Dustin: on November 26th, 2018 the animation community lost a great legend in animation Stephen Hillenburg the man who created Spongebob Squarepants he passed away of ALS and was cremated and his ashes scattered on the Pacific Ocean it's no surprise that since 1999 Spongebob has become the biggest staple in Nickelodeon's history about as big as Klasky Csupo's Rugrats and John K's Ren & Stimpy and despite a few bumps after the first movie Spongebob would live on as one of the greatest Cartoon characters ever created

Blake: That’s right. From humble beginnings, Hillenburg Was also a marine biologist. So the sea highly inspired him to create SpongeBob SquarePants. Originally he was going to be named SpongeBoy and the title is going to be called SpongeBoy ahoy, But the title has been changed to avoid being sued by a company with a mop that also at the same name. 

Ken: From there, we got a series that started out great, and then fell hard due to some... bad decisions. Seriously, it should be against the law for Zeus Cervas to be in charge of writing SpongeBob, since he's the "mastermind" behind the most infamously awful SpongeBob episodes. But for the sake of the deceased, we're not here to talk about the bad episodes.

Dustin: right today we're only going to talk about our favorite episodes from the pre-movie era the first three seasons that put Spongebob on Nickelodeon's map after all if we do talk about the worst of Spongebob it would just be beating a dead horse so here we go Woodfox Talks & Rants presents The Top 15 Best Spongebob Squarepants Episodes this will also include the specials Spongebob has also done as well

Number 15: Pizza Delivery - Season 1, Episode 5A

Ken: SpongeBob and Squidward deliver a pizza. That alone would sound pretty dull, but things pick up once Squidward makes mistake number 1: Letting SpongeBob drive.

Blake: Indeed. Spongebob is at his most loyal as a Krusty Krab employee. He also relies on his knowledge of the pioneers by following moss and attracting drivers from the road with an odd dance. 

Dustin: the whole episode going even further like Spongebob & Squidward in a dust storm, both Spongebob & Squidward getting lost and finally Spongebob trying to get Squidward not to eat the pizza leading to a very surprising Deus Ex Machina

Martini [from Olive the Other Reindeer]: Denise who?

Ken: Also, they drove a rock. Inspiring certain players of Breath of the Wild to try that for themselves. That is not a joke. 

Number 14: Snowball Effect - Season 3, Episode 46A

Blake: SpongeBob episodes are normally set in winter or have a snowy setting, so this is a unique episode. It’s snowing in Bikini bottom thanks to a polar ice cap. So spongebob and Patrick are taking part in a snowball fight. Squidward more focused on enjoying the winter for staying inside is suddenly roped into the battle.

Dustin: the way the episode looks is very beautiful and the way this episode does the snowball fights are so hilarious X3 i especially liked how the ending had Squidward go insane making his own fort XD

Ken: Seems like whenever Squidward gets involved in the fun, he takes things a little too far. Remember 'Slide-Whistle Stooges'?

Dustin: ugh please don't remind me...

Number 13: Rock Bottom - Season 1, Episode 17B

Dustin: in this episode Spongebob & Patrick take the wrong bus and end up in a town literally at the bottom of the road called "Rock Bottom" filled with deep dark sea creatures who all communicate by raspberries

Blake: This episode really provides an eerie atmosphere, referencing creatures deeper in the water, so deep that luminescent fish are more visible than others. We even see an angler fish character, and SpongeBob struggling with a candy machine.

Ken: Also, the buses really seem to hate SpongeBob in this episode. Every time he gets remotely close to making it... it's gone. All in all, this was just a really weird and spooky episode. Speaking of which....

Number 12: Krab Borg - Season 3, Episode 49A

Ken: Scary movies have an odd effect on folks. That was pretty much the point of that Ed Edd n Eddy Halloween episode. Here, SpongeBob becomes frightened about robots taking over after watching a scary movie... with the most cardboard looking robot I've ever seen. His paranoid mind and a series of... odd coincidences lead him to believe that Mr. Krabs is a robot. Which is weird considering that a robot Krabs was part of one of Plankton's many failed schemes.

