The episode begins with SpongeBob and Sandy having a good time at Goo Lagoon. Larry comes by and asks them if they want to do some weights. They accept, despite SpongeBob not being in the mood to do weights. Larry and Sandy do several impressive weight stunts, while SpongeBob tries to pick up a stick. When SpongeBob tries to pick up a stick with two marshmallows on the sides, he accidentally rips his pants.
This causes everyone to laugh, prompting SpongeBob to continue making ripped pants jokes. After awhile, SpongeBob's ripped pants jokes start to annoy the people in Goo Lagoon. At some point, SpongeBob fakes himself drowning in order to make a ripped pants joke, but this causes everyone to get angry at home and leave him, alone.
SpongeBob tries to figure out more ripped pants jokes as the last one didn't work, but realizes nobody is paying attention to him. He sees some other people who make big mistakes. SpongeBob decides to sing a song about how he lost his friends due to ripping his pants. Sandy forgives SpongeBob for what he did, and the episode ends with SpongeBob ripping his underwear while signing Larry's shorts, making him embarrassed.
In the "Top 100 Greatest Moments in Nicktoon History," it was ranked #6.
Ripped Pants" is one of Tom Kenny's favorite episodes. He says "I think one of my favorite episodes is uh, "Ripped Pants," the one where SpongeBob rips his pants by mistake and gets a laugh out of it, and then overplays his hand by doing it one too many times, and people get bored with it, and he realizes that jokes have a lifespan. And I think that's something that happened to me a lot as a kid, where you would accidentally hit on something that was really funny and you would just do it over and over and over again, and when people stopped laughing, it was kind of like a slap in the face, it kinda hurt, and then you had to go out and find something else stupid to uh, get attention and laughs from your classmates."
On the title card, Paul Tibbitt's name is misspelled as "Paul Tibibitt" when credited as storyboard director. However his name is spelled correctly when later credited as a writer. This also happens with Mark O'Hare, whose name was also misspelled as "Mark O'hare" with a lowercase 'h'. This error was corrected in later airings of this episode.File:Capture 2020-03-13-08-42-36.png
Original airing error
Corrected version
When the first view of the weightlifters is shown, there are two huts, but when it goes to a close-up on the weightlifters, the huts are gone.
When Larry lifts the seats the Bikini Bottomites were sitting on, the background moves in such a way on the close-up on the Bikini Bottomites that it looks like the camera is panning down to the bottom of the seats instead of it looking like the seats are lifting up.
After SpongeBob rips off his pants, he still has his sleeves on for the rest of the episode, save for one shot.
SpongeBob rips off his swimsuit, revealing his underwear, but when the camera zooms out as the other "losers" join him for the "Ripped Pants" song, he is seen wearing his swimsuit again.
In several scenes, SpongeBob rips his pants, then in the next scene, they are not ripped.
When the five female fish listen to the song, the yellow fish is on the left and the green fish is on the right, but in the next scene, they are switched.
Larry the Lobster is credited as a customer on the credits when he is really the lifeguard.
After he rips off his pants, SpongeBob's cuffs disappear when he looks toward Sandy and Larry, but they reappear when it cuts back to him.
When SpongeBob and the others were singing the song, they ripped their pants. After the song, they are not ripped.
If one looks closely in the Ripped Pants song, several scenes still have SpongeBob with his swim trunks on.
Running gags
SpongeBob ripping his pants.
SpongeBob getting jealous when Sandy hangs out with Larry.
Video
SpongeBob SquarePants Ripped Pants👖 in 5 Minutes Nick
When SpongeBob Ripped his Pants! 👖 TuesdayTunes
‘Ripped Pants’ Remix Music Video 👖 Hip-Hop, Acapella, & More! SpongeBob
