Season 9

If you were looking for the article about the DVD, then see The Complete Ninth Season.

SpongeBob SquarePantsSeason 9
General information
No. of episodes:	26 (49 segments)
Premiere:	July 21, 2012
Finale:	February 20, 2017
DVD releases
Region 1:	October 10, 2017
Region 4:	October 7, 2020
Chronology
Previous:	Season 8
Next:	Season 10

The ninth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, was announced on December 17, 2010, by Kenny Pittenger, and would be officially announced on January 3, 2011. Season 9 first aired on July 21, 2012 with the episodes "Extreme Spots" and "Squirrel Record" and ended on February 20, 2017 with "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?" The season was released on DVD on October 10, 2017, nearly eight months after it had completed broadcast on television. This season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg and writer Paul Tibbitt, who also acted as the showrunner.

A total of 26 episodes were produced for this season, bringing the number of episodes up to 204, passing the 200-episode milestone. This season marks the show's transition to 1080i HD by now having episodes produced and aired in widescreen (16:9), the native aspect ratio of high-definition.

Production

Art by Kenny Pittenger for the renewal of season nine.

The season aired on Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom, and was produced by United Plankton Pictures and Nickelodeon. The season's executive producers were series creator Stephen Hillenburg and Paul Tibbitt, who also acted as the series' showrunner. Midway through production of the eighth season, Kenny Pittenger announced on December 17, 2010 that the series had been renewed for a ninth season. Deadline.com reported on January 3, 2011 that there would be 26 episodes in the order, which would push the series over the 200th episode mark. SpongeBob SquarePants became the Nickelodeon series with the most episodes, surpassing Rugrats with 172 episodes, having 178 after the eighth season had complete broadcast on television.

In a statement, Brown Johnson, president of animation for Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group, said "SpongeBob's success in reaching over 200 episodes is a testament to creator Stephen Hillenburg's vision, comedic sensibility and his dynamic, lovable characters. The series now joins the club of contemporary classic Nicktoons that have hit this benchmark, so we're incredibly proud."

Series creator Stephen Hillenburg executive-produces the show alongside Paul Tibbitt, who has worked on the show since after the pilot. Tibbitt served as a director and writer on for its first 3 seasons and eventually taking over the showrunner position from Hillenburg. Tibbitt said, "We never imagined we would be on for that long but we're going to keep going. The trick is to try to keep the episodes funny and simple and press from there."

On July 21, 2012, the season premiered with the episodes "Extreme Spots" and "Squirrel Record" during a SpongeBob SquarePants television marathon event called "The Super Spongy Square Games." The episode "Extreme Spots" was written by Luke Brookshier, Marc Ceccarelli, and Derek Iversen, while Tom Yasumi served as animation director. It was guest starred by actor Johnny Knoxville. Moreover, "Squirrel Record" was written by Brookshier, Ceccarelli, and Iversen, and was directed by Alan Smart. During the television event, Nickelodeon also debuted two more episodes—"Demolition Doofus" and "Face Freeze!"—of the eighth season.

Animation was handled in South Korea at Rough Draft Studios. Production switched to high-definition in the season starting with the first episode "Extreme Spots." Animation directors credited with episodes in the ninth season included Alan Smart and Tom Yasumi. Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Casey Alexander, Brookshier, Ceccarelli, Zeus Cervas, Andrew Goodman, Iversen, Mr. Lawrence, and Blake Lemons. The season was storyboarded by Alexander, Brookshier, Ceccarelli, Cervas, and Blake Lemons. Animation directors included Alan Smart and Tom Yasumi.

On September 21, 2014, Vincent Waller confirmed on Twitter that production on season 9 was halted halfway through to concentrate working on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. After The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water concluded production in November 2014, production on season 9 was resumed to finish remaining episodes in the second half of the season.

According to an interview with Princess Grace Foundation-USA and Paul Tibbitt's former Twitter feed, creator Stephen Hillenburg came back to work on the show in January 2015, two months after the second film adaptation, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, finished production.

On May 29, 2015, Sherm Cohen released two storyboard images from a proposed season 9 episode. It was later revealed that they belong to "What's Eating Patrick?"

On June 5, 2015, Nickelodeon tweeted that "Stephen Hillenburg is back at Nickelodeon Animation Studios & there's a new [episode] on July 16!" This new episode was a continuation of season 9. This also supports an announcement by ViacomCBS that 20 new episodes were suppose to be released during summer 2015. However, only five episodes — "Lost in Bikini Bottom"/"Tutor Sauce," "The Executive Treatment"/"Squid Plus One," and "Pull Up a Barrel" — premiered before the end of September 22, 2015, which is the last day of summer.

