Series cast summary: | |||
Tom Kenny | ... | SpongeBob SquarePants / ... 270 episodes, 1999-2021 | |
Bill Fagerbakke | ... | Patrick Star / ... 250 episodes, 1999-2020 | |
Rodger Bumpass | ... | Squidward Tentacles / ... 247 episodes, 1999-2021 | |
Clancy Brown | ... | Mr. Krabs / ... 242 episodes, 1999-2021 | |
Mr. Lawrence | ... | Plankton / ... 189 episodes, 1999-2020 | |
Dee Bradley Baker | ... | Fish #1 / ... 177 episodes, 1999-2021 | |
Jill Talley | ... | Karen / ... 154 episodes, 1999-2020 | |
Carolyn Lawrence | ... | Sandy Cheeks / ... 139 episodes, 1999-2020 | |
Sirena Irwin | ... | Lady Fish / ... 126 episodes, 1999-2020 | |
Mary Jo Catlett | ... | Mrs. Puff / ... 117 episodes, 1999-2021 | |
Lori Alan | ... | Pearl Krabs / ... 117 episodes, 1999-2020 | |
The character-driven cartoon chronicles the nautical and often nonsensical adventures of SpongeBob, an incurably optimistic and earnest sea sponge, and his underwater friends. Dwelling a few fathoms beneath the tropical isle of Bikini Atoll in the sub-surface city of Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob lives in a two-story pineapple. Instead of taking the logical approach to everyday challenges, SpongeBob approaches life in a wayward and unconventional way. Whether searching for the ultimate spatula to perfect his burger flipping technique at the Krusty Krab or just hanging out with his best friend Patrick (an amiable starfish), SpongeBob's good intentions and overzealous approach to life usually create chaos in his underwater world. Written by Nickelodeon
Once upon a time, Spongebob Squarepants was the largest jewel in Nickelodeon's crown. It was charming, clever, and genuinely hilarious. It was a huge part of my childhood. My friends and I recite lines from the old episodes all the time, and we still laugh at them! Then, the movie came. Oh, don't get me wrong; the movie was pure gold! But since then, the great Stephen Hillenburg left the show and allowed it to rot away.
Nowadays, our favorite undersea sponge has been cut down, degraded, and utterly destroyed. That obnoxious, overly-emotional yellow square in the newer episodes? That is not Spongebob. It can't be. I really feel that kids should not be allowed to watch him anymore. It is a widely-known fact that kids imitate what they see; and believe me when I say that you DON'T want them imitating "Spongebob." He is far too emotionally disturbed. One minute he is unbearably and obnoxiously ecstatic for no reason, and the next he is screaming and crying like a particularly difficult baby. And he doesn't cry for a few seconds in a funny way, he cries for minutes on end like an unfortunate soul burning in hell; meaning that it is mentally painful to watch. Yeah, no one should let their kid mimic this kind of behavior. On top of all that, his voice has become incredibly high pitched and nerve-grating. Maybe Tom Kenny's overused the voice and now he's losing it. Whatever the reason is, it doesn't change the fact that it is incredibly annoying.
And speaking of annoying, the show itself has simply lost it's touch with the humor. The old episodes were incredibly witty, and appealing to all ages. I still laugh at the jokes to this day. But then, one day I decided to watch a newer episode of Spongebob. I was horrified at what I saw; there was no actual humor, just attempts at humor that fell extremely flat. None of the jokes were funny! I found myself sitting there, trying to FORCE myself to laugh. But nothing at all was even a tiny bit amusing. The verbal jokes were incredibly lazy and dry, and many times felt forced. The physical humor was not any better. The writers for the show were running out of ideas--I could tell.
I also have a few things to say about the animation. I don't know what happened, but I think the older episodes looked a lot better, and more rugged like other cartoons such as The Angry Beavers (great show, by the way). The newer episodes' animation features brighter colors, rounder, thicker characters, and obnoxious details that really should have been left out. Spongebob's face, for example, conveys far too much happiness and ecstasy, to the point were it gets a tad frightening. In fact, all the characters express far too intense emotions at times that are either very annoying, or borderline scary. In summation, if the look of a show is important to you, maybe you should stay away from the newer episodes of this far too long-running TV series.
Someone needs to take a stand against Nickelodeon, for subjecting us to watch this garbage that used to be gold. If this show had stopped after the movie was released, every individual who grew up with Spongebob would have been a lot happier. Please, only watch the old episodes. The new ones are so awful, it actually fills me with pain to think about them. Also, keep your kids away from the show. Spongebob has become a terrible emotional influence. Unless you want your kids to become horrible bipolar monsters, STAY AWAY FROM THE NEW EPISODES. Only let them watch seasons one through three. Nickelodeon needs to end the reformed Spongebob's reign of terror.