SpongeBob SquarePants (season 2)

The second season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from October 26, 2000 to July 26, 2003, and consists of 20 episodes (39 segments). The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The season wasexecutive produced by series creator Hillenburg, who also acted as theshowrunner.

During the season's run, SpongeBob SquarePants became Nickelodeon's No.2 children's program, behind Rugrats. Nearly 40 percent of SpongeBob's audience of 2.2 million were aged 18 to 34. The show signed a marketing deal with Target Corporation and Burger King, expanding its merchandising, and SpongeBob's popularity translated well into sales figures. In 2002, the show was nominated at the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children's Program. Tom Kenny and Mary Jo Catlett were individually nominated at the29th Annie Awards for their voice performances as SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff, respectively. Peter Straus and Paul Tibbitt were also nominated at the ceremony for their work on the "Christmas Who?" special. The episodes "The Secret Box" and "Band Geeks" won at the 2002 Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television—Animation, while the episodes "Jellyfish Hunter" and "The Fry Cook Games" received a nomination for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation—Music category.

Several compilation DVDs that contained episodes from the season were released. The SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 2nd Season DVD was released in Region 1 on October 19, 2004, Region 2 on October 23, 2006, andRegion 4 on November 30, 2006.

Contents

 * 1Production
 * 2Cast
 * 3Reception
 * 4Episodes
 * 5DVD release
 * 6Notes
 * 7References
 * 8External links

Production
The season aired on Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom, and was produced by United Plankton Pictures and Nickelodeon. The season's executive producer was series creator Stephen Hillenburg, who also functioned as the series'showrunner.[1]  During production of the previous season, Nickelodeon picked up a second season for SpongeBob SquarePants on August 31, 1999.[2]  The season premiered more than a year later, on October 26, 2000.[3]  Season production assistant and then-staff writer Derek Iversen commented, "We hoped it would go one season. We hoped it would go two seasons. I figured you do the best you can and you hope."[4]

In this season, production switched from cel animation, used during the first season, to digital ink and paint.[5]  Executive producer Paul Tibbitt, in 2009, said "The first season of SpongeBob was done the old-fashioned way on cells, and every cell had to be part-painted, left to dry, paint some other colours. It's still a time-consuming aspect of the process now, but the digital way of doing things means it doesn't take long to correct."[5]  The animation was handled overseas in South Korea atRough Draft Studios.[6] [7]  Animation directors credited with episodes in the second season included Sean Dempsey, Edgar Larrazabal, Larry Leichliter, Andrew Overtoom, Leonard Robinson, Frank Weiss, and Tom Yasumi.[a]  The season wasstoryboarded by Walt Dohrn, C.H. Greenblatt, Chris Headrick, Chuck Klein, Carson Kugler, Jay Lender, Caleb Meurer, Dan Povenmire, William "Bill" Reiss, Octavio Rodriguez, Jim Schumann, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, and Erik Wiese.[a]

Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Dohrn, David Fain, Greenblatt, Mr. Lawrence, Lender, Mark O'Hare, Povenmire, William Reiss, Springer, Tibbitt, and Merriwether Williams.[a]  During the season, the writing staff used their individual childhood experiences as inspirations to come up with much of the story lines for individual episodes.[6] [8]  For example, in the episode "Sailor Mouth", SpongeBob learns profanity.[6]  The idea for the episode was inspired by creative director Derek Drymon's experience "[when] I got in trouble for saying the f-word in front of my mother."[8]  Drymon said, "The scene where Patrick is running to Mr. Krabs to tattle, with SpongeBob chasing him, is pretty much how it happened in real life."[8]  The end of the episode, where Mr. Krabs uses more profanity than SpongeBob and Patrick, was also inspired "by the fact that my [Drymon's] mother has a sailor mouth herself."<sup id="cite_ref-DrymonHA_9-3">[8]  In "Secret Box", SpongeBob wants to see what is inside Patrick's secret box. The idea came to Drymon because he too had a secret box as a child.<sup id="cite_ref-Childhood_6-3">[6] <sup id="cite_ref-WilliamsHA_10-0">[9]  Creator Hillenburg said, "[He] started telling us about it. We wanted to make fun of him and use it."<sup id="cite_ref-Childhood_6-4">[6]

Cast




American rock band Ween (left) composed and recorded the song "Loop de Loop" that is featured in "Your Shoe's Untied", while John Rhys-Davies (right) guest starred in the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III" as Man Ray, the heroes' arch-nemesis and the primary antagonist.