On June 23, 2015, Kaz Prapuolenis posted on Facebook an image of a "Kaz Underworld-inspired background for an upcoming SpongeBob episode, further stating that it's "the bad part of town."

The previous day, Nickelodeon tweeted a GIF image which was presumed to be new footage from a future season 9 episode. These images were revealed to be from "Lost in Bikini Bottom."

On September 4, 2015, Vincent Waller revealed that "Krabs' Army" and "SpaceBob InvaderPants" - two rumored episodes since the end of the first half of season 9 - were actual episodes, but ended up being scrapped because "they didn't feel like they were worthy of the viewer's attention."

On December 9, 2015, Vincent Waller released two screenshots from a future season 9 episode. These images were revealed to be from "Married to Money."

On February 3, 2016, Vincent Waller confirmed "Larry's Gym" and "SpongeBob LongPants" as episodes and that the former would premiere on February 15, 2016. On the same day, Vincent Waller released three screenshots from "Larry's Gym."

On June 10, 2016, Vincent Waller released a screenshot from a future season 9 episode. On the same day, the image was revealed to be from "Food Con Castaways."

On July 13, 2016, Vincent Waller released two screenshots from a future season 9 episode. On the same day, these images were revealed to be from "Bulletin Board."

On October 25, 2016, Vincent Waller released two screenshots from a future season 9 episode. These images were revealed to be from "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?," which was at the time known as "Factory Fresh."

Cast

In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from many ranges of professions, including actors, musicians, and artists. For instance, the season premiere, "Extreme Spots," was guest-starred by American stunt performer and actor Johnny Knoxville voicing the character of Johnny Krill. The writing staff wrote the episode specifically for Knoxville. Executive producer Paul Tibbitt said, "In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from many ranges of professions, including actors, musicians, and artists. For instance, the season premiere "Extreme Spots" was guest starred by American stunt performer Johnny Knoxville voicing the character of Johnny Krill. The writing staff wrote the episode specifically for Knoxville. Executive producer Paul Tibbitt said, "[Nickelodeon] wanted to do a show about extreme sports and the first thing that came to mind was Johnny Knoxville, because there are few humans living that are as extreme as him." Knoxville accepted the role because he is a fan of the show.

Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway returned, reprising their respective roles as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in "Patrick-Man!" The episode was Borgnine's last voice-over work for the series as, on July 8, 2012, he died at the age of 95. The episode also marked as being Conway's final voice-over work for the series before his death on May 14, 2019 at the age of 85, though he returned to the franchise as the voice of a seagull in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, released in 2015. The characters were retired after this episode due to Borgnine's death prior to its release and have since been reduced to silent background cameos. In "License to Milkshake," comedian and Spinal Tap band member Michael McKean guest starred as the voice of Captain Frostymug. Rapper Biz Markie guest appeared as Kenny the Cat in the episode of the same name. In "The Executive Treatment," an American stage actor, comedian and director, Frank Ferrante, guest-starred as the voice of Stockholder eel. In "Sanctuary!," former The Price Is Right host Bob Barker guest starred as the voice of Bob Barnacle. In "Mall Girl Pearl," comedian legend Betty White and Aubrey Plaza guest starred as the voices of Beatrice and Nocturna. In "Sharks vs. Pods," Michael McKean returned and he voiced a new different character, Lonnie the Shark, along with Henry Winkler and David Lander as Sharkface and Donnie the Shark. Jon Hamm guest starred in "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?" as the voice of the business executive Don Grouper.

Reception

In a DVD review for a season release, Paul Mavis of DVDTalk was positive on the episode "Extreme Spots," writing "[It] gets big laughs from some very funny bits, including a motorcycle ripping off SpongeBob's arms, and SpongeBob's pathetic attempts at 'extreme jump roping' and 'extreme pillow fighting.'" However, the episode "Squirrel Record" was described by Mavis as "the weakest entry" on the set.

The episode "SpongeBob You're Fired" was criticized for its line that refers to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps benefit). In a scene from the episode, Patrick tries to show SpongeBob the benefits of being unemployed, at which he said in response, "Unemployment may be fun for you, but I need to get a job." The scene was meant to demonstrate the title character's "eternal optimism and willingness to get back to work," and "do it in a way that's still funny and relatable." However, it was reported that political activists claim the "notorious line" as a "slam" to the Food Stamps benefit. In a report by The Hollywood Reporter, it stated there that the episode may have a political agenda about the social safety net. It added that "It's not the first time SpongeBob has waded into social commentary, though usually when it does, it bugs the right and supports the left."

