Reviews Comments: Way past it's prime.

Spongebob Squarepants whole series review by Kashima Kitty

Way past it's prime.

Nickelodeon's most adored show is quickly becoming it's Wesley with each passing season. You need only take a look at the DMOS pages in here to see that a lot of Seasonal Rot and Flanderization have made the show a shell of it's former self.

When the show first aired I was skeptical. It looked stupid, annoying and boring. But as I watched I found myself being mostly entertained by the unique bundle of characters the show had thrown together, from Spongebob's brainless and unpredictable friend Patrick, to the twisted and maniacal Plankton. Episodes were a bit random and absurd, but there was a level of cleverness that adults such as myself could appreciate. Such as the following...

Spongebob: Hey! A note! *shows a music note on the paper*

Patrick: Yea, but turn it over, there's a letter! *the letter B*

Then came the post-movie seasons. All of that was gone. The show became boring and predictable. The characters were flanderized to the point of being unlikable. Patrick in particular has not only become a total Jerk Ass, but so tediously predictable that I just want to bang my head on the desk knowing well in advance how he's going to ruin a particular situation. Plankton became too annoying an obnoxious, incompetent loudmouth to even feel sorry for as he now spends much of his time whining over what a failure he is. The old Plankton was aggressive and confident, what happened in this short time between seasons sandwiching the movie?

Modern episodes now fall into three categories.

Spongebob (and maybe Patrick) torment Squidward (or Mrs. Puff)
Plankton tries to steal the formula for the 50-billionth time
Mr. Krabs goes to great lengths to get money, abusing anyone in his path.

As a result the Krusty Krab is the focus of a lot of episodes. I can't honestly say the show's even child friendly anymore. Squidward in particular is often the victim of having skin RIPPED OFF as he screams in horrific agony. Nightmare faces appear frequently and karma houdini's abound. But of course, as the show that makes 2/3rds of Nickelodeon's entire budget, I get the feeling that Spongebob is here to stay indefinitely, and will continue to dominate timeslots until it's last viewer is sick of it.

I agree. I love the old episodes. The new ones have their funny moments, but something vital has gone.

comment #10174 Kingcobrasaurus 22nd Sep 11

2/3rds of Viacom's—Nickelodeon's parent company—income is Sponge Bob.

Viacom also owns MTV, TVLand, and Comedy Central.

You underestimate the power of the sponge. Sadly.

comment #10190 Wackd 22nd Sep 11 (edited by: Spinosegnosaurus77)

Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuse me Princess. That just makes it even sadder, considering those networks still have shows that I DO like.

comment #10197 KashimaKitty 23rd Sep 11

Sorry if I was rude.

comment #10199 Wackd 23rd Sep 11

What makes it even sadder is if you compare the best preseasonal rot episodes (Band Geeks is my personnal favorite) and compare it with the worst seasonal rot episode. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Sigh :-(

comment #10211 brazillianboy122 24th Sep 11

I agree 100%. It`s such shame, This show use to be one of my favorites, but then the writers just had to ruin it, didn't they?

comment #10581 marston 5th Oct 11

Spongebob was one of my favorite shows as a kid, and the older episodes are some of the only Nick cartoons that I will watch voluntarily. Now, aside from all of the episodes being predictable, I think that a problem is that the characters are too overexaggerated and flattened at the same time, so now Spongebob is predictably naive, Squidward is way too exaggerated, and so on. For some reason, I think Patrick got slightly smarter, but he became predictable at the same time, too.

Every single time I watch a newer episode it ruins a bit of my childhood... and since I consider anything that came around after the movie to be "new", that is quite a lot of episodes to ruin my childhood with. :(

comment #10634 Firen 7th Oct 11

All the major kids networks (which are, at least in my area, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network) have declined in quality lately. But CN and Disney do have good shows to make fans forget the bad. CN has Adventure Time and the Thundercats reboot, Disney has Phineas and Ferb and pretty much anything not Hannah Montanna or Jonas Bros., but what does Nickelodeon have?

comment #10666 billyjoel42 9th Oct 11

Big Time Sellout, (Big Time Rush) !Ay Carly (iCarly), and Dried Up Sponge (Spongebob). And a bunch of other crappy live-action shows (Supah Ninjas and the Troop), plus the Winx Club revival and Milk Fu Panda: the Legends of 'Awesomeness' premiering this fall. (Kung Fu Panda series) They had Surprisingly Mediocre (Penguins), but they screwed that once they found out people liked it. Never heard a new once since.

comment #10954 Frankiefoster 22nd Oct 11 (edited by: Frankiefoster)

Nice to know there's never a shortage of "New things suck" people around here.

comment #10958 eveil 22nd Oct 11

I actually like the Winx revival, though...

comment #10964 Frankiefoster 22nd Oct 11

I remember when i was a seed...The old episodes...They were clever and money and it's budget is used wisly for Funny jokes and good Character development. now Spongebob doesn't even use 1/4 of it's budget! i miss the live action jokes and the jazzy music and great plot and twists..

comment #18691 SteveTheTrooper 31st Mar 13

I remember being in love with Spongebob as a kid, now I pray the show ends one day.

comment #18708 MsCC93 1st Apr 13

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