"Bob Fires the Kids" first aired in the United States on November 4, 2012 on Fox, as a part of the Animation Domination programming block. It had originally been scheduled to air on October 21, but was preempted for Fox's broadcast of game six of the 2012 National League Championship Series. The episode was watched by 3.92 million viewers and received a 1.8/4 Nielsen rating in the 18–49 demographic, becoming the fourth most-watched program of the Animation Domination block for the night. It was surpassed in ratings by "Sunday Night Football" and "The Amazing Race", which aired on NBC and CBS respectively in the same time slot.