* Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy reference both the ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' TV series and [[ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} Aquaman and Aqualad. Man Ray is based off of Black Manta]] (and bizarrely shares a name with a surrealist artist). The intro to the duo's old TV show is also a direct reference to the intro to the 1960s ''Aquaman'' animated series (from ''The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure'').
* In "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II", the retired supervillain Atomic Flounder unleashes an atomic breath on Barnacle Boy after getting annoyed by [=SpongeBob=], just like that of Franchise/{{Godzilla}}.
* In "Sleepy Time":
** [=SpongeBob=] tells Gary "Mind your wandering eye, you little mollusk!", a direct reference to a lyric from the title track of Music/{{Ween}}'s album ''The Mollusk''.
** Gary quotes an [[Creator/EmilyDickinson Emily Dickinson]] poem in his dream. And while reading it, [[Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]'s "Concerto 21 In C, 2nd Mvt." plays.
** Squidward is called Wolfgang Amadeus Tentacles in his dream.
* In "Culture Shock", Squidward, referring to Gary's poetry act, says "Come on Ginsberg", referencing famous poet Allen Ginsberg.
* In "Sandy's Rocket":
** [=SpongeBob=] declares, "You got your toothpaste in my peanut butter!" This references classic 1970s and 1980s Reese's cup commercials (where the characters would say "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!" as well as the inverse).
*** During this scene, a book can be seen floating with the title "2001", a reference to the [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey film of the same name.]]
** [=SpongeBob=] becomes convinced that he and Patrick have landed on the moon, but the aliens are projecting their memories onto the environment to lull them into a false sense of security. This is a reference to the Third Expedition of Ray Bradbury's [[Literature/TheMartianChronicles "The Martian Chronicles"]].
* In "Graveyard Shift": The flickering lights end up being caused by... [[Film/{{Nosferatu}} Orlok]]. [=SpongeBob=], Squidward and the "Slasher" just laugh it off.
%%** When Squidward observes the creepy occurrences in the Krusty Krab, he ends with: [[Film/TheAmityvilleHorror1979 "And the walls will ooze green slime!]] ... Oh wait, they always do that." Context?
* In "Something Smells", when [=SpongeBob=] decides he is ugly, he plays an organ and wears a mask (albeit a sillier one than the one in its source material), a la ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.
* The World's Smallest Violin in "Squilliam Returns" is a reference to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jrKXf2G-AA a scene]] in ''Film/ReservoirDogs''.
* In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E20SpongeBobMeetsTheStranglerPranksALot Pranks a Lot]]", Mr. Krabs says "I ain't afraid of no ghosts", the iconic line from ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}''' theme song.
* In the episode "Ghost Host", after the Flying Dutchman's failed attempt to scare [=SpongeBob=], he takes the form of a horrible, worm-like monster with the head of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_SubGenius J. R. "Bob" Dobbs]], complete with pipe.
* "Spy Buddies" has a reference to the famous Franchise/JamesBond gun barrel sequence.
* In "Stanley S. [=SquarePants=]", it is revealed that Mr. Krabs has [[Franchise/DuckTales three nephews who solve mysteries.]]
* "[=SpongeBob=]'s Last Stand":
** The episode features a song called "Give Jellyfish Fields A Chance", which is a parody of [[Music/JohnLennon John Lennon's]] "Give Peace A Chance". The scene that the song plays over is a parody of the music video for "[[Music/BobDylan Subterranean Homesick Blues]]".
** The middle of the jellyfishing song has a slight rewrite of The Toyes' "Smoke Two Joints" (replace "two joints" with "jellyfishing").
%%ZCE* "[[Franchise/{{Dune}} Wormsign!]]" ''[[VisualPun *Cue a shot of a picket sign reading "Worm".*]]''
%%ZCE* In "Rule of Dumb", "[[Film/SpiderMan1 With great power comes great responsibility.]]"
* In the episode "Sailor Mouth", there is a shoutout to Creator/GeorgeCarlin's SevenDirtyWords routine in this exchange:
-->'''[=Mr Krabs=]:''' There are 13 bad words you should never use.\\
'''[=Squidward=]:''' Don't you mean there're only seven?\\
'''[=Mr Krabs=]:''' Not if you're a sailor. (''chuckles'')
* In "Christmas Who?", when Squidward (dressed as Santa Claus) asks a little girl what she wants for Christmas, she replies "Front teeth." This is a reference to the 1948 song "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" by Donald Yetter Gardner.
* In "New Student Starfish", Patrick's climb up the mountain of light bulbs has a brief shout out to ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'''s Cliff Hanger Game, complete with yodeling and lederhosen.
* In "Patrick [=SmartPants=]".
** During the two times Patrick crashes through the sign and falls off the cliff, [[PlummetPerspective the camera cuts to a bird's-eye view of him plummeting]] as he shrinks into the distance and crashes in a cloud of dust, a reference to the famous RunningGag from ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner''.
