The best episode of Bob’s Burgers season 14 proves that the long-running animated comedy is the true successor to The Simpsons. After over 25 years on the air, The Simpsons shows no sign of ending anytime soon. The cartoon family sitcom has aired over 760 episodes and The Simpsons season 36 will soon bring that historic number even higher when the show returns to screens later in 2024. However, The Simpsons has changed a lot in that time, and various shows have built their entire reputations around altering elements introduced in the Golden Age of The Simpsons.

South Park took the edgy cynicism of The Simpsons to new heights, creating a darker, more abrasive, and less family-friendly series. Family Guy took certain aspects of The Simpsons, like its deconstruction of traditional family sitcom tropes and its political commentary, and doubled down on these. Meanwhile, Bob’s Burgers leaned into the sweeter, more relatable, and grounded side of The Simpsons’ formula for its inspiration. Where South Park and Family Guy offered viewers a more blackly comedic, provocative spin on the show’s style, Bob’s Burgers instead made The Simpsons’ setup more sincere and idealistic.

Season 14 Episode 2 Shows Bob’s Burgers Has Expanded Its World

“The Amazing Rudy” Doesn’t Need The Belchers To Succeed

Now in its thirteenth year, Bob’s Burgers has proven itself to be the true successor to The Simpsons with season 14, episode 2, “The Amazing Rudy.” This outing’s story of the sensitive Regular-Sized Rudy navigating a meal with his divorced parents and their new partners is funny, poignant, and resonant despite barely featuring the Belcher family. The episode proves that Bob’s Burgers has created a fictional world immersive enough for supporting characters to headline an entire episode of their own. This was the quality that neither Family Guy, nor South Park, nor any of The Simpsons’ imitators could manage.

The plot of “The Amazing Rudy” might be simple, but it is as successful as any of The Simpsons’ best kid-centric episodes as a result. Regular-Sized Rudy’s plight doesn’t have high stakes, but the episode seriously engages with his awkward life stage and the complicated emotions it involves. In contrast, Family Guy and South Park are often too irreverent for episodes that center on minor characters to succeed, as evidenced by the poor reception of South Park season 4, episode 14, “Pip,” and Family Guy season 10, episode 3, “Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q.”

The Simpsons Exploring Springfield’s Stories Opened Up The Series

The Cartoon Grew More Ambitious After Its First Few Seasons

Before Bob’s Burgers proved that it could pull off a story that scarcely incorporated its ostensible heroes, The Simpsons managed to make episodes about supporting characters a mainstay in the series. Characters like Apu, Milhouse, and Ned Flanders were the focus of episodes like season 7, episode 23, “Much Apu About Nothing,” season 8, episode 6, “A Milhouse Divided,” and season 8, episode 8, “Hurricane Neddy.” Like Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons typically focuses on the family at the center of its world. However, it is also able to expand its scope to incorporate the stories of more supporting stars.

Although The Simpsons season 35 focused mostly on the central family, this was a surprisingly welcome change of pace given just how much the series relied on supporting characters for novelty value. While a backstory for Carl Carlson was fun, a second unrelated episode centering on the character was arguably excessive. Similarly, basing four or five episodes around Moe’s misadventures was one thing, but spending the entirety of season 23, episode 12, “Moe Goes from Rags to Riches,” detailing his dishrag’s backstory was less appealing. This went beyond extending the show’s universe and into pure audience trolling.

Bob’s Burgers Offers Something The Simpsons Lacks

Bob’s Burgers Remains More Understated Than Its Cartoonier Competitor

On that note, it is important to point out why “The Amazon Rudy” was such a success. The episode’s critical acclaim is owed in part to a quality that makes Bob’s Burgers stand out in comparison to Family Guy, South Park, and even The Simpsons itself. Bob’s Burgers is a lot more grounded than its competitors, relying less on outlandish absurdity and more on deadpan character humor. In one of The Simpsons season 35’s lesser episodes, Homer tips a waitress $10,000, a gesture that proves the character doesn’t exist in anything resembling recognizable reality.

In contrast, many of Bob’s Burgers season 14’s storylines are dedicated to the Belcher family working out how to get by despite the rising cost of living. Despite occasional flights of fancy, the series never abandons the realities of working-class life, or leans too far into its status as a cartoon. This means Bob’s Burgers has an easier time taking its characters seriously, whereas The Simpsons can often become too silly for its own good.