"Big Pink Loser" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 2. In this episode, envious of SpongeBob's numerous awards, Patrick starts to act like SpongeBob and works at the Krusty Krab in an attempt to get his own award.
Characters
- French narrator
- Sea urchins
- Patrick Star
- Incidental 154
- Jellyfish
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Gary the Snail (cameo)
- Giant monkey man (single appearance; mentioned)
- Little monkey man (single appearance; mentioned)
- Eugene H. Krabs (mentioned)
- Squidward Tentacles (2 cameos)
- Incidental 100
- Customers on the phone
- Incidental 42
- Fred
- Incidental 41
- Incidental 119
- Incidental 37B
- Incidental 8
- Incidental 6
- Incidental 60
- Scallop
- Incidental 85
- Incidental 82
- Incidental 48
- Mary and her lamb (single appearance; mentioned)
- Sea weevil (single appearance; mentioned)
Synopsis
As Patrick wakes up one morning, a mailfish gives him a package. Curious, he opens it and finds a large, shiny trophy inside. Excited, he starts showing everyone his new award, including the jellyfish and even the Bikini Atoll Island. He shows it off to SpongeBob, who then realizes that the trophy is actually for him after spotting his name on it.
Patrick crying because he wanted an award like SpongeBob.
Patrick is disappointed as he hands the award to SpongeBob, but his feelings get worse when he discovers the contents of SpongeBob's special award closet. SpongeBob tries to help him find a way to win an award, and eventually, Patrick decides to get a job working alongside SpongeBob at the Krusty Krab.
First, Patrick is assigned to take some food to a customer. However, every time he brings it to the customer, he eats it, even as SpongeBob breaks down the process for him. A simpler task SpongeBob gives Patrick is to answer the phone, but he ends up getting angry when he thinks people are calling the wrong number when they are calling the Krusty Krab which SpongeBob then tells him is the actual name of the restaurant. At this point, Patrick is almost completely demoralized, but SpongeBob urges him on. Patrick follows up with sweeping dust from under the floor near table 3, but uses the wrong end of the broom. Suddenly, a delivery man comes in with a load of awards for SpongeBob. This surprises and angers Patrick so much that he whacks the floor with the broom eight times, making dust fly everywhere and all the customers cough. Patrick loses control and laments that he will not win a trophy yet.
After rushing the upset and disheartened Patrick off into the kitchen, SpongeBob presents him with the extremely simple and basic task of opening a jar. When even this proves to be difficult at first, SpongeBob instructs him to do it exactly as he does. This mantra prompts Patrick to open the jar successfully. However, for a second, Patrick thinks he broke it. SpongeBob tells him he did it right, and he and SpongeBob begin celebrating. Patrick now feels more confident and poised, and he controls his temper by telling SpongeBob how he opened the jar. SpongeBob tells Patrick to do what he does and he will have an award someday.
Patrick copies SpongeBob.
The next day, Patrick starts taking even more cues from SpongeBob. He ends up wearing the same outfit as him and copying every single one of SpongeBob's actions and mannerisms in the hope of achieving the same success as his friend, much to the surprise of the Bikini Bottom citizens, who think they are seeing double of SpongeBob. An annoyed SpongeBob attempts to put his "hand" on the stove to prove Patrick was copying him and he succeeds when Patrick's hand starts burning and SpongeBob reveals that Patrick is mimicking him when he reveals a decoy hand. He and Patrick run back to their neighborhood (Patrick's hat flies off as he runs, and Squidward picks it up as he returns to work). SpongeBob tries multiple antics to convince Patrick to stop copying him, all of which are unsuccessful (SpongeBob even notices that Patrick has made his rock home look almost exactly like his pineapple).
He has a plan and resorts to dressing up as Patrick, but it only makes Patrick more certain of the fact that his old self was nothing but a "big pink loser." As it turns out, however, the next award to arrive, which Patrick initially thinks is for SpongeBob again, is actually for a person who won it for "doing absolutely nothing longer than anyone else." This award turns out to be for Patrick and SpongeBob is proud of him. Overjoyed, Patrick decides to protect his new title by going back under his rock and falling fast asleep, returning to his old self.
