“Bob’s Burgers is simply put one of the best shows on TV, animated or otherwise, and I felt compelled to take it down a notch by offering my services,” jokes Tony nominee Josh Gad.
Gad, along with his original The Book of Mormon co-stars Tony nominee Andrew Rannells and Rory O'Malley and Hamilton Tony winner Daveed Diggs, will voice characters on the September 30 Season 9 premiere of Bob’s Burgers—and not just their speaking voices.
In the musical episode, titled “Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now,” boy band Boyz4Now are on the hunt for a new lead singer after frontman BooBoo exited the band for a solo career. Burgers’ Tina follows her crush (voiced by Gad) to the auditions, but gets distracted by three other cute guys, voiced by Rannells, Diggs, and O’Malley.
With music by Wendy Molyneux, Lizzie Molyneux, Loren Bouchard, and Tim Dacey, the quartet sings the episode’s finale “Right Number of Boys” all together. While the four recorded separately, Rannells and Gad pre-recorded half of their duet together.
“I was so thrilled to be asked to join Bob’s Burgers for their season premiere,” says Rannells. “And of course, any opportunity to sing with Josh Gad again is a welcomed one. Even in cartoon form!”
Of course, Rannells and O’Malley have also worked with Diggs—both having played King George in Hamilton on Broadway.
As fans of the show, Diggs and O’Malley were thrilled to work on the cartoon. “I’ve been a Bob’s Burgers fan forever,” says Diggs. “The Belcher family is practically in a constant loop on my TV,” adds O’Malley. “It’s especially thrilling to be a part of this musical episode along with my friends Daveed, Josh, and Andrew. I’ve shared a Broadway stage with all of them and now we get to share Tina’s love!”
The episode also marks a precursor to the upcoming big-screen musical Bob’s Burgers movie due in June 2020. Yet another Book of Mormon connection: Before writing Mormon, the musical’s writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone wrote the animated series South Park for Comedy Central which spun off into the animated movie musical South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut with a score by Parker and Marc Shaiman.
The Season 9 premiere (and 150th episode) of Bob’s Burgers airs September 30 at 8:30PM ET on Fox.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the actors’ animated alter egos ahead of the premiere:
