The Spongebob Squarepants Show

Most would agree that SpongeBob Squarepants is one of the best animated shows of all time. Since 1999, it has brought us countless laughs with hilarious characters, genius writing, plus 2 movies. But, there’s a fine line between SpongeBob eras. After The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie (2004), the show went through some obvious changes. These changes affected how the show would be viewed.

From 1999 to 2004, known as The Golden Age of SpongeBob, thrived on TV. Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the show, worked on the show with his crew of writers, making a show that pleased all. Their writing gave us unique characters, such as Patrick Star, a starfish who wasn’t exactly smart. But, he wasn’t only reduced to that one trait. Hillenburg’s writing gave depth to all of the

characters, which made the show more enjoyable. SpongeBob relied on a slapstick comedy, or broad comedy characterized by boisterous action, that made every situation SpongeBob and his gang get into funny. All of these reasons helped SpongeBob Squarepants get its reputation as one of the best animated TV shows of all time.
After The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie, Stephen Hillenburg left the show, along with a chunk of the writers, as Hillenburg had intended the movie to be the end of the series.

Now, with new writers, the show has changed. The characters, who were so in depth, now only had 1 trait. SpongeBob and Patrick were dumb, Squidward would always be annoyed, Sandy was smart, Mr. Krabs was greedy, and so on. These blatant deductions of audience’s favorite characters were recognized by the community and not taken lightly. The seasons after the 1st movie were much less critically acclaimed, and more hated than anything else. Also, the sense of humour changed with the new writers. The new seasons relied on “gross-out humour”, or an attempt to disgust the audience while also making them laugh. But audiences did not laugh at the revolting imagery that was supplied by the episodes. The episode The Splinter focuses on SpongeBob getting a splinter in his thumb. The entire episode is full of disgusting imagery that makes people squeal. It is 11 minutes of eye torture. Also, when the writers attempted to write an actual joke, they generally fell flat. Consequently, the new episodes of SpongeBob got received

negatively.
Nevertheless, there still are similarities between the eras of SpongeBob. While maybe the characters have changed, they’re still there. We can still enjoy Plankton, SpongeBob, and the rest of the gang. Included with the characters still being there, most of the original voice actors are still on the show. This makes the new seasons seem more familiar to us when watching, and makes us more comfortable. And, while it’s not very often, the new seasons of the show have good episodes, just like the old seasons. Also, both eras have movies that have good Rotten Tomatoes scores. So, while there are clear differences, there still are some similarities that make the new seasons more enjoyable.
Overall, while these seasons are from the same show, it’d be hard for them to be any more different. But, throughout the seasons, SpongeBob Squarepants has maintained their characters, their voice actors, and the passion from the crew. In every single episode of SpongeBob, old or new, you can tell that a plethora of passion and work put into every episode. This passion and hard work is what always brings viewers back to SpongeBob. You can’t just have one episode. No matter what happens, SpongeBob Squarepants will go down as one of the best shows ever.