2018 Dedications

This is my big come back, ladies and gentleman. I haven't done any of these in like a year now. Mostly because I was moved to the kitchen to use this computer. But before we begin, there's been a lot of stuff happening lately. Like my mom just had back surgery, and the deaths of some famous people. I would like to list some.

Stan Lee (1922-2018) He was 95. He was the man responsible for all the Marvel Comics, creating great heroes like Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor. His career was probably best known for all those cameos he had in the Marvel films over the years. I'm not really a Marvel fan, but I think Stan Lee is a person worth mentioning, because he is a legend, a comic book legend anyway.

Charlotte Rae (1926-2018) She was 92. She was a talent actress known far and wide in both TV and movies. Rae was known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and its spin-off, The Facts of Life (in which she had the starring role from 1979–1986). She was also Molly the Mail Woman during the third season of Sesame Street, as well as the voice of Aunt Pristine Figg in Tom and Jerry: The Movie. One of her recent projects before her death was Ricki and the Flash, with Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Rick Springfield.

Penny Marshall (1943-2018) was only 75. She started her career as Laverne DeFazio on Laverne and Shirley. And she later went on to direct a few popular film from the late 80's to the early 90's. Including "Big" starring Tom Hanks, "Awakenings" starring Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro, and "A League of Their Own" also starring Tom Hanks, which also featured Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, and Geena Davis. She was the sister of the late Garry K. Marshall, who created Happy Days and directed Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve.

Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author, who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. He has never spoken because he had ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Hawking lost his voice and only can talk through a speech-generating device. Hawking may be gone. But his speech-generating device is not gone. He was never able to recover from ALS for the next decades, let me tell you.

Harry Anderson (1952-2018) He was only 65 when he passed. I don't know much about him, but I looked up his article, he was the star of Night Court and Dave's World. As well as one of the stars of the 1990 Stephen King miniseries, "IT" which also starred John Ritter, Annette O'Toole, Seth Green, Tim Curry as Pennywise, Dennis Christopher, Richard Thomas, Richard Masur, Michael Cole, and Tim Reid, who also played Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati. And speaking of....

Hugh Wilson (1943-2018) was a writer, director, and producer, best known for created the popular classic sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati. He also created by Frank's Place. He also directed the film comedies Police Academy and The First Wives Club. It's amazing, first we've lost Mary Tyler Moore last year, and now we've lost another MTM Enterprises television legend. Life is so unfair! NEXT!

David Ogden Stiers (1942-2018) was best known for performing many Disney characters over the years, most notably Cogsworth on Beauty and the Beast, as well as a few hours in Pocahontas, Lilo & Stitch, Spirited Away, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He was probably more famous for playing Charles Emerson Winchester on M*A*S*H. I have another legend who worked on M*A*S*H, but I'll save him for last.

Steven Bocho was best known for creating all sorts of cop shows, most notably NYPD Blue, Doogie Howser, M.D., Cop Rock, and Hill Street Blues. He also wrote a few episodes of other shows like The White Shadow. Did he write for COPS, Law and Order, or anything else? I'm not sure. One thing I know for sure was that he was the man commonly responsible for all those police dramas.

R. Lee Ermey (1944-2018) R. Lee was a former drill instructor who later went on to become an actor with his strict drill sergeant antics. Most notably in Stanley Kubrick's 80's classic, Full Metal Jacket. He later went on to voice the green sergeant in the Toy Story franchise. Ermey was often typecast in authority figure roles, such as Mayor Tilman in the film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine, Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, Jimmy Lee Farnsworth in Fletch Lives, a police captain in Se7en, Lt. "Tice" Ryan in Rocket Power, and a prison warden in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Stephen Hillenburg (1961-2018) was an animator, director, writer, producer, and storyboard artist, Most notably known for creating the long-running Nickelodeon program, SpongeBob SquarePants. The only other show he did work on before SpongeBob, was Rocko's Modern Life where he also served as a writer, director, and storyboard artist, as well as becoming a producer by the fourth season with creator Joe Murray. Hillenburg may have been gone too soon from returning to his post after ten years of chaos in SpongeBob's production, but the legacy will forever live on, at least until people get tired of SpongeBob. He was only 57.

