Bobs Burgers might be known for its laugh-out-loud humor, but the long-running animated comedy series loves to dabble in more emotional moments as well.

Its really nice to be able to do these episodes that feel a little heavier, series creator and co-showrunner Loren Bouchard tells The Hollywood Reporter. They have a little more oomph to em. We dont do it casually.

One such episode, They Slug Horses, Dont They?, was the Fox shows submission for the 2025 Emmy Awards, earning it a 13th nomination for outstanding animated program. The season 15 entry features Tina and Louise, the daughters of Bobs Burgers owner, Bob Belcher, getting into an episode-long argument over toy figures, with their Aunt Gayle, sister to mom Linda, pleading with her nieces not to let a silly disagreement ruin their relationship like it did for two sisters she and Linda grew up with. We know that we have a job to do, which is to be a comedy, but it is nice that weve got fans who will go with us if we feel like we have a story to tell that really is worthy of maybe a slightly more serious moment, a little bit more emotion, Bouchard says, noting that co-showrunner Nora Smith, who wrote the episode and often writes original songs for the show, had a clear vision for the storyline as well as the song featured in the end credits, Drift Too Far, sung by Smith herself.

She was thinking about Tina and Louise and what it looks like when sisters fight like this, adds Bouchard. She was thinking all the way into the future about how you teach them to not ever get too far apart.

After more than a dozen outstanding animated program nominations (and two wins), one would think the process of selecting an episode to highlight for the Emmys would get easier, but Bouchard equates the process to picking favorites. Your favorite is always the last one you just finished, he jokes. At the end of the season, sometimes we do a little bit of pulse-taking and vote-counting, and we try to make sure that we have a consensus on which one we think is the one we want to submit.

Its important to the series creator that the drama of any given episode, whether submitted for an Emmy or not, doesnt overshadow the fact that the show is genuinely funny. Youve got to know you have something you want to say. If youre just going to try to have a sad song and have people be sappy at the end of an episode, thats not going to work, Bouchard adds.

Bobs Burgers, unlike many television shows, is in a particularly secure position. Earlier this year, the animated series was given a four-season renewal order, taking it through the 2028-29 season. Its lovely to have a four-season pickup, dont get me wrong, but weve been in a very lucky position for a very long time, Bouchard says. We were really sweating it for a while. Any show thats not a smash hit and we were not when we started out, I think its fair to say we were on the bubble, and we treated every single moment like it.

Things havent changed much with the renewal news, but Bouchard does look back fondly on the shows early days, when it was survival.

Thats kind of fun, in a way. Its like firefighting or something, he says. Every fart could be your last fart, so youve got to really put it in the right place.

As Bouchard looks to the future, theres plenty in store, which the writer previewed at Comic-Con earlier this summer in San Diego. On Sept. 23, the team is rolling out an Art of Bobs Burgers book, along with a new release of the shows burger recipe book.

Every once in a while, I see a piece of art from the show printed out, and I just say, God, its gorgeous, Bouchard says, adding that the team has been looking for a way to celebrate the art from the series for a long time.

I dont experience it as pride. I work with these artists. Somebody painted it, somebody drew it, he explains of the artwork. Its just impressive to me that some of these images, when you take them out of the context of the show and just print it on a big 11-by-17 piece of paper, they can really pop in a way that is very gratifying.

This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine,click here to subscribe.