season. This alone should cement it as one of the great animated TV shows of the modern era. It begins with "Flu-ouise," a fever dream of an episode where Louise is sick in bed that sees the show going to trippier and more abstract spaces than ever before. Of course, the season is still "Bob's Burgers" at its core and full of the hilariously mundane, such as Bob getting into a gingerbread house-building competition with Mr. Fischoeder (Kevin Kline) or Bob getting in a hip-hop dance battle to win Linda's Valentine's Day affections. 

That's perhaps the best part of Season 7. Everyone gets to shine at some point or another. Tina is the star of "Ain't Miss Debating" when she joins the Wagstaff debate team, but Gene and Louise making a stop-motion movie with a pile of rotting beef might be the funniest part of the entire season. Don't forget Linda, either. "Thelma & Louise Except Thelma Is Linda" is a great example of "Bob's Burgers" challenging its characters. Despite time never moving forward, both Louise and Linda learn the absurd lengths they will go for each other. 

You could certainly make an argument that Season 5 is the best season of "Bob's Burgers." There's no denying this season is filled with bangers, from the premiere — where Gene makes his "Die Hard" musical dreams a reality — to the season finale "The Oeder Games." In the latter, we see the Belchers competing in an elaborate "Hunger Games"-like competition set up by their greedy landlord, Mr. Fischoeder. 

At this point, it wasn't just the Belchers — characters like Fischoeder were getting more and more opportunities to shine, as we saw in "The Oeder Games" and the season's Thanksgiving special, "Dawn of the Peck." Episodes like "The Gayle Tales" fully embraced the popularity of the show's bourgeoning ensemble cast of characters who gave "Bob's Burgers" so much of its personality. Season 5 also introduced us to Bob's father "Big Bob" (Bill Hader) and martial arts cinema stars Hawk and Chick.