Graveyard Shift

Template:Episode/36a

Characters

• French Narrator
• Squidward Tentacles
• Tom
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Norma Rechid
• Anchovy
• Lonnie
• Charlie
• Perry
• Frankie Billy
• Jennifer Millie
• Frank (red shirt)
• Nathiel Waters
• Harold Bill Reginald Scott
• Mevis
• Lou
• Mable
• Cara
• Perry
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Sandals
• Hash-slinging slasher ^{(debut) (mentioned)}
• Harold
• Harv
• Patrick Star ^(cameo)
• Richard (Graveyard Shift) ^(debut)
• Nosferatu ^(debut)

Synopsis

One night, the Krusty Krab staff prepares for its 8:00 PM closing, which comes none too soon for Squidward. However, a customer walks up to the door and attempts to make an order. Squidward smugly informs him that they are closed, and the customer prepares to take his money elsewhere. Discovering the potential of late night customers, Mr. Krabs tears apart the "Closed" sign and, against Squidward's wishes, proclaims the Krusty Krab to now be open 24 hours a day. Mr. Krabs then promptly leaves his employees while SpongeBob is overjoyed at this prospect and, as the night goes on, takes pleasure in the chores he had no time to do during the day with him exclaiming "Night! Night! Night!" joyfully while doing said chores. When the time comes to take out the trash, however, he shows some trepidation towards the darkness outside. After going outside screaming to throw away the trash, he comes back in and calls it an easy task.

Tom does not read the "Closed" sign.

Squidward, sensing SpongeBob's fear, weaves him a terrifying tale of the "hash-slinging slasher," a clumsy Krusty Krab fry cook from years past who accidentally chopped off his own hand and replaced it with a rusty spatula. Due to being run over by a bus, and his employment being terminated at his funeral, the horrific specter returns every Tuesday night to exact vengeance on all who reside in the restaurant. Squidward goes on to explain the three signs of the ghost's return: the lights flickering on and off, the phone ringing with no one at the other end, and the arrival of the bus that had run the fry cook over. Squidward then laughs at SpongeBob's shrieks of fright, but when the screaming fails to stop, an annoyed Squidward tells SpongeBob that he was joking and that the story is not true. 

"The Hash-Slinging Slasher!"

3 AM soon arrives, and the restaurant is now completely devoid of customers or any other signs of life besides SpongeBob and Squidward. Whilst contending with SpongeBob's diligent ceiling washing (he claims there's never any time to do it during the day), Squidward slams the idea of the Krusty Krab being open 24 hours a day, wondering who would want a Krabby Patty at this time of night. 

Suddenly, the lights begin flickering, though Squidward initially thinks SpongeBob is doing it in a failed attempt to scare him. After realizing that nobody is touching the light switch, Squidward then blames the faulty electrical wiring as the restaurant wasn't built to run 24 hours a day. The next moment, the phone rings, but remains silent when Squidward answers. This time, SpongeBob thinks that Squidward is trying to scare him, but the latter denies this and becomes more nervous as these are two of the three signs that supposedly signal the arrival of the Hash-Slinging Slasher. While trying to remember the third sign (after ruling out the normal green slime that oozes from the walls), a bus pulls up to the Krusty Krab, even though the buses don't run this late. It's lone departing passenger is a shadow-covered figure with what appears to be glowing red eyes wielding a spatula. Fearing it to be the Hash-Slinging Slasher, Squidward panics, though SpongeBob believes it to be Squidward dressed up just to entertain him. 

As the figure walks toward the Krusty Krab, Squidward points out two obvious problems that make SpongeBob's theory wrong: his hatred for him, and the impossibility of him being dressed up when he is standing right next to SpongeBob. Now realizing that they are truly experiencing supernatural events, a frightened SpongeBob and Squidward say their final words as the figure approaches the counter. But when the figure enters the light, it turns out to be just an ordinary guy holding a spatula in a fully unchopped hand up his sleeve. He asks for a job application and reveals that he was the one who called earlier but hung up due to nervousness. Relieved, SpongeBob asks the guy if he has any references, though Squidward notes that this turn of events does not explain the lights flickering. 

Nosferatu

At that moment, the lights flicker again, and it is revealed that the culprit is the vampire Nosferatu. Smiling at the trio mischievously, he flicks the lights off once more as the episode ends.

