Mrs. Puff, You're Fired

"Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season four. In this episode, Mrs. Puff gets fired and is replaced by a stricter teacher.

Characters

• Gunther Fitz ^(debut)
• Mrs. Puff
• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • SpongeBob's skeleton
• Sergeant Sam Roderick ^(debut)
• Billy (brown fish)
• Miss Rechid
• Monroe Timmy
• Ivy (gray)
• Taylor Fishbowl
• Tyler
• Nat Peterson
• French Narrator
• Lonnie
• Old Man Jenkins
• Jellyfish
• Patrick Star ^{(2 cameos)}
• Mable
• Jellyfish ^(mentioned)

Synopsis

At Mrs. Puff's Boating School, Mr. Fitz, the superintendent, is talking to Mrs. Puff about renewing her teaching certificate, but then informs her of the high record of failing students. However, SpongeBob is the only student who has ever failed her class, but has done so 1,258,056 times. Mrs. Puff is told to show Mr. Fitz everything she has taught SpongeBob, and within seconds, he fails yet another driving test by bashing in a boatmobile. Mr. Fitz fires Mrs. Puff (to her delight as she won't have to deal with SpongeBob anymore). A new boating instructor named Sergeant Roderick comes in and takes over the school.

Sergeant Roderick is a viciously cruel drill instructor, who immediately throws out one student for talking and another one for eating. All of the other students run away, except for SpongeBob, who is now his only student. The new boating instructor has set up a difficult course, which he trains SpongeBob to crawl, walk, run, and eventually drive through while blindfolded. Despite SpongeBob's unprofessional driving skills, he surprisingly masters this.

During the time of his final exam, which Mr. Fitz personally comes to watch, SpongeBob realizes that he can only drive while blindfolded, and proceeds to take the exam with the same disastrous results. Roderick nearly dies attempting to stop his boat from destroying Bikini Bottom, and Mr. Fitz realizes that SpongeBob is "unteachable" and rehires Mrs. Puff.

The next day, SpongeBob goes to Mrs. Puff's class and gives her a "welcome back" card, then proceeding to apologize for his destruction. Though Mrs. Puff tearfully tells him that she got her teaching degree back, and SpongeBob's file was destroyed in the fire, so it was as if he never failed her boating school. SpongeBob leaves promising it will not take him a "million times" to pass school, leaving a devastated Mrs. Puff to cry.

Production

Art

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Music

 ‣ Furtive Footsteps - Paddy Kingsland [The opening]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact 1 - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob is revealed to have failed his boating test 1,258,056 times.]
 ‣ Furtive Footsteps - Paddy Kingsland ["You don't understand. SpongeBob is unteachable."]
 ‣ Earl's Revenge - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob appears.]
 ‣ The Achterhoek Dances - Jan Rap [The driving test begins.]
 ‣ Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Start the engine?"]
 ‣ Evil Mind 8 - Dick de Benedictis ["What do I do now?"]
 ‣ Steel Sting (a) - Jeremy Wakefield [Mrs. Puff inflates.]
 ‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill [Mrs. Puff gets fired.]
 ‣ Moloka'i Nui A - Kapono Beamer [Mrs. Puff laughs.]
 ‣ King Kong Coming - Gregor F. Narholz [Loud footsteps are heard.]
 ‣ Arnold is Back 1 - Gregor F. Narholz [The new driving instructor is introduced.]
 ‣ Drummers and Fifers - Roger Roger ["No one's ever failed my class... that's lived through it."]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact 2 - Ivor Slaney [The instructor throws a student out.]
 ‣ Finger of Fear - Fredric Bayco ["Would anyone care for a bon-bon?"]
 ‣ Search Party 3 [#52] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [A student eats a bon-bon.]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (a) - Ronald Hanmer ["No eating in my classroom!"]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (e) - Ronald Hanmer ["Looks like you're the man... sponge."]
 ‣ Deadline - Sam Spence [Obstacle course]
 ‣ Pell-Mell - Sam Spence [SpongeBob crawls.]
 ‣ Astronauts March - Sam Spence ["I'm ashamed of you, cadet."]
 ‣ Big Ed's March - Sam Spence [Training montage]
 ‣ ? ["Every good boater needs to know his vehicle inside and out."]
 ‣ Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [boat taken apart]
 ‣ Steel Sting - Jeremy Wakefield ["I might need a couple of minutes."]
 ‣ Tympup A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["Jumpin' jellyfish!"]
 ‣ Proud Fanfare - David Farnon [Rocket]
 ‣ Running Bass - Sam Spence ["Watch for pedestrians. Check mirrors."]
 ‣ Dangerous C - Mladen Franko [SpongeBob crashes into pedestrians.]
 ‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill ["Why don't you ask the shattered remains of this pedestrian... How you did?!"]
 ‣ Up She Rises - Sam Spence [SpongeBob drives blindfolded.]
 ‣ Bonnie Blue Gal - Sam Spence [SpongeBob's final exam]
 ‣ Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Drive, boy! Drive!"]
 ‣ Sponge Monger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob drives wildly.]
 ‣ Satin Slipper - Raymond Beaver [Someone makes a cake.]
 ‣ Sponge Monger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [The boat takes the cake ahead.]
 ‣ Sleepy Time - Dick Stephen Walter [Mrs. Puff paints a picture.]
 ‣ Sponge Monger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob destroys the city.]
 ‣ Steel Licks (d) - Jeremy Wakefield [Mrs. Puff is rehired.]
 ‣ The Achterhoek Dances - Jan Rap [The ending]

