SpongeBob SquarePants

***SpongeBob SquarePants*** is an American animated series created by Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It is currently the tenth Nicktoon to debut. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and United Plankton Pictures Inc. The series first broadcast on May 1, 1999, as a "sneak peek" and officially premiered on July 17 of the same year.

The series is about SpongeBob, an anthropomorphic sponge who lives in an underwater pineapple with his pet snail Gary. His neighbors are Patrick Star, a stupid starfish, and a grumpy octopus named Squidward Tentacles. He works at the Krusty Krab, whose boss is Mr. Krabs, who is a cheapskate crab and lives with his daughter Pearl in his anchor. SpongeBob often spends time with Sandy Cheeks, who is a thrill-seeking squirrel. SpongeBob is enrolled at Mrs. Puff's boating school run by Mrs. Puff, a pufferfish. The show's villains are Plankton, who runs the Chum Bucket and fails to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, and his wife Karen, a computer.

It is currently Nickelodeon's highest-rated show and the most profitable property for Paramount Consumer Products, generating over $13 billion in merchandising revenue as of 2019.

Upon the show's premiere, episodes were watched by 1-2 million people per household. It gained enormous popularity in its second season and received worldwide critical acclaim. It is currently on its 13th season, which premiered on October 2020 and is currently renewed for a 14th season. The show has three feature films: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), Sponge Out of Water (2015), and Sponge on the Run (2020). It also has three spin-off series which are Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, The Patrick Star Show, and a Squidward spin-off currently in production. As of February 2022, four additional films are planned: three character spinoff films for Paramount+, and a new theatrical SpongeBob film which is set to premiere in 2025.

## History

*Main article: History of SpongeBob SquarePants*
## Premise

### Characters

*Main article: List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters*
* **SpongeBob SquarePants** - A yellow anthropomorphic sea sponge. He lives in an underwater pineapple and is employed as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab. SpongeBob is a student at Mrs. Puff's Boating School, who drives recklessly and failed his driving test many times. He is voiced by Tom Kenny, who voices his pet snail, Gary. SpongeBob was originally named "SpongeBoy", but renamed him after finding out that the name was already used by a non-mop company.

* **Patrick Star** - A pink starfish. He is currently unemployed and lives under a rock. He is SpongeBob's best friend and often spends time with him after his work. He is an unintelligent sea star in which his decisions get him and SpongeBob in trouble. His attitude is relaxed and easygoing, but when something bad happens to SpongeBob, he can get angry. He is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke.

* **Squidward Tentacles** - A turquoise octopus. He is a cashier at the Krusty Krab and is SpongeBob's co-worker. He lives in an Easter Island Head right next to SpongeBob and Patrick's house. He is usually grumpy because nobody recognizes his artistic talent. Squidward also loves to play the clarinet, which nobody appreciates because he plays it off-key. He often gets annoyed by SpongeBob and Patrick's antics, but sometimes appreciates their friendship. He is voiced by Rodger Bumpass. Hillenburg named the character Squidward after the squid, which is closely related to the octopus and has ten limbs. In the words of Squidward's voice actor Rodger Bumpass, the name Octoward "just didn't work".

* **Mr. Krabs** - A red crimson crab. He is the manager and boss of the Krusty Krab. He lives in an anchor with Pearl. He is a cheapskate crab and doesn't want anybody to touch his money. He is obsessed with money and will do almost anything to make a profit, even if it means overworking his employees SpongeBob and Squidward. Mr. Krabs is currently dating Mrs. Puff since the second season. He is voiced by Clancy Brown.

* **Sheldon J. Plankton** - A green copepod (a type of Plankton). Along with his computer wife, Karen, they are the main antagonists of the series. He owns a restaurant called the Chum Bucket. He and Mr. Krabs are rivals. Plankton's goal is to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula and rule the fast-food world, alongside his wife. He is voiced by Doug Lawrence. From the first three seasons, Plankton was not a main character in the series. Hillenburg later feared that Plankton's stories would be repetitive and decided he would be better as a one-time character. Doug Lawrence loved the character and used his writing skills and voice to prove that Plankton could work as a major antagonist. Plankton & Karen were later promoted as main characters in the first SpongeBob movie.