Dustin: yeah except here Plankton's not in the plot here it's just Spongebob and later Squidward getting convinced that Mr. Krabs is a robot all because Spongebob sees him trying to listen to a song on his radio this eventually leads to him & Squidward interrogating him and his "robot friends"

Blake: Eventually, Mr Krabs starts to cry, which Squidward notes robots can’t do. Squidward asks how the movie ends and as it turns out that it was just the movie characters’ imagination. Oopsies~

Number 11: Something Smells - Season 2, Episode 22A

Blake: A classic from season 2, this episode has a lot of moments that became really popular. One Sunday, Spongebob decides to make a sundae for breakfast. Unfortunately not having or caring for the proper ingredients, he improvised with ketchup, onions, and a rather rancid looking peanut plant. This results in Spongebob gaining knock-out halitosis, And scent fumes that would make Pepe Le Pew hold his nose.

Ken: It gets worse when Patrick, dumdum that he is, makes SpongeBob think everyone's avoiding him because he's ugly. Naturally  Patrick's attempts at cheering him up go... well, about as well as you'd expect. Especially with that one Ugly Barnacle story that in no way deserves its own TV Tropes page. Then we get to the movie theatre. 

Dustin: after a few more bad encounters especially having Patrick force the smell on everyone trying to convince everyone to look at Spongebob's "ugliness" making them run away later Spongebob gives Patrick some of his Sundae leading to Patrick thinking he's ugly too and the two friends realize they both just stink and run away cheering it this episode is pretty weird and pretty funny and pretty sweet in some ways though i wouldn't want to eat that sundae it must be technically poisonous in a way

Number 10: Krusty Krab Training Video - Season 3, Episode 50B

Dustin: this episode doesn't have a main plot it's mostly just a homage to training videos when you work at a certain location i'm sure places like McDonald's or Burger King does this kind of stuff some people say it's so good it's basically a good introductory episode to watch after seeing the pilot Help Wanted and i can understand why :)

Ken: It's a decent training video, all things considered. It's no Wendy's Grill Skillz, but it can be just as entertaining. We have the possible history of how the Krusty Krab got started, SpongeBob being used as the ideal employee, Squidward just... being Squidward, Plankton shows up for an emergency situation, and we have Patrick at the counter, just being an idiot.

Blake: Indeed. With this episode being a personal favorite of my brother’s, I get to share the favorite moments of the Hoopla! Fish and the singing to present the Krabby patty. Man, Steve Kehela is an underrated genius as the narrator of this video. 

Number 9: Neptune's Spatula - Season 1 - Episode 19B

Ken: Funny how a day at the museum can lead to something spectacular. After SpongeBob removes a magical golden spatula from a greasy grill Excalibur style, he summons forth King Neptune himself (not the one from the movie). But he doesn't exactly meet the King's high standards, so he's challenged to test himself in.... breathes in THE ULTIMATE COOK-OFF! 

Dustin: in the cook off both of them try their hand at cooking patties while Triton makes about a thousand patties in one go Spongebob only makes one Triton for a bit is declared the winner until something unexpected happens

Blake: The patties that Neptune made don’t have the same soul that Spongebob puts into his patty. Neptune tried to give Spongebob his rightful place, but Spongebob has the idea to train Neptune in making Krabby patties

Ken: Overall, it's an enjoyable episode. And just a really fun one.

Number 8: Dying for Pie - Season 2, Episode 24A

Blake: Now it’s a known secret that Squidward has an annoyance about Spongebob, but even he wouldn’t commit genocide on the little guy. This is evident from a Friendship day at the Krusty Krab when Squidward buys a pie that he didn’t know turned out to be a bomb.

Dustin: when Spongebob assumingly eats the pie Squidward feels extremely guilty in giving it to him so Mr. Krabs tells Squidward to spend the day with Spongebob before the pie hits his lower intestine this leads to Squidward & Spongebob spending the day together doing everything on Spongebob's list unlike the Spongebob of today this isn't Torture Porn towards Squidward he's just hanging out with Spongebob because he feels bad that he might be responsible for his upcoming explosion of course this leads to the end of the episode with Spongebob & Squidward watching the sunset together and...

[BOOM!]

Ken: Except it's not really done yet. Turns out that SpongeBob never actually ate the pie in the first place. He was saving it to share with Squidward, but it blows up anyway after SpongeBob trips on a pebble and the pie hits Squidward in the face.

