At Mrs. Puff's Boating School, SpongeBob's class receives an assignment for an 800-word essay on what not to do at a stoplight, due the following morning. SpongeBob cannot wait to get started and, upon arriving home, prepares his materials and workspace. However, he has trouble thinking of what to write and gets distracted by his friends playing outside.
Time passes as SpongeBob tries to create the right mood for writing. He does some calisthenics, feeds Gary, cleans his kitchen, and takes copious breaks in between. It eventually becomes clear that SpongeBob is only looking for excuses to avoid the essay. Even Patrick points it out when SpongeBob calls to chat with him in the middle of the night.
While spending more time making a sandwich, SpongeBob hears a knock at the door and rushes to greet the mailman delivering a package. When SpongeBob attempts to engage in small talk, the mailman cuts him off and tells him to get back to writing. Suspicious, SpongeBob slowly heads back inside to find the newscaster on TV reporting on SpongeBob's unfinished essay. He soon discovers that all of his possessions are conspiring against him to prevent the completion of his work. Their interference results in the immolation of his house, which begs SpongeBob as it burns to "stop wasting time".
Finally waking up from his nightmare, SpongeBob looks first at his woefully incomplete essay, then at the clock, marking five minutes before class time. In desperation, he suddenly realizes that everything he did up to that point was something that should not be done at a stoplight, and so he quickly writes it all down to fulfill the 800-word requirement.
Excitedly bringing the finished essay to school, SpongeBob finds the classroom empty. Mrs. Puff arrives and explains that she tried to call SpongeBob to give him an update. Due to a teacher's convention she must attend, Mrs. Puff has canceled the assignment and will instead take the class on a field trip the following week to see a stoplight. Left behind with his grin frozen in place, SpongeBob rips his essay in half before he splits himself in half.
Production
Deleted scenes
A scene where SpongeBob looks out the window, all his friends are there, and Patrick rubbing Sandy with Sun Lotion then says, "Come on, SpongeBob!"
This scene was removed because it looked like Patrick was unhooking Sandy's bikini and it was an inappropriate scene. It was added back to reruns in October 2019.
SpongeBob exercising
This scene was removed on some airings due to SpongeBob's nose moving up and down in a rather obscene way. It was added back to reruns in October 2019.
A scene where a video of a drag race car crashing into a wall is shown.
This was removed because of violence scene and Nickelodeon feared kids and viewers might try to imitate the crash. It was added back to reruns in October 2019.
All DVDs, 2002-2005 Nickelodeon USA airings, and all airings in other countries show these scenes. After May 2005, the scenes were edited out for the reasons given above. All of these scenes are still available on VideoNow disks with this episode in it. Amazon Prime Video and Nicktoons airings also have these scenes intact.
Early airings (Before May 2005, Version #1):
Patrick: Come on, SpongeBob! (SpongeBob goes back to his desk)
SpongeBob: It should be against the law to have to write an essay on such a super sailorific, sunshiny day! Oh! But I must press onward, because with this pencil, and the completion of this essay, I'll be one step closer to my driver's license! [a live-action drag race is shown. a car hits a wall, tumbles and gets back up] Oh, yeah. This'll be no problemo. Why, I've got plenty of time. It's only 6:00 p.m.! Okay, okay here we go, here we go. [struggles to write] I know, I just need to get blood pumpin' in the old noodle. How about some calisthenics? [SpongeBob does calisthenics. While doing it, he recites "Hup Hoo" several times, his nose and eyelashes do it too] I can feel those juices pumpin' now!
SpongeBob: Gee, this is harder than I thought... [immediately cuts to him sitting happily in his chair] I can feel those now! [the rest of the episode goes normally.]