The second season featured Tom Kennyas the voice of the title characterSpongeBob SquarePants and his pet snail Gary. SpongeBob's best friend, a starfishnamed Patrick Star, was voiced by Bill Fagerbakke,<sup id="cite_ref-Star_11-0">[10]  while Rodger Bumpassplayed the voice of Squidward Tentacles, an arrogant and ill-tempered octopus.<sup id="cite_ref-12">[11] Other members of the cast were Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, a miserly crab obsessed with money and SpongeBob's boss at the Krusty Krab;<sup id="cite_ref-13">[12]  Mr. Lawrenceas Plankton, a small green copepod and Mr. Krabs' business rival;<sup id="cite_ref-14">[13]  Jill Talley asKaren, Plankton's sentient computer sidekick;<sup id="cite_ref-15">[14]  Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel from Texas;<sup id="cite_ref-16">[15]  Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob's boating school teacher;<sup id="cite_ref-17">[16]  and Lori Alan as Pearl, a teenage whale who is Mr. Krabs' daughter.<sup id="cite_ref-18">[17] <sup id="cite_ref-Cast_19-0">[18]

Season two introduced various characters that would recur throughout the series. Mr. Krabs' mother, Mama Krabs, debuted in the episode "Sailor Mouth" and was voiced by writer Paul Tibbitt.<sup id="cite_ref-Wiese_20-0">[19] <sup id="cite_ref-Dohrn_21-0">[20] <sup id="cite_ref-Overtoom_22-0">[21]  However, voice actress Sirena Irwin overtook Tibbitt's role as the character reappeared in the fourth season episode "Enemy In-Law" in 2005.<sup id="cite_ref-23">[22]  In the Christmas special"Christmas Who?", SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny, portrayed Patchy the Pirate, the president of the fictionalSpongeBob SquarePants fan club, while series creator Hillenburg voiced the character of Potty the Parrot.<sup id="cite_ref-S2_24-0">[23]  After Hillenburg's departure from the show as showrunner in 2004, Tibbitt was given the role voicing Potty the Parrot.<sup id="cite_ref-25">[24]