[Price is Right losing horn plays]

Ken: Well. Moving on. 

Number 7: Shanghaied AKA You Wish - Season 2, Episode 33A

Dustin: this technically is a special since it also features Patchy the Pirate & Potty the Parrot but this little episode has two versions one that aired only once in 2001 and the other that would air significantly edited in 2003 alongside Gary Takes a Bath before we talk about the Special side let's talk about the episode itself Shanghaied in this episode a giant anchor lands on Spongebob & Squidward's houses so Spongebob, Squidward & Patrick climb upwards and find the ghost ship of the Flying Dutchman voiced by the amazing Brian Doyle-Murray

Blake: The Flying Dutchman seems to take mercy on the two goofballs by having them work for the ghoulish galleon captain. The only trouble is... they’re not scary. So the Flying Dutchman decides to eat the two. They try to escape through the perfume department (complete with live action footage) and they learn a secret about the captain.

Ken: Turns out he can't eat without his dining sock because..... peanuts? Anyway he makes a deal with SpongeBob and Patrick. If he returns the sock, he gives them three wishes.... two of which they waste almost instantly, roping Squidward back into this. Then the Dutchman decides to choose who gets the last wish.

Dustin: this is where the special comes into play when the episode first came out back in 2001 it was basically promoted that it doesn't have an ending so a special event was made for kids to call a 1-800 number to vote for the character who would get the wish each ending has a different consequence the third place loser being Patrick if his wish was chosen he would sit and think really hard until his wish was shown showing that he wished for gum so that they can have fresh breath then the Dutchman eats the trio their clothes on the plate

Blake: Squidward wishes that Spongebob and Patrick never met him. This backfired since they’re still on the ship all together and Spongebob and Patrick introduce themselves to the cranky cephalopod.

Ken: And the winner, SpongeBob wishes that the Dutchman was a vegetarian. This seems to take them home, but really they've been turned into fruits to prevent scurvy. Which makes no sense, because he's a ghost. This is the best ending of the lot, but also really weird.

Number 6: Chocolate with Nuts - Season 3, Episode 52A

Ken: When they read one of Squidward's magazines, SpongeBob and Patrick decide to get money to live the fancy life. They do so by selling chocolate bars, but nothing really goes as planned. Their tactics are half-baked, they have to resort to lies to get anywhere, and they keep running into this con-fish who keeps scamming them over and over again. 

Blake: They do face many strange characters along the way, including two old ladies, the aforementioned con fish, and one in particular who seems to have an ~obsession~ affinity for the stuff.

Dustin: yup this episode is the home of certain memes and certain unforgettable characters i still have no idea how that one older elderly fish is still alive when she looks almost like a skeleton O_o but anyways this episode is pretty funny and i like how classic this is

Number 5: The Algae’s Always Greener - Season 3, Episode 41A

Blake: To me, this episode is Plankton at his best. After another failed attempt at stealing the Krabby Patty formula, Plankton wonders what his life would be like if he was in Mr Krabs’ position. What results is comedic gold. 

Ken: Plankton has trouble handling Pearl's bratty teen-ness, he foolishly lets Squidward on the grill, he tells SpongeBob he's using too much sauce which leads to him doing.... something. And then there's what happened to Krabs. Not only does he take Plankton's role in this reality, but....

Plankton: Good grief, he's naked!

Dustin: yup so in the climax part of this episode Spongebob starts firing clothes onto Krabs until a bra is on him making him defeated... that's another weird moment but then Krabs starts repeating "and the next day" over and over again until Plankton can't take it anymore and escapes back into his normal reality i wouldn't blame him

Number 4: Pressure - Season 2, Episode 32A

Dustin: Sandy is one of my favorite characters in the show for... obvious reasons and this episode shows her competitive side very well almost like a prototype Rainbow Dash in this episode it's Sandy the Land Creature vs. Spongebob, Patrick, Squidward & Mr. Krabs the Sea Creatures as all five compete to see who's better at what it seems unfair with four against one but it is pretty funny this ultimately leads to Sandy ripping her suit off and breaking her helmet to prove she can try to handle the underwater life... this kinda backfires on her

Ken: Kinda? She could've died! And really Patrick? You're just figuring out the Sandy's a girl? Naturally she reciprocates by challenging all of them to go onto dry land. This goes well at first. Until they reach the seagulls.

