The Belcher family has been trying to cook up the perfect Thanksgiving for 11 of 13 seasons of Bob’s Burgers—they’ve even succeeded a couple of times. Watching Bob transform from a mild-mannered burger flipper into a maniacal turkey chef has become a seasonal TV tradition.
We don’t yet have any information on 2023’s Thanksgiving episode, but we know that Bob’s Burgers Season 14 will have a shorted episode count due to the WGA strike. Will the Thanksgiving episode make the cut? While we wait for more info, let’s look back on the previous Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving episodes (all of which are available to stream on Hulu).
Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving episodes list
1. “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal”
Season 3, Episode 5
The very first Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving episode finds the Belchers pretending to be their landlord Mr. Fischoeder’s family for the holiday in exchange for free rent. Meanwhile, a bummed Bob trips on absinthe in the kitchen and bonds with “Lance” the turkey.
2. “Turkey in a Can”
Season 4, Episode 5
Bob prepares a three-day salt-rub turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, but somehow the bird ends up in . . . the toilet? Then Bob’s Burgers becomes a crime procedural, with Bob and Louise investigating the case separately and finding wildly different results. You’ll never guess the culprit.
3. “Dawn of the Peck”
Season 5, Episode 4
“It’s gonna be like the running of the bulls, but cute and safe!” That’s Linda’s observation of the Wonder Wharf’s Turk-tacular Turkey Town Festival & Turkey Trot 5K, which is quickly proven half-wrong. Angry turkeys, chickens, and geese organize and (hilariously) attack the Trotters.
4. “Gayle Makin’ Bob Sled”
Season 6, Episode 4
A massive snowstorm thwarts Bob’s errand to pick up Linda’s sister Gayle for Thanksgiving, forcing the two (and Gayle’s cat, Mr. Business) to find their way back to the restaurant on foot and sled. Making matters worse, cooking the Thanksgiving turkey is now up Linda—nooo!
5. “The Quirk-ducers”
Season 7, Episode 6
Tina adapts her erotic fiction into a stage musical, The Quirky Turkey, for the school’s annual Thanksgiving play. It sounds like a terrible idea because Louise made it happen, believing it’ll be bad enough to get canceled and have school dismissed. Spoiler: no half-day for Louise.
6. “Thanks-Hoarding”
Season 8, Episode 5
The Belchers agree to help Teddy clean up his apartment so he can host Thanksgiving dinner for his family. But once the family arrives at Teddy’s junk-piled pad, they realize that he’s a hoarder and doesn’t want to get rid of anything. Like any Teddy-centric episode, things get weird.
7. “I Bob Your Pardon”
Season 9, Episode 7
The kids discover that a local turkey pardoned by the mayor will meet its demise regardless, kicking off a political scandal and a blackmail scheme just in time for Thanksgiving. “I Bob Your Pardon” is most notable for the return of Double Butt the Goat, which is self-explanatory.
8. “Now We’re Not Cooking with Gas”
Season 10, Episode 8
After five years on a waiting list, Bob finally gets a rare, exotic turkey for Thanksgiving—but then a gas leak on Ocean Avenue forces him to cook it over a campfire in the alley. Bob slowly loses it and begins yelling about Independence Day (?) as the kids scramble for anything to keep the fire burning.
9. “Diarrhea of a Poopy Kid”
Season 11, Episode 7
Gene contracts stomach flu on the ultimate eating day of the year, leaving him stuck in the bathroom for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, Bob, Louise, and Tina try to cheer him up with wild stories based on Predator, Air Force One, and Armageddon. But mostly, it’s diarrhea jokes.
10. “Stuck in the Kitchen with You”
Season 12, Episode 8
The Belchers volunteer to help out with Thanksgiving at The Elegant Doily, a local retirement home. But, when the pressure of cooking for an entire community gets to Bob, Louise steps in and makes things worse. Meanwhile, Gene, Tina, and Zeke throw an impromptu T-day parade.
11. “Putts-giving”
Season 13, Episode 8
The Belchers decide to spend Thanksgiving playing mini golf, but things don’t go well for Linda as Bob constantly does better than her. Oh, and the kids are causing plenty of chaos, too. It wouldn’t be Putts-giving without some heavy property damage.
Bill Frost has been a journalist and TV reviewer since the 4:3-aspect-ratio ’90s. His pulse-pounding prose has been featured in The Salt Lake Tribune, Inlander, Coachella Valley Independent, Las Vegas Weekly, and many other dead-tree publications (see BillFrost.tv). In addition to being a Senior Staff Writer at CableTV.com, Bill is a syndicated streaming TV columnist forSalt Lake City Weekly and other alternative weeklies, and host/producer of TV Tan Podcast. By night, Bill cranks a Flying V with his band at the bar.
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