SpongeBob - Mermaidman and Barnacleboy 5

On SpongeBob, there were a few episodes that centered around SpongeBob and Patrick's interactions with their favorite semi-retired superheroes, Mermaidman and Barnacleboy. Probably the best episode was "Mermaidman and Barnacleboy 5."

This episode starts off with a crime, the crime of hour-long waiting lines! Oh, to be stuck behind someone who had tons of time to make up their mind but can't decide now that they're at the front. As it turns out, Barnacleboy is fed up with being treated like a child, and when the other characters proceed to make fun of him, he decides to join the dark side, literally. Because Mr. Krabs said, "Why should I waste money lighting the whole store?" Soon enough, Barnacle-Man is committing crimes with two of Bikini Bottom's biggest criminals, Man Ray and the Dirty Bubble. Their crimes range from things like shooting lasers, robbing banks to, brace yourselves, everybody, ding-dong ditching!

Desperate, and out of options, SpongeBob and his friends, Patrick, Sandy, and Squidward decide to help Mermaidman his pursuit against EVIL. That is, after they dawn their appropriate superhero costumes. After a clever montage of them acquiring their powers, they learn of the location of the baddies, Make-Out Reef. They quickly go to the scene of the crime. At first, it looks like the odds are stacked up against them, that is, until their mediocrity starts to show. The villains declare victory and Barnacle-Man gives his final demands.

His first demand is he wants to be treated like a superhero, not a sidekick, number two, he wants to be called Barnacle-Man, and number three, he just wants an adult-sized Krabby Patty. Yep, Barnacleboy decides to give in to his own instincts and go back to being a superhero, and Mermaidman decides to call him Barnacle-Man. The episode ends with Barnacle-Man enjoying his adult-sized Krabby Patty and everyone having a good laugh. This episode is a great example of what makes for good humor. Constantly coming at you with great quality, this episode will start you off laughing and will not stop until it's over. It's especially funny to see the contrast personalities between Mermaidman and Barnacleboy and to see all the superhero tropes parodied. It was hard for me to find a highlight, but I decided to pick two. One, where we see what SpongeBob and the other characters alter egos are, and the IJLSA defeating themselves in a comedic fashion, but other than that, there are just too many. But in my opinion, Squidward was and will always be........

Captain Magma! Get him angry and he's bound to erupt!

CatDog - "Dem Bones"

Your neck bones connected to your knee bones. Dem bones, dem bones and dry bones now they're the working the lord. Now, let's review "Dem Bones," from CatDog.

While visiting the Nearburg Museum, Dog stumbles upon the Tyrannosaurus Rex statue, and as usual, it was made entirely out of bones. The security guard warns them not to touch the statue, otherwise, they'll end up in Museum Jail. Once they leave, Cat has a dream about Dog stealing all the bones from the museum and they must return them before the museum opens.

Will they get that fixed in their own dream? Or will they face the consequences? Well, I'm not telling, because you just have to watch and see for yourself.

I think Steven Banks is my favorite television writer, even if his time on SpongeBob had it's ups and downs. I even like the episodes he writes for CatDog like for example, "The Lady is a Shriek," "The Cat Club," and of course, "CatDog Divided." I also like the episode of Jimmy Neutron he wrote called "Sleepless in Retroville." He also wrote one episode for the Fairly OddParents, being "Hail to the Chief," and yes, I'll review that episode on Presidents' Day. I even like how Jim Cummings deepens his voice a bit for Cat as the voice of the T-Rex to scare away the security guard. I knew it was a dream all along? Didn't you?

For all those dinosaurs out there, you have to see it to understand it. And for all of you humans, this episode, much like "Winslow's Home Videos," this is a go-to episode. But don't take it from me, take it from my friend, the T-Rex Skeleton.

"It is I, T-Rex, rawr, King of Dinosaurs, you must leave this museum at once puny human! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

I'm just kidding, did I scare you? Well I hope not.

SpongeBob - "Walking Small"

You want to walk tall? Then just watch "Walking Small" that often airs after "Texas." Note to viewers this is the third and final Plankton-focused episode of the first season. So now, let's begin.

In this episode, Plankton decides to bring up the future sight of the Chum Bucket Mega Bucket on the Goo Lagoon. And he uses SpongeBob as bait to get everyone to leave Goo Lagoon. With a few comical situations like SpongeBob being "insertive," and SpongeBob misunderstanding Plankton's phrases to the guy in sandals borrowing his metal detector. It all gets better when SpongeBob's finally become improving like shaking sand everywhere, stealing the hot dogs, kites, and destroying volleyballs. Will SpongeBob reverse the damage, or will Plankton's plan succeed? Watch and find out. Okay?

