"I'm with Stupid" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 2. In this episode, SpongeBob pretends to be stupid to make Patrick look smart in front of his parents.
Characters[]
- Patrick Star
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Marty (single appearance)
- Janet (single appearance)
- Gary the Snail (cameo)
- Squidward Tentacles (cameo)
- Herb Star (debut)
- Margie Star (debut)
Synopsis[]
SpongeBob, hoping to go jellyfishing with Patrick, finds him frantically cleaning up his home and making furniture out of sand. In distress, Patrick informs SpongeBob that the following day is Starfish Day, and his parents are planning to visit. Patrick sadly reveals that his parents consider him to be quite unintelligent, and he can't bring himself to face their condescension. Patrick and SpongeBob come up with a plan: SpongeBob will act like an idiot so Patrick's parents will see their son as comparatively smarter, which Patrick readily accepts.
The next day, a married starfish couple arrives at Patrick's house, and Patrick thinks they are his parents. Patrick shows them inside his house, where they proceed to treat him like a child after he brings them drinks. Outside, after Gary questions SpongeBob about pretending to be stupid and SpongeBob wonders what would go wrong, he soon makes his entrance, wearing his karate helmet to look stupid and acting in a strange manner. As Patrick's parents look upon SpongeBob's peculiar antics, they start to give Patrick a lot more credit for keeping his supposedly stupid friend in check.
At dinner, as SpongeBob's shenanigans escalate, Patrick begins to lob personal insults at him for his parents' amusement. This annoys SpongeBob so much that he brings Patrick to the kitchen to talk. As it turns out, Patrick has begun to forget that SpongeBob is only pretending to be an idiot, now believing that SpongeBob really is stupid. SpongeBob confronts Patrick in the kitchen over forgetting the plan, but Patrick refuses to believe him and assumes he was only imagining the whole thing. Patrick then bets SpongeBob can impress his parents better than him, and SpongeBob vows to prove so and gives Patrick his helmet.
"Patrick, I get the feeling that you think I really am dumb!"
SpongeBob confesses to Patrick's parents that he is not really an idiot and was only behaving like one so that they would appreciate Patrick more, but to no avail, as Patrick's parents think that Patrick coached SpongeBob into mimicking basic skills such as talking in complete sentences and even math. Their derision and laughter bring SpongeBob to where he can't take it anymore, driving him insane and screams at the top of his lungs and crash through the wall in Patrick's house to get out.
With no "idiot" present, Patrick's parents praise him on his newfound intelligence, but, when they state their names to be Janet and Marty, Patrick, suddenly confused and outraged, realizes that they are not his real parents (they are just two random starfish), and demands to know who these strangers are. Janet says "Marty, I'm scared!", but just before things could get any worse, Squidward comes to Patrick's house with two other starfish, who have been asking him for Patrick all day which has been driving Squidward nuts. Patrick happily recognizes the starfish couple as his real parents, and they are happy to see him as well, especially with his pants on. At that moment, Janet and Marty then come to the fact that they don't even have a son, and they leave Patrick to share a laugh with his real family, just as the rock closes on them while the episode ends.
Production[]
This episode was in production in 2000 and early 2001.
Background design[]
Model sheets[]
Music[]
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
‣ Flop and Go A - John Fox [Title card]
‣ Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill [Opening]
‣ Dramatic Climax - Mike Sunderland [Patrick mocks SpongeBob]
‣ Fates [#62] - Gregor F. Narholz [Patrick cries]
• Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr ["A note!"]
‣ Hawaiian Happiness - Jon Jelmer [Message from Patrick's parents]
‣ Me for You - George Callert [Patrick's parents arrive]
• Closing Theme 2 - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob acting stupid]
• 12th St Rag - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Does he always do that after he eats?"]
• Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield [Box-chested]
• Solo Steel 3 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Hey, Patrick!"]
• Gator - Steve Belfer [Patrick thinks SpongeBob really is stupid]
‣ Hawaiian Breeze - Jon Jelmer [SpongeBob confesses]
• Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr [Picture of SpongeBob's brain]
‣ Flop and Go A - John Fox [Patrick and his parents laughing at SpongeBob]
‣ Crocodile Tears A - David Bell, Otto Sieben [After SpongeBob leaves]
‣ Dramatic Cue (A) - Ronald Hanmer ["Janet? Marty? Who are you people?!"]