Production

Art

Deleted scene

The Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies DVD features Tom Kenny and Rodger Bumpass recording a scene from this episode. It also includes storyboards of the episode and a deleted scene, in which SpongeBob does another activity "at night" as he delivers the mail to "Floorboard Harry." Floorboard Harry was also originally going to be the one responsible for flickering the lights, not Nosferatu.

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Finger of Suspicion 2 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Title card]

 ‣ Queen's Aloha Oe C - Kapono Beamer, Queen Lili'uokalani [opening]
 ‣ Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Money?"]
 ‣ Hello Sailor (b) - Richard Myhill [Krusty Krab open 24 hours]
 ‣ On the Beach - Kapono Beamer ["Isn't this great, Squidward?"/"All right! Taking out the trash. Taking out the trash...at night."]
 ‣ Menace [#36] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["You mean outside?"]
 ‣ Menace [#41] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob runs out screaming to the dumpster]
 ‣ Finger of Suspicion 1 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["What? What do I know?"/"..."Hash-Slinging Slasher?"/Squidward's story about the Hash-Slinging Slasher begins]
 ‣ Shock Attack [#25] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob screams]
 ‣ Finger of Suspicion 2 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Squidward continues his story]
 ‣ Danger Lurks [#34] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["The phone will ring and there will be nobody there."]
 ‣ Finger of Suspicion 3 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Squidward finishes the story]
 ‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [SpongeBob screams repeatedly]
 ‣ Moloka'i Nui (a) - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob laughs repeatedly]
 ‣ Footsteps of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [Squidward hearing noises/Squidward continues hearing noises/Squidward hearing more noises/Squidward looking everywhere]
 ‣ Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["What?"]
 ‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [Squidward's story starts coming true/"The walls will ooze green slime?!"/A bus arrives/The "Hash-Slinging Slasher" is real.]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (a) - Richard Myhill ["Can I have a job application?"]
 • Steel Licks 7 - Jeremy Wakefield [ending]

Release

• This episode is available on the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies, Complete 2nd Season, 10 Happiest Moments, It's a SpongeBob Christmas! (Blu-ray), First 100 Episodes, and Complete Second Season DVDs.
• This episode is also available on the Nautical Nonsense and Undersea Antics Volume 1 VHS's.

Reception

• This episode is number 10 on Tom Kenny's Top 20. His description says:

"'Night, night, night, night.' Having Nosferatu, the vampire from the 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film appear in a Nicktoon is exactly the kind of 'what the?' moment that sets this series apart from more conventional animated shows!"

• "Graveyard Shift" was ranked #64 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.

Trivia

General

• This episode aired on September 6, 2002 and has a 2002 copyright date along with its sister episode, "Krusty Love." However, it was actually made in 2001, due to the next episode "Procrastination"/"I'm with Stupid" actually having a 2001 copyright date.
• This episode premiered in Canada on May 30, 2003.
• Mr. Krabs breaks the law by forcing Squidward and SpongeBob to work 24/7.
• This and "Club SpongeBob" are the first two episodes to premiere on home video before being aired on television. They were featured on the Sponge Buddies VHS and on the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies DVD, which were released on March 12, 2002, seven months before being aired on television.
• There is a book based on this episode named Shiver Me Timbers!
• The title card background is similar to that of "Rock Bottom."
• In Indonesia, some lines were edited:
  • The line "But what was that third thing?" was changed to "Who changed the colors?"
  • The line "How are you doing that without moving the switch?" was changed to "What are you doing with the switch?"
  • The line "And then, he got hit by a bus! And... at his funeral, they fired him!" was changed to "And then, he became crazy! And... after that, the fire burned him!" This one changes the hash-slinging slasher's backstory completely.
  • The line "Squidward, I use your clarinet to unclog my toilet!" was changed to "Squidward! Get rid of him!"
  • Near the end of the episode, the line "Nosferatu!" was changed to "Don't be naughty!" because there is no Indonesian translation for "Nosferatu."
• This is the first time the Krusty Krab is open 24/7.
• This is the third time a phone is seen at the cash register at the Krusty Krab. The first time was in "Pizza Delivery" and the second time was in "Big Pink Loser."
• SpongeBob screams 27 times and laughs eight times.
• To "sling hash" means to work in a restaurant.
• The hash-slinging slasher also appears in the video games SpongeBob's Truth or Square and SpongeBob SquigglePants.
• This episode is later referenced in "Restraining SpongeBob," where Patrick uses Squidward's clarinet to unclog the toilets at the Krusty Krab like SpongeBob says he does in this episode.
• Squidward and SpongeBob's hair-raising screams when the hash slinging slasher is about to approach them have become very popular internet memes.
  • Also, SpongeBob eating his own hands when Squidward tells his story and SpongeBob messing up the hash slinging slasher's name have also become popular.
  • Patrick saying "Oh boy! 3 AM!" has become a semi-popular internet meme.
• This marks the first episode where “House of Horror“ was played four out of the five parts.
• The word "night" is mentioned 23 times.
• On the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies DVD, there is a storyboard version and a deleted scene where SpongeBob does another thing at night where he brings mail to floorboard Harry.
• Nosferatu reappears at the end of this episode. His real appearance is based from the 1922 German silent horror film of his name, "Nosferatu," played by the late Max Schreck.
  • This episode aired on September 6, 2002. Friedrich Gustav Maximilian Schreck (who is known professionally as Max Schreck) was born on September 6, 1879 and passed away of a heart attack on February 20, 1936. This episode is dedicated to him as his 123rd birthday in honor of him.
• In the Polish dub, the episode's title is "Nocna Zmiana," which translates to "Night Shift."
  • According to European folklore, 3 a.m. is the witching hour when witches, ghosts, and demons are said to be active.
• In the German dub, the episode's title is "Nachtschicht," which translates to "Night Shift."
• In the Russian dub, Nosferatu was renamed to Count Dracula.
  • Also, the hash-slinging slasher was renamed to "Гарри-Рубленое Мясо" in Russian dub, which translates to "Harry-Chopped Meat."
• In the Turkish dub, the line "Nosferatu!" was changed to "So, it was you!"

