YMMV / SpongeBob SquarePants S 6 E 23-24 "Truth Or Square"

• Broken Base: While few fans will defend the full version of the special, some think that the shortened cut teeters on being So Okay, It's Average, mainly because it cuts out most of the Patchy stuff, which is generally considered to be the worst and most frustrating aspect of the special, and only keeps the most interesting bits (such as his failed quest to find SpongeBob and Pink’s musical number) and thus leaves most of the runtime devoted to SpongeBob’s story. But others point out that the story is still weak, aimless, and paper-thin (especially for an anniversary special) and greatly bogged down by the out-of-place and incredibly banal flashbacks, including the two infamous Bait-and-Switch ones.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The Krusty Krab's surveillance room, which monitors various Bikini Bottom locations, including the homes of SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward. This is just brought up once and is immediately forgotten.
• Fanon Discontinuity: For many fans, this special never existed, mostly for how SpongeBob and Sandy's pretend wedding was handled.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Will Ferrell vowing to Patchy that he'll come at him "harder and faster" during the 20th anniversary becomes rather amusing when, not only did Will not show up at all for the 20th anniversary, but Patchy also got to finally meet SpongeBob in person, meaning that Patchy ultimately got the last laugh.
• Never Live It Down: The plot point of SpongeBob and Sandy getting married being one huge "Gotcha!" moment instantly strayed into this territory with members of the fanbase who ship them.
• Refrain from Assuming: SpongeBob's first song is called "A Day Like This", and not "Here's a Day That Couldn't Get Much Better"; the official title is never said once throughout.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The special was built around the hype of two moments that turned out to be lies: Sandy and SpongeBob's wedding is revealed to be a play and, most of all, Krabs does not tell the audience the Krabby Patty formula that was hyped to be finally revealed. Both of those moments seemed to be needless Take That, Audience! moments to fans who wanted them and many thought, especially with the former, that the episode would be more interesting if they actually carried out, even if for just a What If? scenario, the plot points they teased.

---