Running gags
- Patrick copying SpongeBob's actions.
Production
Art
Music
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
• Cream Pie - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card]
‣ Aloha - Dick Stephen Walter [opening]
‣ Orchestral Effect (f) - Dick Stephen Walter ["An award?"]
‣ Announcing the Top - Gregor F. Narholz ["Look, rock, I got an award!"/"Jellyfish, I got an award."/"Island, I got an awar..."]
‣ Dancing the Hula - Kapono Beamer [the award's really SpongeBob's]
‣ Stack of Leis - Kapono Beamer [Patrick cries]
‣ Heroes Win [#36.02] - Gregor F. Narholz ["I want to defeat the giant monkey man and save the ninth dimension!"/"I wanna defeat the little monkeyman and save the 8th dimension!"/"Doctor?"/"Fireman?"]
‣ Dapper Don - Frank Chacksfield [Patrick working at the Krusty Krab as a phone answerer]
‣ Hawaiian Link (a) - Richard Myhill ["Fish paste!"]
‣ Dreamy Hawaii - Terry Day [sweeping]
‣ Killer Birds [#36.02] - Gregor F. Narholz [Patrick getting angry]
• SpongeBob Closing Theme - Steve Belfer, Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob showing Patrick how to open a jar]
‣ Caesar's Entry [#7.4] - Gregor F. Narholz [they celebrate]
‣ Hilo March - The Hawaiian Serenaders ["That was great, Patrick!"]
• Seaweed 2 - Steve Belfer [Patrick dressed like SpongeBob]
‣ Furtive Footsteps - Paddy Kingsland [Patrick copying SpongeBob]
‣ Hen Pecker - The Surfdusters [they scream and run]
‣ Rocket Sled to Oahu - The Mel-Tones [SpongeBob closes Pineapple door]
‣ Vibe Link (b) - Richard Myhill [SpongeBob gets an idea]
• You're Nice - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob dressed like Patrick]
‣ Moloka'i Nui (a) - Kapono Beamer [ending]
Release
- This episode is available on the Tide and Seek, Complete 2nd Season, First 100 Episodes, The Complete Second Season, Laugh Your Pants Off, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, Sponge Crazy, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, Your Shoes are Loose, Imitation Krabs, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Friend Is The Best, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 2, From the Beginning, Pt.1, Simply Patrick, SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants, The First & Second Seasons, and The Best 200 Episodes Ever DVDs.
- This episode is also available on the Tide and Seek and Laugh Your Pants Off VHS tapes.
Reception
- "Big Pink Loser" was ranked #13 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
- One scene of this episode was ranked #8 in the "Top 100 Greatest Moments in Nicktoon History."
- "Big Pink Loser" was ranked #56 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.
Trivia
General
- This is the second episode where Patrick gets a job at the Krusty Krab and is later fired or just quits. The first was "Arrgh!;" although, in that episode, it was only for a few seconds before getting fired.
- This is the second episode where SpongeBob shrinks. The first was "Nature Pants."
- This time, however, he is able to control his shrinkage.
- This is Jay Lender's first episode as a storyboard director instead of a storyboard artist.
- This was the first episode to be written by William Reiss.
- In some versions, at the beginning of the episode, the audio sound of the parcel being shoved into Patrick's mouth is heard before the mailman shoves it into his mouth.[citation needed]
- This version can be seen in the UK for example.
- There is a book based on this episode titled And the Winner Is...
- Although this episode and "Your Shoe's Untied" are season 2 episodes, Patrick had his original sideways "M" shaped eyebrows from season 1, instead of his new "Z" shaped ones.
- On the Complete 2nd Season Audio Commentary for this episode, it is mentioned by one of the people in the commentary that this episode was made around the time when Patrick's eyebrows were not fully colored in yet. That meant this episode was made before "Something Smells." Although his new "Z" shaped eyebrows first appeared in "Your Shoes Untied" when "Loop de Loop" is playing in the part where he got a shoe as a scoop of ice cream. This happened again in this episode where he says, "And then I took the lid off, and I thought I broke it?," his new "Z" shaped eyebrows appeared.
