Christmas in the Car

Last updated
"Christmas in the Car"
Bob's Burgers episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 8
Directed byBernard Derriman
Jennifer Coyle
Written bySteven Davis
Kelvin Yu
Production code3ASA17
Original air dateDecember 15, 2013 (2013-12-15)
Guest appearance
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Bob and Deliver"		Next →
"Slumber Party"
Bob's Burgers season 4
List of episodes

"Christmas in the Car" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 53rd episode, and is written by Steven Davis and Kelvin Yu and directed by Bernard Derriman and Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on December 15, 2013. [1]

Contents

Plot

On November 1, Linda sets up the Christmas tree. When it dies on Thanksgiving, the Belchers get a new one the next day. When it dies on Christmas Eve, the family is forced to seek out a Christmas tree at a far off lot an hour away. Bob asks Teddy to check on the ham he is cooking, but Teddy is inadvertently caught in a trap set by Louise to catch Santa. Teddy finds himself pinned under the refrigerator as the Belchers search for their tree.

While pulling out of the tree lot, their car is almost hit by a large semi truck decorated to look like a candy cane. Linda tries to spread Christmas cheer to the irritated driver by honking the horn in time to "Jingle Bells", but, as Bob tells her, all the driver can hear is honking. The semi takes off and the Belchers head home. However, Bob notices that the candy cane truck was actually waiting for them and tries to run them off the road. The rest of the family believe it's all in Bob's head and that the candy cane truck was just driving past them. Linda has them pull over at a diner that specializes in Dutch baby desserts and orders one to go. Bob attempts to report the truck to an irate police officer, but to no avail.

Back on the road, the candy cane truck reappears and nearly runs them off the road again, with the family now believing Bob. They pull off into a side road into the woods to hide as the candy cane truck pursues them, but find their car is stuck in the snow. They are unable to call for help because Gene has used up the cellphone's batteries waiting on hold to request a Christmas carol, "Jingle in the Jungle", on the radio. The candy cane truck finds them and begins approaching them. Bob tells Linda and the kids to stand back and prepares to confront the driver, who turns out to be a tiny man named Gary. Gary tries to fight Bob, telling him that he is alone on Christmas because he must drive the candy cane truck across the country in one night from a Christmas Eve parade to a Christmas Day parade the next day. The rude honking made him snap. Recognizing that Gary is no threat and having a difficult Christmas, Bob and Gary come to an understanding. Gary helps tow their car out of the snow and Linda gives him her Dutch baby to enjoy during his cross-country drive, which touches him. The Belchers return home and are shocked to find Teddy trapped under the fridge, who asks them to read his Christmas card to them.

Reception

Pilot Viruet of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, saying "For an episode where the Belcher family is often in immediate danger, “Christmas in a Car” is full of Yuletide magic. The children, particularly and predictably Louise, are obsessed with the idea of catching Santa Claus and have built a booby trap in the house; we learn Tina may or may not still believe in Santa; Linda's love and obsession with Christmas (and her planning for future holidays) is a running joke throughout; even the seemingly psychopathic trucker has Christmas-related reasons for his actions. Also, there's Teddy!" [2]

Robert Ham of Paste gave the episode a 9.8 out of ten, saying "No lessons were learned. No heartfelt moments of joy and togetherness came to light. Just some strange admissions from the family when they were about to be spotted by their candy-cane-driving nemesis (Gene: “I think I have the best legs in the family and the smoothest bottom.” Tina: “I was the one who didn’t flush.”) and a little smattering of the holiday spirit for good measure." [3]

The episode received a 2.4 rating and was watched by a total of 5.57 million people. This made it the third most watched show on Animation Domination that night, beating American Dad! but losing to Family Guy and The Simpsons with 8.48 million. [4]

Related Research Articles

Bob's Burgers is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is centered on the Belcher family—parents Bob and Linda and their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise—who run a burger restaurant and often go on adventures of many kinds. The show premiered on January 9, 2011. The series was conceived by Bouchard after he developed Home Movies. Bob's Burgers is a joint production by Wilo Productions and 20th Television Animation.

"Food Truckin'" is the fifth episode of the second season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 18th episode, and is written by Lizzie Molyneux and Wendy Molyneux and directed by Bernard Derriman. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 15, 2012.

"Full Bars" is the second episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 24th episode, and is written by Steven Davis and Kelvin Yu and directed by Boohwan Lim and Kyounghee Lim. The episode premiered on October 7, 2012, in the United States on Fox. This marks the series first Halloween episode.

"The Unbearable Like-Likeness of Gene" is the eighth episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. The episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 9, 2012. The episode centers around Gene Belcher as he attempts to end an undesirable relationship with his irritating female classmate Courtney. However, when he learns that Courtney's father Doug is a jingle writer who owns several electronic musical instruments, he decides to stay in the relationship, hoping that Doug will be able to start Gene a music career of his own. A subplot involves Linda Belcher attempting to lose weight by following a diet consisting solely of fruit and vegetable peels.

