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In an episode of Bob's Burgers (Sheesh! Cab, Bob), Bob is driving a cab to get some extra money, and in one scene he turns on the radio and makes a comment like "FM! Nice!"

Then in another episode (Bad Tina), Tina has some of her friends in her room when Zeke exclaims "I wanna hear some FM baby!"

My question is in regards to the mention of "FM" .. Is that some kind of inside joke to the show or the area the show is supposed to take place in, or is it an anachronism of some kind?

I know it's referring to FM radio, but I don't quite understand if there's supposed to be a joke in there outside of the fact that it's simply "FM radio" and thus it's funny ..?

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    Without having the episodes handy for reference, my guesses: in the cab, the joke is that the car is so old and/or cheaply built that Bob expected the radio to be AM only. With Tina, the joke is not about the availability of FM but about the content. FM is dominated by recently-recorded popular music, and AM stations are more likely to play oldies and news and call-in advice programs. AM is boring (like Tina) and FM is cool (like Zeke).
    – user6436
    Jan 16, 2017 at 3:34
  • @WumpusQ.Wumbley, I like your Tina analysis; that actually makes sense and does make that scene funnier given the circumstances surrounding the statement. And the more I think about the cab, it makes sense, since Bob's doing it for Mr. Fischoeder and how cheap he is! If you put that as an answer I'd accept it because that all makes more sense than there being some sort of ulterior reference.
    – txtechhelp
    Jan 16, 2017 at 3:55

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In the cab, the joke is that the car is so old and/or cheaply built that Bob expected the radio to be AM only.

With Tina, the joke is not about the availability of FM but about the content. FM is dominated by recently-recorded popular music, and AM stations are more likely to play oldies and news and call-in advice programs - the kind of stuff kids don't want to listen to, execpt maybe Tina because she's weird.

Zeke's comment means he's bored by the entertainment being provided by Tina, and wants something more exciting.

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  • Thanks again! It's always the subtle witty jokes that can get you but are the best ones :)
    – txtechhelp
    Jan 16, 2017 at 6:38
  • It might be that his car doesn't have fm because his is so old
    – Yout Ried
    Aug 29, 2018 at 18:17

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