Cultural references

• SpongeBob's "Night Song" has the tune of a Baseball/Hockey Charge Stadium organ song.
• The hash-slinging slasher is an apparent parody of the story The Hook, where a man has a hook instead of a hand.
• The sign about the telephone ringing is similar to a scene from the 1996 horror film Scream.
• Nosferatu is from the 1922 horror film of the same name.

Errors

• The Krusty Krab closes at 6:00 PM in other episodes, but in this episode, it closes at 8:00 PM.
• Squidward says that the hash-slinging slasher comes out every Tuesday night and his ghost returns to the Krusty Krab. However, when the person who was thought to be the hash-slinging Slasher came to apply for a job, it was 3:00 AM, meaning that it was early Wednesday morning.
• At one scene when SpongeBob is about to walk outside to take out the trash but then stops, the night sky outside the window is normal, but in the next scene when the camera zooms out of the glass door, the night sky is green with spooky flower clouds, then remains throughout the episode.
• Before Squidward says the three signs that signal the approach of the hash-slinging slasher, the wrinkles on his forehead are gone.

  

  The lines on Squidward's forehead are gone.

• When Squidward tells SpongeBob "No" to "He didn't wash his hands," Squidward's eyes overlap his eyebrows.

  

  Squidward's eyes overlapping his eyebrows

• When Squidward tries to stop SpongeBob's screaming session, his eyes are not aligned with his eyebrows.
• The garbage bin outside the Krusty Krab is by the street in this episode, but it is in the back of the building in all other episodes.
• When SpongeBob is mopping the ceiling, the water from the bucket does not fall to the ground.
• The cash register is missing for a majority of the episode. Near the end, it returns.
• The only time a phone is there is when it rings. However, there is nobody there.
• When Squidward says "And he appears with the ghost of the bus" and "He opens the door, and approaches the counter!," the "Order Here" and "Galley Grub" signs are missing.
  • This happened the same thing when walls are covered with green slime.

    

    The "Gallery Grub" and "Order Here" are missing.

• In the picture shown in the background, there is a porthole window on the window.
• The Galley Grub sign reads "Gally Grub" at one point in the episode. At another point, the Order Here sign reads "Order Hear."

  

  Sign reads "Order Hear" instead of "Order Here"

• An "Open Forever" neon sign is seen on the Krusty Krab in one shot. However, when the "hash-slinging slasher" approaches the Krusty Krab, the sign is gone.
• When the customers come in after Mr. Krabs says the Krusty Krab will be open for 24 hours, they are missing when Squidward goes back to the register.

Running gags

• When asked for assistance, the character replies "I can't hang out here all night! I've got a life."

Video

File:Oh boy! 3 A.M.!-1