And last but not least,

Thad Mumford (1951-2018) He was a television writer and producer for several TV shows, beginning with The Electric Company beginning in 1971. At the same time, while still in his 20's he was also a writer for another show called "Good Times." DYNOMITE! When The Electric Company went off the air in 1977, he left to Hollywood to seek his fortune and future, while at that, he met Christopher Cerf, the songwriter for Sesame Street, and he and Cerf wrote a few songs during the late 70's and early 80's, most notably "The Ten Commandments of Health," in which Thad himself sang lead for. After that, he went on to write for M*A*S*H with other former Sesame Street writer, Dan Wilcox. They worked very closely on the show, writing 17 episodes, including my favorite "As Time Goes By," which was actually the last episode they filmed. They also helped write the final episode that aired, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen." He later went on to write for other shows over the years, including The Duck Factory (with Dan Wilcox), Maude, What's Happening?, The Cosby Show, A Different World, Home Improvement, ALF, NYPD Blue, and most notably, "Blue's Clues," where he also served as a producer. He was truly a pioneering African-American writer

For more of Thad Mumford's stuff, I'll link some of that below right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUhJLBk-Q9k (The Ten Commandments of Health)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpQjlNbXkFw (MASH Matters Podcast)

And finally, some of the stuff Thad talked about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEIXHSoPsjM (It's about how he got into The Electric Company)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvqOvB_7s-8 (He talks about how he worked on Good Times and a few other African-American sitcoms)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx37uuTjI5A (He explains about writing songs for Sesame Street with Christopher Cerf.

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.

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.

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.

SpongeBob - "I Had an Accident"

Now, if you thought Born Again Krabs was not good enough for you to like the episode, than this episode from the middle of the third season of SpongeBob is for you. C.H. Greenblatt at his finest here, folks.

Let's go into the story, uh?

It starts off with Patrick dying (in a video game that is, and says "D'oh! I got dead again, this game stinks.) Wait, not really, well, good thing he's gonna be okay. (he crashes into a mountain) I guess not. Anyway, this episode has SpongeBob getting into a bad accident while sand-boarding with Sandy and Patrick. His doctor tells him that if he gets another injury, he could end up being crippled for life, in the iron butt. SpongeBob, now overly paranoid is scared to death that he's going to be disabled if if he goes outside, so he becomes a hermit to avoid outdoor content, much to the disappointment of his friends.

Anyways, they try multiple ways of convincing SpongeBob that the outdoor world is worth risking your safety including ice cream, games, and washing an old person, but however, none of it works and they try to convince SpongeBob that they need his help when a gorilla attacks. SpongeBob knows that they're faking it at first, but then a real gorilla arrives and attacks! SpongeBob fianlly gives in and gets the courage to try and do something good, good for him, but it fails, however, one could argue that he did save his friends because he causes him to question about a gorilla being underwater, but I think a better question is how do they know what a gorilla looks like.

Also, for some reason, the gorilla becomes anthropomorphic and says "Oh, well, uh, that's funny you should, I mean, you see-uh, George, they're onto us!" And he and George the horse ride off into the sunset. Weird ending aside, this episode was very funny, it was quite enjoyable seeing SpongeBob's antisocial habit get put to the fullest, antisocial means not wanting to do with the outside world, and see Patrick and Sandy react according to their characters. Squidward's minor appearances were well-timed and funny too.

The highlight of the episode is of course the weird ending.

SpongeBob - "SpongeGuard on Duty"

Here's my favorite SpongeBob episode from the third season. Before I begin, let me give a little background. This episode along with The Algae's Always Greener aired on March 22, 2002, the same day ChalkZone premiered, as well as the new episode of The Fairly OddParents at the time, "Action Packed/Smarty Pants." Now, with that out of the way, let's begin the review.

While at the beach with Patrick, SpongeBob says Larry the Lobster as a lifeguard, who gets all the attention, wooing the ladies, talking to the surfer dudes (one of them voiced by Carlos Alazraqui), as well as banishing the old people of Bikini Bottom from Goo Lagoon for some odd reason. SpongeBob wants to be a lifeguard like Larry, but Patrick on the other hand thinks that lifeguards are a nuisance. He decides to go to the snack bar to control his anger. After a flying ice cream truck accident, Larry mistakes the white ice cream sticking to SpongeBob as lifeguard material. He compliments him on the looks and let's him be the assistant lifeguard. However, when Larry leaves SpongeBob in charge of the beach, SpongeBob quickly learns that being a lifeguard is a huge responsibility, like saving people from drowning, and the problem is SpongeBob can't swim. How will he handle doing this by himself. Go find out.

