"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Thursday, October 4, 2018

The Book of Rannells: Bob’s Burgers: Season 9 – “Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now” (2018)


Another new Andrew Rannells project!  I love Bob’s Burgers, and it was fun to have Rannells, along with a few other notable Broadway voices, guest-starring on this delightful episode.

When heartthrob Boo Boo leaves the boy band Boyz 4 Now, auditions for his replacement are held locally.  Tina runs into a boy on the street heading to the auditions and is convinced they’re soulmates, so she disguises herself as a boy and sneaks into the convention center (no girls are allowed in) to find him.  Meanwhile, the rest of the family falls in love with a baby rat they’ve been tasked with taking care of.

I’ll start with the rat stuff, which fits nicely into the Bob’s Burgers wheelhouse of kind of gross but still weirdly endearing.  Linda making the rat a tiny table out of a bottle cap is funny, Louise naturally does a bad job of pretending to be indifferent to its cuteness, and I love how sincerely Bob says, “I like the rat more than any of you.”

But the real joy here is definitely Tina and the boy band auditions.  The episode sets up a good conflict for her, struggling to stay true to her latest crush while surrounded by cute boys and their butts, and it’s no surprise to say she finds it a challenge.  I love how she starts fantasizing at the drop of a hat, and I like how her fantasies are so clearly fueled by rom-com tropes (the guy friend who’s always been there for her after the popular jerk lets her down, the arrogant tool she shares love/hate chemistry with at the office, her boyfriend’s best friend who’s been quietly pining for her.)

Even better, all these daydreams are in song.  I love Bob’s Burgers’s musical episodes anyway, and when you throw in some Broadway actors playing the objects of Tina’s affection, it is on.  Rannells is joined by fellow Book of Mormon alumni Josh Gad (Elder Cunningham) and Rory O’Malley (Elder McKinley,) along with Daveed Diggs (America’s favorite fighting Frenchman/no more Mister Nice President!)  All three are a delight in their roles.  I’d say O’Malley gets the best song, Diggs gets the funniest scenario, and I’m most impressed by Gad; his singing is typically pretty hammy, but he plays it straighter here.  (Side note:  this must've been Broadway night on FOX, because Jonathan Groff also appeared as a guest star on The Simpsons!)

And, of course, Rannells.  He plays Hayden, another of Tina’s insta-crushes.  We know almost nothing about him as a character, since the brunt of his screentime is in a fantasy, but that’s okay, because it’s awesome.  While the other three guys all have great fantasies/songs, this one is my favorite.  Yes, biased, I know, but it’s also just super fun.  It features a tag-team with Gad, which conjures up Mormon memories, the scenario Tina dreams up for Hayden is awesomely ridiculous, and the song features some delightfully-Bob’s Burgers naughty space puns.

Very funny, obviously, and Rannells absolutely nails the boy-band sound in his voice.  Also, while he only has a couple lines of non-sung dialogue, it stills sounds like he’s doing a voice of some kind.  I appreciate that – even though Rannells has a pretty animation-friendly voice anyway, he still adjusts it to the character/scenario.

Recommend?

In General – Sure.  Bob’s Burgers is a fantastically odd show, and this is an entertaining episode.  Plus, Broadway actors!

Andrew Rannells – I would.  Even though it’s a small one, it’s still really funny, and the singing is excellent.

Warnings

Crude humor and mild sensuality (Tina really likes butts.)

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