Music
Before May 2005
( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music
•Hello Blues - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card]
‣Horlepiep - Jan Rap [opening] ‣On the Beach - Kapono Beamer ["I'm about to write the greatest essay of all time."] ‣Music, Calliope - [20th Century Fox Sound Effects] [Carnival] ‣Glory Road - Sam Fonteyn ["But I must press onward, because with this pencil and the completion of this essay..."] ‣Glissando (g) - Skaila Kanga, Richard Myhill ["...I'll be one step closer to my driver's license!"] ‣Glissando (h) - Skaila Kanga, Richard Myhill ["Oh, yeah..."] ‣ ? [drum roll] •Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["I know!"] ‣Steve's March - Sam Spence [calisthenics] ‣Mambo Fantastico - Gerhard Narholz [squeaking chair] ‣Sunny Samoa - George de Fretes, Jan Rap [feeding Gary] ‣Four & Three - Harold Geller [SpongeBob cleaning his kitchen.] ‣Dramatic Cue (h) - Ronald Hanmer ["10:00?!"] ‣Dance of the Fumblers - Sam Spence [montage of SpongeBob writing] ‣Tympup A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["The..."] ‣Raspberry C - Sammy Burdson, John Fiddy ["The..."] ‣Stepping into Danger - Mike Sunderland ["Let's see, only 799 words to go."] ‣Chief Taravana - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob calls Patrick] ‣Stepping into Danger - Mike Sunderland [SpongeBob choking] •Hello Blues - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob looks in the refrigerator] ‣Dramatic Cue (e) - Ronald Hanmer ["How did he know I'm supposed to be writing an essay?"] ‣Strange Goings-On - Dick Stephen Walter [SpongeBob goes back into his house] ‣The Plot Thickens - Dick Stephen Walter [news on TV] ‣Unknown Track 4 - Nicolas Carr ["Hey, SpongeBob, over here!"] ‣Terror by Night - Hubert Clifford [SpongeBob running back to his desk/"Ah! My pants!"] ‣Flight in Panic 1 - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob's house on fire] ‣Unpreventable - Gregor F. Narholz ["It's almost 9:00!"] ‣Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr ["Feeding your snail is something not to do at a stoplight!"] ‣Horlepiep - Jan Rap ["Mrs. Puff, I'm finished!"] ‣Keel Row - Brian Peters [ending]
After May 2005
•Hello Blues - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card] ‣Horlepiep - Jan Rap [opening] ‣On the Beach - Kapono Beamer ["I'm about to write the greatest essay of all time."] ‣Music, Calliope - [20th Century Fox Sound Effects] [Carnival] ‣Glory Road - Sam Fonteyn ["But I must press onward, because with this pencil and the completion of this essay..."] ‣Mambo Fantastico - Gerhard Narholz [squeaking chair] ‣Sunny Samoa - George de Fretes, Jan Rap [feeding Gary] ‣Four & Three - Harold Geller [SpongeBob cleaning his kitchen.] ‣Dramatic Cue (h) - Ronald Hanmer ["10:00?!"] ‣Dance of the Fumblers - Sam Spence [montage of SpongeBob writing] ‣Tympup A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["The..."] ‣Raspberry C - Sammy Burdson, John Fiddy ["The..."] ‣Stepping into Danger - Mike Sunderland ["Let's see, only 799 words to go."] ‣Chief Taravana - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob calls Patrick] ‣Stepping into Danger - Mike Sunderland [SpongeBob choking] •Hello Blues - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob looks in the refrigerator] ‣Dramatic Cue (e) - Ronald Hanmer ["How did he know I'm supposed to be writing an essay?"] ‣Strange Goings-On - Dick Stephen Walter [SpongeBob goes back into his house] ‣The Plot Thickens - Dick Stephen Walter [news on TV] ‣Unknown Track 4 - Nicolas Carr ["Hey, SpongeBob, over here!"] ‣Terror by Night - Hubert Clifford [SpongeBob running back to his desk/"Ah! My pants!"] ‣Flight in Panic 1 - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob's house on fire] ‣Unpreventable - Gregor F. Narholz ["It's almost 9:00!"] ‣Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr ["Feeding your snail is something not to do at a stoplight!"] ‣Horlepiep - Jan Rap ["Mrs. Puff, I'm finished!"]
This is one of two episodes with a famous deleted scene. The other is "Just One Bite" from season 3. Both of these scenes can still be seen on YTV, Nicktoons, and all DVD releases.
The deleted scene of this episode is also shown in other countries, though "Just One Bite" is still edited in all of those countries except for Canada and Korea.
When SpongeBob cleans his kitchen, it turns chrome, similar to how the future world looks in the episode "SB-129."
The scene from this episode where SpongeBob says "Do I dare look at my clock?" is shown at the beginning of the 2012 R-rated comedy film Ted.