In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from many ranges of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, musicians, and artists. American rock band Ween guest starred as themselves in "Your Shoe's Untied".<sup id="cite_ref-Ween_26-0">[25] <sup id="cite_ref-Ween2_27-0">[26]  The band performed "Loop de Loop", a song they wrote for the episode.<sup id="cite_ref-Ween_26-1">[25] <sup id="cite_ref-Ween2_27-1">[26]  Before SpongeBob SquarePants aired on television in 1999, Hillenburg had approached band guitarist Dean Ween to compose a song for the show.<sup id="cite_ref-Ween_26-2">[25]  Dean Ween said "[Hillenburg] called me and told me [he] was a marine biologist who was starting a cartoon about underwater sea creatures and that The Mollusk was a big reference point for him creatively and would we like to do a song for the show."<sup id="cite_ref-Ween_26-3">[25]  The band conceived the song and wrote it in about three minutes.<sup id="cite_ref-Ween_26-4">[25]  Ween's 1997 song "Ocean Man" would also be used four years later during the end credits sequence in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and as part ofthe film's soundtrack.<sup id="cite_ref-28">[27] <sup id="cite_ref-29">[28]  In the episode "Bossy Boots", American band The Capsules performed the song "Bossy Boots",<sup id="cite_ref-S2_24-1">[23] <sup id="cite_ref-30">[29]  which was later released on SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Album in 2005.<sup id="cite_ref-31">[30]  In "Bubble Buddy", professional American surfer Corky Carroll made a vocal cameo as Grubby Grouper, a famous surfer.<sup id="cite_ref-S2_24-2">[23]  It also stars Brad Abrell as titular character Bubble Buddy.<sup id="cite_ref-32">[31]  "Grandma's Kisses" features Marion Ross as SpongeBob's grandmother.<sup id="cite_ref-33">[32] <sup id="cite_ref-34">[33] She would reprise her role throughout the series, including the fifth-season episode "BlackJack".<sup id="cite_ref-S5_35-0">[34]  In the entry "Pre-Hibernation Week", where Sandy and SpongeBob play extreme sporting games, American heavy metal band Panteraappeared as themselves for a special musical performance.<sup id="cite_ref-S2_24-3">[23]  McHale's Navy actors Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conwayreturned in the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III", reprising their roles as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively.<sup id="cite_ref-36">[35] <sup id="cite_ref-37">[36]  John Rhys-Davies also guest starred in the same episode as the heroes' nemesis, Man Ray.<sup id="cite_ref-S2DVD_38-0">[37] <sup id="cite_ref-39">[38] <sup id="cite_ref-40">[39] Brian Doyle-Murray reprised his role as the Flying Dutchman for "Your Shoe's Untied" and "Shanghaied".<sup id="cite_ref-41">[40]  Various other characters were voiced by voice acting veterans Dee Bradley Baker, Thomas F. Wilson and Clea Lewis.<sup id="cite_ref-42">[41]

Reception
Since SpongeBob SquarePants made its debut in 1999, the show had flourished into Nickelodeon's number 2 children's program, after Rugrats. Nearly 40 percent of the show's audience of 2.2 million were aged 18 to 34.<sup id="cite_ref-Ratings1_43-0">[42]  As a result, Nickelodeon moved the show from Saturday morning to a much more valuable timeslot: almost-prime time, appearing at 6 p.m., from Monday through Thursday.<sup id="cite_ref-Ratings1_43-1">[42]  In 2001, Nickelodeon took the "Saturday-morning ratings crown" for the fourth straight season, grabbing a 4.8 rating/21 share (1.9 million viewers) in two- to eleven-year-olds, jumping 17% from the previous year.<sup id="cite_ref-44">[43]

SpongeBob SquarePants signed a marketing deal with Target Corporation and Burger King, expanding its merchandising.<sup id="cite_ref-Ratings1_43-2">[42] Furthermore, the popularity of SpongeBob translated well into sales figures. In 2002, SpongeBob SquarePants dolls sold at a rate of 75,000 per week, which was faster than Tickle Me Elmo dolls were selling at the time.<sup id="cite_ref-45">[44]  Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom purposefully targeted women in Japan as a way of marketing the SpongeBob SquarePants brand. Skeptics initially doubted that SpongeBob could be popular in Japan, as the character's design is very different from popular designs for Hello Kitty and Pikachu,<sup id="cite_ref-SFGate_46-0">[45]  but SpongeBob has gained popularity in Japan among women. Ratings and merchandise sales showed SpongeBob SquarePants had caught on with parents and with the college audience.<sup id="cite_ref-LADN_47-0">[46]  In a promotion, college-oriented website Music.com gave away 80,000 SpongeBob T-shirts, four times more than during a similar promotion for Comedy Central's South Park.<sup id="cite_ref-LADN_47-1">[46]

