SpongeBob SquarePants

[Oscarfan]

There was a great article on ToonZone that summarized what made the show great pre-movie and what the newer episodes are getting wrong.

I've said it so many times here, but after the movie, they stopped being good. Having to create dozens of new characters to create stories, repeating themes (The Krabby Kaverns one and the one where Patrick makes a new sign for the Chum Bucket are essentially the same deal), stupidly fast pacing and relying on punching Squidward for no reason whatsoever. In the early episodes, he had it coming a lot of the time. From what I've seen, all he has to do is just breathe and the universe will punish him for it. Patrick's gotten too stupid, SpongeBob's innocent threat is totally turned to 11, when the heck was science Sandy's thing? (Oh, she made a rocket one time? That's it?), too much reliance on the Krusty Krab/Chum Bucket fued. I could say so much about this. Really, the only good thing out of the post movie era is the song from "Gary Come Home".

 

[AquaGGR]

The first season is so slow paced compared to how ADHD Season 6+ is.

 

[Drtooth]

There was a great article on ToonZone that summarized what made the show great pre-movie and what the newer episodes are getting wrong.

I've said it so many times here, but after the movie, they stopped being good. Having to create dozens of new characters to create stories, repeating themes (The Krabby Kaverns one and the one where Patrick makes a new sign for the Chum Bucket are essentially the same deal), stupidly fast pacing and relying on punching Squidward for no reason whatsoever. In the early episodes, he had it coming a lot of the time. From what I've seen, all he has to do is just breathe and the universe will punish him for it. Patrick's gotten too stupid, SpongeBob's innocent threat is totally turned to 11, when the heck was science Sandy's thing? (Oh, she made a rocket one time? That's it?), too much reliance on the Krusty Krab/Chum Bucket fued. I could say so much about this. Really, the only good thing out of the post movie era is the song from "Gary Come Home".

Like I said before, if a show runs long enough and changes enough writers, they're going to interpret the characters differently anyway. They're going to interpret the show differently as well. They're going to think they got what the show is all about, but not really get close. Seems like the sheer length of the show has them stuck in a rut, and they just keep repeating episodes over and over, or wind up coming out with something that's only new and original because it's something the original writers avoided in the first place (or character derailment went that far).

Then again, they didn't change the ages of the characters up and took everything special away from the show as a result, or fire everyone early on, leading to writers who sure the heck didn't get why the show was so popular. I'll agree Spongebob isn't as good as it used to be, but you gotta admit... anything you can say about Spongebob, you can say double for Rugrats. Seriously... some point in the 90's they had Saturday Morning marathons every week, one of the producers wanted them to lobotomize Angelica... and they had 2 movies that they sucked worse after.

 

[AquaGGR]

I'm glad Patchy is an over-obsessed fanboy and not one of those nitpicking "fans". It makes his character much funnier.

 

[AquaGGR]

Season 4 is odd, because it came after the movie, and was the first episodes with the new writers, but it's not overly gross and obnoxious like the recent ones, but it's not as funny as the pre-movie ones. It seems more "meh" then other seasons.

 

[mr3urious]

Here's a comment made by DeviantART user Blu3Danny that shows what the older eps got right and how the newer ones screw up:

I want you to look at the following five episodes:

1. Hooky
2. Plankton!
3. Big Pink Loser
4. Christmas Who?
5. Band Geeks

Then look at THESE five episodes:

1. All That Glitters
2. The Inside Job
3. Your, Mine and Mine
4. Whatever Happened to SpongeBob?
5. Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy

I want you to compare and contrast these episodes so you can see some of the differences. In the earlier episodes, in episodes where characters had to learn lessons they would be punished appropriately and comedically for their misbehavior, which would make for both a good lesson for kids, and a funny episode. Plankton was punished for his own stupid mistakes instead of everybody stepping over him. Patrick would be tolerably stupid- the key is not to make him so that he hurts those around him, it's to make it believable as if to see that he REALLY didn't understand what he was doing. Specials WERE specials, they felt genuine and whenever everybody would show up, only the characters that matter would stay throughout the whole episode; plus you feel good after watching them. The Bikini Bottommites were nice, helpful, understanding.

The later episodes, you can see that a LOT of them rely on certain things to retain your attention, or entertain the audience. The Bikini Bottommites are meaner, less caring, more sociopathic and they have no qualms about hurting innocent characters- whether physically or emotionally. They can't tell a story with a moral without either botching it, or having to force it in. The characters are either jerks, annoying, or can't go two seconds without having to be completely and utterly MISERABLE. Not to mention, they also can NOT do a single episode without having a gross-out or shocking joke. Not to mention I am so TIRED of the "gross-up, close-up". Whatever Happened to SpongeBob? turned me off whenever they do one of those- and you KNOW the one I'm talking about.

