As Seen on TV

Template:Episode/47a

Characters

• Mr. Doodles ^{(name revealed)}
• Eugene H. Krabs
• King Neptune ^(mentioned)
• Incidental 2
• Anchovy
• Bamboo rod holder ^(debut)
• Incidental 16
• Incidental 31
• Construction worker (short) ^(debut)
• Dancers ^(debut)
• Incidental 42
• Handyfish ^(debut)
• Incidental 36
• Incidental 5
• Incidental 151
• Fish in the tomato slice costume ^(debut)
• Incidental 27
• Incidental 25
• Squidward Tentacles
  • Jen
• Incidental 107
• Bandit fish ^(debut)
• Mr. Krabs' double ^(debut)
• Clown ^(debut)
• Incidental 37A
• Incidental 23
• Incidental 108
• Fish in the Krabby Patty costume ^(debut)
• Incidental 10
• Incidental 105
• Fred
• Incidental 3
• Incidental 67
• Incidental 9
• Incidental 22
• Incidental 15
• Incidental 41
• Incidental 46
• Incidental 73
• Incidental 17
• Incidental 106
• Incidental 49
• Incidental 47
• Incidental 152
• French Narrator
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Gary the Snail
• Cowboys on horses
• Pearl Krabs
  • Amy
• Old Man Walker
• Incidental 4
• Incidental 6
• Incidental 39
• Glandy McPinkfish ^(mentioned)
• Flounderman ^(mentioned)
• Incidental 103
• Incidental 7
• Incidental 153
• Incidental 64
• Vampire ^(mentioned)
• Nun ^(mentioned)
• Astronaut ^(mentioned)

Synopsis

Mr. Krabs walks to the Krusty Krab with his pet worm Mr. Doodles one morning to see the completion of the first ever Krusty Krab TV commercial, which is being directed by Squidward. However, upon seeing the expensive production values, he fires most of the cast and crew and decides to direct it himself, using himself, Squidward, Pearl, and SpongeBob as the cast.

File:As Seen on TV 127.jpg

SpongeBob talking to Old Man Walker

SpongeBob is extremely excited to see himself on TV and watches the commercial when it airs in the extremely cheap time slot of 3:28 A.M. Despite the horrendous production values and quality of the commercial, and SpongeBob's background role in it, he proclaims it to be the best 60 seconds of his life.

File:As Seen on TV 047-0.jpg

The Krusty Krab Commercial

The next morning, while SpongeBob is walking to work, Old Man Walker sees him and tells him that he saw him on TV the previous night, albeit not in the same commercial. SpongeBob does not know this, making him think that he is famous. At work, he treats people as if they were his fans and fails to perform his job properly.

Eventually, he quits his job to become an entertainer and is confronted by the crowd of hungry customers, who he thinks want him to entertain them. He begins to juggle patties and accidentally slips on grease, sending the patties flying. Just as he thinks that his "career" is over, the patties drop on the grill, which pleases the customers.

File:Spongebob-Striped-Sweater-polyvore-clippingg-E2-99-A5-15486356-496-350.jpg

"The Striped Sweater Song."

SpongeBob notices this and continues to make Krabby Patties like normal, still believing he is entertaining his customers and is very famous. Mr. Krabs gives SpongeBob his hat back, even though he still thinks he is a celebrity.

Production

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Bad Tempi 1  - Masters of Trash [Title card.]

 ‣ Hawaiian Link (b) - Richard Myhill [opening]
 ‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [Krabs walking his pet worm]
 • Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["What the...?"]
 ‣ Too Tired A - Hans Ehrlinger ["I told you to rent only what's absolutely necessary."]
 ‣ Ta-Ra C - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [clown]
 ‣ Tonight Live C - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["Me? In the Krusty Krab commercial?"]
 ‣ So Tired - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["Tonight?!"]
 • Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr [3:28 AM]
 ‣ Bad Tempi 1 - Masters of Trash, Jonathan Hodge [Krusty Krab commercial]
 ‣ On the Beach - Kapono Beamer [the next day]
 ‣ Screw on the Loose - Tony Lowry [bran flakes commercial]
 ‣ Unknown Track 94 - "Wow, he recognized me!"
 ‣ On the Beach - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob going to work]
 ‣ Fully Fashioned - George French ["Even the brightest of stars grow weary."]
 ‣ Gala Performance - Laurie Johnson ["His singing is phenomenal!"]
 ‣ Dialogue Blues A - Hans Ehrlinger [SpongeBob quits being a fry cook]
 ‣ Linked Romantic Movements - Sam Fonteyn ["Pipe down, Squidward!"]
 ‣ Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr ["On second thought, keep 'em waiting."]
 ◦ The Striped Sweater Song - Aaron Springer, Eban Schletter [SpongeBob sings]
 ‣ Stand-Up Comic B - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [rimshot]
 ‣ Of Love and Destiny - Leighton Lucas [SpongeBob slips in grease]
 ‣ Gala Premiere - Laurie Johnson [ending]