What I like about this episode is that it's not focused on Plankton trying to steal the formula. Instead, it's focused on him trying to make a much bigger restaurant in Bikini Bottom. It's petty funny when he cries over the fact that he bought two ice cream cones, you know, because this is a Sean Dempsey animation directed episode, Dempsey has a fetish for crying! Also, SpongeBob's Jerry Seinfeld like stand-up comedy was pretty funny. I even like how he reverses the damage, like for example, bringing the hot dogs and kites back to the beach-goers, and being a surfboard for Scooter. All Plankton needed was aggresiveness and being assertive, sorry "Putting Your Hoof Down," you stole that idea.

Overall, this episode is pretty funny, especially with Plankton shouting through his megaphone, SpongeBob taking his sweet time eating his ice cream, and of course, his Jerry Seinfeld reference. He is a true altruist folks. By the way, Plankton does have a point, SpongeBob is soft because he IS a sponge.

In the end, Plankton deserved to have his plan reversed, he totally deserved it. I also like Larry the Lobster's speaking cameo asking for the volleyball and saying "Let's just go home I guess," which speaking of which, all of you should go home right now until the next review.

SpongeBob - "Home Sweet Pineapple"

Home sweet home, the old saying, or how about Home Sweet Pineapple, a better saying according to SpongeBob. Yep, "Home Sweet Pineapple" is the next SpongeBob episode I'm reviewing, folks. Let's not waste any time, let's begin.

The episode begins with a herd of nematodes messing around and eating anything and everything they would want, usually as said by their leader. And when they get thirsty, they bring out bendy straws and suck out all the juice form a how that's made out of a fruit. And unfortunately, SpongeBob's house has to be the one they choose. Once SpongeBob's house disappears completely, SpongeBob decides he should just move back with her parents, but his friends suggest they sleep with him. Will he stay in Bikini Bottom? Stay tuned to find out.

I have a lot of mixed feelings towards this episode. I mean, Squidward is just too happy for SpongeBob's house to be drunken off the face of the earth. I mean, if nematodes drank down on his house, would he never mind this? Oh, heavens no! He would just be disappointed as SpongeBob was. Squidward, just have some sympathy for crying out loud. And another thing, SpongeBob's only choice is moving back with his mom and dad? I mean come on, you guys could've made him think of other places other than Squidward or Patrick's. Like how about Sandy's or any other citizen of Bikini Bottom. Whether they were originally going for that or not, I'll never know.

Okay, all nitpicking aside, this episode has a lot of laughs despite those problems I mentioned. For example, Fred's boatmobile getting eaten and he says "Oh, dang nematodes!" And Squidward's dead-pan reaction when SpongeBob yells "Oh, no!" on the phone, Patrick falling down from his sleeping position, Patrick giving a reaction to SpongeBob's house gone, the building montage, and of course, Patrick being afraid of spiders and constantly smashing his rock onto SpongeBob accidentally in a comedic fashion. I even like how karma comes to Squidward for not being sympathetic on SpongeBob when the house lands onto him, he deserved it, folks. All in all, this is pretty much an okay episode.

CatDog - "Hail the Great Meow Woof"

All the great me! All hail the great cartoon reviewer! That's right, I'm reviewing "Hail the Great Meow Woof."

While playing with a kite, Cat and Dog chase it through the outskirts of Nearburg, where they come across a tribe worshiping Rancid Rabbit as the Great Rancid. After accidentally knocking down Rancid's statue, the tribe to worship CatDog, also referring to them as the Great Meow Woof. And with that, the formerly great Rancid decides to seek vengeance.

Will CatDog win? Or will Rancid win? Well, I'm not telling! Because you've got to watch and see for yourself.

This episode is filled with a lot of stuff that made me laugh from beginning to end. Not just that, this is a sure sign this episode was originally written for the first season, since Gary Goldstein was credited and this was his last episode he storyboarded. That being said, I can see why it was never in the first season. It was also the last episode where Derek Drymon was the supervising director and where Erik Wiese served as a storyboard artist, after this episode, they both went on to work on SpongeBob. These are the reasons why I think this was originally for the first season. Anyways, I also like the fact that "Abra-Cadabra" are the magic words for the magic stuff Rancid puts onto CatDog.

