| Series: | Bob's Burgers |
| Season: | 1 |
| Episode: | 6 |
| Director: | Jennifer Coyle |
| Music: | "Lifting Up the Skirt of the Night" "If You Were Here" |
| Production: | 1ASA09 |
| Guests: |
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| Prev: | Hamburger Dinner Theater |
| Next: | Bed & Breakfast |
| Season Article: | Bob's Burgers season 1 |
| Episode List: | List of Bob's Burgers episodes |
"Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" is the sixth episode of the first season of the animated television series Bob's Burgers. "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 6, 2011. The episode follows Bob as he takes a second job as a nighttime cab driver so he can give Tina the 13th birthday party she deserves. Meanwhile, Tina also wants a kiss from Jimmy Pesto Jr, much to Bob's dismay.
The episode was written by Jon Schroeder and directed by Jennifer Coyle. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 4.91 million viewers in its original airing. The episode is considered a classic from the early seasons of Bob's Burgers and has been featured on many critics favorite episode lists. The title 'Sheesh! Cab, Bob?' is a play on words of the popular food "shish kebab". The episode featured guest performances by Kevin Kline, Steve Agee, Andy Kindler, David Herman, Jay Johnston, Jack McBrayer and Oscar Nunez.
Tina's 13th birthday is coming up, and Linda suggests to Bob that they should make it extra-special. She wants the party to have a romantic moment with Jimmy Pesto Jr.. Bob believes they can't afford what Tina wants, but Linda insists. Bob asks the restaurant's landlord Mr. Fischoeder for an extension on their rent. He refuses, instead offering Bob a job as a taxi cab driver so he can earn extra money.
Bob accepts the offer. On the first night of his job, Bob befriends three transvestite prostitutes: Glitter, Marbles, and Cha-Cha. Tina invites several classmates to her party, including Jimmy Jr., who needs permission from his father for the R.S.V.P. Unfortunately, Jimmy forbids his son from attending. Tina refuses to have a party without Jimmy Jr. Bob tries to charge his mind, and Jimmy Sr. says he will allow Jr. to attend, but Bob has to shave his mustache so Jimmy can keep it as a trophy. Bob refuses, causing a rift between him and Tina.
After a night out with the prostitutes, Bob returns to the restaurant drunk. Linda tells Bob that Tina has agreed to attend the party, but only for a few minutes. Bob passes out in the restaurant kitchen, waking up half an hour into the party, and finds out it is not going well: the boys and girls aren't dancing, and Mort's magician act fails to impress. Several of Bob's taxi customers arrive. Bob had apparently invited all of them while he was intoxicated, and subsequently forgot. Tina is mortified. Bob excuses himself to shave his mustache in order to give in to Jimmy Pesto's demand, and redeem himself to Tina. Glitter and Marbles tell Tina that Bob is a good father who worked two jobs to pay for her party. Upon Bob's return, Tina apologizes to Bob for her lack of gratitude, and says that he already made the party perfect, even without Jimmy Jr. present. However, the sentiment comes too late to save his mustache. Before he turns over his whiskers to Pesto, though, the sex workers tell Bob that they recognize Jimmy as "Baby Num Num", a "diaper lover." Bob then brings them over to Jimmy's restaurant and threatens to publicly expose him. Pesto concedes, and Jimmy Jr. attends the party. Tina and Jimmy Jr. kiss under the disco ball, and Gene plays the song If You Were Here.
The episode was originally titled 'Bob After Dark', but was later changed, making it the 2nd episode of the show to have a working title be changed, the first episode being Sexy Dance Fighting, which was originally titled "Capoeira" Being an early episode, Mr. Fishoeder's eye patch is incorrectly colored as black, it is unknown whether this is a coloring error or an early decision that was later changed. This would be strange, though, as Burger War, which aired later but was produced before this episode, has his eye patch colored the correct white color. The song "Lifting Up the Skirt of the Night" was written and performed by John Roberts, with series creator H. Jon Benjamin singing backing vocals The episode was made as the first seasons 9th episode in production order, but aired as the 6th episode in broadcasting order on Fox
In its original American broadcasting, "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" was viewed by an estimated 4.91 million viewers and received a 2.7 rating/4% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, an improvement from last episode and became the highest rated episode of the season to be aired after the first two episodes.[1]
Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A−, saying "As funny as the episode is, it's also genuinely sweet by the end, with Bob and Tina bonding over how much work he's done. Of course, that just makes his drunken bender with sex workers that much funnier, as well as Louise acting as Tina's kissing coordinator and sending her to boot camp."[2]
Lillian Brown of Vulture called the episode one of the 20 essential Bob's Burgers episodes in 2022.[3]