If you were looking for the article about the DVD, then see The Complete Fourth Season.
The fourth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, was announced on September 22, 2004.[1] It premiered on May 6, 2005 with the episodes "Fear of a Krabby Patty" and "Shell of a Man," and ended on July 24, 2007 with the episode "Squid Wood."
Unlike the previous seasons' DVDs, season 4's was split into volumes. The volume one DVD was released in Region 1 on September 12, 2006, the volume two DVD was released in Region 1 on January 9, 2007, the season set was released its entirety in Region 2 on November 3, 2008, and on November 13, 2012, the entire collection of episodes from season 4 was released on DVD in Region 1.
Production
Although series creator Stephen Hillenburg wanted the show to end after release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie to prevent it from "jumping the shark" and because SpongeBob SquarePants had peaked with the first movie, Nickelodeon wanted more episodes to be produced in accordance with high ratings and series-based merchandise sales. Thus, the show was renewed for a fourth season.[2] However, Hillenburg resigned as the showrunner and appointed Paul Tibbitt.[3]
In November 2004, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, and the rest of the crew confirmed that they had completed four new episodes for broadcast on Nickelodeon in early 2005,[4][5] and planned to finish about 20 total for the then-fourth season.[4][5] In particular, Kenny said, "Kids were happy watching them for the 3,000th time. It was the parents who've been busting my chops for new episodes."[6] He remarked that it would be "the same show, the same sponge."[6]
List of episodes
| Title card | # | Title | U.S. airdate | U.S. viewers (millions)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
61a | "Fear of a Krabby Patty" | May 6, 2005 | |
| The Krusty Krab opens up for 24 hours as part of Plankton's plan. | ||||
 |
61b | "Shell of a Man" | May 6, 2005 | |
| Mr. Krabs molts and loses his shell. | ||||
 |
62a | "The Lost Mattress" | May 13, 2005 | |
| SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward try to get back Mr. Krabs' lost mattress. | ||||
 |
62b | "Krabs vs. Plankton" | May 13, 2005 | |
| Plankton sues Mr. Krabs. | ||||
 |
63 | "Have You Seen This Snail?" | November 11, 2005 | |
| Gary runs away from home after being neglected by SpongeBob. | ||||
 |
64a | "Skill Crane" | May 20, 2005 | |
| Squidward attempts to win a prize from the skill crane. | ||||
 |
64b | "Good Neighbors" | May 20, 2005 | |
| SpongeBob and Patrick annoy Squidward with their "Good Neighbor Lodge." | ||||
 |
65a | "Selling Out" | September 23, 2005 | |
| Mr. Krabs retires and leaves the Krusty Krab under new management. | ||||
 |
65b | "Funny Pants" | September 30, 2005 | |
| Fed up over SpongeBob's constant laughter, Squidward pranks him into thinking he's lost it. | ||||
 |
66 | "Dunces and Dragons" | February 20, 2006 | |
| After a jousting accident, SpongeBob and Patrick accidentally travel back in time to the Middle Ages. | ||||
 |
67a | "Enemy In-Law" | October 14, 2005 | |
| Plankton falls in love with Mr. Krabs' mother, Betsy Krabs. | ||||
 |
67b | "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture" | October 7, 2005 | |
| SpongeBob and Patrick find out that a Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie is in production and are using actors, so they make their own with the real heroes. | ||||
 |
68a | "Patrick SmartPants" | October 21, 2005 | |
| Patrick gets smarter after falling off a cliff and knocking his head off in Jellyfish Fields. | ||||
 |
68b | "SquidBob TentaclePants" | November 4, 2005 | |
| SpongeBob and Squidward get morphed together. | ||||
 |
69a | "Krusty Towers" | April 1, 2006 | |
| Mr. Krabs turns the Krusty Krab into a hotel. | ||||
 |
69b | "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" | April 1, 2006 | |
| Mrs. Puff gets fired and is replaced by a stricter teacher. | ||||
 |
70a | "Chimps Ahoy" | May 5, 2006 | |
| Sandy's bosses visit to see her inventions, but if they don't like anything, she must leave Bikini Bottom. | ||||
 |
70b | "Ghost Host" | May 5, 2006 | |
| The Flying Dutchman stays with SpongeBob to reclaim his dignity, but eventually struggles at trying to scare people. | ||||
 |
71a | "Whale of a Birthday" | May 12, 2006 | |
| Pearl turns 16 years old, and Mr. Krabs sends SpongeBob to get her a birthday present. | ||||
 |
71b | "Karate Island" | May 12, 2006 | |
| SpongeBob becomes "the king of karate" and travels to Karate Island with Sandy. | ||||
 |
72a | "All That Glitters" | June 2, 2006 | |
| SpongeBob breaks his spatula and is forced to replace it. | ||||
 |
72b | "Wishing You Well" | June 2, 2006 | |
| Mr. Krabs opens a wishing well at the Krusty Krab in an attempt to make money. | ||||
 |
73a | "New Leaf" | September 22, 2006 | |
| Plankton gives up on stealing the formula and turns the Chum Bucket into a gift shop, but Mr. Krabs thinks it's another scheme. | ||||
 |
73b | "Once Bitten" | September 29, 2006 | |
| Gary's biting causes the Bikini Bottomites to think that he has a disease. | ||||
 |
74a | "Bummer Vacation" | October 13, 2006 | |
| Mr. Krabs forces SpongeBob to take a vacation to avoid paying a fine, but his love of fry cookery prevents SpongeBob from doing so, and he constantly tries to sneak back to work. | ||||
 |
74b | "Wigstruck" | November 17, 2006 | |
| SpongeBob finds a wig and starts wearing it, and takes everyone's insults as compliments. | ||||
