# What the hell Spongebob?



## Conker (Nov 3, 2013)

_Spongebob_ used to be my favorite cartoon, and I suppose it's still high up on whatever list I keep inside the part of my head that should be put to better use. The first four or five seasons are all pretty grand, and man, it's crazy how long the show has been on. At this point, watching it feels nostalgic, even though new episodes keep getting made.

But holy shit, the new episodes. It's not that they are bad, though some aren't all that great; it's that they are just simply bizarre. There's too much "lolrandom" to them now, and when that isn't the case, the episodes are just really dark.

I was flipping through the channels yesterday and caught what I'm guessing is a newer episode. Here's how it went:

Spongebob is with Ms Puff again and failing at driving. He crashes so much and Ms Puff puffs up so much that she actually explodes. We jump cut to them in the hospital and find out that Ms Puff broke her puffer thing and is now a deflated fish, all wrinkly and sad. She spends the next few minutes super depressed while Spongebob tries to make her feel better. And then she gets this idea that Spongebob should enter the demolition derby because HE IS APT TO DIE and then she'd be rid of him forever. So he tricks him into doing that, and he almost dies but manages to actually win. Haha, we laugh, until Ms Puff gets in her own car and TRIES TO MURDER HIM.

It was...kinda fucked up to be honest. I mean, the show has done some pretty twisted stuff before, and usually I've laughed at it, but vehicular homicide seems to be a new level of twisted. Not to mention the physically crippled Ms Puff. Mr. Krabbs serving patty grease as soup? Yeah, that's gross, but that's a bit removed from murder and tragic automobile accidents. 

Maybe I'm using some rose-colored glasses here. Afterall, there IS an episode where Spongebob and Mr. Krabbs think they've killed a health inspector and proceed to bury the body so no one can find it. That's not exactly summertime fun. 

But the show is oddly dark now, or darker, and that's a bit offputting for some reason.


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## Coyote Club (Nov 3, 2013)

The episode sounds like it's mocking Clara Harris. Having said that, I wouldn't show it to my kids (if I had any). It might give them ideas. 

Check out Tirrel's dark humor vids on YouTube and you'll thank the producers of Spongebob for not cranking up the gore and violence on their show.


[video=youtube;RNK_xBAGTBI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNK_xBAGTBI[/video]


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## Conker (Nov 3, 2013)

Damn, that was an impressive video. Sort of reminds me of Happy Tree Friends only better animated and with way less blood and gore.


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## Conker (Nov 3, 2013)

And there's where those rose-colored glasses come in. Forgot about that, though it's still funny in a completely cringe worthy way.

Though that's a newish episode I believe. Perhaps three seasons ago? Ah, I'm talking out of my ass.


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## CaptainCool (Nov 3, 2013)

Teal said:


> [video=youtube_share;_HqBvv_cJd0]http://youtu.be/_HqBvv_cJd0[/video]



Oh yeah, I remember that scene. I remember it because I am still trying to forget about it...


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## derpherp (Nov 3, 2013)

[video=youtube;8GZM6t6jU8k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GZM6t6jU8k[/video]


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## Butters Shikkon (Nov 3, 2013)

Did you see the one where Squidward basically becomes mentally disabled and not in a funny way...like in a "damn...that was fucking mean spirited and sorta offensive" sorta way. Also, one time they had Squidward become the villain in a John Henry rip-off. He bought a giant machine to outdo Spongebob and everything. 

Uh, I thought that was the maniacal Plankton's territory not the "hates his job/can't wait to go home" grump  that Squidward is. 

It's been too many years, and the writers are all out stories and the original spirit the show began with. You know, like the Simpsons.


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## Heliophobic (Nov 3, 2013)

Teal said:


> [video=youtube_share;_HqBvv_cJd0]http://youtu.be/_HqBvv_cJd0[/video]



No.


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## Conker (Nov 3, 2013)

Butterflygoddess said:


> It's been too many years, and the writers are all out stories and the original spirit the show began with. You know, like the Simpsons.


The show is very much not what it once was  

The above face freeze clip is kind of disturbing in how much time is wasted by Patrick and Spongebob doing nothing but making faces. The point was made within the first few seconds, yet the joke was dragged down down and down.


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## Teal (Nov 3, 2013)

Butterflygoddess said:


> Did you see the one where Squidward basically becomes mentally disabled and not in a funny way...like in a "damn...that was fucking mean spirited and sorta offensive" sorta way.
> .


 This one?
[video=youtube_share;WM8gQBjceE4]http://youtu.be/WM8gQBjceE4[/video]


Yeah I didn't like that one.


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## Fallowfox (Nov 3, 2013)

Cartoon characters have been trying to kill each other since the dawn of time.


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## Teal (Nov 3, 2013)

Fallowfox said:


> Cartoon characters have been trying to kill each other since the dawn of time.


I think the problem is that in a show where they aren't usually trying to kill each other one of them suddenly goes batshit crazy and tries to murder the other in a not particularly humorous way. 



Also............
[video=youtube_share;Emd5grRLhv0]http://youtu.be/Emd5grRLhv0[/video]


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## Vaelarsa (Nov 3, 2013)

Coyote Club said:


> [vid]


Is that Sawyer from Cats Don't Dance?