‣ Grass Skirts Blowing (Hilo March) - The Hawaiian Serenaders [Ending]
Release[]
Distribution[]
- This episode is available on the SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric, Complete 2nd Season, Nick Picks Volume 2, Nick Picks Box-Set (Vol, 1-3), The Ultimate Box Set, Nickelodeon Double Feature, Two Salty Episodes!, I'm with Stupid, First 100 Episodes, Exposed!: The Ultimate Box Set, SpongeBob on DVD, SpongeBob's Legendary Adventures, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 3, Complete Second Season, Patrick's Day, From the Beginning, Part 1, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Favorite Episodes, Triple Pack 4, The First & Second Seasons, Big Hits: Volume 2, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs and on VideoNow.
- This episode is also available on the SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric VHS tape.
Trivia[]
General[]
- Apparently, Patrick has forgotten how to eat in the past, as evidenced by SpongeBob saying, "Patrick! You've forgotten how to eat again! Come on, we'll get the funnel." Patrick informs him that is not the problem, to which SpongeBob responds, "Darn, I like the funnel."
- In addition, an image in "Grandma's Kisses" shows Patrick feeding SpongeBob a pumpkin through a funnel.
- Thomas F. Wilson and Susan Boyajian voice both Patrick's fake parents, Marty and Janet, as well as his real parents, Herb and Margie.
- Thomas also voices Cecil Star in The Patrick Star Show.
- This is the first episode for two things:
- Mark O'Hare's first episode where he isn't a storyboard artist.
- The first appearance of Patrick's furniture made out of sand.
- This is the only season 2 episode to use the track "Hawaiian Happiness."
- Patrick's line "Who are you people?!" was first used in the end of "Prehibernation Week."
- When SpongeBob turns over the note, a 16th note can be seen. When he turns over the letter, the letter B can be seen. However, both symbols face away from SpongeBob as he remarks on them.
- Marty appears to have knowledge of an electrician, as shown by his quotes as follows:
- After SpongeBob makes electrical buzzer noises, Marty asks Patrick if SpongeBob is "broken."
- When SpongeBob is tensing up when he is fed up with Marty's bullying, he says, "Oh, now he's short-circuiting!" because Patrick, "taught him too much!" "Short-circuiting" is a term used when a low-resistance circuit is flowing current far too quickly, making the battery heat up far too quickly.
- After SpongeBob runs off annoyed, Marty talks about Patrick's brightness being a "3-watt [lightbulb]," while he says SpongeBob's brightness makes, "phone operators seem smart."
- SpongeBob indirectly breaks the fourth wall when he states that Patrick is too busy having an episode, since episode also means having an event.
- After SpongeBob runs out of the house, he is not seen again for the rest of the episode, and it is unknown if he saw Patrick's real parents when he ran out.
- This episode and its sister episode were rated 13+ on Amazon Prime Video in August 2020.[citation needed]
- This has since been corrected as of October 2020, and the episode is back to being rated its original TV-Y7 rating on Amazon Prime Video, like most other episodes.
- Unlike other episodes, Patrick's rock is animated in CGI rather than drawn frames.
- This episode was paired up with different episodes in different marathons:
- During the Father's Day Marathon event, this episode was paired up with "Culture Shock" as they are both parents-themed episodes.[5]
- During the Yo Mama's Day event, this episode was paired up with "Grandma's Kisses" as they are both parents-themed episodes.[6]
- This episode takes place almost entirely in Patrick's rock.
Dub facts[]
- In the Indonesian dub, instead of SpongeBob saying, "Patrick! You forgot how to eat again! Come on, we'll get the funnel," he says, "Patrick! You forgot how to clean your ears again, don't worry we'll get the stick."
Cultural references[]
- The title is a reference to the eponymous phrase seen on novelty T-shirts to insult one's partner.
- Marty and Janet are named after Marty Maraschino and Jan from the Broadway musical and 1978 film, Grease.