Blake: Another excellent use of live action here, we see the characters transform into puppets on sticks. It’s Sandy to the rescue as she knocks the feathers off of the seagulls. The friends realize their mistakes and they apologize to one another, saying that no one is best at everything.

Dustin: indeed a very nice ending to a very cool episode... also 10/10 for seeing suitless Sandy underwater

Number 3: Band Geeks - Season 2, Episode 35B

Ken: One of the most beloved episodes of the entire series. After Squidward tells his high school rival Squilliam Fancyson (in his first of many appearances) that he has his own band, he scrambles to put together a band from the citizens of Bikini Bottom, which goes horribly at first because none of them know how to play instruments. Pretty sure that's not how drums work, guys.

Blake: Things seem disastrous and Squidward calls it quits. Spongebob realizes what happens and decides to help Squidward by being the best marching band they can be. They then meet Squidward at the Bubble Bowl the next day, and Squidward musters up the courage to go out there. 

Dustin: this leads to the best scene in the entire episode Spongebob and the band performing Sweet Victory this moment and the song is the best that came out of this episode and no matter what people say it's all for the taking no matter what people say

Number 2: Sailor Mouth - Season 2, Episode 38A

Blake: A number one favorite in my house, but second place here. One night after work at the Krusty Krab, Spongebob reads graffiti on a dumpster after taking out the trash. He reads the word aloud, but it’s censored by dolphin chatter. Patrick then comes around and tells him the word is a quote unquote sentence enhancer. Chaos and hilarity ensue.

Ken: After they drive away all the customers from the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs wastes no time in telling that they done goofed, they vow not to say that word again... and then Eels and Escalators happened.

Dustin: after a pretty one sided game where Patrick gets escalators and Spongebob gets nothing but eels and before Spongebob lands on the last eel he throws the dice getting escalators only for the Cartoon gods to flip it to eels causing him to blurt Number 11 out again thus leading to a chase scene back to the Krusty Krab and after Mr. Krabs sets up the punishment he hits his foot on a rock causing him to yell out all 13 bad words

Blake: After a comedic run to Mama Krabs’ house (how they knew her address prior to this, I’ll never know) Mama Krabs puts the potty mouthed boys to work repainting her house. She goes to reward them with lemonade, only for her to kick a rock, causing her to exclaim. She proclaims that it was just Old Man Jenkins in his Jalopy and they all have a good laughs about it; just like the laughs I share whenever I watch this episode with my family x3

Dustin: now before we get to Number 1 we'd like to have some honorable mentions and since there are three of us this time around there will be three honorable mentions

Honorable Mention #1: Party Pooper Pants/Spongebob's House Party - Season 3, Episode 51

Dustin: this was technically the first Spongebob/Patchy special i ever saw when i was a kid and it was pretty entertaining to me first we'll talk a bit about the Spongebob side Spongebob decides to throw a party at his place and it features all of the regular characters of course it kinda gives us the storyline of the party host who follows only the schedule and never the fun reminds me of an episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh honestly

Ken: Meanwhile, Patchy is throwing his own party, and things get a bit out of hand there. Mostly because Potty is a feathered troll. At least we get an awesome song out of it. 

Blake: Both segments have their funny moments, so it’s a great way to show what to do and what not to do about throwing a party. 

Honorable Mention #2: The Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episodes - Season 1, Episodes 6A & 20B, Season 2, Episode 31A, Season 3, Episodes 45B & 52B

Ken: While they didn't quite make the cut, I really do like all these episodes. These two are basically the Batman and Robin of the SpongeBob universe (oddly with the same costumes as Aquaman and Aqualad), and an endless source of hilarity. Each of the five episodes in these early seasons have something different. From SpongeBob and Patrick convincing them to come out of retirement, to SpongeBob spending the day with them, poor attempts to reform a villain, messing around with a lost utility belt, and our main cast teaming up to defeat a villain team.... and sucking at it.

Blake: Indeed. With guest stars that include Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, Charles Nelson Reilly, Guy Siner, and at one point, Mark Hamill, these episodes show a super edge to the series.

