Bob's Burgers creator Loren Bouchard loves reading the various fan theories regarding the long-running sitcom, save for the one that argues "Everybody's dead." Bouchard developed the series with King of the Hill alum Jim Dauterive with the idea of blending Fox's traditional animated family formula with that of a workplace comedy. Bob's Burgers centers on the eponymous cook and restaurant owner and his wife Linda and children Tina, Gene and Louise as they run the titular burger restaurant and their middle class lives in an unnamed Northeastern US shore town.
H. Jon Benjamin leads the cast of Bob's Burgers as the titular Belcher patriarch alongside John Roberts as Linda, Dan Mintz as Tina, Eugene Mirman as Gene, Kristen Schaal as Louise and Larry Murphy as family friend and restaurant regular Teddy. After initially debuting to mixed reviews, the animated series has gone on to receive rave reviews from critics and audiences alike for its unique sense of humor and quirky characters. Bob's Burgers has developed a dedicated following in the years since its premiere and while this has led to a number of charming theories and fan artwork, it's also gone down some darker paths.
While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant for the long-awaited film expansion of the series, creator Loren Bouchard opened up about the various Bob's Burgers fan theories. Bouchard said he "devours" fan theories and loves them, except for the "most extreme" one indicating that the Belcher family has been dead for most of the show and exist solely as ghosts. See Bouchard's reaction below:
"I love fan theories. I devour them. There's no question that the most extreme one - and it is not our favorite, but it is worth saying - is that everyone's dead, and they're ghosts. And that one, I'm like, 'Oh, you can do that for anything.' That's just easy, because it's so dramatic. And then you go through, like, 'Yeah! They're all ghosts.'"
Bob's Burgers isn't the only Fox animated series to be given the fan theory treatment that everyone in the show is dead, or some variation thereof. The longest-running Simpsons fan theory holds that Homer has been in a coma since season 4's April Fool's episode saw him land in the hospital after Bart shakes a can of Homer's beer with a paint shaker and the subsequent explosion nearly takes out the Simpsons patriarch. Though the episode ends with Homer waking up from his coma after Bart tearfully confesses he was the cause of it, many have continued to argue that the wild nature of subsequent The Simpsons seasons could point to Homer having never woken up.
Much like Bouchard's reaction to the Bob's Burgers fan theory, The Simpsons co-showrunner Al Jean has since debunked this theory, calling it "intriguing" but assuring it isn't true. Unlike the longer-running Fox sitcom, however, Bob's Burgers has generally remained a grounded show even with some of its quirkier episodes and amidst its musical numbers, further downplaying the likelihood that the "Everybody's dead" theory is true. Audiences can revisit all 12 seasons of Bob's Burgers streaming on Hulu now and catch The Bob's Burgers Movie in theaters this Friday to decide for themselves.