This is a clever plot. A person who wants to be lifeguard like Larry the Lobster, a wannabe if you will. I will say that SpongeBob's over-protection is a bit out of hand if you ask me. Going so far as to say "Uh, somebody went," disgusting the citizens and Scooter says "It's a lagoon, dude," even going WAY to far as to tie up everyone in do not cross taping! It's not out of character, but it's too much protection. I kind of like how Patrick stops in the middle of the water and hits butt twirls and makes him flinch in pain shouting "CRAMP!" Also, the weird thing is that the water was only two feet deep, since we saw Larry pick up SpongeBob and Patrick from being over the top while "drowning."

So, bottom line, this story is quite silly, in a good way. I especially like some of Larry's lines like "Gnarly, dudes!" and one fish saying "That's the last time I read and swim." I even like Larry beating the fish up to help him breath. That lobster is quite a hero.

All I can say if you can't swim, all I can say is that practice makes perfect.

And Patrick still doesn't have any ice cream.

SpongeBob - "Karate Choppers"

A running theme on SpongeBob is his knowledge in karate. Probably the episode where this is portrayed most creatively is "Karate Choppers," written by Aaron Springer, Erik Wiese, and Merriwether Williams, in her writing debut on the show.

The first few minutes are some rather entertaining clips of SpongeBob and Sandy trying to out due each other while sparring. In other words, kind of like boxing. Eventually, SpongeBob's constant awareness for Sandy causes trouble at the Krusty Krab, ranging from him just confusing Squidward's gender, to beating up a customer. It eventually gets to the point where Mr. Krabs threatens to fire SpongeBob if he does anymore karate. After a brief misunderstanding with Sandy and Mr. Krabs almost firing him, the two decide to go to the park to take their minds off character, but no matter what they do, though, they can't seem to take their minds off of it.

And after a really fun scene that involves some hardcore sandwich making with background music composed by The Surfdusters, they give in to their instincts and continue to spar, until Mr. Krabs shows up that is. SpongeBob confesses that they can't help it, I mean sure, before he got fired, he threw a tantrum, but that was because it was a complete misunderstanding, he didn't know what was going on and didn't deserve it. Here, he knows that he screwed up and is ready to own up to it, on the other hand, Mr. Krabs decides to forgive them after he sees how brilliantly they made their sandwiches. The episode ends with SpongeBob and Sandy making tons of Krabby Patties.

As I've said, most of the enjoyment of the episode comes from how creative it is. The karate sequences are a joy to watch and the jokes are pretty funny too. It takes a bit for the story to get going and it really doesn't have a message to it, but it's easily overlooked because of how much darn fun you have watching it.

The highlight of the episode is when Sandy and SpongeBob make their sandwiches with their karate instincts.

SpongeBob - "Graveyard Shift"

This episode is filled with imagination, it takes you to another dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension of fear, a dimension of mind, a dimension of 24 hours a day in a restaurant, where the Hash Slinging Slasher exists, and Nosferatu turns off the lights, you're crossing over into "Graveyard Shift."

Around closing time, when Tom comes to the doors to the Krusty Krab, when Squidward tries to inform Tom that he has to go home soon, Mr,. Krabs overhears all this and decides to make the hours to the Krusty Krab unlimited, in other words, 24 hours a day, With that Mr. Krabs leaves the scene leaving SpongeBob and Squidward in charge of the restaurant. Over time, Squidward spooks SpongeBob by telling him the story of The Hash Slinging Slasher, which results into SpongeBob into screaming in a rhythmic fashion, until Squidward snaps him out of it saying it was only a joke and a story, which results in SpongeBob laughing in the same rhythm. How will this end? Stay tuned.

This episode is scary........with humor! It's got a lot of good jokes about SpongeBob doing stuff, at night that is. Even rushing outside to take out the garbage and beathing heavily when he gets back inside. It's also very funny when SpongeBob takes off one of his arms and they grow back much to the surprise of Squidward, and even Patrick's little cameo was good. But the best highlight was has to be the reveal of the hash slinging slasher! Especially Squidward mispronouncing the name like SpongeBob did earlier, and he and SpongeBob's eyebrows and eyelashes rising up and shaking in fear. That's pretty funny, folks.

So, the bottom line, this episode is funny, with terror, and it's got a good story. Working late at night and telling scary stories along the way.

I must say, there should've been a Twilight Zone reference where Mr. Lawrence, who wrote this episode, would voice a parody of Rod Serling, explaining about the story of the Hash Slinging Slasher. Maybe it was a deleted concept or something from the storyboard artists.

Anyways, I like Dee Bradley Baker's character for the Hash Slinging Slasher who turns out to be a nice guy.

This episode to great to watch, even at night.