** A picture of the [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Space Mountain Mission 2]] dome is seen on Patrick's jellyfish book.
%%ZCE** What is the first thing that Patrick says when the brain coral gets screwed into his brain? "I find all this laughter to be [[Franchise/StarTrek highly illogical]]".
%%ZCE* "Bye Squidward! Bye Mr. Krabs! ''Bye, Squidward''." "You said "Bye, Squidward" twice." "[[Film/BlazingSaddles I like]] Squidward."
%%ZCE* In "Hooky", when Patrick is riding on a hook like a horse, he shouts, [[Radio/TheLoneRanger "Heigh-ho, Silverfish! Away!"]]
* "Karate Island" is one long shout out to ''Film/GameOfDeath'', complete with Sandy wearing the famous yellow tracksuit Creator/BruceLee wore in said movie.
* The second half of "Squeaky Boots" parodies [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe Poe's]] "Literature/TheTellTaleHeart", where Mr. Krabs steals the rubber boots he gave to Spongebob and hides them under the floorboards of the Krusty Krab, only to still be driven mad by the squeaking.
* In "Fear of a Krabby Patty":
** The Giant Krabby Patty tells [=SpongeBob=] "I'll always be with you right here", while pointing to the protagonist's chest with a glowing finger, a reference to E.T.'s last words to Elliott in ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''.
** The word association exercise between Plankton and [=SpongeBob=] references the famous line of the song "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" from ''[[Film/ShallWeDance Shall We Dance?]]'' that named [[YouSayTomato You Say Tomato]].
--->'''Plankton:''' Potato.
--->'''[=Spongebob=]:''' Potahto.
--->'''Plankton:''' Tomato.
--->'''[=Spongebob=]:''' Tomahto.
%%ZCE* Mr. Krabs enters Sandy's dome for the first time and remarks, [[Series/DoctorWho "It seems so much bigger once you're inside..." Sandy casually responds, "Yeah, that's what they all say."]]
%%ZCE* In "Hocus Pocus", Mr. Magic lives on a [[Film/TheWizardOfOz brown-tiled road.]] In fact [[spoiler: Mr. Magic himself more or less serves the same role as the titular "wizard."]]
%%ZCE* "Plankton!"
%%-->'''Plankton''': [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi You weak-minded fool!]]
%%ZCE* In "Pizza Delivery", Spongebob is called [[Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies "Jethro" twice]].
* "[=SpongeBob=] B.C." has the weird chanting and famous music from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' when prehistoric [=SpongeBob=] discovers that he can use fire to cook food.
* "Krabs vs. Plankton": When Plankton enters the courtroom, the theme from ''Series/ThePeoplesCourt'' plays.
* The episodes "Krabby Road" and "A Life in a Day" are a reference to ''Music/AbbeyRoad'' and "[[Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand A Day in the Life]]". There is also an album based off the show called ''[[Music/TheWhiteAlbum The Yellow Album]]''.
* In "Truth or Square":
** At the beginning, when Patchy arrives at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio, posters of ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'', ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' are seen.
** "Flickering Funnies" is a spoof of ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''.
** After getting introduced to Patchy the Pirate, Robin Williams asks "There isn't someone dressed up as WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}} is there?" Doubles as an ActorAllusion, as Robin Williams played the titular character in the 1980 live-action adaptation.
** At one point, Robin Williams says, "This is like a shot from the ''Film/RagingBull''."
** Robin Williams mentions the film ''Film/{{Hook}}'', in which he also starred.
** The song "Oh, Krusty Krab" is a parody of "Oh, Christmas Tree".
** Squidward’s flowers saying hello are a parody of the flowers on ''Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse''.
** Patchy ending up in the belly of a whale is a reference to ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}''.
%%ZCE* In "To Save A Squirrel", Sandy uses the phrase "[[Literature/WhiteFang Eat or be eaten]]" to describe was survival training camp is like.
* "Big Pink Loser" has a shout-out to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension'', of all things, when Patrick claims that his life's dream is "to defeat the giant Monkey Man and save the ninth dimension", later amending it to "to defeat the ''little'' Monkey Man and save the ''eighth'' dimension" when [=SpongeBob=] convinces him that it might be too hard. The titular "eighth dimension" was a key part of the plot of ''Buckaroo Banzai'', and it also featured a race of villainous aliens who called all humans "Monkey Boy" (''"It's not my goddamn planet! Understand, Monkey Boy?"'').
%%* From "Missing Identity" after [=SpongeBob=]'s '''''"BLEEUGH!"''''' (after trying Gary's Snailpo) reaches the Snailpo factory's offices:
%%-->'''Female employee:''' What is it, Peterson?\\
%%'''Peterson:''' I'm not sure. [[Film/ANewHope I feel... a disturbance!]]