Nickelodeon declined to comment on the issue caused by the message of the episode. However, Russell Hicks of Nickelodeon said the show is "tapping into the news of the moment, but did not specifically address any political leanings or ideologies within the episode." In a statement, Hicks said "Like all really great cartoons, part of SpongeBob's long-running success has been its ability to tap into the zeitgeist while still being really funny for our audience. As always, despite this momentary setback, SpongeBob's eternal optimism prevails, which is always a great message for everyone."

The episode "Gary's New Toy" received a nomination at the 2013 Golden Reel Awards for the Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in Television category.

Promotional images

List of episodes

Title card	#	Title	U.S. airdate	U.S. viewers (millions)
	179a	"Extreme Spots" (tr • ga)	July 21, 2012	3.65
	SpongeBob and Patrick attempt to join the Drastic Radicals, an extreme sports team.
	179b	"Squirrel Record" (tr • ga)	July 21, 2012	3.65
	Sandy tries to break a number of world records and enlists SpongeBob's help.
	180a	"Patrick-Man!" (tr • ga)	October 27, 2012	3.78
	Patrick becomes a superhero alter-ego named Patrick-Man to save Bikini Bottom.
	180b	"Gary's New Toy" (tr • ga)	October 14, 2012	2.28
	Gary becomes obsessed with his new red ball.
	181a	"License to Milkshake" (tr • ga)	September 7, 2012	3.13
	SpongeBob returns to the Milkshake Academy after discovering his milkshake license has expired.
	181b	"Squid Baby" (tr • ga)	September 3, 2012	3.36
	A head injury makes Squidward act like a baby, and SpongeBob and Patrick must look after him.
	182a	"Little Yellow Book" (tr • ga)	March 2, 2013	4.73
	Squidward finds SpongeBob's diary, and reads in front of everyone in the Krusty Krab.
	182b	"Bumper to Bumper" (tr • ga)	November 17, 2012	4.01
	Mrs. Puff tries a new method to try and get SpongeBob to pass his boating test.
	183a	"Eek, an Urchin!" (tr • ga)	October 27, 2012	3.78
	The Krusty Krab Crew has a problem on their hands when SpongeBob finds an urchin.
	183b	"Squid Defense" (tr • ga)	January 1, 2013	3.70
	Squidward wants to learn karate from SpongeBob and Sandy after having a scary encounter down an alley.
	184a	"Jailbreak!" (tr • ga)	March 16, 2013	3.81
	An imprisoned Plankton joins forces with his cellmates to break out of jail and steal the Krabby Patty secret formula.
	184b	"Evil Spatula" (tr • ga)	March 9, 2013	4.04
	Plankton tricks SpongeBob by breaking his spatula and giving him a new one that he can talk through.
	185	"It Came from Goo Lagoon" (tr • ga)	February 17, 2014	4.04
	A giant super goo bubble has formed over Goo Lagoon, scaring Bikini Bottom.
	186a	"Safe Deposit Krabs" (tr • ga)	May 25, 2013	4.18
	Mr. Krabs gets trapped in the new Bikini Bottom Bank.
	186b	"Plankton's Pet" (tr • ga)	January 19, 2013	4.37
	After another failed attempt for the formula, Plankton decides that he wants a pet.
	187a	"Don't Look Now" (tr • ga)	October 14, 2013	3.42
	SpongeBob and Patrick think the Fisherman is after them after watching a scary movie.
	187b	"Séance Shméance" (tr • ga)	October 14, 2013	3.42
	SpongeBob attempts to make contact with the holy Sandwich Spirits in order to uncover a long lost sandwich recipe.
	188a	"Kenny the Cat" (tr • ga)	March 29, 2014	4.33
	SpongeBob looks up to the newest celebrity in town, Kenny the Cat, but Sandy believes he's a fraud.
	188b	"Yeti Krabs" (tr • ga)	March 29, 2015	2.25
	Mr. Krabs tells a story of a Yeti Krab that eats lazy employees, which makes SpongeBob work in overdrive.
	189	"SpongeBob You're Fired" (tr • ga)	November 11, 2013	5.19
	Mr. Krabs fires SpongeBob to save a nickel, so SpongeBob must find work at other restaurants.
	190a	"Lost in Bikini Bottom" (tr • ga)	July 16, 2015	2.76
	SpongeBob gets lost when trying to take a shortcut to work.
	190b	"Tutor Sauce" (tr • ga)	July 16, 2015	2.76
	Mr. Krabs tries to teach SpongeBob how to drive after he fails his driving test again.
	191a	"Squid Plus One" (tr • ga)	September 7, 2015	1.98
