Designed to replace a venerable animation institution, King of the Hill, Bob’s Burgers represents yet another rip-off of the Simpsons’ formula: a fat Dad with three annoying kids. Its only claim to originality is that this awkward family works at a fast food joint and none of the characters are voiced by Seth MacFarlane.  The pilot revolves around the restaurant receiving a health inspection after being accused of serving human flesh. No further description of the plot is necessary as there are no jokes, character development, messages or charm of any of sort in this show. The closest the show comes to humor is the childish insertion of the phrase “child molester” into its dialogue, which will shock the viewer for the two seconds necessary to make them forget that what they are watching is uninspired, unfunny dreck.

Indeed, everything about this show feels half done. The animation is bland and juvenile, seemingly pasted together by a pair of high-schoolers testing out their first piece of animation software. The voice acting is practically monotone as though the voice talents (and the author uses that term loosely) recognize that the mundane run-on sentence of schlock they are droning isn’t worth their time or effort. Even the melodramatic sound effects of this show are gallingly generic enough to come off as cheesy and unprofessional. Cartoons don’t necessarily need high production values, but can’t come off as feeling hurried and incomplete. It feels as though the producers stayed up all night to meet a deadline. If this is the care given to the pilot, nothing good can be on the way.

Boring and uninspired, one wonders how this raw, unfinished project was rushed into our TVs. Nothing about this show feels finished or remotely memorable and as a result it lacks any value as entertainment. One can only hope that in keeping with the show’s flimsy premise, the executive who gave it a green light is ground up. Unsafe for consumption by humans or the higher functioning apes, Bob’s Burgers is a terrible show and a waste of the viewer’s time.

Bob’s Burgers airs on Sundays at 8:30 on Fox, but probably not for much longer.

When he is performing live, it is at embarrassing venues such as small coffee shops and bowling alleys. Barely sober enough to play on the stage, rehearsing with his backup band is out of the question. His small, overly devoted group of fans overlook his sub-par performances which are usually interrupted by his running off the stage to vomit. Lonely, Bad settles for company from his dwindling female fan base.

Alcoholism and depression preventing further success or human companionship, Bad is the perfect fallen star for the young reporter, Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to write about. Bad is happy to do an interview, but wants to keep the questions simple and unobtrusive, particularly about his current state. In the shamefully unremarkable motel room, Jean tries to probe Bad for more answers about his relationship with his ex-wife and children, but he proves uncooperative. Instead,  Bad retorts: “I want to talk about how bad you make this room look”.

Bad makes it very clear to his manager (James Keane) that he doesn’t want to tour anymore, especially at such horrible venues. However, his manager makes it clear that Bad’s lack of new songs and unwillingness to work with his old mentor Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) don’t allow him to play for more than a handful of people. Luckily for Bad, but perplexing to the viewer, he begins to have a romantic relationship with Jean and becomes a father figure for her four year old son (which ironically, is the same age his son was when he last saw him). His love inspires him to write new songs. On his bed he writes a beautiful ballad in a matter of minutes, which brings Jean to tears, not because of the it’s eloquence but as she realizes that Bad hasn’t used his gifts to the fullest extent.

However, just when things seem to be turning in the right direction, Bad’s alcoholism derails everything again. While watching Jean’s son at a crowded mall, Bad goes into a bar, begins to drink, and looses the boy. In a painful sequence of shots, Bad is seen limping around the mall screaming out in desperation to find the boy. Although he is eventually found, Jean cannot bear to see him anymore while Bad finally realizes he has to address his problem.

With the help of his only remaining friend Wayne (Robert Duvall), Bad enters rehab and successfully becomes clean. Although he was completely dismissive of the idea before, Bad begins to tour with Tommy Sweet and also writes him some songs. He expects that he can regain those ruined relationships because he has turned his life around, but it is simply not to be.

Jeff Bridges’ performance as Bad Blake makes him the front-runner for Best Actor at this year’s Academy Awards, and with good reason. He portrays an alcoholic with a realism where it is often over dramatized. In addition, the power of the role is made all the stronger by Bridges’ singing the songs himself in his rough baritone voice. Much has acclaim has been given to Maggie Gyllenhaal’s for her performance, but I was less impressed. There seem to be a large disconnect between Gyllenhaal and the character. Part of this is the way she performed the role, but it is further exacerbated by the weakness in the character relationships in the story.

Although Bridges performance is extraordinary, the reasons why Bad has a good relationship with Jean and a poor one with Tommy is not adequately explained. Bad is not a suave man, but somehow he is able to seduce a woman 25 years his junior. His overtly sexual and flirtatious conversations don’t lend any credence to why a woman would fall in love with him–yet Jean becomes smitten. In the same manner, one cannot understand why Bad hates Tommy Sweet. Played by the real-life bad boy Colin Farrel, I was expecting an unappreciative, arrogant star in Tommy Sweet. However, he is enormously appreciative and wants to help his old mentor. When they perform on stage, Tommy gives Bad all the credit while he gives him many offers to join him on tour. In my mind, I asked myself what’s not to like about Tommy?