Overall, this episode has a little bit of something for CatDog fans. You get CatDog fighting off Rancid Rabbit, ultimately winning, and the Greasers (sigh), unfairly beating up Cat and Dog.

I also like the fourth wall break they did at the very end where Cat says "Iris out!" in which the episode actually does.

All I can say is, "ALL HAIL THE GREAT EPISODE! ALL HAIL THE GREAT EPISODE!" Okay, okay, enough of that. thank you.

SpongeBob - "Employee of the Month"

I thought the episode that aired with this, "The Chaperone," was okay, but it wasn't good enough for me to watch it more than twice. Luckily, Paul Tibbitt and his team of storyboard artists were able to bring us back up with the following episode, "Employee of the Month."

Today is judging for Employee of the Month, but Squidward on the other hand finds this a scam. Mr. Krabs warns SpongeBob about Squidward being on the while, hence the phrase, "I might sneak up on you." SpongeBob, thanks to his soldier portrait, spies on Squidward, and Squidward, now following what's going on, decides to prove to SpongeBob he's better than him by trying to get awarded Employee of the Month that he is better. How will this end? Well, just watch and find out, okay?

This episode really made up for the blandness that "The Chaperone" had. It had more comedy than it's predecessor, and it even has a good plot, Squidward and SpongeBob competing against each other for the aforementioned Employee of the Month. I like the running gags of the krabby patties being spit at Squidward by a fan, as well as him stubbing his foot when trying to step on SpongeBob's hat. They even go so far as to carry anchors on foot.

This plot's just all over the place. But in a good way.


I should also mention that this episode had four storyboard artists!

You see that? FOUR STORYBOARD ARTISTS! And only one of them wrote the script, that one was Paul Tibbitt. Ennio Torresan and Erik Wiese previously worked as a duo writing various episodes for SpongeBob during the first half of the first season, and Mark O'Hare, he only wrote three episodes with Paul so, I guess he wasn't quite ready to be an official writer or something until late season 2.

Overall, you have to watch this episode to understand the humor they were going for.

I mean I like it when Squidward and SpongeBob showing Mr. Krabs what they can do even goes out of hand and after making too many krabby patties, the Krusty Krab explodes! Leaving the citizens of Bikini Bottom free krabby patties.

This episode is a heck of a lot of fun, and it's much better than "The Chaperone." Just watch out for that laughing Squidward hallucination.

SpongeBob - "Can You Spare a Dime?"

Brother, can you spare a dime? Because I need that one to review this episode of SpongeBob. Oh wait, no I don't. I've got it right here. This episode is called, "Can You Spare a Dime?" Let's get going.

After Mr. Krabs accuses Squidward for something he didn't do, like say, stealing his first dime, Squidward quits his job. However, he ends up homeless in the process. Seeing Squidward heartbroken in the process, SpongeBob decides to take him into his own house to live with him, but only until he gets a job. However, so much later goes by and Squidward has become a free-loader and SpongeBob is his slave. Will he get out of slavery? Watch to find out.

This episode is pretty funny every time I watch this. Examples of funny include Squidward, Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob counting various things, SpongeBob going up and down the stairs getting this for Squidward, and SpongeBob finally losing his temper and patience due to Squidward's bossing him around, all because he can't get a job. He even takes his anger out on Mr. Krabs, because well, he falsely accused Squidward for stealing his dime. He even goes so far as to shake him violently while choking him until finally, his first dime falls out of his pants. There's a lot of humor here that it's hard to avoid it.

So, there are two morals here.

One: Never falsely accuse someone for something they didn't do or jump to conclusions.

and

Two: Never have a homeless person live with you, otherwise, he'll boss you around like crazy!

Also, since Sean Dempsey was the animation director for this episode, we see Squidward crying while he was homeless. Another indication that Sean has a crying fetish.

CatDog - "Winslow's Home Videos."

Now I'm going to review something that was on a certain Nickelodeon tape before a popular 1998 movie came along. I'm of course talking about the CatDog short episode, "Winslow's Home Videos."

What's the story? There isn't one. It's pretty much just Winslow showing the viewers about all the crazy stuff that Cat and Dog have done together like breakfast for example, putting in too much hot sauce onto a taco, causing Cat to breath fire, their quiet bike ride in the park being ruined by those greasers, and of course, Dog's game of Sailor Dog getting a bit out of hand. Although, it wasn't previously recorded. It was actually recording already in Cat and Dog's own bathroom. It's like as if there was a title card that said, meanwhile or something. Anyways, a giant wave hits the house and Winslow ends up stuck upside down and the episode ends.

