Help Wanted

## Credits

### Guest(s)

Tiny Tim as musical performer of Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight

### Writer(s)

Stephen Hillenburg
Derek Drymom
Tim Hill

## Chronology

### Next

"Reef Blower"

'

**"Help Wanted" will premiere** from Season 12 in Norfolk Africa. The first Season 1 episode did not air.

## Synopsis

Deep down in the ocean, the audience is introduced to a small little town known as Bikini Bottom; a narrator with a French accent muses on the wonders of undersea life. The narrator introduces the audience to one of his favorite creatures in the sea, SpongeBob SquarePants. Inside the pineapple where he lives, the yellow and porous SpongeBob sleeps soundly in his bed with three mattresses and a diving board attached. On the floor nearby is SpongeBob's pet snail, Gary, who is also asleep, next to SpongeBob is a foghorn alarm clock, which soon loudly goes off and awakens him.

SpongeBob climbs the diving board, and tells Gary that today is "the big day", with Gary giving a simple "meow" in reply. SpongeBob jumps off of the diving board, and lands neatly into an outfit consisting of square pants, a white shirt, and a red tie. To prepare for the day, he goes to a barbell with two stuffed animals attached, and struggles to lift it, barely managing to get one rep before dropping it with a squeak. He then proclaims, "I'm ready!" and runs outside, heading past an Easter Island head with windows and a door, as well as a brown rock with a bamboo weather vane. The rock opens up to reveal a pink starfish, Patrick Star, sticking underneath it, cheering SpongeBob on before peeling off and falling.

Arriving outside the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob psyches himself up to answer the call of the Help Wanted sign in the window and ask for a job as a fry cook. However, his fears get the better of him and he turns to leave, only to find Patrick in his way. The latter convinces the former that he is truly ready for the job, giving SpongeBob the confidence to make his way over.

Squidward Tentacles, a Krusty Krab employee busy cleaning graffiti off the windows, sees SpongeBob approach, and voices his displeasure, wondering why he is coming so early. He then notices the sign, and shrieks in horror, sprinting inside toward his boss and owner of the restaurant, Eugene H. Krabs. Before Squidward can warn him, SpongeBob enters, and confidently states his intention of joining the Krusty Crew. He starts to approach Mr. Krabs and Squidward, but trips and bounces around the restaurant before landing square on his back in front of them.

Mr. Krabs expresses his concern that SpongeBob is not ready for the job, but the latter asks him to reconsider, and have Squidward vouch for him, who takes Mr. Krabs aside and flatly refuses. Giving Squidward a wink, Mr. Krabs approaches SpongeBob, and says that he can apply once he is completed a simple test: purchasing a seemingly rare "hydro-dynamic spatula." SpongeBob eagerly heads out in his new employee hat to find one, leaving Krabs and Squidward to laugh together about his errand.

As SpongeBob runs to the Barg'N-Mart, a convoy of buses arrives at the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs literally smells trouble approaching, and soon after, a hoard of anchovies swarms in, and clamors for food. Squidward calls for their attention, asking them to behave themselves, and make a neat single-file line. His request is rejected, and the anchovies grow more ravenous and unruly. Squidward and Mr. Krabs climb into the cash register rowboat as the anchovies form a rolling ocean, but their boat breaks, and they climb a pole to the ceiling. Facing the end, Mr. Krabs and Squidward say their goodbyes and sob.

From the sky, however, arrives SpongeBob, wielding his new flight-capable hydro-dynamic spatula. Leaving the flabbergasted workers behind, SpongeBob flies into the kitchen, and starts whipping up a batch of Krabby Patties. The anchovies are satiated one by one down to the last, leaving behind a huge fat sack of cash. Mr. Krabs jumps with joy and proudly presents SpongeBob with his own nametag. Squidward tries to protest, but Mr. Krabs is too busy cheering, and carting away the money to notice.

Patrick then arrives, and orders a single Krabby Patty, but SpongeBob engages the spatula once more, and sends Patrick flying out of the restaurant with a flurry of Krabby Patties. Squidward haughtily asks Mr. Krabs to come back, and see his new employee at work, as the song reprises one last time.