Like the first season, the second season received critical acclaim from critics and fans. In 2002, the show itself was nominated at the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children's Program.<sup id="cite_ref-Lenburg141_48-0">[47]  At the 29th Annie Awards, the series was nominated three times,<sup id="cite_ref-29thAnnie_49-0">[48]  including Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female and Male Performer in an Animated Television Production categories for Mary Jo Catlett for her role as Mrs. Puff in "No Free Rides" and Tom Kenny for his role as SpongeBob SquarePants in "Wormy", respectively.<sup id="cite_ref-29thAnnie_49-1">[48]  Peter Straus and Paul Tibbitt were nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement for a Song in an Animated Production for their song "The Very First Christmas" that was featured in "Christmas Who?"<sup id="cite_ref-29thAnnie_49-2">[48]  In 2002, the episodes "The Secret Box" and "Band Geeks" won at the Golden Reel Awardsfor Best Sound Editing in Television—Animation, while the episodes "Jellyfish Hunter" and "The Fry Cook Games" received a nomination for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation—Music category.<sup id="cite_ref-GRA2002_50-0">[49]

In his review for The Spokesman-Review, Isamu Jordan said, "I'll be honest. I dig the little yellow dude who lives in a pineapple under the sea quite a bit for his absurdity À la Ren and Stimpy."<sup id="cite_ref-S2DVD_38-1">[37]  He said that "season two is worth having in your or your kid's SpongeBob collection" given that the episodes "Krusty Love", "Squid's Day Off", and "Mermaidman and Barnacleboy III" are on the set.<sup id="cite_ref-S2DVD_38-2">[37]  Jason Bovberg of the DVD Talk wrote that the season release is "recommended."<sup id="cite_ref-DVD1_3-1">[3]  He said "Let me state up front that I adore this show. I get a total kick out of watching it with my 4-year-old daughter. We laugh uproariously at SpongeBob's adventures and I'm helplessly reduced to a boy about her age as I beam and giggle at the screen."<sup id="cite_ref-DVD1_3-2">[3]  However, Bovberg called the included audio commentaries "downright boring."<sup id="cite_ref-DVD1_3-3">[3]  Various celebrities—includingLance Bass of 'N Sync, Will Ferrell of Saturday Night Live, singer-songwriter Tom Waits, and Jerry Lewis—admitted they were fans of the show.<sup id="cite_ref-LADN_47-2">[46]

During the 2001–02 television season, the Parents Television Council (PTC), a watchdog media group, named SpongeBob SquarePants among the best programs on cable television.<sup id="cite_ref-51">[50]  However, according to a report titled Wolves in Sheep's Clothing,<sup id="cite_ref-Wolves_52-0">[51]  which documents the increase in potentially violent, profane, and sexual content in children's programming, the PTC and fans believed the episode "Sailor Mouth", which originally aired during the 2001–02 season, was an implicit attempt to promote and satirize use of profanity among children.<sup id="cite_ref-Wolves_52-1">[51]  The report cited a repeat broadcast of the episode from 2005 to prove its point that it promoted use of profanity among children.<sup id="cite_ref-Wolves_52-2">[51]  In a later report, several members of the PTC listed "Sailor Mouth" as an example of how levels of profane, sexual, and violent activity has increased in children's television programming.<sup id="cite_ref-53">[52]  Nickelodeon, in response to the incident, said "It's sad and a little desperate that they stooped to literally putting profane language in the mouths of our characters to make a point. Has the FCC looked at this?"<sup id="cite_ref-54">[53]  Richard Huff of the New York Daily News criticized the report for misinterpreting the episode over its intent to satirize profanity implicitly.<sup id="cite_ref-Huff_55-0">[54]

Episodes
See also: List of SpongeBob SquarePants episodes

The episodes are ordered below by production number and not their original broadcast order.

DVD release
The DVD boxset for season two was released by Paramount Home Entertainment and Nickelodeon in the United States and Canada on October 19, 2004, one year after the season had completed broadcast on television. The DVD release features bonus materials including audio commentaries, storyboards, and featurettes.<sup id="cite_ref-DVD1_3-4">[3] <sup id="cite_ref-DVD2_62-0">[59] <sup id="cite_ref-DVD3_63-0">[60]  In 2005, the DVD compilation was nominated at the 9th Golden Satellite Awards for Best Youth DVD, although did not win.<sup id="cite_ref-64">[61]