Pizza Delivery (SpongeBob SquarePants)

"Pizza Delivery" is the first part of the 5th episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. It was first broadcast on Nickelodeon on August 14, 1999. The episode is about SpongeBob and Squidward delivering a pizza in a desert.
Story
The Krusty Krab gets a phone call right before it closes. The person calling makes an order for pizza. Squidward tries to say that the Krusty Krab does not make pizza, but Mr. Krabs quickly makes a pizza out of Krabby Patties. He makes SpongeBob and Squidward deliver the pizza. Squidward tries to make SpongeBob drive a boat (that functions like a car) to get to the person's house. SpongeBob is still in boating school (driver's education), making him nervous and going very far backwards with the boat. The boat stops at a desert when does not have any more gasoline. They must deliver the pizza by walking. SpongeBob sees a truck and tries hitchhiking similar to a pioneer. However, they almost get hit by the truck. They later get stuck in a tornado that puts them far away from the road they walked on. SpongeBob thinks like a pioneer and believes that moss on a rock will get them to other people. Squidward does not believe this and walks away.
SpongeBob and Squidward start to get hungry and tired. Squidward wants to eat the pizza but SpongeBob will not let him. SpongeBob sees a very big rock and wants to drive it similar to pioneers. Squidward tries to tell him that rocks are not vehicles, but he gets hit by SpongeBob driving the rock. SpongeBob and Squidward make it to the customer's house. The customer is happy to get the pizza, but he then gets mad because they did not give him a drink. The customer shouts at SpongeBob and makes him cry. Squidward gets angry and throws the pizza in the customer's face. Squidward says to SpongeBob that the pizza has been delivered. They drive back to the Krusty Krab using the rock.
Production
"Pizza Delivery" was written by Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer, and Peter Burns. Sean Dempsey was the director of the episode's animation. Cohen was the director of the storyboard and Springer worked on drawing the storyboard. While SpongeBob SquarePants was first being made, Stephen Hillenburg wanted to make a storyboard that could be made as an episode and give it to Nickelodeon. He wanted to write an episode about SpongeBob and Squidward going on a road trip similar to the movie Powwow Highway. The idea of that story was being made, but Hillenburg no longer wanted to make a storyboard for Nickelodeon. These ideas were brought back and used in "Pizza Delivery".
Reception
Nancy Basile from About.com said that it is "the perfect episode" to show SpongeBob's big interests in the Krusty Krab and Squidward being annoyed. She says the part of the episode she likes the most is Squidward throwing the pizza in the customer's face. Bill Treadway from DVD Verdict says that it is his "favorite out of all the episodes" because of the episode's comedy. Emily Estep of WeGotThisCovered.com said that the episode has the "nostalgia of being episode five" and liked the episode's look in the relationship of SpongeBob and Squidward. Estep thought that it "set the tone for just how strange the show could be." "Pizza Delivery" was named as the best episode of SpongeBob SquarePants by the people on Nick.com in 2009.