"O.T.: The Outside Toilet" is the 15th episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 37th episode, and is written by Lizzie and Wendy Molyneux and directed by Anthony Chun. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 3, 2013.

"A River Runs Through Bob" is the first episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 46th episode, and is written by Dan Fybel and Rich Rinaldi and directed by Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on September 29, 2013.

"Fort Night" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. The episode, written by Mike Olsen, is the series' second Halloween special, and features guest appearances from comedians Aziz Ansari and Molly Shannon. Its plot centers around the Belcher siblings – Tina, Gene, and Louise – getting trapped in their makeshift fort on Halloween with their friends Darryl (Ansari), Andy, and Ollie, all the while being tormented by Millie (Shannon), a psychotic classmate of Louise's who refuses to send any help. The children must try to escape the fort before trick-or-treating commences at night.

"Seaplane!" is the third episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 48th episode, and is written by Dan Fybel and Rich Rinaldi and directed by Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 3, 2013.

"Slumber Party" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 54th episode, and is written by Scott Jacobson and directed by Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 5, 2014.

"Mazel-Tina" is the 13th episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 58th episode, and is written by Holly Schlesinger and directed by Brian Loschiavo. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 16, 2014.

"Uncle Teddy" is the 14th episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 59th episode, and is written by Dan Fybel and Rich Rinaldi and directed by Don MacKinnon. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 23, 2014.

"I Get Psy-chic Out of You" is the 16th episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 61st episode, and is written by Jon Schroeder and directed by Chris Song. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 6, 2014.

"World Wharf II: The Wharfening " is the 22nd episode and season finale of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 67th episode, and is written by Lizzie Molyneux and Wendy Molyneux and directed by Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on May 18, 2014.

"Dawn of the Peck" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 71st episode. It was written by Lizzie Molyneux and Wendy Molyneux and directed by Tyree Dillihay. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 23, 2014.

"Speakeasy Rider" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 76th episode, and is written by Rich Rinaldi and directed by Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 11, 2015.

"Housetrap" is the 19th episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 86th episode. It was written by Dan Fybel and directed by Jennifer Coyle and Bernard Derriman. It aired on Fox in the United States on May 10, 2015. In this episode, the family gets stuck in a terrible storm while vacationing at a beach house in Craggy Neck. The storm is the least of their worries, however, when they are forced to take shelter with the mysterious owner of the home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hauntening</span> 3rd episode of the 6th season of Bobs Burgers

"The Hauntening" is the third episode of the sixth season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the 91st episode overall. It was written by Steven Davis and Kevin Yu who won an Annie Award, and was directed by Jennifer Coyle. Guest star is Max Greenfield who voices boyband member Boo Boo. It first aired in the United States on October 18, 2015 at Fox Network. In this episode, the Belcher family goes to a haunted house on Halloween, where the parents want to scare their children, especially Louise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nice-Capades</span> 5th episode of the 6th season of Bobs Burgers

"Nice-Capades" is the fifth episode of the sixth season of the American comedy series Bob's Burgers and the 93rd episode overall. It was written by Dan Fybel and directed by Chris Song. Guest starring are Kevin Kline as Calvin Fischoeder, Zach Galifianakis as his brother Felix Fischoeder, Henry Winkler as a mall Santa and Jessica Lowe who voices an elf. It first aired in the United States on Fox on November 15, 2015. In this Christmas episode, the siblings Tina, Gene and Louise Belcher try to prove that they are good kids by performing an ice capades show in front of a mall Santa.

"The Bleakening" is a two-part Christmas episode for the eighth season of the American animated television series Bob's Burgers. The first part is the sixth episode of the season and the 135th overall and was directed by Brian Loschiavo and written by Steven Davis. The second part is the season's seventh episode and the 136th overall and was directed by Chris Song and written by Kelvin Yu. Guest voices are Gary Cole as Sergeant Bosco, Pamela Adlon as Olsen Benner, Adam Driver as Art the artist, Sam Seder as Harold, Jay Johnston as Jimmy Pesto, David Herman as both Marshmallow and Trev, Jack McBrayer as Marbles, John Early as Dalton Crespin, Todrick Hall as Miss Triple X-Mas, Andy Kindler as Mort, and Matt Berninger as a singer. It first aired on Fox on December 10, 2017. In this episode, the Belcher family tries to find the thief of the top of their Christmas tree. Neither the series or an opening title sequence appear in this episode.

References

  1. ↑ "Bob's Burgers Episode Guide 2013 Season 4 - Christmas in the Car, Episode 8". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  2. ↑ Vago, Mike (2013-12-15). "Bob's Burgers: "Christmas In The Car"". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  3. ↑ Robert Ham (2013-12-16). "Bobs Burgers Review: Christmas in the Car (Episode 4.08)". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  4. ↑ "Sunday Final Ratings: '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down, No Adjustment for 'Revenge' or 'Survivor'". Tvbythenumbers. 2013-12-15. Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.