All Thanksgiving Episodes of BOB'S BURGERS Ranked

As we prepare for Thanksgiving I’ve been rewatching all the Thanksgiving episodes of Bob’s Burgers. Now that we have another episode to enjoy I wanted to rank all the Thanksgiving episodes to see how the newest one fits in.

10) “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal” Season 3

I can forgive a series for not having the best holiday episodes on the first go around. In this episode Mr. Fischoeder offers Bob 5 months of rent in exchange for cooking his Thanksgiving dinner and letting him pretend Bob’s family is his own in order to woo an old home wrecking crush, Shelby Schnabel. This episode is really strange, but does have some truly excellent moments in it, just not enough to rank it higher. It does however have one of Linda’s iconic songs about Thanksgiving, so it’s worth watching again if you haven’t in a while.

9) “Gayle Makin’ Bob Sled” Season 6

In this one we have Bob going to pick up Gayle for Thanksgiving dinner since she has sprained her ankle. When the car gets snowed in they build a makeshift sled for Bob to carry Gayle and her cat Mr. Business back, leaving the rest of the Belchers to finish cooking the dinner. There is a heartfelt moment when it’s revealed that Gayle was faking her injury the whole time. But watching Linda and the kids try to make Bob’s favorite dinner is the highlight of the episode. Overall, it just doesn’t make much of an impression.

8) “Diarrhea of a Poopy Kid” Season 11

I can imagine no greater tragedy for Gene Belcher than being sick with the stomach flu and banished to the bathroom on Thanksgiving. To try to cheer him up Louise, Tina, and Bob each tell him a Thanksgiving themed story. Each one is a parody of a movie with Breadator, Pear Force One, and Parma-geddon. I usually like when they do a three story kind of episode, but for some reason it didn’t work as well for me with Thanksgiving, so I think it might just be a format better left for other episodes.

7) “Turkey in a Can” Season 4

Poor Bob, in so many of these it seems like the universe is out to ruin his Thanksgiving dinner, especially when for three days every turkey he buys ends up in the toilet. With no one confessing to it, Bob is left with some trust issues until it is revealed that he’s the one that’s been sleep walking and dropping the turkeys in the toilet thinking he was potty training Tina. I really enjoy the interactions between Bob and the guy he keeps buying turkeys from in this episode. It really is a sweet moment when we learn why Bob keeps dreaming about potty training Tina and overall is just a fun episode.

6) “Stuck In The Kitchen With You” Season 12

This was the newest Thanksgiving episode and while not my favorite, definitely better than others. We see the Belchers go to the Elegant Doily retirement home to volunteer to bring some Thanksgiving cheer before making their own dinner. When the cook goes into labor, it’s up to Bob to make the dinner for the retirees. Louise is tasked with helping him and does everything she can to get kicked out because of how intense Bob can get about cooking while Bob does everything he can to not get crazy and drive Louise away. Meanwhile, Linda is trying to help Detective Bosco get his cranky mother to join her friends for the festivities and Tina and Gene are helping Zeke put on a parade since the cable has gone out thus preventing them from watching it on tv. For me, it was just too much going on all at once for any one story line to be super satisfying. At the end everything comes together and there are heartfelt moments, but it felt rushed to get there.

5) “Now We’re Not Cooking With Gas” Season 10

Bob finally lands the holy grail of turkeys, a riverbrook lake farms heritage turkey, only to have the gas turned off on Thanksgiving and thus no way to cook it. Not to be thwarted, he goes to the internet and finds videos on how to cook a turkey over and open fire, which he builds in the side alley. After desperately trying to keep the fire going, he is eventually shut down by the fire department. When he looks over his charred turkey he finds that it actually did cook and the family ravenously eat the turkey with just their hands. I love episodes that show just how crazy Bob gets about Thanksgiving, and this definitely shows just how far he is willing to go to get his perfect Thanksgiving dinner.

4) “The Quirk-Ducers” Season 7

I love the Producers, so this parody was destined to be near the top of the list. When Louise has had enough of the terrible assembly that ruins what is supposed to be an early day out from school before Thanksgiving, she takes matters into her own hands. The plan is to make a play so offensive that Mr. Frond is forced to shut it down and ending the assembly early, thus getting to finally leave school when they are supposed to. Tina is the hapless playwright who just wants to put on a good show, and Tina, Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Tammy, Jocelyn, and Gene are the cast. When Louise’s plan, which involved exploding animal intestines all over the audience, backfires spectacularly, Tina saves the play. This episode is just so ridiculous you can’t help but love it, and it’s always nice to have Louise realize that maybe she should listen to her big sister more often.

3) “I Bob Your Pardon” Season 9

I’ve always found the idea of turkey pardoning so strange, they didn’t commit any crimes other than being potentially delicious. When the Belchers discover that the turkey that the mayor pardoned, Drew P. Neck, is actually going to be killed, they embark on an adventure to save the doomed bird, and hopefully get some cranberries for dinner along the way. This episode is just crazy and has all the goofy hijinks you’ve come to love about the show. Plus an excellently named turkey.

2) “Thanks-Hoarding” Season 8

Teddy is freaking out about hosting Thanksgiving for his family and asks the Belchers for help. While Bob helps Teddy in the kitchen, Linda and the kids discover that Teddy is a hoarder. Things go awry when they try to force him to get rid of all the broken junk he has collected over the years, but it’s super sweet when we learn why Teddy has a love for broken objects and why he became a repairman. The friendship between Bob, Linda, and Teddy is always fun to watch play out and it’s nice to see things finally go right for Teddy.

1) “Dawn of the Peck” Season 5

This is one of my all time favorite episodes of Bob’s burgers, it’s just so exquisitely done. Bob is mad that everyone wants to go to the Wonder Wharf on Thanksgiving rather than wait for dinner to be done, so he cancels Thanksgiving. Linda decides to participate in a running with the turkeys while the kids go on rides at Wonder Wharf. Things go awry when the turkeys are released and it’s revealed that there are all kinds of birds mixed in and they start attacking everyone in sight. Linda, Mickey, and Teddy embark to save Tina, Gene, Louise, Andy, Ollie, and regular sized Rudy. Meanwhile, a drunk Bob decides he will cook dinner and wanders off to the store to get a turkey. Everything culminates at the grocery store when everyone is cornered by angry birds, Linda reestablishes the pecking order and things go back to normal. This episode just perfectly encapsulates what makes the show great, parody, crazy adventures, and a whole lot of laughs. If you don’t watch any other episode on this list, be sure to watch this one.

And that’s it, what do you think? I love the Thanksgiving episodes, so it’s fun every year to go back and watch them all. Conveniently, right now Hulu has all of the Thanksgiving episodes in one easy to find menu right now, so go watch them to get ready for turkey day.