## Characters

* SpongeBob SquarePants (debut)
* French Narrator  (debut)
* Gary the Snail (debut)
* Patrick Star (debut)
* Squidward Tentacles (debut)
* Eugene H. Krabs (debut)
* Sea urchins (debut)
* Shelley (debut)
* Bus Driver (debut)
* Anchovies (debut)
* Betsy Krabs (mentioned)

## Song

* Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlght

## Trivia

* This is the only season 1 episode not featured on the Complete First Season DVD and The First And Second Seasons DVD, due to copyright issues with the song "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" by Tiny Tim, which is played during the episode. However, on the German release of the DVD, the episode is actually included.[18]

* This is the only season 1 episode produced in 1997.

* The beginning of the episode, in which SpongeBob says, "Today's the big day, Gary," can be seen on a TV in the 2002 comedy film *Orange County*.
* SpongeBob's bed is on the right side of his room, whereas later episodes show it on the left side.
* SpongeBob is shown to have a pet scallop that he keeps in a birdcage. The scallop makes occasional appearances throughout the series.
* The French narrator is the first to speak in the series.
* It is revealed that SpongeBob's first words were "May I take your order?"
	+ It is also revealed that SpongeBob built a spatula out of toothpicks in the wood shop.
* SpongeBob states that he has been training his whole life to join the Krusty Crew. This is supported in the episode "Friend or Foe."
* We can estimate when this episode takes place by using his employee of the month awards in "Employee of the Month," "Breath of Fresh Squidward" and *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*.
	+ Because SpongeBob has gotten 35.5 years worth of awards, then this episode takes place around October 1999.
* Normally, when SpongeBob walks, his shoes make a squeaky sound. However, in this episode, the squeak is not heard.
* This is the 1st episode of the show.
* This is one of the seven episodes in which the 1986-2002 Paramount logo is plastered with the 2002-2011 Paramount logo. The others are "Squeaky Boots," "F.U.N.," "Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost," "Employee of the Month," "Karate Choppers," and "Rock Bottom."
* There is an old *SpongeBob* online game based on this episode called *Anchovy Feeding Frenzy*.
* On September 7, 2013, there was a live script reading with the voice actors at Universal Studios Hollywood for this episode.
* Starting in 2015, during reruns of this episode, the intro repeatedly goes faster and changes back to its normal speed.
* This episode was finished in 1997, but did not air until May 1, 1999, because the cast wanted to change various things.

## Errors

* Stephen Hillenburg's name in the "Written By" section of the opening credits is misspelled as "Stephen Hilleburg," missing the "N" in his surname.
* The last time SpongeBob says "I'm ready!" his collar turns red.
* After Squidward looks back to see SpongeBob, the arrow in the graffiti is gone.
* When SpongeBob walks inside the Krusty Krab and says, "I've been waiting my entire life to join the Krusty Krab crew!," the Krusty Krab's lights are off, but when he says, "And now I'm ready!," the lights are on. However, the storyboards show this could've been done on purpose.
* In the Krusty Krab, all doors to the left of the cash register are not there. When Mr. Krabs goes to his office, he goes to the right.
* When Mr. Krabs jumps every time he says "Hip, hip!" his white undershirt disappears for less than a second.
* When Patrick says, "Who's ready?," his eyelids are pink instead of purple.

* During the scene where SpongeBob jumps proudly, the color of his collar is red instead of white. The same is true in the final shot of SpongeBob using his spatula to hit several Krabby Patties out to the anchovies.

* The original captions spell "Krabby Patty" as "Crabby Patty."

* When Mr. Krabs says, "Climb Mr. Squidward! Climb!," Squidward's top layer of teeth are purple.
* When Squidward says, "Mr. Krabs!," the anchor illustration on his hat disappears for a split second.
* In the scene where the buses pull up to the Krusty Krab, there are four buses, but in the next scene when they park, there are five of them.
* When Mr. Krabs and Squidward hit the pole, a frame of what looks like the alternate or inverted background for the credits appear.

## Credits

(*Visit; Help Wanted, Reef Blower and Tea at the Treedome (credits)*)