	Squidward receives an invitation to a gallery opening and scrambles to find a friend to take with him.
	191b	"The Executive Treatment" (tr • ga)	September 7, 2015	1.98
	While trying to order a special sandwich, Patrick gets swept up in the fast-paced world of big business.
	192a	"Company Picnic" (tr • ga)	September 25, 2015	1.61
	Mr. Krabs throws a company picnic to boost morale.
	192b	"Pull Up a Barrel" (tr • ga)	September 18, 2015	2.09
	Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob and Squidward tales from his old navy days.
	193a	"Sanctuary!" (tr • ga)	October 16, 2015	1.28
	SpongeBob adopts stray sea snails, but he begins to take in more than he can handle.
	193b	"What's Eating Patrick?" (tr • ga)	October 2, 2015	1.77
	Patrick enters a Krabby Patty-eating competition in order to defend Bikini Bottom's honor.
	194a	"Patrick! The Game" (tr • ga)	November 11, 2015	2.05
	Patrick invents a new board game and invites SpongeBob, Sandy, and Squidward to play it with him.
	194b	"The Sewers of Bikini Bottom" (tr • ga)	November 11, 2015	2.05
	After accidentally flushing Mr. Krabs' safe, SpongeBob and Squidward must go into the sewers to find it. Meanwhile, Mr. Krabs visits the new stadium, which is having plumbing issues.
	195a	"SpongeBob LongPants" (tr • ga)	February 15, 2016	2.93
	SpongeBob starts wearing long pants, which causes his personality to change.
	195b	"Larry's Gym" (tr • ga)	February 15, 2016	2.93
	When Larry the Lobster opens a new gym in Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob becomes his best customer.
	196a	"The Fish Bowl" (tr • ga)	May 2, 2016	1.96
	When Sandy tries to study SpongeBob and Patrick's behavioral patterns, her science experiment goes awry.
	196b	"Married to Money" (tr • ga)	May 3, 2016	1.76
	After following Plankton's advice, Mr. Krabs decides to marry the only thing he ever loved - money.
	197a	"Mall Girl Pearl" (tr • ga)	March 12, 2016	3.11
	Pearl gets a job to be cool like her friends, but the only store hiring is the lamest store in the mall.
	197b	"Two Thumbs Down" (tr • ga)	March 12, 2016	3.11
	SpongeBob breaks his thumbs.
	198a	"Sharks vs. Pods" (tr • ga)	May 4, 2016	1.81
	SpongeBob meets up with the toughest guys in town.
	198b	"CopyBob DittoPants" (tr • ga)	May 5, 2016	1.71
	Plankton clones SpongeBob to steal the secret formula, but his plans might be ruined by the original sponge.
	199a	"Sold!" (tr • ga)	May 6, 2016	1.80
	SpongeBob and Patrick move away after they think their houses have been sold, which thrills Squidward.
	199b	"Lame and Fortune" (tr • ga)	July 11, 2016	1.96
	Plankton realizes that fortune cookies can predict the future, so he twists them to fit his own schemes.
	200	"Goodbye, Krabby Patty?" (tr • ga)	February 20, 2017	2.67
	SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs seek business advice from an ad executive in Mr. Krabs' endeavor to launch a line of frozen Krabby Patties.
	201a	"Sandy's Nutmare" (tr • ga)	July 12, 2016	2.00
	Sandy creates an acorn food sensation, but her tree pays the price for her greed.
	201b	"Bulletin Board" (tr • ga)	October 1, 2016	2.11
	SpongeBob puts up a community bulletin board, but anonymous reviews lead to trouble.
	202a	"Food Con Castaways" (tr • ga)	July 13, 2016	2.02
	The gang heads to a food convention, but things go downhill when they get lost in the woods.
	202b	"Snail Mail" (tr • ga)	October 22, 2016	1.67
	SpongeBob accidentally lies to his pen pal, and he's got to continue the foul play when he visits.
	203a	"Pineapple Invasion" (tr • ga)	July 14, 2016	2.24
	When SpongeBob hides the Krabby Patty formula in his house, Gary must protect it from Plankton.
	203b	"Salsa Imbecilicus" (tr • ga)	July 15, 2016	1.83
	Sandy and Karen must save the day after everyone in town becomes as stupid as Patrick.
	204a	"Mutiny on the Krusty" (tr • ga)	October 8, 2016	1.94
	When a rip current blows away the Krusty Krab, an insane Mr. Krabs has to guide his employees and customers back to safety.
	204b	"The Whole Tooth" (tr • ga)	December 3, 2016	2.12
	Patrick has to lose his last baby tooth, but he is frightened.