* **Karen** - A waterproof computer who is Plankton's wife. Along with her husband, Plankton, they are the main antagonists of the series. She lives in the laboratory of the Chum Bucket, where she calculates evil plans to help her husband Plankton steal the Krabby Patty formula. She is the smartest resident of Bikini Bottom but sometimes feels that her intellect is wasted on Plankton. Karen has a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. Despite being a machine, Karen has a wide range of emotions and cares a lot about Plankton deep down. She is voiced by Jill Talley, who is married to Tom Kenny. Stephen Hillenburg named Karen after his wife, Karen Hillenburg.

* **Sandy Cheeks** - A brown squirrel who originated from Texas. She wears a diving suit and lives in an air-filled Treedome to breathe underwater

### Setting

The show is mostly taken place in Bikini Bottom, an underwater city located in the Pacific Ocean beneath the real-life coral reef known as Bikini Atoll. The citizens are mostly different types of fish. They mostly drive on boatmobiles and live in ship funnels. Main locations in Bikini Bottom include Conch Street, the Krusty Krab, the Chum Bucket, Mrs. Puff's Boating School, Sandy's tree dome, Jellyfish Fields, and Goo Lagoon.

## Episodes

*Main article: List of SpongeBob SquarePants episodes*

## Reception

### Ratings and run-length achievements

Within its first month on air, *SpongeBob SquarePants* overtook *Pokémon* as the highest rated Saturday-morning children's series on television. It held an average national Nielsen rating of 4.9 among children aged two through eleven, denoting 1.9 million viewers. Two years later, the series had firmly established itself as Nickelodeon's second highest-rated children's program, after *Rugrats*. *SpongeBob SquarePants* was credited with helping Nickelodeon take the "Saturday-morning ratings crown" for the fourth straight season in 2001. The series had gained a significant adult audience by that point—nearly 40 percent of its 2.2 million viewers were aged 18 to 34. In response to its weekend success, Nickelodeon gave *SpongeBob SquarePants* time slots at 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM, Monday through Thursday, to increase the series' exposure. By the end of 2001 *SpongeBob SquarePants* boasted the highest ratings for any children's series, on all of television. Weekly viewership of the series had reached around fifteen million, at least five million of whom were adults.

In October 2002, *The Fairly OddParents* ranked as the number two program for children between two and eleven years old. Its ratings at that time were almost equal to *SpongeBob SquarePants*' then-average of 2.2 million viewers per episode. *The Fairly OddParents* even briefly surpassed *SpongeBob SquarePants*, causing it to drop into second place. At this time, *The Fairly OddParents* had a 6.2 rating and nearly 2.5 million child viewers, while *SpongeBob SquarePants* had a 6.0 rating and 2.4 million child viewers aged two to eleven. Nickelodeon "recognized" *The Fairly OddParents* for its climbing ratings and installed it in a new 8:00 PM time slot, previously occupied by *SpongeBob SquarePants*. In an interview, Cyma Zarghami, then-general manager and executive vice president of Nickelodeon, said, "Are we banking on the fact that *Fairly OddParents* will be the next *SpongeBob*? ... We are hoping. But *SpongeBob* is so unique, it's hard to say if it will ever be repeated."

In 2012, however, it was reported that the series' ratings were declining. The average number of viewers aged two to eleven watching *SpongeBob* at any given time dropped 29% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to Nielsen. *Wall Street Journal* business writer John Jannarone suggested the series' age and oversaturation might be contributing to its ratings' decline and might also be directly responsible for the decline in Nickelodeon's overall ratings. Media analyst Todd Juenger attributed the decline in Nickelodeon's ratings directly to the availability of streaming video content on services like Netflix.

Philippe Dauman, the president and CEO of Viacom, contradicted that notion, saying: "We are getting nice revenues through these subscription VOD deals", adding Netflix only has "some library content" on its service. A Nickelodeon spokesman said *SpongeBob* is performing consistently well and remains the number one rated animated series in all of children's television. He added, "There is nothing that we have seen that points to *SpongeBob* as a problem." Dauman blamed the drop on "some ratings systemic issues" at Nielsen, citing extensive set-top-box data that "does in no way reflect" the Nielsen data.