Dustin: indeed i was used to funny superheroes when i was a kid thanks to shows like Freakazoid and Nickelodeon's own Action League NOW! from Kablam but it's pretty funny to see episodes like these in Spongebob it's too bad later Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy episodes wouldn't capture the same magic as these even with Adam West voicing young Mermaid Man in one episode but the most important thing R.I.P. Ernest Borgnine

Honorable Mention #3: Culture Shock - Season 1 Episode 10A

Blake: Now most of you may or may not know that I love Talent Show episodes. They are becoming something of a rarity, but this episode is a standout. In it Mr Krabs finds the Krusty Krab with so few customers. So Squidward, mostly wanting to show off, take it upon himself to host the first Talent Show. Spongebob is eager to help, but Squidward gives him the job of cleaning up after the show.

Ken: We get all kinds of... unique talents. Pearl doing a cheerleading routine, Gary doing poetry... because logic.... and then there's Plankton's magic act, which is just a paper thin attempt at stealing a Krabby Patty. Then Squidward does his weird dance and gets all the jeers and all the tomatoes. Oddly enough, SpongeBob was the hit of the show, and all he did was clean up.

Dustin: yeah this gives us insight that most of Bikini Bottom doesn't appreciate good art and wants something stupid and simple story of my life but that was back when the show was funny that way today the world just farts on Squidward just because it can but at least this is a pretty decent episode

Number 1: Spongebob Squarepants Lost Episode/The Sponge Who Could Fly - Season 3 - Episode 59

Dustin: the last good Spongebob special before they all became underwhelming and bad ratings traps like Atlantis Squarepantis, Legends of Bikini Bottom and of course the worst 10th anniversary ever Truth or Square! but anyways in the Patchy side of this special Patchy is trying to look for the lost episode leading to him following a map with some interesting jokes like the forked tree and when he gets the tape he pops it in and...

[the Walk Cycle plays]

Patchy: That’s it? That’s the lost episode? That was just a bunch of cheap walk cycles!

Blake: He flips out, and takes down all of his Spongebob stuff. Then he finds out that the real episode is there and comes back with the power or Rewinding the footage. The real lost episode is a musical that focuses on Spongebob wanting to fly with the Jellyfish in Jellyfish Fields. Facing off against negativity, Spongebob takes to the skies via hairdryer blowing air into his pants, inflating like a balloon.

Ken: He initially likes the idea of using the ability to fly to help people, but then they start taking advantage of him. Most of them ask for things that they don't even need a flying man for.

Dustin: indeed so later he decides not to help anyone and just go straight to Jellyfish Fields like he wanted to in the first place but the people who only want Spongebob to help them because they're all so damn lazy decide they don't want him to go to Jellyfish Fields so Cannonball Jenkins [the third job he does in this episode] shoots himself from a cannon and Spongebob's pants get deflated for good killing his dreams to fly... it would have been dead for good if not with the help of some kind Jellyfish :)

Blake: This is an especially sweet moment in the series, especially considering the normal behavior of the Jellyfish. Patrick meets up with Spongebob and invites him out for a fly. Spongebob says no politely, and Patrick takes off... flying? The special ends with Patchy and Potty wanting to watch the special again but have a little trouble with the remote, practically flubbing the tape of the lost episode. What a loser.

Dustin: yeah but at least we can still watch that and the rest of the episodes of the pre-movie era whenever we can either on DVD or the rare moments when Nick would air an episode from the first three seasons Spongebob may have gotten down some bad roads but at least it was still a great show in the beginning

Ken: It was never Hillenburg's intention to continue the series after the movie, but it just kept going, and the quality kind of dropped. There were still good episodes, but also we got things like "A Pal for Gary", or "One Course Meal", or even more recently "Ink Lemonade". These are not the episodes that SpongeBob should be remembered for. 

Blake: While I do like some post movie Spongebob episodes I enjoy like Krusty Towers, Dunces and Dragons, And That’s No Lady, I still admire a lot of the older episodes of the series, since they were huge parts of my life. I’m glad to have shared with you my memories of this series :) It’s been fun :)

Dustin: indeed and Stephen if you're out there thanks for the great memories of Spongebob before and after your passing we will miss you

R.I.P. Stephen Hillenburg - 1961-2018

~skullz, Ken & Fuwa out