Much like the Krusty Krab Training Video, this episode didn't need a plot to be funny, it needed to be funny to be funny. Thanks to Dean Stefan and Dan Povenmire, this episode pulls out all the stops, like putting on too much hot sauce on a taco, Cat burning Dog to a crisp accidentally, the TV jumping up and down during the greasers' attack, and of course, Dog's pretend squid attack that is accidentally making Cat a bit wet. Dog's not being mean he just doesn't know any better. It doesn't help either that Dog decides to bring up a tidal wave and ride it all across the house! HOW DOES HE DO THAT?! And for that matter, how can they surf inside?!

Even on the Rugrats Movie DVD and VHS without the title card, this episode in my opinion was pretty funny, and it was the last of the three three-minute shorts that aired during the second season, Much like "Dog the Mighty" however, I thought this was from the first season.

All in all, Winslow was a great host for his home videos, and Carlos Alazraqui has a lot of charm portraying the role making sound an awful lot like Rocko from Rocko's Modern Life. As a matter of fact, a lot of people who worked on Rocko's Modern Life worked on this show.

In conclusion, this episode is a short but funny comedy fest.

SpongeBob - "Krusty Krab Training Video"

One of the best qualities of a show is immersion, meaning deep mental involvement. You'll always know a show is good if they can get you immersed and make you believe this is all really happening. with the Krusty Krab Training Video, the show goes for the jugular and gives us the instructional video explaining how to work at the Krusty Krab.

There's really not much to say about this episode, but one thing I should mention is that this episode does a brilliant job of mocking the stereotypical instructional video. It shows the good worker in relation to the bad worker, gives history behind the establishment, shows all the necessary steps in the work shift, and so on. It even goes so far as to have a well-spoken narrator.

As stated with Clams, when the series wants to satirize something, it did so very well. It did a good job being both a parody and a very popular episode. We as kids believed even more that these characters and environments were real, immersing us even further in the magic of the show. And even though we're older, thinking that way while watching this episode still makes it all the more fun, and captures that warm feeling we felt in ourselves when we were young.

The highlight of the episode has to be the Hoopla gag and SpongeBob being smashed in the face by a spatula.

So, in conclusion, I would like all of you newcomers out there to give this episode a shot if you haven't already.

SpongeBob - "Clams"

While many moments of SpongeBob have made illusions to timeless media and pop culture, only one episode was based entirely around that. That episode was "Clams," a clever parody of the Steven Spielberg drama, "Jaws."

This episode opens up with Mr. Krabs getting his one millionth dollar, a huge milestone in his career. As a "reward" to SpongeBob and Squidward, Mr. Krabs takes them on a trip, what kind of trip you may ask? Well, clam fishing of course. After SpongeBob's poor fishing skills ends up tossing several things overboard and giving Squidward a a nose rip apart, Mr. Krabs ends up losing his millionth dollar. After breaking the fourth wall, Mr. Krabs loses his millionth dollar to a giant clam. SpongeBob and Squidward take pity on him and decide to help him get it back.

But their efforts are useless when three days go by without ANYTHING happening. After trying to trick Mr. Krabs and giving out an allusion to Moby Dick, they've realized that Mr. Krabs has gone nuts! They try to escape, only to be captured, Mr. Krabs decides to use them as bait for the clam, this time using the music that summoned the clam originally. That musical score by the way is called "Dangerous" by Mladen Franko. Though, that does beg the question. Why didn't Mr. Krabs think of this before?! Anyways, Mr. Krabs, gets his dollar back but gets eaten in the process, luckily, he survives by giving the clam a piece of his body as a trade.

This episode was probably the only episode that consistently parodied something, but it did it very well. The motivation of the original Jaws movie characters was there, but it was made funny when the characters were swapped out with SpongeBob, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs. SpongeBob always knew how to do parody jokes right, and this episode was the trademark of that.

The highlight of the episode was when SpongeBob and Squidward try to trick Mr. Krabs into thinking they got his millionth dollar.