Errors[]
A washed out and less saturated title card.
- Starting on May 17, 2005, Nickelodeon USA, Nicktoons USA, and Nick at Nite aired a degraded print of this episode and its sister episode, resulting in desaturated and washed out colors.
- However, on all digital and streaming releases on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and iTunes, all DVD releases, the SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric VHS tape release, and international broadcasts, both episodes are brightened to match with the rest of the season.
- Nicktoons USA started airing a remastered print of this episode on October 3, 2019, fixing the desaturated and washed out colors.[7] Nickelodeon USA followed suit on September 22, 2024.[8]
- Despite this, Nickelodeon USA and Nicktoons USA continues to air the degraded print infrequently. Nick at Nite also continues to exclusively use the degraded print.
- There are quite a few errors in this episode regarding Patrick's house:
- In this episode, Patrick's house comes with a complete living room and kitchen. However, in most other episodes, Patrick's house is just one giant room under his rock.
- At the beginning, Patrick is shown making pieces of furniture out of sand. However, by the time SpongeBob leaves, all the sand furniture in the house disappears.
- When SpongeBob is mad at Patrick, Marty, and Janet, he leaves Patrick's house by running through the wall. He also leaves a hole in the wall, with the sky in the background. However, Patrick's house is set underground.
- The depth of Patrick's house changes throughout the episode.
- At the beginning and when Marty prompts SpongeBob for a handshake, Patrick's floor is deep enough into the ground that the top of SpongeBob's head is level with the ground outside.
- From the time Patrick's "parents" enter Patrick's house to the time they are introduced to SpongeBob, and from the time Patrick and his "parents" finish dinner to the time he realizes they are not his real parents, all characters are able to stand straight up in Patrick's house with plenty of headroom.
- When Patrick's "parents" are introduced to SpongeBob, the ground outside is level with the starfishes' chests.
- When Squidward and Patrick's real parents show up, the ground outside is level with the thighs of the starfishes then in Patrick's house.
- At the very end, the floor is seemingly level with the ground outside.
- The sound of a doorbell can be heard when Patrick's "parents," SpongeBob, and Squidward all show up at Patrick's house. However, Patrick's house does not have a doorbell.
- Squidward comes to Patrick's house to bring Patrick's real parents to him, but when Patrick hugs his parents, Squidward is gone.
- He might have walked away off-screen, most likely because, as Squidward stated it, Patrick's real parents continuously asking "Where's Patrick?" was driving him (Squidward) nuts.
- When SpongeBob runs into his house as a portrayal of his "stupidity," Squidward's house is not there. When Patrick, Janet, and Marty are talking by SpongeBob's pineapple house, Squidward's house disappears again.
- When Marty, Patrick, and Janet are watching SpongeBob doing various things, there is a table with dinner. After Marty says that SpongeBob might be broken, the table and the food disappear.
- When Janet says "He probably forgot where it is," her right eye is green for one frame.
Ennio Torresan, Jr. credited as a storyboard artist in American TV airings.
Ennio Torresan, Jr. credited as a storyboard artist on a digital release.
- In American TV airings and digital releases of this episode, as well as the SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric DVD and VHS, Ennio Torresan, Jr. is credited as a storyboard artist.
Name in other languages[]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| French | Les parents de Patrick | Patrick's Parents |
| German | Einer ist immer der Dumme | Someone is Always the Fool |
| Italian | Tontolone per finta | Mock Dummy |
| Russian | Я дружу с тупоголовым Ya druzhu s tupogolovym |
I'm Friends With Blockhead |
| Spanish | Estoy con un estúpido | I'm With Stupid |
References[]
- ^ Date confirmed by SpongeBob Exposed!, The First 100 Episodes, and the iTunes listing.
- ^ Cable Guide (UK) October 2001 - pg. 170
- ^ Nickelodeon UK - October 30, 2001
- ^ Nickelodeon UK - Continuity - October 4, 2001
- ^ Nickstory - June 16, 2002
- ^ Nickstory - May 12, 2002
- ^ October 3, 2019 - Nicktoons: G.L.O.B.E. Archives
- ^ September 22, 2024 - Nickstory