Juenger noted *SpongeBob* could affect the ratings of other Nickelodeon programming because children often change channels to find their favorite programs, then stay tuned to that network. Nickelodeon reduced its exposure on television. In the first quarter of 2012, the network cut back on the number of episodes it aired by 16% compared to a year earlier.

On April 22, 2013, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced their intentions not to renew their existing deal with Viacom. Viacom's deal with Netflix expired, and shows such as *SpongeBob* and *Dora the Explorer* were removed. However, seasons five through eight of *SpongeBob* are still available to stream on Netflix in Canada. On June 4, 2013, Viacom announced a multi-year licensing agreement which would move its programs, such as *SpongeBob* and *Dora the Explorer*, to Amazon.com, Netflix's top competitor. Amazon agreed to pay more than $200 million to Viacom for the license, its largest subscription streaming transaction ever.

*SpongeBob SquarePants* is one of Nickelodeon's longest-running series. It became the network's series with the most episodes during its eighth season, surpassing the 172 episodes of *Rugrats*. In the ninth season, its 26 episodes brought the number of episodes produced to 204. In a statement, Brown Johnson, Nickelodeon's animation president said, "*SpongeBob*'s success in reaching over 200 episodes is a testament to creator Stephen Hillenburg's vision, comedic sensibility and his dynamic, lovable characters. The series now joins the club of contemporary classic Nicktoons that have hit this benchmark, so we're incredibly proud."

## Trivia

* SpongeBob SquarePants is currently the longest-running Nickelodeon series after it took the title from Nick News on December 15, 2022, and also the longest-running animated show on Nickelodeon.
	+ SpongeBob is also the second longest-running American children's animated television and the fifth longest-running American animated television series altogether after The Simpsons, Arthur, South Park, and Family Guy respectively. Since the show has been renewed for a fourteenth season, it will beat Arthur's record of 25 years, 4 months, and 14 days on the air by May 1, 2024, and become the longest-running American children's animated TV series and the fourth longest-runner in American animated-television.
	+ SpongeBob is the second longest-running Paramount Global-produced animated series, right behind Comedy Central's South Park.
* SpongeBob is the only Nicktoon and Nickelodeon show that premiered in the 1990s and is still airing new episodes on TV today. This does not include the Rugrats 2021 revival series, as the original series ended in 2004.
* SpongeBob was the third Nicktoon to have a sneak preview airing after a Kids Choice Awards ceremony, the first two beings The Angry Beavers and CatDog.
* SpongeBob SquarePants has won 19 Favorite Cartoon Awards and 20 overall awards at the Kids' Choice Awards. The series won 2 awards in 2014, one for Favorite Cartoon and one for Favorite Animated Animal Sidekick (Patrick Star).
	+ In 2008, the series once lost to another Nicktoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

