Do you like the ocean? Do you wanna watch a character who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Do you wish to witness a character who is absorbent and yellow and porous? Do you like nautical nonsense and flopping like a fish? Has anyone seriously not seen nor heard of this show before? If you answered yes to any of these questions (except that last one, that was optional), then you should watch SpongeBob SquarePants! If you need a refresher, SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated comedy show that was created by the late Steven Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired on May 1, 1999 as a sneak peek following that year’s Kids’ Choice Awards before officially premiering on July 17, 1999. This show does not require much more of an introduction. It has won multiple awards, spawned numerous movies and videogames, and has been running for 16 seasons as of now. With all that being said, I wanted a refresher on how this worldwide phenomenon first began, so let’s go through this show’s first episode!
The first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants is unique from the show’s usual episode format as it contains three segments instead of the usual two, due to this first episode also containing the show’s pilot segment. The first segment, titled “Help Wanted”, introduces SpongeBob, the title character, who attempts to get a job at the Krusty Krab, a local fast food restaurant, with encouragement from his best friend Patrick Star. The episode also includes Mr. Krabs, owner of the Krusty Krab, and Squidward Tentacles, employee and SpongeBob’s neighbor, who both make SpongeBob go search for an overly specific, mechanical spatula. This segment ultimately ends with SpongeBob getting the job after somehow finding said spatula and feeding a crowd of hungry customers. The second segment is titled “Reef Blower”, which is an underwater leader blower, involves Squidward and Spongebob who engage in reef-blower-related shenanigans because Squidward threw a small sea shell into SpongeBob’s yard. This episode is unique for containing no dialogue. The third and final segment of the first episode is “Tea at the Treedome”, introducing Sandy Cheeks, an air-breathing squirrel, who is befriended by SpongeBob. He then goes to her treedome for tea, experiences problems due to there being no water in said treedome, and thus being unable to breathe. Also Patrick is there and tries his best to help SpongeBob.
In summary, this was a nice nostalgic trip back to this show’s very first episode. It sets up most of the major cast, as well as the show’s general mood for most of the series. The animation and music are still charming to this day and the humor still manages to hold up! As always, the full experience cannot be replicated through summary alone, so as always I recommend you check out this episode on your own. You can find it on Paramount+, Netflix, and on the show’s official YouTube channel.
