The eighth season of the American animated television series ''
SpongeBob SquarePants'', created by former
marine biologist and animator
Stephen Hillenburg, originally aired on
Nickelodeon in the United States from March 26, 2011, to December 6, 2012, and contained 26 half-hour episodes, with a miniseries titled
SpongeBob's Runaway Roadtrip. 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 was
executive produced by series creator Hillenburg and writer
Paul Tibbitt, who also acted as the
showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
. In 2011, ''
SpongeBob's Runaway Roadtrip'', an anthology series consisting of five episodes from the season, was launched.
The show itself received several recognitions, including the
2011 and 2012 Kids' Choice Awards
The 25th Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards was held on March 31, 2012, at 8 p.m. ET in Los Angeles, California, in the United States, where the winners received an orange-colored blimp trophy. Big Help Award winner Taylor Swift received a ...
for Favorite Cartoon. The series was also nominated in various international Kids' Choice Awards ceremonies for the same category. At the
39th Daytime Emmy Awards
The 39th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), "recognizes outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television production and are presented to individuals and programs broadca ...
the show received four nominations—including
Outstanding Children's Animated Program, Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program, Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for
Rodger Bumpass as
Squidward Tentacles, and Outstanding Sound Editing -Animation. At the
40th Daytime Emmy Awards
The 40th Daytime Emmy Awards, presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), "recognizes outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television production and are presented to individuals and programs broadcast f ...
, the series was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Animation. The show won the
BAFTA Children's Awards for the International category. The episode "
It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" was well received at the
40th Annie Awards, being nominated for three categories, including a successful win for Dan Driscoll for the Character Animation in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production category. In 2012, it was reported that the show was receiving a decline in ratings. ''
The Wall Street Journal'' pointed to a few possible problems: It could be too old, or it may be shown on TV too often.
[ Another issue could be its licensing to Netflix, an on-demand Internet ]streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
, the previous year. As a result, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced not to renew their existing deal with Viacom, owner of the ''SpongeBob'' trademark. Since then, Viacom's deal with Netflix expired, removed its shows such as ''SpongeBob'', and '' Dora the Explorer'', and moved its programmings to Amazon.com, Netflix's top competitor, and later CBS All Access.
Several compilation DVDs that contained episodes from the season were released. The ''SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Eighth Season'' DVD was released in region 1 on March 12, 2013, region 2 on October 28, 2013, and region 4 on October 30, 2013.
Production
The season's executive producers were series creator Stephen Hillenburg and Paul Tibbitt, who also acted as the series' showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
. Due to the success of the show, the ''New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' reported that Nickelodeon picked up ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' for an eighth season on December 14, 2009, during the year which the show was celebrating its tenth anniversary on television. Brown Johnson, president of animation for Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids & Family Group, announced the renewal of the series. The season was ordered with 26 episodes, that would bring the total number of episodes for the series to 178.[ With its episode count of 178, ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' surpassed '' Rugrats'' in episodes, it became the sixth Nickelodeon series with most episodes. Johnson said "After a decade on our air, ''SpongeBob'' has emerged as one of the most beloved and popular characters in television history. Audiences of all ages have fallen in love with this show and we're delighted to be serving up additional original episodes to our viewers for many years."][
Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami said "There are a bunch of different theories about ''SpongeBob''. You can't dismiss the fact that it is a creatively excellent property. It's a character of good, positive energy. It came at a time when people wanted something more positive."][ On March 26, 2011, the season premiered with the "A Friendly Game" and "Oral Report". "A Friendly Game" was written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas and ]Steven Banks
Steven Craig Banks (born November 27, 1954) is an American actor, musician, comedian, and writer of television, plays, books and cartoons, including ''CatDog'', ''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'', and ''SpongeBob SquarePants''.
Performing
In 1987, Banks ...
, with Tom Yasumi serving as animation director. "Oral Report" was written by Alexander, Cervas and Dani Michaeli, and the animation was directed by Alan Smart.
Animation was handled overseas in South Korea at Rough Draft Studios. In 2012, Nickelodeon produced and debuted " It's a SpongeBob Christmas!", the first full-length episode of the series that was produced in stop motion animation. Mark Caballero, Seamus Walsh, and Christopher Finnegan of Screen Novelties
Screen Novelties is an American animation studio, specializing in stop motion animation. It was founded by Mark Caballero, Seamus Walsh, and Chris Finnegan.
