Old Spongebob vs. New Spongebob (Phoenix Wright Style)!

Almost all of the new episodes either incorporate A. boring misadventures at the Krusty Krab or B. over-the-top misadventures in a new (but not really inspired) location outside of Bikini Bottom. The repeating of these two concepts and the general unfunny writing and animation are really the main flaws with the new ones.

To be fair though I think the early seasons are overrated a bit and some of the shows flaws were still visible in the early episodes. The humor ranged from clever and witty to similar random silliness as the modern seasons, and a lot of the disliked meaner spirited characterisations appeared every now and then, eg. there were still many moments of Patrick and Mr Krabs acting like complete tools as well as Squidward being sadistically punished while Spongebob gets away with murder (the former even outright lampshaded it in Shanghied), just not to the same consistant manner as later on. Also Sandy has always been a semi recurrer at best while Larry arguably gets bigger roles in some later episodes than he did originally.

There are a lot more crappy episodes in later seasons, but I think early on was still occasionally hit and miss (Shanghied and the conch episode could easily be placed in a modern day season and no one would be the wiser) and there are still a few odd new episodes that add up to the quality of the originals at their best.

edited 28th Jun '12 3:53:35 PM by Psi001

"the early seasons are overrated a bit" - Are you high?

Psi does have some sense. Some of the older episodes were overrated, just like some of the newer episodes are underrated. This is just because everyone is putting them into the assumption that older Spongebob = good and newer Spongebob = bad. That doesn't mean overall, the newer episodes are better though.

edited 29th Jun '12 7:49:30 AM by every108minutes

Exactly, while there's a definite decline in quality, it's rather inaccurate to say that every last episode of the original seasons was a completely flawless work of art. There are some definite gems in there, yes, but still some similar episodes that just make me cringe, just as there are some good episodes amid the usually lousier newer ones.

While I get your point, the ratio to good episodes to bad ones in the earlier seasons was far higher on the good side than the later ones. True, not EVERY episode of the early seasons were good, and I would say some were god awful, they were few and far between compared to "modern" episodes, where I can't sit through any of them anymore.

Frankendoodle and Welcome to the Chum Bucket, which were in the "golden" season of season two were just plain horrible. They were weird, unfunny, almost sadistic at points, and just really too bizarre.

But I really haven't seen an episode past season 4 that I liked.

edited 29th Jun '12 5:54:45 PM by ithinkabouttrees

While it's true the ratio of bad episodes is mostly MUCH higher in later seasons, there are some episodes that hold up and show it can still replicate the magic of the originals. "Ear Worm" is one of my favorite episodes in particular, and that's a very recent one. Some others are pretty good but ruined by a superfluous nasty scene (eg. "House Fancy" would likely be a good episode if not for that infamous scene involving a toe nail).

Didn't know Season Two was particularly iconic to fans.

edited 29th Jun '12 10:38:09 PM by Psi001

I never said every episode in old Sponge Bob was flawless, despite your claim of "it's rather inaccurate to say that every last episode of the original seasons was a completely flawless work of art." Don't use hyperbole in arguments.

Frankendoodle is a great episode. Shame on you.

edited 30th Jun '12 3:38:51 AM by MagcargoMan

Maybe you didn't, but many fans do talk like that, likely as a huge defense to how bad the later seasons are. The first seasons were better, but they still had some awful points, the later ones just exaggerrated them.

"I'm With Stupid" and "Dumped" are rather unpopular for turning Patrick into an total asshole for example, both of which were pre-Seasonal Rot.

And you can hardly lecture me on constructive arguments after your first reply was to call me "high".

edited 30th Jun '12 4:40:14 AM by Psi001

Let's make this thread go back on Topic with the use of Objections and Take Thats and stuff. That way we can talk about this without going off-topic.

OBJECTION!

That better?

I think that a lot of these new eps are just kind of boring. They may wrestle a chuckle or two out of me, but nothing as impressively funny and weird as the classics IMO: "Chocolate with Nuts" and that episode with the Salty Spittoon that I can never remember the name of, for example.

One problem is that there is a relatively low portion of gags to.. exposition, I guess? You look at a show like Chowder, and it was wall-to-wall gags on there. Coincidentally, that show was created by a writer/storyboard artist of many a S2 and S3 episode.

I watched three "new" episodes back to back with my little sister today, and I think I understand where a lot of the problems lie.

What I saw in the old episodes is a lot of goofy humor with nothing taken seriously. What I'm seeing in these "new" episodes is that they take themselves SO seriously. It's like Spongebob wants to have this whole serious side like Fineas and Pherb without ANY of the creative writing to back it. It just expects us to still consider it a good show.

It doesn't help that the new ones also lack what sentimental depth the originals had, Spongebob and the likes have been flanderized and a lot of mean spirited humor is there to break the charm.

It's like how Family Guy has recently tried serious story points or depthful aesops, but it's all ruined by the enormous Comedic Sociopathy and Dead Baby Comedy placed in between and the fact none of the characters can stop being psychotic jerks for a whole episode.

edited 1st Jul '12 8:56:11 AM by Psi001

I would like to call Season 8 to the stand.

The crime: Being wrongly accused of being a return to form.

Adding to the case, one thing that just bothers me about the new Spongebob is the character design. Spongebob feels like he's stretched out from earlier seasons. Also, seasons 4-8 all look exactly the same. Probably since Korea is animating them through computers.

Personally, I think that the biggest problem with the newer seasons is that they've dived head-first into Flanderization to the point where almost nobody has any redeeming qualities anymore.

Spongebob and Patrick are mouth-breathing man-babies, Krabs is a sociopath that'd sell out the entire cast for a buck, Squidward is a talentless Jerk with a Heart of Jerk, and Plankton is an incompetent fool to the point that it's stopped being funny. All these characters have become completely grating because the writers keep exaggerating them into complete one-dimensionality. Spongebob worked best as a somewhat naive everyman, not a psychotic dolt.

I think the writers are trying too hard to cash in on the older audience, essentially making it a G rated version of Adult Swim's viewing, the characterizations do largely fit, the Jerkass Karma Houdini, the braindead Walking Disaster Area, the suicidal Butt-Monkey. Not to mention the increase in superfluous gross out humor.

edited 4th Jul '12 5:04:28 PM by Psi001

Objection!

Nickelodeon never cared for its older audience...

You know, they put a lot of older characters in their crossover video games. Ren and Stimpy, Rocko, Zim, the list goes on.

Zim isn't that old. And the reason they put them in was because they knew they'd sell more copies if they did, not because they cared.

The list goes on? What other characters appeared?

edited 5th Jul '12 8:22:04 PM by MagcargoMan

If you don't consider Zim old then there are no more. But there's also Gir, Jenny, Dib, Mr Blik. Most of these are from the 2000s but they're still pretty old and forgotten.

That still doesn't change the real reason they were put in...

Time to go back on topic: Season 8 is claimed to be a return to form, but it isn't. Discuss!

edited 5th Jul '12 8:54:22 PM by MagcargoMan

I haven't seen any of Season Eight yet to know first hand. The only critisms I have heard that link it to being such is that Mr Krabs is still a complete asshole, but isn't a Karma Houdini about it anymore and gets punished.

Hold It! Oh, there are much, much more problems than Krabs in Season 8...

Take That! I present the episodes "The Main Drain", "The Monster Who Came To Bikini Bottom" and "Spongecano". All of them are horrible. I have evidence to support my claims, if anyone objects.