On January 3, 2011, Nickelodeon ordered 26 episodes for a ninth season, to bring the number of episodes up to 204 and pass the 200-episode milestone. Season 9 aired on July 21, 2012 with the episodes "Extreme Spots" and "Squirrel Record". This season marks the show's transition to HD by now having every episode produced in widescreen (16:9), the native aspect ratio of high definition.
| Title card | # | Title | U.S. airdate | U.S. viewers (millions)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
179a | "Extreme Spots" (tr • ga) | July 21, 2012 | |
| SpongeBob and Patrick are dying to join Johnny Krill's extreme sports team. | ||||
 |
179b | "Squirrel Record" (tr • ga) | July 21, 2012 | |
| Sandy tries to break a number of world records. | ||||
 |
180a | "Patrick-Man!" (tr • ga) | October 27, 2012 | |
| Patrick becomes a superhero and plans to clean up Bikini Bottom. | ||||
 |
180b | "Gary's New Toy" (tr • ga) | October 14, 2012 | |
| SpongeBob must take drastic measures when Gary becomes obsessed with his new red ball. | ||||
 |
181a | "License to Milkshake" (tr • ga) | September 7, 2012 | |
| SpongeBob returns to the milk-shake academy after discovering his milk-shake license has expired. | ||||
 |
181b | "Squid Baby" (tr • ga) | September 3, 2012 | |
| A head injury makes Squidward thinks he's a baby, and SpongeBob and Patrick must look after him. | ||||
 |
182a | "Little Yellow Book" (tr • ga) | TBA | |
| Squidward finds SpongeBob's diary and reads in front of everyone in the Krusty Krab. | ||||
 |
182b | "Bumper to Bumper" (tr • ga) | November 17, 2012 | |
| SpongeBob once again fails at his boating test, but has gone too far this time. | ||||
| [[File:|70px|center]] | ' | "Eek, An Urchin!" (ga) | October 27, 2012 | |
| The Krusty Krab Krew have a problem on their hands when SpongeBob finds an urchin. | ||||
 |
183b | "Squid Defense" (tr • ga) | January 18, 2013 | |
| After Squidward's groceries are stolen, SpongeBob and Sandy teach him karate to protect himself. | ||||
 |
184a | "Jailbreak!" (tr • ga) | Early next year | |
| Plankton is in jail, but he teams up with his cellmate to break out and steal the Krabby Patty formula! | ||||