## References

1. ↑ Nicklodeon.(rating of Nickelodeon's cartoon *SpongeBob SquarePants*)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included). *Multichannel News* (August 23, 1999). Retrieved on April 2, 2015. (subscription required)
2. ↑ Number 101. *TV by the Numbers*. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved on April 2, 2015.
3. ↑ Nick Retains SaturdayY Crown. *Broadcasting & Cable* (June 18, 2001). Retrieved on October 30, 2013.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Stretch. *Rocky Mountain News* (September 15, 2001). Retrieved on October 30, 2013. (subscription required)
5. ↑ Frazier Moore (July 9, 2001). Sponge Soaks Up Laughs On TV.(Living). *The Cincinnati Post*. Retrieved on April 4, 2015. (subscription required)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wilson, Amy (February 12, 2002). Stephen Hillenburg created the undersea world of SpongeBob.(The Orange County Register). *Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service*. Retrieved on June 30, 2015. (subscription required)
7. ↑ Stauffer, Cindy (May 17, 2002). Grown-ups embrace a wacky, square sponge; There's just something about this sweet kids' cartoon that's attracting an adult audience. Local fans can't get enough of SpongeBob. *Lancaster New Era*. Retrieved on October 31, 2013. (subscription required)
8. ↑ Moore, Frazier (October 21, 2002). 'SpongeBob' rises from sea to peak of ratings: Nickelodeon show top-rated among kids aged 2 to 11. *Charleston Daily Mail*. Retrieved on December 7, 2013. (subscription required)
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Ryan, Suzanne C. (August 14, 2003). 'Oddparents is Soaking Up Popularity of 'Spongebob'. *The Boston Globe*. Retrieved on December 7, 2013. (subscription required)
10. ↑ Oei, Lily (October 28, 2002). 'Fairly Odd' number puts 'SpongeBob' in second. *Daily Variety*. Retrieved on December 7, 2013. (subscription required)
11. ↑ Sorry, SpongeBob: Disney Channel Knocks Nick From Top Ratings Perch. *TheWrap* (March 28, 2012). Retrieved on May 26, 2013.
12. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Jannarone, John (May 2, 2012). "Viacom's SpongeBob Crisis". Retrieved on May 26, 2013.
14. ↑ Gardner, Eriq (June 12, 2012). "Analyst: Nickelodeon Might Be in Danger of Being Dropped by Some TV Distributors", *HollywoodReporter.com*. Retrieved on December 5, 2013.
15. ↑ Szalai, Georg (May 3, 2013). "Viacom CEO Defends Nickelodeon's Netflix Deal Again". Retrieved on May 26, 2013.
16. ↑ Szalai, Georg (February 2, 2013). "Viacom CEO: Netflix Content Is Not Hurting Nickelodeon Ratings". Retrieved on May 26, 2013.
17. ↑ Szalai, Georg (February 2, 2012). "Viacom CEO: Netflix Content Is Not Hurting Nickelodeon Ratings". Retrieved on May 26, 2013.
18. ↑ Wallenstein, Andrew (April 22, 2013). "Viacom and Netflix to Scale Down SVOD Deal". Retrieved on May 26, 2013.
19. ↑ Roettgers, Janko (May 23, 2013). Adios, Dora: Netflix is starting to take Viacom shows offline. paidContent. Retrieved on May 26, 2013.
20. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants (1999). Retrieved on September 7, 2019.
21. ↑ "Dora, SpongeBob Swap Sides in Fickle Web-Video World" (June 4, 2013). Retrieved on June 5, 2013.
22. ↑ Moscariloto, Angela (June 4, 2013). "Amazon Inks Streaming Deal for Viacom Shows Like Dora, SpongeBob", PCMag.com. Retrieved on June 5, 2013.
23. ↑ Barr, Alistair (June 4, 2013). "Amazon writes biggest streaming video check for Dora, SpongeBob", *Denver Post*. Retrieved on June 5, 2013.
24. ↑ Amazon swipes SpongeBob from Netflix in most expensive deal yet. *The Mercury News* (June 4, 2013). Retrieved on June 5, 2013.
25. ↑ Huff, Richard (December 14, 2009). "'SpongeBob SquarePants' one of Nickelodeon's longest-running shows after nearly a decade", *New York Daily News*. Retrieved on December 15, 2013. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013.
26. ↑ 5 of the best. *Sunday Tribune* (January 15, 2011). Retrieved on November 8, 2013. (subscription required)
27. ↑ Labrecque, Jeff (January 3, 2011). 'SpongeBob SquarePants' buckles up for ninth season. *Entertainment Weekly*. Retrieved on November 8, 2013.
28. ↑ Kit, Zorianna (January 3, 2011). ""SpongeBob SquarePants" renewed for ninth season", *Reuters*. Retrieved on November 8, 2013.
29. ↑ Levine, Stuart (January 4, 2011). "'SpongeBob' receives ninth season pickup", *Variety*. Retrieved on November 8, 2013.
30. ↑ Bryant, Adam (January 3, 2011). SpongeBob SquarePants Renewed for Ninth Season. *TV Guide*. Retrieved on November 8, 2013.
31. ↑ Ng, Philiana (January 3, 2011). "Nickelodeon's 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Renewed for Ninth Season", *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved on November 8, 2013.  (subscription required)