It's really well animated, though.


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## Conker (Nov 3, 2013)

Vaelarsa said:


> Is that Sawyer from Cats Don't Dance?
> 
> It's really well animated, though.


I got a similar vibe. Haven't seen that movie in a long time, but it's a good one.



			
				Fallowfox said:
			
		

> Cartoon characters have been trying to kill each other since the dawn of time.


Very true! But not really in this cartoon. Spongebob is twisted, and sometimes kind of violent, but that's the first time I've ever seen attempted murder, and it didn't quite feel right.

But as the linked videos show, it sure isn't as wholesome as I remembered


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## Judge Spear (Nov 3, 2013)

That toenail thing had me dying when I first saw it. 
Man, I haven't watched Spongebob in ages. Last thing I saw, Spongebob was like...getting tentacle raped.

That show was fucking hysterical though. 

[video=youtube;fYpYlbX8MhY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYpYlbX8MhY[/video]

I think I was done for weeks when I saw that. Oh my Christ.


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## Teal (Nov 3, 2013)

Watch without sound, it has some annoying guy laughing. (And unfortunately it's the only clip that doesn't cut off half the screen or flicker really badly)

[video=youtube_share;afg9m07bmIU]http://youtu.be/afg9m07bmIU[/video]


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## CaptainCool (Nov 4, 2013)

Oh please no...
I love to laugh about cartoon violence but this just makes me cringe.

It's really sad to see what happened to the show. Classic lines like "Who you callin' pinhead?!" and "No! This is Patrick!" are still funny today because the show actually was funny. But today it's just plain retarded... And when I look at stuff like "Squid Baby" it's borderline offensive.
Or Ms. Puff literally exploding and becoming handicapped? She had accidents before but that's just stupid.


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## lupinealchemist (Nov 4, 2013)

You should see the episode where Squidward gets extremely depressed and has two instances where it looked like he was gonna commit suicide.


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## Hewge (Nov 4, 2013)

I think this is a case of rose-colored classes.

Indeed, the show has a significantly different "charm" since it first came around. But it is still a show with young ones as the target audience, and kids and what is thought of as funny/acceptable have changed *dramatically* since 14 years ago.


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## Teal (Nov 4, 2013)

lupinealchemist said:


> You should see the episode where Squidward gets extremely depressed and has two instances where it looked like he was gonna commit suicide.


Was that the one with the hanging joke?


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## Jabberwocky (Nov 4, 2013)

what the eveRLOVING FUCK


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## lupinealchemist (Nov 4, 2013)

Teal said:


> Was that the one with the hanging joke?


And the head in the oven.


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## Conker (Nov 4, 2013)

Hewge said:


> I think this is a case of rose-colored classes.
> 
> Indeed, the show has a significantly different "charm" since it first came around. But it is still a show with young ones as the target audience, and kids and what is thought of as funny/acceptable have changed *dramatically* since 14 years ago.


Yeah. I dunno how to feel about that  

I like the older episodes more.


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## Dire Newt (Nov 4, 2013)

Spongebob is suffering from what I like to call "Animated ADHD". Many other cartoons nowadays have been diagnosed with this disorder, in which the creators throw in a bunch of obnoxious and nonsensical jokes and scenarios in an attempt to be edgy and/or funny in a lolsorandom kind of way.


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## Pinky (Nov 4, 2013)

Spongebob was supposed to end after the movie, but it continued with new writers.


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## lupinealchemist (Nov 4, 2013)

I find that cartoons wear out their welcome when they decide to draw all their humor from the misery and despair of others, but that's just me.


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## Conker (Nov 4, 2013)

Dire Newt said:


> Spongebob is suffering from what I like to call "Animated ADHD". Many other cartoons nowadays have been diagnosed with this disorder, in which the creators throw in a bunch of obnoxious and nonsensical jokes and scenarios in an attempt to be edgy and/or funny in a lolsorandom kind of way.


Holy shit this is true.

About a month ago I was hungover and watching Cartoon Network because misery needs more misery. This cartoon called _Uncle Grandpa_ came on and was eleven minutes of "LOLSORANDOM" humor on top of "this character is clearly mentally ill. Why am I the only one who finds this offensive?" 

It was...depressingly bad.


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## Conker (Mar 17, 2014)

lupinealchemist said:


> You should see the episode where Squidward gets extremely depressed and has two instances where it looked like he was gonna commit suicide.


Bumping this because I recently saw that episode and feel the need to express my WHAT THE EVERLOVING FUCK?

That episode was horrific. Squidward realizes he doesn't have any happy memories at all, which in itself is really really sad and also not true. He kicked some serious ass at the Bubble Bowl (that episode is brilliant. Why isn't the show like that anymore?) and Spongebob, in his ever need to be friends with his neighbor, tries to help ol Squiddy. 

Normally when Spongebob helps Squidward, shit goes wrong because Spongebob is just destructive and stupid. In this one, things go wrong because everyone hates Squidward and wants to see him depressed and near suicide.

FFS, someone took a flamethrower to his art and laughed. That's horrible!

And hello actual symptoms of depression. The suicide jokes were in poor taste, but so was having Squidward roll under is bed and then flashing "two weeks later." The poor guy needed a doctor and a 1800 help line.

it was awful.


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