Crawl Space (Bob's Burgers)

"Crawl Space"
Bob's Burgers episode
Bob gets stuck in a wall while trying to repair a leak in the roof.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 2
Directed by	Kyoung Hee Lim
Written by	Loren Bouchard Jim Dauterive
Production code	1ASA02
Original air date	January 16, 2011
Guest stars
David Herman as Mr. Frond Larry Murphy as Teddy Renée Taylor as Gloria
Episode chronology
← Previous "Human Flesh" Next → "Sacred Cow"
List of Bob's Burgers episodes

"Crawl Space" is the second episode of the first season of the animated television series Bob's Burgers. "Crawl Space" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 16, 2011.

The episode was written by Loren Bouchard and Jim Dauterive, and directed by Kyoung Hee Lim. It received average reviews from critics for its character interactions and storyline. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 5.066 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by David Herman, Larry Murphy and Renée Taylor.

Plot

Linda's parents are visiting and Linda annoys the family with her cleaning and preparations. Bob decides to make his in-laws sleep in Gene's smelly room in hope that they'll leave sooner. When Linda forces Bob to fix the leak on the ceiling, he discovers a crawlspace in the attic. When Linda's parents, Gloria (Renee Taylor) and Al come, Bob realizes that he can pretend that he's stuck in the crawlspace to avoid them.

Linda sends family friend and contractor Teddy (Larry Murphy) to rescue Bob, who tells him to come back the next day, after the in-laws leave. During the night, the kids overhear Gloria and Al having sex on Gene's bed (Tina incorporates the sounds into a sexual zombie nightmare). The next day, Gloria decides that she and Al will be extending their stay for another night. Linda finds out that Bob lied about being stuck before and is now really trapped, so she cancels Teddy's upcoming visit. Bob starts to go crazy, recording himself with a video camera and befriending Louise's green nightlight. Meanwhile, Gloria makes a tuna burger recipe called Tunami, which Linda makes it the Burger of the Day. Bob dreams that he goes into a bar and later encounter Louise's nightlight, telling him about the Burger of the Day.

While Bob is trapped, the kids get detention: Louise for lying about Bob's death (and reappearance as a ghost), Gene for sampling Gloria and Al's sexual moment and presenting it as a history report, and Tina for sneaking above the boys' changing room. The concerned counselor, Mr. Frond, believes they are "kids in crisis" and conducts a home visit. At home, Gloria finds Bob unconscious and breaks through the kitchen wall, then orders Mr. Frond to leave the family alone. As she and Al leave, Louise fights Bob for her nightlight.

Production

"Crawl Space" is the second episode of Bob's Burgers and was written by series creator Loren Bouchard and series executive producer, Jim Dauterive.^[1] The episode also featured guest appearances from David Herman as Mr. Frond and Larry Murphy as Teddy, the first appearances of both recurring characters. Renée Taylor guest stars as Linda's mother, Gloria.^[1] The episode carries a rating TV-PG for suggestive dialogue (D), offensive language (L), and mild sexual content (S).

Burger of the Day

• "Never Been Feta (comes with Feta)" refers to the saying, "Never Been Better" but got changed to "Foot Feta-ish"
• "Tunami (with tuna)" refers to the disaster, tsunami, yet also spells "I'm a nut" backward. This is a reference to the film The Shining, in which "RED RUM" written on a wall, spells "MURDER" when seen in a mirror. In this case, it could be seen as referring to Bob's mental breakdown, while trapped in the wall between his restaurant and home.

Cultural References

• Linda said that her family are like 'a bunch of Chewbaccas'
• Tina has a nightmare of zombies making out ever since she watched Night of the Living Dead at a young age
• Gene asks Bob when he first discover the crawlspace that does he see a lion, a witch or a wardrobe. A reference to the novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
• He claimed that the novel is written by Salman Rushdie which is not true.
• Al's magazine he found has a cover of the women from the 2000 film Coyote Ugly (film) and Gene thinks that they are already dead.
• Bob uses Gene's video camera to record himself, a parody of The Blair Witch Project.
• Louise's friend asks Bob that is he the ghost from the 1990 film, Ghost. Another girl asks if he is the ghost from Ghost Dad.
• Bob dream of him in the bar parodying the scene in The Shining where Jack goes to the bar and talks to the waiter in the facility.
• Gloria breaks through a wall with Bob saying "Here's Bobby!", a reference to the line from The Shining, "Here's Johnny!".
• Bob calls Linda "Nagatha Christie", a play on novelist Agatha Christie.

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Crawl Space" was viewed by an estimated 5.066 million viewers and received a 2.5 rating/6% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, a drop from the pilot episode.^[2]

The episode received a mixed review from critics. Rowan Kaiser of A. V. Club rated the episode a C, expressing disappointment with the "evil mother-in-law comes to visit!" cliché and feeling that many of the jokes fell flat. However, Kaiser found Bob's interactions with his kids one of the highlights of the episode, singling out Kristen Schaal's parts as Louise as the "best part of both episodes so far."^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.tv.com/bobs-burgers/crawl-space/episode/1370929/summary.html
2. ^ Gorman, Bill (January 19, 2011). "Sunday Final Ratings: Brothers & Sisters, Bob's Burgers Adjusted Down; Plus Golden Globes, Undercover Boss, CSI:Miami & More". TV By the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/01/19/sunday-final-ratings-brothers-plus-golden-globes-undercover-boss-csimiami-more/79343. Retrieved January 19, 2011. 
3. ^ Kaiser, Rowan (January 17, 2011). """Fart-break Hotel"/"Flaming Moe"/"Crawl Space"/"And I'm Joyce Kinney"/"How Do You Solve A Problem Like Roberta?""". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/fartbreak-hotelflaming-moecrawl-spaceand-im-joyce,49924/. Retrieved 2011-3-28. 

External links

• "Crawl Space" at TV.com
• "Crawl Space" at Internet Movie Database