The color for this episode and "I'm with Stupid" is different from any other episode. It appears less bright and more washed out in comparison to the rest of season 2. This is because a brown color filter has been added.
On all DVD releases containing the two episodes and on Amazon Prime, however, the brown color filter is removed, making the episode brighter to match the rest of the season.
This is the only season 2 episode to use the track "Hello Blues."
It's also the only episode to use that track in a title card.
An airing on October 18, 2019 (10pm ET) had the deleted scenes restored.[citation needed]
Patrick, the mailman, and the news reporter all know that SpongeBob has an essay due somehow, despite him never having told them on-screen. This is most likely a hint that most of the episode was a dream.
The scene where Nat Peterson mocks SpongeBob by saying "Did you hear that?! 800 words!" has become popular on the Internet.
SpongeBob writes down all the things he did during his procrastination dream as part of his essay on things not to do at a stoplight, which are as follows:
Feeding Gary
Talking to friends
Drinking water
Making a sandwich (attempted but got interrupted by the doorbell ringing)
Calling his friends (Patrick)
"Shooting breeze" with the mailman
Lighting candles
Karate-chopping the TV
Falling asleep
In most episodes, SpongeBob has a shellphone in his house. In this one, however, he has a regular house phone.
SpongeBob mentions bread twice in this episode: first when he discusses whether to use rye or pumpernickel bread to make a sandwich, and again when he asks if either of the aforementioned varieties are the type of bread the mailman puts on his table after the latter compares the said metaphor to delivering mail.
The snail that says 'time's up SpongeBob" resembles Gary.
This is the second episode where a character imagines a building setting on fire. The first was "Squid's Day Off" when Squidward imagines the Krusty Krab setting on fire.
It is never revealed what was delivered to SpongeBob in the mail.
Cultural references
In SpongeBob's nightmare, when he runs through a hall, and on the episode's title card background, there are deformed, melted, and melting clocks. This is a reference to The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí.
During the bubble transition while SpongeBob is cleaning the kitchen there's a blue screen which was made sometime in 2001 in 4:12 by Rough Draft Korea.
Spotlight?
On his essay, SpongeBob misspells "stoplight" as "spotlight."
If one were to look closely on DVD prints of this episode, when the glissando ripple effect comes in as the race car footage goes back to SpongeBob, his color appears as a normal shade of yellow, but shortly before it goes back to normal, it goes back to the washed out yellow color on the episode's DVD print.
When SpongeBob is at the sink, drinking water, two parts of his black belt turn yellow for a split second.
SpongeBob's mouth is missing.
Before SpongeBob is locked out of his house, his mouth disappears for a split second as the door slams shut.
When SpongeBob wakes up from his nightmare and looks at the paper before looking at the clock, only the word "the" is shown, and "What Not to do at a Spotlight by SpongeBob SquarePants" is missing from the top.
When SpongeBob says "Rye or pumpernickel?," his eyelashes are missing.
In the opening credits, the 'k' in Carson Kugler's name is lowercase instead of capitalized.
Erik Wiese has the "e" and the "i" in his surname swapped.
When SpongeBob says "Burning!," his mouth does not sync correctly.
The pencil is on SpongeBob's desk when the candle melts, but disappears when Flame jumps out of the desk.
When SpongeBob says "And now pencil, get ready to do your stuff because here we go!," the clock shows 5 to 4. Some seconds later the same clock shows 5 to 3.
On Amazon Prime Video, this whole episode is slightly darker in color. The same error occurs with its sister episode, "I'm with Stupid."
On the Official SpongeBob SquarePants account on Facebook and Twitter, it says that in 2003, SpongeBob began to write the essay, but the episode aired in 2001.[citation needed]
In the dream, after SpongeBob throws the candlelight on the ground, not only does it disappear afterward but it should have also logically caused his house to set on fire much earlier than it did before Flamey caused the arson.
The entire scene of SpongeBob's house catching on fire and various objects coming to life was revealed to all just be a dream, however SpongeBob is never shown falling asleep prior to this, making it seem like an actual part of the episode, or the entire episode all being a dream until SpongeBob wakes up and finally writes his essay.
It would be impossible for SpongeBob's house to be on fire as he lives underwater
The mailman who delivers SpongeBob's package should have put it in the mailbox instead of showing up at his door
No mailman would deliver past its cutoff time especially in the middle of the night.
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