Release

• This episode is available on the Christmas, Complete 3rd Season, First 100 Episodes, Holidays with SpongeBob 3-DVD Gift Set, From the Beginning, Pt.2, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 4, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, Turned Into Hero?!, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, The Third & Fourth Seasons, and Complete Third Season DVDs.

Reception

• "As Seen on TV" was ranked #65 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.

Trivia

General

The trading card of the Krusty Krab commercial

• Although this episode premiered in 2002, it was made in 2001 according to the credits.
• The German title of this episode is "Der Fernsehstar," which translates to "The TV Star."
• In 2004, Upper Deck released a trading card based on the Krusty Krab commercial from this episode. The card featured "Amy" and "Jen," and the back of the card mentions SpongeBob's cameo.
• This is the only time in an episode where there are two Krusty Krabs next to each other. However, the second Krusty Krab did not have the number 2 on it unlike the one in the first movie.
• The title card is relatively similar to "Something Smells."
• The Krusty Krab commercial Squidward was originally going to make seemed more like the production of a long commercial, more than five minutes long, or even a movie, because paraphrasing, he says "...the useless junk for scene...28."
• This is the second appearance of Mr. Krabs' pet worm, Mr. Doodles. The first was "Sandy's Rocket."
  • His name is revealed in this episode.
• After Mr. Krabs orders the commercial crew to leave, Fred is seen holding a giant leg along with others. This is a reference to his "My leg!" gag.
• This is the first time Pearl calls Mr. Krabs the same name, rather than calling him "dad" or "daddy."
• This is the third time Squidward eats a Krabby Patty. The first was "Your Shoe's Untied" and the second was "Just One Bite."
• The picture seen in the background in the scene where Old Man Jenkins is watching the commercial is the same one seen in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" where Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy play checkers.
• SpongeBob's song "Striped Sweater" has become popular on the internet.
• This is the first time the Krusty Krab does advertising.
• In Arabic, this episode is called "كما تراه على شاشة التلفزيون," which translates to "kama tarah ealaa shashat alttilfizyun, kum-er tur-rer el-lah shae-shutt al-tilef-vizh-oneh)." This means the same as the English title.
• In the Polish dub, the episode's title is "Piękny SpongeBob z telewizji," which translates to "Beautiful SpongeBob from TV."
• The background music heard when Mr. Krabs confronts Squidward about the equipment used for the commercial is the same music that plays when SpongeBob wakes up from passing out at Goofy Goober's Ice Cream Party Boat in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

• This is the second time SpongeBob is mistaken for a cereal box. The first was "Prehibernation Week."
• After the Bran Flakes commercial is seen, SpongeBob says "You did?" and when he says it, his wavy edges disappear, but they come back in the next shot. This was done to emphasize his similarity to the Bran Flakes box.

Cultural references

• The Bran Flakes in this episode is a real cereal by Kellogg's.
• The lighting company that was going to supply the lighting of the Krusty Krab commercial is Lamp Ray Lighting. This is a reference to the fish Lamprey.
• One of the fish mentions "Flounderman", a parody of talk show host David Letterman.

Errors

• Although Mr. Krabs tells the clown to stay for the commercial, he does not appear afterwards and does not appear in the commercial.
• Two Nat Petersons are shown in the crowd of actors as they leave.
• SpongeBob is seen slicing a zucchini during the line "We want onions! Cheese!," but this is not a Krabby Patty ingredient.
• The crowd, in unison, ask for onions and cheese, but no cheese is shown being placed on the patties.
• Mr. Krabs says that the commercial that is featured in this episode is the first-ever Krusty Krab commercial, but in "Truth or Square," it is revealed that Mr. Krabs did one in the 1950s.
• The number of patties on the grill near the end of the episode changes between different shots.
• When SpongeBob says "Why sir, I'm flattered." and the next shot is to Nat Peterson, Nat's hand on the door is missing.
• When Nancy Suzy Fish says, "Is this some kind of joke?!," Nazz-Mimi's waist is purple. This is contradictory to the scenes before this one, where it is light teal.
• The second Krusty Krab is only shown when Mr. Krabs mentions it; in any other shot, it is not there.