Time Squad - "Eli Whitney's Flesh-Eating Mistake"

For my last review for now until sometime this weekend, it's marvelous, it's magnetic, it's magical, it's magno hydro dynamic! Huh? It's Time Squad, created by Dave Wasson. The series premiered during Cartoon Network's "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays" block on June 8, 2001, it is also the final Cartoon Network original series to premiere during Betty Cohen's tenure, as she later resigned due to creative disagreements with Jamie Kellner, then-head of Turner Broadcasting System. But we're not here to talk about the founder's departure, we're here to review the first episode of the show. Let's begin.

In this episode, while trying to find Eli Whitney, the guy who invented the cotton gin, Buck Tuddrussel and Larry 3000, voiced by Luke Skywalker and The Joker himself, Mark Hamill, find themselves in the future, where they meet up with a young kid named Otto Osworth, voiced by Pamela Segall, known more famously for doing the voice of Pajama Sam. Before they could go find Eli Whitney, Buck and Larry break Otto free of his abusive and brutal life at the orphanage where the old nun doesn't like reading. Huh? Anyways, with his impressive historical knowledge  They travel back in time to stop Eli Whitney's flesh eating monsters.

This cartoon is awesome, but, it isn't without its flaws. The only thing I didn't like is that orphanage nun, who was voiced by Dee Dee Rescher. I have nothing against the actress who voiced Peltra, but that's not the problem, the issue is that the nun doesn't like reading, what kind of orphanage nun doesn't like reading?! That's like saying, you're prejudice against Cartoon Network's classic cartoons. But either way, she only appears once in this series, and is likely she never appeared again on the show, good riddance if you ask me. The animation is great, the acting is great, the plot is great, and it's just so futuristic. Tell Squidward to do his future reaction if you could, please?

The show only ran for two seasons from 2001 to 2003, and it was obsolete from Cartoon Network! Why? I mean unlike Sheep in the Big City and Mike Lu and Og which they only ran for two seasons because they were the less-liked Cartoon Cartoons, this one has a whole lot to be desired./Creator Dave Wasson described the series as "a C-student's guide to history" I give the people at Cartoon Network for trying to do something educational while and at the same time doing the usual comedic performances.

Time Squad was probably one of Cartoon Network's finest, even if it did run for two seasons. I even liked it when the premiere was hosted by Ed and Eddy on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays. If you want to see the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays segments that introduce the premiere, here's the link, ladies and gentlemen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEalhy3u0rY

The Powerpuff Girls - "Geshundfight"

Oh, I get it. Geshundfight is a take on the famous German phrase, "gesundheit." Anyways, we're reviewing the Powerpuff Girls episode, "Geshundfight" from the first season, and which also featured the Amoeba Boys.

The Amoeba Boys are once again trying out their petty crimes. They try to steal an orange from the orange stand, but Skinny Slim, being the nervous one, doesn't do a good job at it, the kicker, he doesn't grab the orange at all. They try to show littering to the girls, but it's just pathetic because it's just a sheet of paper. Then, The Amoeba Boys decide to, as the Professor states, stand in the park next to a "Keep off the grass" sign in an attempt to break the law, when a storm rolled in, now, they stood in the rain all night and they caught a cold, that cold mixed with their single-cell anatomy to created a devastating new virus that could then infect all of Townsville. Will the Girls find the antidote within the Amoeba Boys? Or will they just end up as sick as a chihuahua? Well I'm not telling! Because you have to watch and see for yourself.

Now, it's important to note that this is the Amoeba Boys' only appearances in Season One, they only appear once per season. When I was younger and I saw this, I thought their even plan was to get rained on and get sick and infect Townsville with their virus. I really thought THAT was their evil scheme, but since I've heard every word from Professor Utonium, that wasn't the case here. I also found it funny when the Mayor gets constant phone calls telling him that the people at City Hall are sick and they can't get in, and thanks to Sara Bellum sneezing onto the Mayor, he gets infected as well, that's karma if you ask me.

Overall, this episode is really funny, and the good part is that it doesn't push the yuckiness of f this sickness too far. I mean sure, the sick ice cream did sneeze on the girls, but they don't get infected until they come across the Amoeba Boys. I also like Buttercup shouting at the top of her lungs to the Amoeba Boys to leave Townsville, until she suddenly gets sick after she regains her cool. I also like how the Professor's microscope shows us that the germ looks like the Amoeba Boys, mostly the Boss Man. Too bad the Amoeba Boys never got arrested for infecting Townsville. As Boss Man says "I TOLD YOU YOU SHOULD'VE TAKEN THE ORANGE!"

And the Narrator is right, the Amoeba Boys are SO dumb, but we love them anyway.