SpongeBob SquarePants

[talonmalon333]

This is probably the best top 10 episode list I can do, at least right now.

1. Shanghaied
2. Band Geeks
3. Club SpongeBob
4. Survival of the Idiots
5. Chocolate with Nuts
6. Snowball Effect
7. Graveyard Shift
8. Idiot Box
9. Life of Crime
10. Pizza Delivery

[LumRanmaYasha]

I need to rewatch the series again sometime, but I'd say my favorite are:

1. Shanghaied
2. Chocolate with Nuts
3. Krusty Krab Training Video
4. The Camping Episode
5. Survival of the Idiots
6. SB-129
7. Life of Crime
8. Frankendoodle
9. Procrastination
10. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture

[talonmalon333]

3. Krusty Krab Training Video
4. The Camping Episode

I heavily considered these two episodes for the list.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I like most of the early episodes, so I don't really know if I could rank them.

If we're talking post-season 3, I quite like "Fear of a Krabby Patty", "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture", "Krusty Towers", "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired!", "The Lost Mattress", and "Karate Island". There's some good stuff, but it tapers off eventually.

[talonmalon333]

I like Krusty Towers and the wishing well episode from season 4. I also liked the episode of season 5 when SpongeBob and Patrick are afraid to ride a really big roller coaster, but I wouldn't be surprised if I wouldn't enjoy that episode nowadays.

They really fell apart after season 3.

[talonmalon333]

By the way, I really like the Christmas special, Christmas Who?. However, even though this was a joke I once loved, I can't say how much I actually like it now, knowing that it was taken directly from Ren & Stimpy.



I just don't know. Nickelodeon in the past has recycled ideas and types of jokes. But this one in particular felt a bit insincere to me. Almost as if they just stuck it in there in the hopes that people would think they came up with it.

For those that need a reminder, in this moment of Christmas Who?, Squidward starts teasing SpongeBob because Santa never came to Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob is upset but gives Squidward a Christmas present anyway. When Squidward sees the gift, feeling ashamed, he says "I feel like a... I feel like a...", then, this image of a donkey fades in along with the sound of a donkey call. This exact same joke was used in Ren & Stimpy, though in that show it was a little less... safe. Instead of showing a donkey, it showed... well, just think of the obvious implications of what the donkey means. That's what appears in Ren & Stimpy.

[Speedy]

You've probably all seen this already, but:  http://www.nowcultured.com/2013/30-funny-detail-pics-in-spongebob/ .  I personally love "Does THIS Look Unsure to You?", "These Are My People", "Sabotage", "Triple Patty Deluxe in One Bite", and "I'm Cool", but there's so many they left out.  What about "MOAR KRABS"?

[Spark Of Spirit]

My favorite:



Looking at early Spongebob, there was a lot of top notch talent there.

Shanghaied was written by C.H. Greenblatt, Aaron Springer, and Merriwether Williams. It's no wonder it's so well liked and so good. They all went on to do a lot of really good things after, too.

[talonmalon333]

I rewatched Shanghaied non-stop when I was young. My brother and I used to recite the episode together. I'm sure I could still quote most of the episode even now.

What do you guys think is the worst classic episode?

[LumRanmaYasha]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "Ugh" is my least favorite pre-movie Spongebob episode. It is 22 minutes of obnoxious grunting and repetitive behavior that gets tiring quick and annoying fast. The basic concept of the episode and it's story was okay, but the execution was wholly lacking. Just a hard episode to sit through for me these days.

[Spark Of Spirit]

"I'm With Stupid" is not a bad episode (it's actually quite funny), but it does begin to grate by the end.

[talonmalon333]

I never liked Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II. The Dirty Bubble's appearance at the end was funny, but he was only on screen for about a minute. The rest of the episode was just never that funny to me. I feel like the writers didn't yet know how to carry an entire episode with the two superheroes. Particularly, at the beginning when they are on television, it feels like the writers are trying too hard to make them funny.

For me, next would probably be Jellyfish Jam. It's not bad but I always forget that it even exists. For 3rd worst, I suppose I'll go with Ugh, although I don't dislike it. As for I'm With Stupid, I think it's really funny. How does it grate, Spark?

[talonmalon333]

By the way, I remember hearing about a plot hole in Band Geeks... yeah, a "story hole" in a SpongeBob episode.

At the beginning of the episode, Squilliam says about playing at the football game "I'm busy next week and can't made it, so I was hoping you and your band could cover for me". People have said that it ends up being a major plot hole that he does attend at the end.

... Now, am I the only one who thought Squilliam was lying when he said he couldn't make it? I mean, after Squidward asks why he's there at the end, he even says "I just wanted to watch you blow it". Sounds like he could have had his band play, but decided to embarrass Squidward and have him play instead (which of course backfired as Squidward was successful). I mean, why else would he have called Squidward, of all people, unless he had some malicious intent?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Of course he was lying. Squilliam is a jerk.

As for I'm With Stupid, I think it's really funny. How does it grate, Spark?

The constant "Spongebob, you're so dumb-no no don't convince me otherwise" fills up the entirety of the back half of the segment. Thankfully, the ending is really clever, but the whole Patrick and his "parents" insulting Spongebob's intelligence schtick got old fast.

[Speedy]

Like this is even a question.  "Ugh" is easily the worst pre-movie SB episode.  Other than that, I'm generally not a fan of:
-The Great Snail Race:  SpongeBob is completely unlikable here.  The only redeeming factor is the brick joke involving Sandy punching SB at the end of the episode for what he said earlier.  "That's for yesterday, SquarePants!"  Oh, and the timing on the crowd cheering Gary crashing.
-Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV and V:  Not as good as III.
-My Pretty Seahorse:  Meh plot, though I do like the running gags of Patrick with the board on his head, and the onions making Squidward cry.  "Would you get out of here?!"
-Frankendoodle:  Not a "bad" episode per se, just not one of my favorites.
-The Sponge Who Could Fly:  Didn't live up to the hype.  Ironically, the live action segments were better than the cartoon.  Watching Patchy the Pirate trash his room because the lost SB episode was a cheap walk cycle was classic.