My girlfriend and I had very different experiences with SpongeBob growing up. For me, it’s a childhood core memory. It was my go-to show. We had the first three seasons on DVD and would watch them in the car with one of those portable DVD players with the flip-up screens. Watched it at grandma’s house, watched it after school, the works. My dad in particular also liked SpongeBob, and he would watch with us and laugh so hard at a lot of the jokes.
Meanwhile, my girlfriend’s parents forbid their children from watching SpongeBob. They thought it was inappropriate and would teach their children poor behavior. Understandably, girlfriend has never seen a single episode and I think her parents’ attitude has made an impression on her even from a distance, because she has always had a strong distaste for SpongeBob, even though she’s never seen it. She has told me repeatedly she thinks it’s an annoying, babyish, poorly written show with unintelligent humor. I have insisted to her this is actually the opposite of the case for the early seasons, but I don’t think she believes me.
A few days ago she told me she came across a video essay on YouTube about the episode Bubble Stand, and how it effectively tells a single-location story. For whatever reason she watched it, and she let me know it made her intrigued to watch some of the show.
So, I’m planning on showing her the best episodes from the first three seasons (I don’t think I could convince her to watch every one). So, which episodes of old SpongeBob would you consider “essential”? What are a few of your recommendations for episodes someone new to SpongeBob but skeptical of its quality should see?
