As Seen on TV

As Seen on TV
General
Production code:	5572-172
Season №:	3
Episode №:	47a
Airdate:	March 8, 2002 October 15, 2002 November 9, 2002 March 1, 2003 See more... September 9, 2002 September 10, 2002 (EBS) October 8, 2002 November 13, 2002 August 30, 2003 September 1, 2003 September 9, 2003 (Super RTL) February 16, 2004 (JEI TV) February 28, 2004 October 23, 2004 October 25, 2003 January 11, 2005 April 18, 2005 (Orf 1) October 1, 2005 (Nickelodeon) March 16, 2006 May 2, 2006 (SRF ZWEI) October 14, 2007 December 22, 2007 January 21, 2009 December 12, 2009 October 16, 2010 (QTV) November 20, 2016 March 19, 2018 (PLUS PLUS) April 9, 2018 (TET) July 13, 2019 September 2, 2020 August 4, 2021
U.S. premiere time (ET):	8:00 pm
Copyright year:	2001
U.S. viewers (millions):	3.65
Running time:	11 minutes
Sister episode(s):	"Can You Spare a Dime?"
Credits
Guest(s):	Sara Paxton as Kid Fish
Writer(s):	Aaron Springer C.H. Greenblatt Merriwether Williams
Storyboard Artist(s):	C.H. Greenblatt
Storyboard:	Aaron Springer
Animation:	Frank Weiss
Creative:	Derek Drymon
Chronology
Previous	"One Krabs Trash"
Next	"Can You Spare a Dime?"

"As Seen on TV" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 3. In this episode, SpongeBob believes he has become famous off a Krusty Krab commercial.

Characters

• Eugene H. Krabs
• King Neptune ^(mentioned)
• Bamboo rod holder ^(debut)
• Short construction worker ^(debut)
• Tool belt worker ^(debut)
• Dancers ^(debut)
• Showgirl fish ^(debut)
• Handyfish ^(debut)
• Fish in the tomato slice costume ^(debut)
• Squidward Tentacles
  • Jen
• Bandit fish ^(debut)
• Mr. Krabs' double ^(debut)
• Spinny the Daredevil Clown ^(debut)
• Fish in the Krabby Patty costume ^(debut)
• Incidentals
  • Incidental 72 ^{(named Mr. Doodles)}
  • Incidental 2
  • Incidental 30
  • Incidental 16
  • Incidental 31
  • Incidental 42
  • Incidental 36
  • John
  • Incidental 151
  • Incidental 27
  • Incidental 25
  • Incidental 107
  • Incidental 37A
  • Charlie
  • Incidental 108
  • Incidental 10
  • Incidental 105
  • Fred
  • Incidental 3
  • Incidental 67
  • Incidental 9
  • Carol
  • Incidental 15
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 46
  • Incidental 73
  • Incidental 17
  • Incidental 106
  • Incidental 49
  • Incidental 47
  • Incidental 152
  • Old Man Walker
  • Steven
  • Incidental 6
  • Incidental 39
  • Incidental 103
  • Incidental 7
  • Incidental 153
  • Incidental 64
• French Narrator
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Gary the Snail
• Cowboys on horses
• Pearl Krabs
  • Amy
• Glandy McPinkfish ^(mentioned)
• Flounderman ^(mentioned)
• 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 all of the cast and crew except the clown and decides to direct it himself, using himself, Squidward, Pearl, and SpongeBob as the cast.

The Krusty Krab commercial.

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 AM. Despite the horrible production values and quality of the commercial, and SpongeBob's very brief background role in it, he proclaims it to be the best 60 seconds of his life.

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.

"The Striped Sweater Song."

Eventually, he quits his job to become an entertainer (but he tells Mr. Krabs vaguely) 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 as the customers boo him. Just as he thinks that his "career" is over, the patties drop on the grill, which pleases the customers.

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 while the episode ends.

Production

Art

Model sheet

Showgirl's model sheet, which would later be used as a reference for the multiple of them appearing in the season 13 episode, "Abandon Twits."

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]
 • Idea 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 & Harp Hits - 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]
 • Love Harp Gliss - Nicolas Carr ["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!"]
 • Thats It ! - Nicolas Carr ["On second thought, keep 'em waiting."]
 ◦ 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, Nick For the Holidays!, Holidays with SpongeBob 3-DVD Gift Set, Christmas DVD Double Pack, Collection Triple, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric (Russian only), SpongeBob vs. The Big One (Greek only), 2-Season TV Pack, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, From the Beginning, Part 1, 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 and on VideoNow.

Reception

• "As Seen on TV" was ranked #65 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
• "As Seen on TV" was ranked #82 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia

General

• This is the first episode for a few things:
  • With the production code of 5572-172, this was the first season 3 episode to be conceived, albeit, it began production between various season 2 segments.
  • The first episode in which Pearl calls Mr. Krabs the same name, rather than calling him "dad" or "daddy."
  • The first episode in which the Krusty Krab does advertising.
• This episode was in production on April 12, 2001.

The trading card of the Krusty Krab commercial.

• 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.
• Incidental 41 is shown twice in the crowd of crew members as they leave.
• The title card background is relatively similar to those of "Naughty Nautical Neighbors," "Karate Choppers," "Squidville," "Gary Takes a Bath," and "Jellyfish Hunter."
• This is the second episode for two things:
  • The second appearance of Mr. Krabs' pet worm, Mr. Doodles. The first was "Sandy's Rocket."
    • His name is revealed in this episode.
  • The second episode in which SpongeBob is mistaken for a cereal box. The first was "Prehibernation Week."
• This is the third episode in which 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 Walker 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.
• Although Mr. Krabs tells the clown to stay for the commercial, he does not appear afterwards and does not appear in the commercial.
• In this episode, SpongeBob is able make Krabby Patties for the customers as they cheer him on, but in "ChefBob," SpongeBob says he has stage fright and is afraid to cook for crowds.

Cultural references

• The Bran Flakes cereal seen 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.
• The Leg Lamp from the 1983 Christmas movie, A Christmas Story appears as one of the props from the set.
• When SpongeBob is pretending to limbo with his mop, he vocalizes the 1958 song "Limbo Rock," originally performed by The Champs and famously covered by Chubby Checker.
• One of the fish mentions "Flounderman," a parody of talk show host David Letterman.

Errors

• The crowd, in unison, asks for onions and cheese, but no cheese is shown being placed on the patties.

Cut off arm.

• The number of patties on the grill near the end of the episode changes between shots.
• When the next shot cuts to Incidental 41 after SpongeBob says "Why sir, I'm flattered," his arm is cut off for some frames.

SpongeBob shirt collar error.

• When SpongeBob lifts his shirt collar, the back of the collar is not drawn.
• When the crowd says "We want patties!," Incidental 46's waist is purple.
• The second Krusty Krab is only shown when Mr. Krabs mentions it; in any other shot, it is not there.
• In the French dub the writers are credited as "Paul Tibbitt, Kent Osborne and Merriwether Williams."

Video

SpongeBob SquarePants - The Striped Sweater Song - Nickelodeon UK