As you can see, the difference is that, the later episodes are meaner, crueler, more disgusting or even disturbing. THAT'S why I'm just turned off the show for good.

 

[AquaGGR]

Quotes from newer SpongeBob episodes (not 100% accurate):

"Can you believe they risk their lives for our amusement?"
"I payed to see two guys get maimed!"
"He didn't say bless you! GET HIM!"
"Why are you STILL ALIVE?!"

To sum it up, Bikini Bottomites enjoy seeing people get harmed for the sake of cheap entertainment, pretty much the whole plot of "No Hat For Pat".

Not to mention I am so TIRED of the "gross-up, close-up". Whatever Happened to SpongeBob? turned me off whenever they do one of those- and you KNOW the one I'm talking about.

The gross-up/close-ups have been happening since the first season, though. The episode Sb-129 has one of Patrick.

Also, I noticed that in the first season of SB, Patrick was more of a guy who thought that he knew everything and had the greatest advice to give, and SpongeBob thought this of him too. There were some things he said in Season 1 that could never be uttered by him in later seasons, like this:

SpongeBob: "[Sandy] has a house full of...air!"
(referring to her dome, which has no water)

Patrick: "You mean she, puts on airs?"

...and he gives the most useless of information...

Patrick: "That's just fancy talk. If you wanna be fancy, hold your pinky up like this. "

I personally think this was a much better personality for Patrick than his later one.

 

[Drtooth]

The later episodes, you can see that a LOT of them rely on certain things to retain your attention, or entertain the audience. The Bikini Bottommites are meaner, less caring, more sociopathic and they have no qualms about hurting innocent characters- whether physically or emotionally. They can't tell a story with a moral without either botching it, or having to force it in. The characters are either jerks, annoying, or can't go two seconds without having to be completely and utterly MISERABLE. Not to mention

Just like Family Guy, strangely enough.

I'm rather mixed about the one where Mr. Krabs tortures Plankton with his fear of whales to the point where Plankton tries to kill himself. It's kinda dark, but there's something kinda morbidly funny about it. I seem to recall that Spongebob actually felt sorry for Plankton, but... well, with all the cartoons I watch, my mind can't store all those stories. Seems like everything is too simplified and the subtly is lost.

That said, I gotta get me the third season box set. I have none of them.. heck, I only have the DVD of the new Christmas one (mainly to get the Target exclusive disk with the T.U.F.F. Puppy Christmas special) and To Love a Patty (which I only got because it was on clearance at a Marshalls). Meanwhile, I think I have every commercially available Fairly Oddparents DVD.

 

[AquaGGR]

The third season box set of SB comes with the original pilot and a how-to-draw featurette. I mainly got the third season box set just for the pilot (which didn't come with the season one boxset) and the episode Nasty Patty, which is absolutely hilarious and by far one of the best episodes in the entire series.

 

[AquaGGR]

Has anyone noticed that the animation changed slightly as the show went on? S1 is the only season with traditional inking, so it looks out of place when compared to the rest of the seasons, which are digitally inked.

Contrary to popular belief, the series did not switch to Flash animation, though they might as well have. My main gripe with the animation in the current episodes is that it looks so lifeless and dull. The animation lacks personality. Spongebob will always have the same blank stare and there's no squash or stretch at all. The series never really had the wackiest of animation, but it wasn't totally boring. In older episodes, it was more about keeping the character's personality intact than trying to stay 100% on model. Also, when they try to get funny or distorted faces into the show like the infamous "DEEUUAGH", which reached memetic status, and the "Who you callin' pinhead?" face that Patrick made in the episode, Survival of the Idiots, it results in monstrosities like the disgusting Face Freeze! episode.

The writing may have something to do with this, as the dull animation certainly fits the overall boring feeling the new episodes unfortunately have.

Another issue with the show now is SpongeBob's incessant crying. SpongeBob was always a little too sensitive, but this was turned up to eleven in recent seasons where he cries more than he laughs. They made a whole episode about SpongeBob's crying problem, and turned him into a complete crybaby, with him crying every two seconds. A show where the main character is obnoxious, hyperactive, and overemotional couldn't possibly do well.

I think the reason why the show is even still on is because SpongeBob pretty much became the Nickelodeon poster boy. You can't go to a store without seeing some SpongeBob related merchandise. If Nickelodeon were too pull the plug on him (not like they ever will), there would be a big gaping hole in the Nick's current lineup. Nick should stop ignoring shows if they don't reach Spongebob status by the first five episodes. Remember, SpongeBob was almost on the verge of being cancelled during the first season.