Trivia

• This is the longest-running season of SpongeBob SquarePants, with it taking four years and seven months to complete broadcast on television.
  • This season also took the longest amount of time to be produced, with the episodes being copyrighted between 2012 and 2016.
    • The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was produced halfway through this season's run, explaining the hiatus between the completion of "SpongeBob You're Fired" in 2013 and "Lost in Bikini Bottom" in 2015. No episodes were produced or copyrighted in 2014.
• This season contains the largest hiatus of the series. In this case, the time between the episodes "Kenny the Cat" and "Yeti Krabs" took exactly 1 year.
• This season marked Stephen Hillenburg's return to the series, starting with "Lost in Bikini Bottom."
• This was the last season to have Paul Tibbitt as the showrunner and executive producer before he left the series.
  • This was also the first season to credit Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller as the showrunners, starting with the "Patrick! The Game."
• This was also the last season to have Vincent Waller as the creative director, until the episode "What's Eating Patrick?"
• The following changes occurred to the format of the opening credits during this season:
  • Up to "SpongeBob You're Fired," the text in the opening credits are larger and in boldface.
    • This also applies to "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!"
  • Starting with "Lost in Bikini Bottom," the writers are now credited first. The storyboard director credit is also replaced with the "storyboard by" credit. The producer and the executive producers are now credited. Additionally, the text is now smaller and thinner.
  • Starting with "Company Picnic," the storyboard supervisor for each segment is now credited.
    • "Pull Up a Barrel," "Sanctuary!," "Patrick! The Game," and "Larry's Gym" are the only exceptions.
  • From "Company Picnic" to "What's Eating Patrick?," the animatic director is credited, between the creative and animation directors.
  • Starting with "Patrick! The Game," the supervising producer credit is used again, indicating the change in showrunners. This credit is placed between the producer and executive producers.
  • Starting with "Mall Girl Pearl," storyboard supervisors are now credited as supervising directors. Their placement is also moved to the second part of the opening credits, taking the former spot of the creative director credit.
    • In later seasons, as well as the spin-offs, new supervisors are usually credited as storyboard supervisors first before being promoted to supervising directors.
• From "Extreme Spots" to "SpongeBob You're Fired," there are no transitions between the title card and the opening credits, instead, it just cuts to the opening credits. Starting with "Lost in Bikini Bottom," there would be a small fade within them like in seasons 1 to 8.
  • "Truth or Square" and "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" also have no transition between the title card and credits.
• The second half of this season marked the show's transition to being script-driven instead of storyboard-driven, starting with "Lost in Bikini Bottom."
• "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?" is the only episode in this season to premiere in 2017.
• This season contains the most number of episodes with two animation directors.
• This season holds the record for the most celebrity guest stars, with a total of 22.
• This was the last season where Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy have speaking roles due to the deaths of their voice actors, Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway, on July 8, 2012 and May 14, 2019 respectively.
• "Married to Money" marks the debut of the show's standard iris out closing for most episodes from then on.
• Despite the DVD not being released in Region 2, the season is available through Netflix as of September 30, 2021.
• This is the first season to not have Aaron Springer as a writer and storyboard director.
• Besides SpongeBob, Squidward has the most appearances in this season, being absent only in "Extreme Spots," "Bumper to Bumper," "Snail Mail," and appearing only in a picture frame in "Gary's New Toy," as a disguise in "Jailbreak!," and as an illustration of the moon in "Sandy's Nutmare."
• Starting with "Lost in Bikini Bottom," the episodes are no longer PAL-pitched in some countries, with the only exception being the UK.
• This season has the most scrapped episodes, but none of them are officially confirmed besides the original version of "Company Picnic" (Dueling Picnics), "Krab's Army," "SpaceBob InvaderPants," and "Best Friends for Never."
• All double-length episodes from this season premiered on a Monday.
• This is the first season to not include Flying Dutchman since his debut.
  • This is also the first season where Patchy the Pirate and Potty the Parrot are completely absent, including promotional materials.

Videos

BEST of SpongeBob Season 9! (Part 1) 🥇 - 1-Hour Compilation - SpongeBob SquarePants

BEST of SpongeBob Season 9! (Part 2) 🥇 - 1-Hour+ Compilation - SpongeBob SquarePants

BEST of SpongeBob Season 9! - 2+ Hour Compilation - @SpongeBobOfficial