- This is the last episode to feature Patrick's sideways "M" shaped eyebrows.
- On the Complete 2nd Season Audio Commentary for this episode, it is mentioned by one of the people in the commentary that this episode was made around the time when Patrick's eyebrows were not fully colored in yet. That meant this episode was made before "Something Smells." Although his new "Z" shaped eyebrows first appeared in "Your Shoes Untied" when "Loop de Loop" is playing in the part where he got a shoe as a scoop of ice cream. This happened again in this episode where he says, "And then I took the lid off, and I thought I broke it?," his new "Z" shaped eyebrows appeared.
- This is the only season 2 episode to use the track "Cream Pie."
- This is also the first episode to use that track as title card music.
- The scene where SpongeBob helps Patrick open the jar was used on Nicktoons as a "Rockin' Nicktoon Moment."[citation needed]
- Only this episode and its sister episode "Bubble Buddy," had PAL audio pitch in PAL countries until the season 4 episode "Have You Seen This Snail?".[citation needed]
- This and its sister episode are the only season 2 episodes to be PAL pitched in the UK.
- However, in some countries (like the UK), "Fear of a Krabby Patty" and "Shell of a Man" were PAL pitched.
- When Patrick jumps out of the water to show his award to Bikini Atoll, he quickly begins suffocating. However, in "Pressure" and "Rodeo Daze," he shows no signs of suffocation.
- Patrick mentions the episode's title when he says, "What's so great about being a big pink loser?"
- This episode's working title was "Single Pink Starfish."[2]
- This and its sister episode aired exactly 15 years before Joe Alaskey's death.
- SpongeBob's line "Patrick, that's a pickle." has become a popular meme on YouTube.
NO, THIS IS PATRICK!
- The scene where Patrick says "No! This is Patrick!" on the phone in response to people asking if it's the Krusty Krab has become a popular internet meme.
Cultural references
- The song SpongeBob and Patrick whistle while frying Krabby Patties is "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."
Errors
- When Patrick comes into SpongeBob's house and ruins his Gary house of cards, door opening and closing sounds can be heard, but the door in the background is not animated.
- When Patrick throws the broom on the ground in the kitchen, it disappears after he opens the jar.
- When Patrick copies SpongeBob in the kitchen, they "drop" their spatulas. Afterward, SpongeBob and Patrick point to each other, but the spatulas are nowhere to be seen.
- When SpongeBob says "No, don't, That's my-" for a split second, he has no buck teeth. They appear for a split second again.
- When SpongeBob and Patrick are running down the road to the Krusty Krab shouting "I'm ready" together, specifically, when SpongeBob looks suspiciously at Patrick and says "Huh?", his buck teeth disappear for one frame.
- When Patrick goes to Jellyfish Fields to show the jellyfish his award, while he is being shocked there is a visible pink star at the upper right corner of the screen.
- When SpongeBob fully shrinks, he has a high-pitched, nasally voice, but when he says "Yeah" just before he returns to his normal size, his voice goes back to normal.
The table appears by itself.
- When SpongeBob becomes smaller, there is nothing behind them, but when Patrick takes him, there is a table behind him.
- When SpongeBob's nose pops back out when he is pretending to be Patrick, his buck teeth are not shown when he is frowning. However, in the next scene, he still has the same frown and his teeth are now visible.
SpongeBob's pores are reversed.
- In one scene, SpongeBob's pores are reversed.
- When SpongeBob sees the trophy is really for him, his right buck tooth is missing.
- When Patrick is answering the phone in the Krusty Krab, the third caller asks "Is this the Krusty Krab?" and Patrick shouts "No!," the symbol on the Krusty Krab employee hat disappears for a few frames and then reappears.
- For a split second, while Patrick is running with SpongeBob's shirt on, the right side turns yellow.
- The Chum Bucket is missing in this episode.
Videos