The brilliance of Jeff Bridges’ performance is certainly the best element of the film. However, one does get the sense that Bridges’ plays a more complex character than the script created and deserves.

Its major plot points are all things that you will see in other high school, coming-of-age shows. “Preggers” included many character driven plot developments but the main focus was on Kurt’s sexuality.  Kurt (Chris Colfer) is a walking gay stereotype, yet he didn’t have the courage to tell his father. Kurt joins the football team to quell any suspicions and kicks the game winning field goal. Although his father is proud of him and all seems well, he decides to come out to his father. This is a pretty standard high school drama plotline and some people have criticized the show for being a rehash of an old formula.

But what makes Glee great is the addition of fantastic music and teacher’s comical lives. I was surprised at the former’s weakness in the episode. There were quite a few plays of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” but the show didn’t really have any memorable music numbers like in previous episodes.

What made “Preggers” such an entertaining episode was the introduction of new relationship dynamics—particularly those involving teachers. One was the old high school drama truism of teacher-student relationship. Finn (Cory Monteith) goes to Will (Matthew Morrison) in regular teacher-mentor fashion so as to tell him the shocking news that Quinn (Dianna Agron), the head of the celibacy club, is pregnant.

But the more entertaining one was the relationship between Sue (Jane Lynch) and Will.  Sue is intent on destroying glee club and putting all focus back on her award winning cheerleading program.  The confident coach opts for a segment on the local news to spread her advice around the community. Lynch delivered the lines flawlessly and her words of advice were the best part of the episode. Some of the highlights include:

• “Not everyone is gonna have the walnuts to take a pro-littering stance. But I will not rest until every inch of our fair state is covered in garbage.”
• “Caning works! And I think it’s about time we did a little more of it right here… yes, we cane!”
• “I often tell homeless people, ‘Hey, how’s being homeless working out? Maybe you should give not being homeless a try’”

Sue is very passionate about her segment but the show’s producer will cancel it if she fails to win the cheerleading national championships. She has already lost some of her top athletes to glee and creates a new plan to destroy the club.  Sue is becoming one of my favorite characters on the show, even if her plans seemed destined to fail.

Fox extended the show for a full season this week. It’s a fantastic, if obvious, move as they have a popular juggernaut in Glee.

After kicking the addiction, House is a very difficult patient who desperately tries “to get asked to leave”. He could leave on his own will but he needs a recommendation from the facility’s director, Dr. Darryl Nolan, if he wants to practice medicine again. Dr. Nolan seems to be a bad person who is treating House like a slave (which House wittingly comments about how ironic that the black director would be insensitive to slavery).  However House is unfazed and banter with the hospital’s doctors at  allow for the series’ signature tongue-in-cheek dialogue to reemerge after a darker opening sequence.

Being locked up in a mental hospital brings up horrible nightmarish scenarios like those of One Flew Out of the Cuckoo’s Nest. Yet House doesn’t alter his behavior. He continues to have scintillating dialogue with doctors who could really make his life a living hell.  Somewhat surprisingly, House begins to follow directions (somewhat) while he also confronts some of the perceived injustices inside the hospital. For a person who has held little concern for others over the past five seasons, House becomes worried with the rehabilitation techniques used for certain patients.

One such patient is a man who acts normally most of the time yet is also convinced he is a superhero. House breaks some of the rules to take the man to a fair and foster his misconceptions. It seems as though House had made the right decision until the man attempts to fly off of the parking garage and is seriously injured. House has made a huge error in judgment. I personally felt that he was making the correct decision, but because of the horrendous outcome the hospital’s philosophy proves to be right.

This event serves as a catalyst to change House’s life philosophy. Through his one-on-one talks with Dr. Nolan, he begins to reevaluate his dealings with other people. As we have learned throughout the series, House is almost incapable of having close relationships because he cannot fully trust anyone. Dr. Nolan addresses this issue almost immediately while rejecting House’s attempts to shift focus on other non-important issues.

House forms a relationship with a regular visitor of another patient.  Lydia and House spend much time together and develop a strong attraction and attachment. Through this romantic relationship, House makes himself completely vulnerable, yet the pessimist in him inhibits some of his early thoughts. Although destined to fail because Lydia is married, House continues to be with her—rejecting his former philosophy that failures overshadow any success and that pain trumps joy.

House’s character change in the season premiere can only be described as remarkable. The episode was more of a cinematic experience and one that included emotional weight and a variety of other reactions.  House underwent major philosophical change in the episode that could suggest shift in the dynamics of the show. Needless to say the season premiere was everything a television admirer could wish for and is something definitely worth watching.