 |
75a | "Squidtastic Voyage" | October 6, 2006 | |
| After Squidward swallows his clarinet and the reed is still stuck in his throat, SpongeBob and Patrick shrink down to microscopic size and travel inside his body using Sandy's submarine to retrieve it. | ||||
 |
75b | "That's No Lady" | November 25, 2006 | |
| Patrick disguises himself as a woman to avoid getting kicked out of town. | ||||
 |
76a | "The Thing" | January 15, 2007 | |
| SpongeBob and Patrick think Squidward is an animal and call him "Smelly." | ||||
 |
76b | "Hocus Pocus" | January 15, 2007 | |
| SpongeBob thinks he turned Squidward into an ice cream cone. | ||||
 |
77a | "Driven to Tears" | February 19, 2007 | |
| Patrick gets his driver's license and rubs it in SpongeBob's face. | ||||
 |
77b | "Rule of Dumb" | February 19, 2007 | |
| Patrick becomes a mean tyrant when he is crowned king. | ||||
 |
78a | "Born to Be Wild" | March 31, 2007 | |
| SpongeBob and Patrick think that vicious bikers are coming to Bikini Bottom. | ||||
 |
78b | "Best Frenemies" | March 31, 2007 | |
| A new restaurant called Kelpshake opens up all over Bikini Bottom, where an unlikely duo team up to investigate. | ||||
 |
79a | "The Pink Purloiner" | February 19, 2007 | |
| During the Jellyfish Migration, SpongeBob loses his favorite jellyfishing net, Ol' Reliable, and accuses Patrick of stealing it. | ||||
 |
79b | "Squid Wood" | July 24, 2007 | |
| SpongeBob makes a miniature Squidward and everyone likes him better then the real Squidward. | ||||
 |
80a | "Best Day Ever" | November 10, 2006 | |
| SpongeBob's "best day ever" does not go as planned. | ||||
 |
80b | "The Gift of Gum" | February 19, 2007 | |
| Patrick gives SpongeBob a glob of gum for Best Friends Day, but SpongeBob wants to get rid of it. | ||||
Trivia
- Squidward has the most appearances in this season, only being absent in "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired," "Driven to Tears," "The Pink Purloiner," and only appearing as Squidly Tentacles in "Dunces and Dragons" and being heard off-screen in "Chimps Ahoy."
- To date, season 4 is the only season of the whole show that did not begin airing while the previous season was still airing, having premiered seven months after season 3 ended.
- The first seven episodes of this season were produced in 2004, the other seven were produced in 2005, and the rest of the episodes from this season were produced in 2006.
References
- ^ https://www.nexttv.com/news/nick-soaks-20-more-spongebob-episodes-372518
- ^ Heintjes, Tom (September 21, 2012). The Oral History of SpongeBob SquarePants. Cartoonician. Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
- ^ Bauder, David (July 13, 2009). SpongeBob Turns 10 Valued $8 Billion. Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
- ^ a b 10 secrets of SpongeBob SquarePants. The Chicago Tribune (November 19, 2004). Retrieved on August 18, 2013.
- ^ a b Ten secrets of the SpongeBob movie. Today. Retrieved on August 18, 2013.
- ^ a b SPONGEBOB READY FOR HIS FOURTH TV SEASON. The Cincinnati Post (May 2, 2005). Retrieved on November 2, 2013.
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/07/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20050508.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/07/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20050508.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/10/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20051113.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/07/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20050522.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/07/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20050522.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/11/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20060226.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/09/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20051106.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/12/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20060402.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.ratingsryan.com/2021/12/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20060402.html?m=1
- ^ http://www.ratingsryan.com/2020/07/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20060924.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.sbmania.net/forums/threads/weekly-spongebob-ratings.100/page-13#post-215716
- ^ https://www.sbmania.net/forums/threads/weekly-spongebob-ratings.100/page-13#post-215716
- ^ http://www.ratingsryan.com/2020/10/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20070225.html?m=1
- ^ http://www.ratingsryan.com/2020/10/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20070225.html?m=1
- ^ http://www.ratingsryan.com/2020/10/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20070401.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.sbmania.net/forums/threads/weekly-spongebob-ratings.100/page-14#post-247308
- ^ http://www.ratingsryan.com/2020/10/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20070401.html?m=1
- ^ https://www.sbmania.net/forums/threads/weekly-spongebob-ratings.100/page-14#post-247308
- ^ http://www.ratingsryan.com/2020/10/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20070225.html?m=1
- ^ http://www.ratingsryan.com/2020/08/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20061112.html?m=1
- ^ http://www.ratingsryan.com/2020/10/broadcast-cable-nielsens-20070225.html?m=1