Overview
Their work fuses classic cartoon sensibilities with mixed-media elements such ...
animated it, and Caballero and Walsh also served as its directors. Production on the episode began in October 2011 at Los Angeles, California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. According to Finnegan, it took about five months to shoot, with a couple of months on either end for research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
and post. Animation directors credited with episodes in the eighth season included Caballero, Andrew Overtoom, Alan Smart, Walsh, and Tom Yasumi. Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Alexander, Banks, Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash, Marc Ceccarelli, Cervas, Sean Charmatz, Andrew Goodman, Derek Iversen, Mr. Lawrence, Michaeli, Richard Pursel, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, and Vincent Waller. The season was storyboard
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...
ed by Alexander, Brookshier, Cash, Ceccarelli, Cervas, Charmatz, Springer, and Waller. This is the last season to be produced in standard definition.
Cast
The eighth season featured Tom Kenny as the voice of the title character SpongeBob SquarePants and his pet snail Gary. SpongeBob's best friend, a starfish
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ...
named Patrick Star, was voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, while Rodger Bumpass played the voice of Squidward Tentacles, an arrogant and ill-tempered octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
. Other members of the cast were Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs
Eugene Harold Krabs, better known as simply Mr. Krabs, is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy tel ...
, a miserly crab obsessed with money who is SpongeBob's boss at the Krusty Krab; Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, a small green copepod
Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...
and Mr. Krabs' business rival; Jill Talley as Karen, Plankton's sentient computer sidekick; Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel from Texas; Mary Jo Catlett
Mary Jo Catlett (born September 2, 1938) is an American actress. She is a main cast member on the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', providing the voice of Mrs. Puff. She is also known for originating the role of Ernestina in the 1964 Bro ...
as Mrs. Puff
Mrs. Puff is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated series, animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and List of SpongeBob SquarePants films, all three films based on the franchise. Voiced by Mary Jo Catlett, Mrs. Puff debu ...
, SpongeBob's boating school teacher; and Lori Alan as Pearl, a teenage whale who is Mr. Krabs' daughter.
In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from many ranges of professions, including actors, musicians, and artists. For instance, in the episode "Ghoul Fools", American actor and comedian Chris Elliott
Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...
guest starred in the episode as Lord Poltergeist, ghost pirate who runs a "haunted house boat." Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway returned in the episode "Mermaid Man Begins", reprising their roles as SpongeBob and Patrick's favorite superheroes, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively. They reappeared in "Super Evil Aquatic Villain Team Up is Go!", voicing their respective roles. In "Pet Sitter Pat", Marion Ross voiced her recurring role as Grandma SquarePants, SpongeBob's grandmother. The episode "Pet Sitter Pat" was Marion Ross' last voice-over work for the series as she had officially retired from acting in 2018. Brian Doyle-Murray reprised his role as the Flying Dutchman for "Ghoul Fools". In "The Way of the Sponge", comedian Rich Fulcher guest starred as Fuzzy Acorns, Sandy
Sandy may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Sandy (surname), a list of people
*Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983)
* (Sandy) ...
's karate instructor. John Goodman guest starred in the special episode " It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" as Santa Claus. In "Hello Bikini Bottom", Andy Samberg voiced the character of Colonel Carper, a concert manager who wants to become SpongeBob and Squidward's band manager. Samberg said "I've been a ''SpongeBob'' fan for years, so I was honored to be asked. It's one of the few shows ever that's just as funny for kids as it is for adults."
Reception
Ratings
During its peak years in early 2000, ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' received enormous ratings and number of viewers. By 2012, it was reported that the series' ratings were declining. The average number of viewers aged 2 to 11 watching ''SpongeBob'' at any given time dropped 29% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to Nielsen.[Berr, Jonathan (May 4, 2012)]
Viacom should pull the plug on SpongeBob
.''MSN Money''. Retrieved February 3, 2013. '' Wall Street Journal'' business writer John Jannarone suggested that the age of the series and oversaturation of the show might be contributing to the decline of the series' ratings, and might also be directly responsible for the decline in Nickelodeon's overall ratings. Media analyst Todd Juenger, directly attributes the decline in Nickelodeon's ratings to the availability of streaming video content on services like Netflix, a provider of on-demand Internet streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
. Philippe Dauman, the president and CEO of Viacom, contradicted the notion saying he did not think "the limited amount of Nick library content on Netflix ..has had a significant impact". A Nickelodeon spokesman says ''SpongeBob'' is performing consistently well and remains as the number one rated animated series in all of children's television.[ He added "there is nothing that we have seen that points to ''SpongeBob'' as a problem."][ Dauman blamed the drop on "some ratings systemic issues" at Nielsen, citing extensive set-top-box data that "does in no way reflect" the Nielsen data.]