%%* One episode even had one in the form of a RunningGag.
%%-->'''Patrick:''' [[Manga/{{Akira}} That's MISTER Doctor Professor Patrick to you!]]
* In "A Pal For Gary":
** The premise of Puffy Fluffy being bought from a gypsy and becoming a monster overnight is modeled after the plot of ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'', where an adorable creature becomes a ravaging beast if fed after midnight. Only in this plot, the buyer ignores the seller.
** In said episode, we see that [=Spongebob=] has a collection of books by T.S. Halibut, which is a parody of T.S. Eliot.
* "Clams":
** The episode has numerous references to ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', including the famous theme. The title card is also a parody of the film's iconic poster, with a dollar bill and a giant clam replacing the woman and the shark, respectively.
** There's a reference to ''Literature/MobyDick'', when Mr. Krabs nails a sandwich to the boat's flagpole as a reward.
* There's another ''Jaws'' reference in "[=SpongeBob=], Sandy, and the Worm." When the citizens are discussing what to do about the titular worm, an old fish who resembles a sailor scratches the wall in the same way Quint scratched the chalkboard to get everyone's attention. However, [[SubvertedTrope the fish just wants to know where the bathroom is]].
* In "Ditchin'", the new ''Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy'' comic book includes a panel about their origin story, which has their parents launching them in a rocket, just like how Franchise/{{Superman}} arrived on Earth.
* Using "Because they're so darn stupid" as the punchline to a lightbulb joke like [=SpongeBob=] does in "Squirrel Jokes" was previously done in ''Film/RaisingArizona''.
* At the end of "[=SpongeHenge=]", [=SpongeBob=] sees the Krusty Krab abandoned and half-buried in the sand and breaks down, a la the ending of ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968''. His hair and beard make him look like Creator/CharltonHeston as well.
* To Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes' speech in ''Film/AFaceInTheCrowd'' in "Chum Bucket Supreme", when Patrick resigns from slogan writing because his brain is burned out and Plankton boasts about the customers' gullibility:
-->'''Patrick''': Anyway, you can send my check to my home.\\
'''Plankton''' [''unaware that his words are being broadcast over the loudspeaker'']: '''Check'''? You want money for those stupid catchphrases? Anybody can sell to my idiot customers! They're buffoons, morons! They'll buy anything I sell them! They're the dumbest of the dumb, the stupidest of the stupid! They're dummies, dweebs, and doo-doo dunderheads. I can keep that rabble right where I want them! Huh? [''A bunch of hockey players gang up against Plankton, and start hitting him with their hockey sticks'']
* In "Fiasco!" Plankton ducks inside a movie theater to evade the cops for stealing a priceless art piece made out of a krabby patty. The movie shown is blatantly ''Literature/TheBlueLagoon'' complete with the two teen characters about to kiss.
* "Spy Buddies" is a paroody of ''Film/TradingPlaces'', with [[SwappedRoles Mr. Krabs and Plankton switching lives to settle a bet,]] where Mr. Krabs could steal the formula, and Plankton would fail to protect it. At the end, Mr. Krabs wins by stealing the formula, and the bet it settled by having Plankton pay Krabs "one a-dollar."
* "Spin the Bottle" has this quote by [=SpongeBob:=] "[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is magical, too.]]"
* "No Pictures Please" opens with "The Tidal Zone", a reference to the ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959''. [[ChekhovsGag It returns at the end]] after [[spoiler:the tourist is revealed to have never existed in the first place]]. "[[spoiler:The Night Patty]]" also ends with all the weird events that occurred being the Tidal Zone's doing.
%%ZCE* In "Pineapple Invasion", after challenging Gary to a fight, Plankton says, "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Put ’em up, put ’em up!]]"
* "Feral Friends" features a green orb rising from a volcano and mutating everybody except Sandy into more savage, animalistic versions of themselves. It even has musical themes similar to the orchestral score in ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal''.
* As seen in "Dirty Bubble Returns", the local school is [[Film/ThePoseidonAdventure an overturned human sized boat named "Poseidon Elementary".]]
* In "Dying For Pie", Squidward briefly channels [[Series/TheHoneymooners Ralph Kramden]] on the line "He's gonna drown in it! DROWN in it!" recalling Ralph's famous line to his mother-in-law, "YOU are a blabbermouth. A BLABBERMOUTH!"
* In "I Was A Teenage Gary", the title itself is one to ''Film/IWasATeenageWerewolf''.
* Twice in "Jolly Lodgers":
** [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick appearing everywhere Squidward goes and scaring him takes inspiration from various ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'' cartoons.
** In one scene, [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick appear at the end of the hallway as the camera does a StaggeredZoom complete with PsychoStrings, like the Grady Twins from ''Film/TheShining''.
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