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Bob

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Part of a series on Mad Men. [View Related Entries]


About

"Not Great, Bob" is a memorable quote uttered by the character Pete Campbell on the American dramatic television series Mad Men. Online, people use the phrase and video and images of Campbell saying the line to express anger and frustration.

Origin

On June 23rd, 2013, the Mad Men episode "In Care Of" aired in the United States (clip below).[1] In the episode, the character Bob Benson asks Pete Campbell (portrayed by James Wolk and Vincent Kartheiser, respectively), "How are you?" Campbell, who just learned that his mother disappeared from a cruise that Benson recommended, responds, "Not great, Bob!"

Spread

On June 25th, comedy writer Jake Fogelnest posted a Keep Calm and Carry On parody on Tumblr [2] that featured the phrase. The post received more than 220 notes in six years (shown below, left).

КEEP CALM AND NOT GREAT, ВОВ!

People also began quoting the line on Twitter. [4] For example, on June 25th, Twitter[5] user @erinmallorylong tweeted, "NOT GREAT, BOB = my new reaction to everything" (shown below). Throughout the year, others follow suit (examples below, right)

NOT GREAT, BOB everything 1:03 AM - 25 Jun 2013 = my new reaction to
Shower decided to blast only freezing cold water this morning, so if anyone asks how 11m doing, 11m responding "NOT GREAT, BOB." 8:57 AM - 28 Jun 2013

Days later, on June 28th, YouTuber [3] Mitch Lake posted the clip on the site. The post received more than 409,000 views in six years.

Later that year, HuffPost[6] included the line on a list of the "Best TV Lines Of 2013."

On April 14th, 2014, the Tumblr[7] blog knitsquid uploaded a GIF. The post was later added to GIPHY. [10]

Not great, Bob! aMc

On May 23rd, 2015, Tumblr[11] blog madmenwiththingsdrawnonthem posted a mock movie trailer for a film entitled "Not Great, Bob." The post received more than 2,700 notes in four years (shown below).

james woulk vincent kartheiser NOT GREAT, BOB! putting the fun in dysfuctional. AMC PICTURES PRESENTS A FLMBY MATTHEW WEINER JAMES WOULK VINCENT KARTHEISER "NOT GREAT BOB!" ALLISON BRIE JOHN HAMM JOHN SLATTERY ELIZABETH MOSS CHRISTINA HENDRICKS AARON STATON RICH SOMMER BEN FELDMAN JAY R. FERGUSON AND BRYAN BATT AS SAL ROMAND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MATTHEW WEINER MUSIC BY ITUNES SUPER 60s CHANNEL WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY MATTHEW WEINER IN HISSY-FIT-PITCHING IMAX 3D COMING SUMMER 2015

Two years later, on the May 20th, 2016 episode of Jeopardy! [8] "Not Great, Bob" was a category.

On June 26th, 2019, Vulture[9] published a report on the phrase, detailing its writing and performance. In the article, one of the writers described the writing of the episode. They said:

[Creator Matt Weiner] said that line as a response [for Pete to say to Bob] and wasn’t pitching it as a joke, but because I was punchy and it was the middle of the night, I laughed. It had this thing of, Is no one else going to find this funny? If it’s not 2 o’clock in the morning and you’re not exhausted, is it not going to be funny?

Various Examples

Not great, Bob!
NOT GREAT BOB memegenerator.net
NOT GREAT,BOB

NOT GREAT, BOB! MAD MEN
What did you think of GOT? KAPWING Not great, Bob!
Not great Bob cross stitch

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Angry Pete Campbell

Not Great, Bob

Part of a series on Mad Men. [View Related Entries]

Updated Apr 27, 2021 at 08:12AM EDT by andcallmeshirley.

Added Jun 27, 2019 at 03:48PM EDT by Matt.

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About

"Not Great, Bob" is a memorable quote uttered by the character Pete Campbell on the American dramatic television series Mad Men. Online, people use the phrase and video and images of Campbell saying the line to express anger and frustration.

Origin

On June 23rd, 2013, the Mad Men episode "In Care Of" aired in the United States (clip below).[1] In the episode, the character Bob Benson asks Pete Campbell (portrayed by James Wolk and Vincent Kartheiser, respectively), "How are you?" Campbell, who just learned that his mother disappeared from a cruise that Benson recommended, responds, "Not great, Bob!"



Spread

On June 25th, comedy writer Jake Fogelnest posted a Keep Calm and Carry On parody on Tumblr [2] that featured the phrase. The post received more than 220 notes in six years (shown below, left).


КEEP CALM AND NOT GREAT, ВОВ!

People also began quoting the line on Twitter. [4] For example, on June 25th, Twitter[5] user @erinmallorylong tweeted, "NOT GREAT, BOB = my new reaction to everything" (shown below). Throughout the year, others follow suit (examples below, right)


NOT GREAT, BOB everything 1:03 AM - 25 Jun 2013 = my new reaction to Shower decided to blast only freezing cold water this morning, so if anyone asks how 11m doing, 11m responding "NOT GREAT, BOB." 8:57 AM - 28 Jun 2013

Days later, on June 28th, YouTuber [3] Mitch Lake posted the clip on the site. The post received more than 409,000 views in six years.

Later that year, HuffPost[6] included the line on a list of the "Best TV Lines Of 2013."

On April 14th, 2014, the Tumblr[7] blog knitsquid uploaded a GIF. The post was later added to GIPHY. [10]


Not great, Bob! aMc

On May 23rd, 2015, Tumblr[11] blog madmenwiththingsdrawnonthem posted a mock movie trailer for a film entitled "Not Great, Bob." The post received more than 2,700 notes in four years (shown below).


james woulk vincent kartheiser NOT GREAT, BOB! putting the fun in dysfuctional. AMC PICTURES PRESENTS A FLMBY MATTHEW WEINER JAMES WOULK VINCENT KARTHEISER "NOT GREAT BOB!" ALLISON BRIE JOHN HAMM JOHN SLATTERY ELIZABETH MOSS CHRISTINA HENDRICKS AARON STATON RICH SOMMER BEN FELDMAN JAY R. FERGUSON AND BRYAN BATT AS SAL ROMAND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MATTHEW WEINER MUSIC BY ITUNES SUPER 60s CHANNEL WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY MATTHEW WEINER IN HISSY-FIT-PITCHING IMAX 3D COMING SUMMER 2015

Two years later, on the May 20th, 2016 episode of Jeopardy! [8] "Not Great, Bob" was a category.

On June 26th, 2019, Vulture[9] published a report on the phrase, detailing its writing and performance. In the article, one of the writers described the writing of the episode. They said:

[Creator Matt Weiner] said that line as a response [for Pete to say to Bob] and wasn’t pitching it as a joke, but because I was punchy and it was the middle of the night, I laughed. It had this thing of, Is no one else going to find this funny? If it’s not 2 o’clock in the morning and you’re not exhausted, is it not going to be funny?

Various Examples


Not great, Bob! NOT GREAT BOB memegenerator.net NOT GREAT,BOB
NOT GREAT, BOB! MAD MEN What did you think of GOT? KAPWING Not great, Bob! Not great Bob cross stitch

Search Interest

External References

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Recent Images 12 total



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