SpongeBob SquarePants: When The Show Turned Bad - Screen Rant

SpongeBob SquarePants has enjoyed a lot of success, not only on TV, but also film, video games, and more, but the quality of the show has declined a lot. Created by Stephen Hillenburg, SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999 and hasn’t stopped ever since, becoming one of the longest-running American animated series. SpongeBob and company are currently enjoying their 12th season, and the series has already been renewed for a 13th one.

SpongeBob SquarePants follows the daily adventures of the title character and his best friends Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks, his neighbor Squidward Tentacles, his boss Mr. Krabs, and other colorful characters from the underwater town of Bikini Bottom. As mentioned above, the series has expanded to other media, most notably film, with a third movie scheduled for a 2020 release. SpongeBob and friends are very popular among not only kids but teens and adults as well, but the quality of the series definitely isn’t the same as in the first seasons – and not because it got better.

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Unlike other cartoons, it’s not difficult to pinpoint where SpongeBob SquarePants’ quality began to fall, and it does have to do with some behind-the-scenes changes.

When SpongeBob SquarePants Turned Bad

SpongeBob SquarePants was put on hold in 2002 after its third season so Hillenburg could focus on making The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, released in 2004. After the film was completed, Hillenburg wanted to end the series, as he didn’t want it to “jump the shark” and felt that three seasons was more than enough for a series like this. However, Nickelodeon wanted to produce more episodes, and Hillenburg left the show, followed by many of the original writers and storyboard artists. Because of this, SpongeBob SquarePants’ decline began in season 4.

As The A.V. Club pointed out, the episodes began to lean more into kid-friendly physical humor and gross-out moments that in the end didn’t appeal to anyone. The characters were also exaggerated, and the stories weren’t interesting either. Many fans find the post-SpongeBob SquarePants Movie episodes tedious, dreck, and mediocre. Others have gone as far as to create theories that say that SpongeBob died in the movie, and the reason why the subsequent seasons are bad is because it’s not the same SpongeBob – or even that SpongeBob never recovered from clearing his mind in season 3’s episode “Squilliam Returns”.

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Though Hillenburg returned for the series’ 10th and 11th seasons, it couldn’t recover, and the quality of the episodes continues to be questionable. Still, SpongeBob SquarePants remains as one of the most profitable products Nickelodeon has to offer and the longest-running and most successful Nicktoon, which explains why, even though it isn’t as popular as it used to be, the network refuses to let it go.

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