Review: Bob’s Burgers ‘Itty Bitty Ditty Committee’

Spoilers Below:

It seems like it has been forever since we had a new Bob’s Burgers episode, but now it’s back, and doesn’t appear to have missed a beat. I’ve often argued that the best Bob’s episodes feature a storyline split where the kids are in one, and Bob and Linda are in the other. This is due to the strong personalities of each of the children (who are possibly the real stars of the show) and the mischief in which they participate together. Also, husband and wife are best in this show when they interact one-on-one. Bob becomes more fun and is willing to go out of his element for Linda, often creating comically-awkward situations. Linda is the most entertaining when she is allowed to outwardly be herself.

In last night’s show, Gene, Louise, Tina, Regular-Size Rudy, and Peter Pescadero formed a band called the Itty Bitty Ditty Committee. Seeking a singer, the crew enlisted Darryl (Aziz Ansari) and scored their first gig at Lenny DiStefano’s birthday party. But prior to the event, the Belcher children were kicked out for lack of talent. A dejected Gene vowed to quit music, but eventually gave it another shot, getting the entire neighborhood to join in the celebration. The remaining members of the Itty Bitty Ditty Committee then approached Gene, claiming the band wasn’t fun without him, and asked him to rejoin. He accepted.

Meanwhile, a rash forced Linda to stop shaving her armpits, and the resulting hair growth began to drive her mad. However, she got used to the new look, and was hesitant to part with the locks after the rash went away.

In Case You Missed It:

1) Next door store: Cupid’s Stupid – Divorce Attorneys

2) Pest Truck: Do the Rat Thing Exterminators

3) Burgers of the Day: If You’ve Got It Croissant It Burger, Parm Pit Burger (comes with parmesan).

4) “Strawsome” – Awesome with straws.

5) “Nothing from Frozen, ‘cause I don’t want to cry.”

6) Best comment about Linda’s underarm hair: “It looks like that guy from Counting Crows.”

7) “They David Lee Roth-ed you.”

8) I’m really upset that I couldn’t read one of the Burgers of the Day.

For the amount of time devoted to Gene’s love of music, it’s amazing we haven’t yet had an episode where he vows to quit for some reason. Sure, it’s a clichéd storyline, but who can fault Bob’s Burgers for trying it out? In fact, it’s even more surprising we haven’t yet had an episode centered on Gene being in a band, unless you could fantasy sequences like the one in Gene’s “Frond Files” segment. Oddly, we had one about Linda being in a band (“Purple Rain-Union”) first.

As expected, the kids shined in their half of the installment, with Gene showing some emotional depth (and some shots of a young, teeny Gene-y) and the revelation that he isn’t very good at playing the keyboard, despite his intense passion. However, it appeared that he improved the littlest bit by the end of the episode, so that was an encouraging sign.

We also saw some good lines from Tina for some reason, as she appeared to be the moody character of the episode (“I’m sorry. It’s just…feed your children.”) and also the occasional voice of reason.

Oddly, Louise had a smaller role than the other Belcher kids, something on par with Rudy and Peter. In another odd decision, Peter was given what is probably his largest part of the series thus far. Despite appearing in over a dozen episodes, Peter was usually relegated to non-speaking cameos.

The B-story was quite amusing, as Linda’s hair dilemma was a silly, innocent predicament, and really highlighted her personality. Linda is a character that cares about her image as much as the next person, but prefers to act in whatever way makes her most comfortable, and often gets caught up trying to express that. Clearly the two Burgers of the Day that I was able to decipher (“If You’ve Got It Croissant It Burger,” and “Parm Pit Burger (comes with parmesan)”) were meant to illustrate her attitude toward the new arm addition, and she acted exactly how you would expect her to. Bob once again sweetly supported a slightly crazy member of his family, because he’s tolerant like that.

The “Itty Bitty Ditty Committee” episode didn’t obviously appear to be a classic, yet somehow it was quite satisfying. It also appeared to have a minor shortcoming or two regarding its familiarity, but didn’t actually self-plagiarize in any way. So I honestly can’t think of anything to really fault the episode for. In the end, I’d gladly take another just like it next week.