Juenger also notes that ''SpongeBob'' could affect the ratings of other Nickelodeon programming because children often change channels to find their favorite program, then stay tuned into that network.[ Nickelodeon recently reduced its exposure in television. In the first quarter of 2012, the network cut back on the number of episodes it aired by 16% compared with a year earlier.][
On April 22, 2013, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced their intentions not to renew their existing deal with Viacom.] Since then, Viacom's deal with Netflix expired, and shows such as ''SpongeBob'' and ''Dora the Explorer'' were removed. However, ''SpongeBob'' is still available to stream on Netflix in Canada. On June 4, 2013, Viacom announced a multi-year licensing agreement which would move its programs, such as ''SpongeBob'' and ''Dora the Explorer'', to Amazon.com, Netflix's top competitor. Amazon agreed to pay more than $200 million to Viacom for the license, its largest subscription streaming transaction ever.
Reviews and accolades
At the 39th Annie Awards
The 39th Annual Annie Awards honoring the best in animation of 2011 were held on February 4, 2012, at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California.
Production nominees
Nominations announced on December 5, 2011
Best Animated Feature
'' Rango'' - Paramou ...
, Dani Michaeli, Sean Charmatz, Nate Cash, Luke Brookshier and Paul Tibbitt were nominated for Best Writing in an Animated Television Production for the episode "Patrick's Staycation". Moreover, directors Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh also received a nomination at the 40th Annie Awards for Directing in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production for the episode " It's a SpongeBob Christmas!". Nominated for the same episode, Dan Driscoll won the Character Animation in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production category.[ Savelen Forrest received the same nomination for his work on the episode, but lost.][ The episode was also nominated at the 2013 Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in Television. "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" was nominated at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival for Special Award for a TV Series.
The show itself received several recognition. At the ]39th Daytime Emmy Awards
The 39th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), "recognizes outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television production and are presented to individuals and programs broadca ...
the show received four nominations—including Outstanding Children's Animated Program, Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program, Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles, and Outstanding Sound Editing - Animation. At the 40th Daytime Emmy Awards
The 40th Daytime Emmy Awards, presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), "recognizes outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television production and are presented to individuals and programs broadcast f ...
, the series was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Animation. The show was nominated at the Producers Guild of America for the Children's Program category. At the BAFTA Children's Awards, the show won the International category. At the 2011 and 2012 ASCAP Film and Television Awards, ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' won the Top Television Series category. Furthermore, at the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards
The 24th Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards was held on April 2, 2011, at the Galen Center at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, US's University Park neighborhood due to renovations disallowing use of tradition ...
, the show won the Favorite Cartoon category. The series also won the succeeding year's Kids' Choice Awards and the 2011 Indonesia Kids' Choice Awards for the same category. ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' also received Favorite Cartoon nominations at the Kids' Choice Awards Argentina 2011
The Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Argentina 2011 took place on 11 October 2011 at 20:00 hrs (Argentine Time) in the Microestadio Malvinas Argentinas in the city of Buenos Aires. Nicolás Vázquez was presented as host. The nominees were presente ...
and 2012, and at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards Mexico. At the TP de Oro
The TP de Oro were a series of Spanish annual television awards awarded between 1972 and 2011 by ''Teleprograma'' magazine. In 2012 they were absorbed by Fotogramas de Plata
Fotogramas de Plata are a series of Spanish annual film, theatre and t ...
, the show won the Best Children and Youth Program category.
The season received positive reviews from media critics. In his review for '' The Boston Globe'', Tom Russo was positive on the season DVD set.[ Russo praised the episode that "topped the shortlist", "Plankton's Good Eye", writing "the micro-antagonist clones one of SpongeBob's eyeballs for himself, and suddenly develops a more bubbly worldview."] Author Richard Reitsma cited a scene in "Squidward's School for Grown-Ups", in which SpongeBob tries to win back Patrick's friendship by dressing as the operatic Brünnhilde (just as Bugs Bunny did in the classic 1957 cartoon '' What's Opera, Doc?''), as an example of the supposed gay subtext in the series, claimed to exist by some critics of the show and denied by its creator.
Episodes
The episodes are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
DVD release
The DVD boxset for season eight was released by Paramount Home Entertainment and Nickelodeon in the United States and Canada on March 12, 2013, three months after the season had completed broadcast on television. The DVD release features bonus materials, including the animated short "Sandy's Vacation in Ruins."
Notes
References
External links
Season 8
at Metacritic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spongebob Squarepants (Season 8)
2011 American television seasons
2012 American television seasons
SpongeBob SquarePants seasons