Release

• This episode is available on the Karate Island, Season 4 Volume 1, Complete Fourth Season, and First 100 Episodes DVDs.

Reception

• "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" was ranked #82 during the Best Day Ever event on November 9–10, 2006.
• As of June 10, 2019, The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) gives this episode a rating of 8.7/10 based on 422 ratings by users.^[1] TV.com users give this episode a rating of 9.1/10 based on 200 votes.^[2]

Trivia

General

• Although this episode premiered in 2006, it was produced in 2005 according to the credits.
• SpongeBob has failed his test 1,256,056 times, this places this after SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis as he says he only failed 856 times.
• Sergeant Roderick speaks in a British accent.
• This episode marks another instance in which SpongeBob proves he can drive competently. Previously, in "Boating School," he gets instructions from Patrick's walkie-talkie, and is just about to pass the test. However, when Mrs. Puff tells him his method is a form of cheating, SpongeBob drives out of control and fails once again.
• Even though the new teacher's name is not said in this episode, his name is revealed in the credits as "Sergeant Sam Roderick."
• The title card is similar to those of "Ditchin'," "Two Thumbs Down," and "Fun-Sized Friends," as well as the "346 Minutes Later" time card from "BlackJack."
  • The only difference in the "Ditchin'" title card is that this one is pink while the other one is dark orange.
• This is the first episode to have "You're Fired" in the title. The second is "SpongeBob You're Fired."
• This is the second episode in which SpongeBob says "Hey, a nickel!" The first is "Krab Borg."
• This episode premiered on the same day as the 2006 Kids' Choice Awards.
  • This is the third episode (along with the sister episode "Krusty Towers") to premiere on the same day as the Kids' Choice Awards. The first was "Help Wanted"/"Reef Blower"/"Tea at the Treedome" in 1999 and the second was "Krabby Land"/"The Camping Episode" in 2004.
• This episode includes the footage from "No Weenies Allowed" where SpongeBob is flung out of the water and back in again.
• This episode premiered six years after "Fools in April" and "Neptune's Spatula."
• SpongeBob would have to unscrew more than two little bolts to remove the brake. Even then, after removing all the gears, springs, and other mechanisms, the brakes would still be somewhat operable with the emergency/parking brake.
• In the Polish dub, this episode's title is "Pani Puff wylatuje z pracy," which translates to "Mrs. Puff is Fired from the Job."
• The black paint used to take Mrs. Puff's name from the boating school sign can be seen dripping briefly before the next class begins.
• There is an episode of Teen Titans Go! in which Beast Boy gets fired and is replaced with another titan. This could possibly be based off of this episode.

Cultural references

• Sergeant Rodrick is based on Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket.

Errors

• When Sergeant Rodrick says "What are you suppose to be learning in my class?," SpongeBob's legs are missing. Also, his hand is missing and appears as it moves.
• On a December 2010 Nicktoons UK airing, the title card was apparently skipped over. ^[3]

  

• In the end, Mrs. Puff's name was missing from the nametag.

Videos

References

This page uses content from Wikipedia (original • authors). Both Encyclopedia SpongeBobia and Wikipedia are licensed under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.