God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins

Last updated
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins"
Bob's Burgers episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 9
Directed byAnthony Chun
Written byKit Boss
Production code2ASA18
Original air dateDecember 16, 2012 (2012-12-16)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"The Unbearable Like-Likeness of Gene"
Next 
"Mother Daughter Laser Razor"
Bob's Burgers season 3
List of episodes

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins" is the ninth episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 31st episode, and is written by Kit Boss and directed by Anthony Chun. It aired on Fox in the United States on December 16, 2012.

Contents

Plot

When Bob inherits a storage unit around Christmas, the family hope that they will contain riches, but instead they find a squatter named Chet who claims he was previously a display mannequin. The family take him in, only to discover that he has a talent for creating seasonal window displays out of mannequins, in which he also poses. The displays Chet put up in preparation for Christmas prove very popular with people stopping to look at the display and helps increase business for the restaurant. As Christmas approaches Chet becomes increasingly unstable, eventually claiming that he is in love with another mannequin Nadine from whom he has become separated, after the store he used to reside in went out of business due to a mall that reduced business.

Chet then further claims that he met Nadine when the store, Lombard's Department Store, was at its peak in business, and his relationship with Nadine became more "casual" and that one day Nadine had an accident that ended with her right hand being destroyed and Nadine coming back with two left hands instead of a replacement right hand. Chet then claims that when Lombard's Department Store eventually went out of business because of the mall, OMG Mall, he was separated from Nadine soon after and that the pain of being separated from her "turned him into a human." Tina proclaims that Chet's story is "the greatest love story ever told" and convinces Chet they could help him find Nadine even if they have to look far and wide to find her.

Bob doesn't approve of the kids looking for her and says Chet was never a mannequin and that Nadine is probably in a dump somewhere, upsetting him. Upset with her husband, Linda storms to her bedroom and demands a snack. In his misery, Chet creates a macabre and terrifying display, and the desperate family track Nadine down to a sex store, much to the dismay and disapproval of Bob, who reluctantly joins the kids in going to the sex store and get Nadine back. Liberating the mannequin, they reunite her with Chet and convince him to create a more appropriate display in time for Christmas. The display gets a brief moment of success but is interrupted by the sudden arrival of the sex shop owner demanding they give Nadine back and wrecks the display in the process of trying take Nadine back. The kids then pay the owner $263 to buy the mannequin back so Chet can keep Nadine. Eventually the crowd becomes fed up with the wrecked display, and everyone leaves.

The family then decides to let Chet stay until January. The family then enjoys Christmas morning with Gene getting a door exit sign, Tina getting a shoe-sizer and Louise a security tag remover. Bob then asks what Chet plans on doing after they kick him out when January arrives, and Chet reveals that he plans on staying at his apartment in Manhattan and that he plans on seeing how a renovated loft turns out, revealing that he wasn't homeless at all, much to Bob's shock and anger.

Reception

Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club gave the episode a A−, saying "The entire episode hits that sweet spot between sweet and weird. Even the moment where Chet goes a little crazy and makes a horrifying window display is oddly endearing, thanks to the ketchup bottle squirting 'blood.' That’s clever, weird, but also impressive. That’s Bob’s Burgers, and I’m happy that the show is getting a chance to apply its impressive clever weirdness to the holidays." [1] Ross Bonaime of Paste gave the episode 8.5 out of 10, saying "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins" is essentially everything you could want from a holiday episode of Bob’s Burgers. Chet’s story of finding mannequin love with Nadine is so ridiculous, yet everyone in the family except Bob finds it to be beautiful. Tina even proclaims it to be the greatest love story ever told. That may not be accurate, but it’s definitely the weirdest love story you’re going to find in a holiday TV special." [2]

The episode received a 1.5 rating and was watched by a total of 3.09 million people. This made it the fourth most watched show of Fox's Animation Domination block that night, beating The Cleveland Show but losing to The Simpsons with 3.77 million. [3] The likely reason that this episode was the least-watched upon premiere of any of the episodes of 'Bob's Burgers' to date is due to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that had occurred on December 14, 2012, two days prior to the episodes' airing on December 16, 2012.

Related Research Articles

"God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen," also known as "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," is an English traditional Christmas carol. It is in the Roxburghe Collection, and is listed as no. 394 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also known as "Tidings of Comfort and Joy," and by other variant incipits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Father Christmas (song)</span> 1977 single by the Kinks

"Father Christmas" is a song by English rock band the Kinks, released in 1977.

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.

"Burger War" is the tenth episode of the first season of the animated television series Bob's Burgers. The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 10, 2011.

"Bob Fires the Kids" is the third episode of the third season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. Written by Lizzie and Wendy Molyneux, the episode sees Bob Belcher firing his children Tina, Gene, and Louise from the family restaurant for the summer, not wanting to deprive them of normal childhood experiences as his own father did. However, when the children grow bored of summer activities, they seek employment at a local farm, which unbeknownst to them grows marijuana.

"Mutiny on the Windbreaker" is the fourth episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 26th episode, and is written by Kit Boss and directed by John Rice. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 11, 2012.

"Mother Daughter Laser Razor" is the tenth episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 32nd episode, and is written by Nora Smith and directed by Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 6, 2013.

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

"The Deepening" is the sixth episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 28th episode, and is written by Greg Thompson and directed by Bernard Derriman. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 25, 2012.

"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.

"My Fuzzy Valentine" is the 13th episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 35th episode. It was written by Dan Fybel and Rich Rinaldi, and directed by Boohwan Lim and Kyounghee Lim. It aired on Fox in the United States on February 10, 2013.

"Lindapendent Woman" is the 14th episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 36th episode, and is written by Mike Benner and directed by Don MacKinnon. It aired on Fox in the United States on February 17, 2013.

"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.

"Previously Unaired Christmas" is the eighth episode and fall finale of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the ninety-sixth episode overall. It was directed by Wendey Stanzler and written by Ross Maxwell, and it aired on Fox in the United States on December 5, 2013. The episode is the show's fourth Christmas special, but due to season five being set in the same calendar year as season four, it is a non-canonical episode which purports to be the original season four Christmas special, suppressed by Fox.

"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.

"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.

"Father of the Bob" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 73rd episode, and is written by Steven Davis and Kelvin Yu and directed by Chris Song. It aired on Fox in the United States on December 7, 2014.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Actually</span> 9th episode of the 7th season of Bobs Burgers

"Bob Actually" is the ninth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series Bob's Burgers, and the 116th episode overall. It was written by Steven Davis and Kelvin Yu, and directed by Chris Song. Stephanie Beatriz, Daniel Van Kirk, Gabrielle Sanalitro, and Brooke Dillman guest star. The episode originally aired on February 12, 2017.

"The Plight Before Christmas" is the 10th episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the 248th episode overall. It had a teleplay by Loren Bouchard, a story by Kelvin Yu, and was directed by Chris Song. It originally aired in the US on FOX Network at December 11, 2022. In this episode, Bob and Linda try to attend all three kids' holiday performances at the same time.

References

  1. Kaiser, Rowan (January 7, 2013). "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  2. Bonaime, Ross (2012-12-17). "Bob's Burgers Review: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins" (Episode 3.09) :: TV :: Reviews :: Paste". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  3. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 18, 2012). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Bob's Burgers' and 'Bachelorette' Special Adjusted Up, 'The Simpsons' Adjusted Down + Unscrambled Football". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 21, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2012.