# Loren Bouchard

Loren Hal Bouchard is an American animator, writer, producer, director, and composer. He is the creator of several animated TV shows such as Bob's Burgers, Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil, and Central Park. He is also the co-creator of Home Movies with Brendon Small as well as the executive producer of The Great North.

## Early life

Bouchard was born in New York City to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. He grew up in Medford, Massachusetts.

## Career

A high school dropout, Bouchard was working as a bartender in 1993 when he bumped into a former grade school teacher of his, Tom Snyder, who asked if Bouchard was still drawing, and offered Bouchard a chance to work on a few animated short films Snyder was making. The shorts developed into Bouchard's first series, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, which he produced. He credits Jonathan Katz, H. Jon Benjamin, and Snyder as major influences. Dr. Katz ran for six seasons, from 1995 to 2000. He also produced one season of Science Court, another animated show made by Soup2Nuts.
Towards the end of Dr. Katz, Bouchard and Brendon Small teamed up to create Home Movies. The show was picked up initially by UPN, which dropped it after five episodes; the remaining eight episodes from season one, and the subsequent three seasons, were shown on Adult Swim. The show was not renewed after the conclusion of the fourth season in 2004.
After Home Movies concluded and another Bouchard pilot, Saddle Rash, was not picked up, Bouchard created Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil. The show's pilot was created on October 30, 2005, but it was not until September 2007 that the show debuted as a weekly feature on Adult Swim. He was a consulting producer on HBO's The Ricky Gervais Show.
In 2009, Bouchard got together with King of the Hill writer and producer Jim Dauterive and developed Bob's Burgers, an animated series about a family working at a hamburger restaurant. Bouchard grew up in a working-class family full of "blue collar creatives" and created Bob's Burgers because he didn't see that kind of life represented on TV. In 2010, Fox placed the series on the primetime slate for the 2010–11 television season. A special preview aired on Thanksgiving on November 25, 2010. When the series premiered, it received mixed reviews with a Metacritic score of 54 out of 100. However, as the first season progressed and concluded and the second began, critics began giving the series praise. The show has generally been viewed as a spiritual successor to King of the Hill, which carried less emphasis on shock comedy and focused more on character-driven humor. A film adaptation based on the animated TV series was released on May 27, 2022. and serves as Bouchard's feature directorial debut.

## Personal life

Bouchard lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Holly Kretschmar. The couple married on September 3, 2006. The couple have two sons.

## Filmography
### Series

Television work by Loren Bouchard :
| Year | Title | Creator / Showrunner | Involvement (episodes) | Role |
| 1995–1999 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | No | Writer, producer, editor (47 episodes) | — |
| 1997 | Science Court | No | Producer and director (12 episodes) | — |
| 1999–2004 | Home Movies | Yes (52 episodes) | Writer, executive producer, director, co-theme music composer | Josie Small (voice) |
| 2002 | Mr. Bean | No | Voice actor (episode: "Cat-Sitting/The Bottle") | Rondo (voice) |
| 2005–2007 | Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil | Yes (11 episodes) | Writer, executive producer, director, composer | Classmate (voice) |
| 2007 | My Gym Partner's a Monkey | No | Voice actor (episode: "Flesh Fur Fantasy/Substitute Sweetheart") | Teddy (voice) |
| 2010 | The Ricky Gervais Show | No | Consulting producer (season 1) | — |
| 2011–present | Bob's Burgers | Yes | Writer, co-developer, executive producer, main theme composer | Mickey (voice) (episode "Beach, Please", replaced Bill Hader) |
| 2020–2022 | Central Park | Yes | Writer, executive producer, main theme composer | — |
| 2021–present | The Great North | No | Executive producer | — |

### Films

Film work by Loren Bouchard :
| Year | Title | Director | Involvement | Role |
| 2022 | My Butt Has a Fever | Yes | Short film; writer, producer, music and lyrics, performer | — |
| 2022 | The Bob's Burgers Movie | Yes | Writer, producer, music and lyrics, additional score arrangements, additional music, musician, vocalist, song producer | Additional voices |

## Awards and honors

Accolades for Loren Bouchard :
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1995 | CableACE Award | Animated Programming Special or Series | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Won |
| 1995 | CableACE Award | Writing a Comedy Series | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Nominated |
| 1998 | TCA Award | Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming | Science Court | Nominated |
| 2011 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2012 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2012 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2012 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "Burgerboss" | Nominated |
| 2013 | Annie Award | Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Bob's Burgers for "Ear-sy Rider" | Nominated |
| 2013 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2013 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "O.T.: The Outside Toilet" | Nominated |
| 2014 | Annie Award | Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2014 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2014 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "Mazel-Tina" | Won |
| 2015 | People's Choice Award | Favorite Animated TV Show | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2015 | Annie Award | Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2015 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2015 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "Can't Buy Me Math" | Nominated |
| 2015 | Environmental Media Award | Television Episodic Comedy | Bob's Burgers for "Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise" | Nominated |
| 2016 | People's Choice Award | Favorite Animated TV Show | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2016 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2016 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2016 | Annie Award | Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2016 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "The Horse Rider-er" | Nominated |
| 2017 | People's Choice Award | Favorite Animated TV Show | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2017 | Annie Award | Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Bob's Burgers for "Glued, Where's My Bob?" | Won |
| 2017 | Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement, Music in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Bob's Burgers for "Glued, Where's My Bob?" (shared with John Dylan Keith) | Nominated |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Animated TV Show | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2017 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "Bob Actually" | Won |
| 2018 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2018 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Animated TV Show | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2018 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "V for Valentine-detta" | Nominated |
| 2019 | Annie Award | Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Bob's Burgers for "The Bleakening: Parts 1 & 2" | Nominated |
| 2019 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Animated Series | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2019 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now" | Nominated |
| 2020 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "Pig Trouble in Little Tina" | Nominated |
| 2021 | Dorian TV Awards | Best Animated Show | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2021 | Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Animated Series or Animated Television Movie | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |
| 2021 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Animated Program | Bob's Burgers for "Worms of In-Rear-Ment" | Nominated |
| 2022 | Peabody Award | Entertainment | Bob's Burgers | Nominated |