"Something Smells" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 2. In this episode, SpongeBob makes a sundae that gives him bad breath.
Characters[]
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Gary the Snail
- Shelley (cameo)
- Crossing guard (debut)
- Marching band (single appearance)
- Didgeridoo player (debut)
- Patrick Star
- Mirror SpongeBob (debut)
- Smaller mailman (debut)
- Agnes (debut)
- Lady (debut)
- Incidentals
- Troutenheimer
- Incidental 2
- Incidental 6
- Incidental 7
- Incidental 8
- Incidental 27
- Incidental 30
- Incidental 31
- Harold (Inc 36)
- Incidental 37B
- Scooter
- Incidental 41
- Incidental 42
- Incidental 48
- Stretch
- Steve
- Dale
- Incidental 109
- Incidental 110
- Lenny
- Incidental 115
- Incidental 118
- Incidental 141
- Incidental 142
- Incidental 143
- Incidental 144
- Mr. Mailman (Inc 154) (debut)
- Man inc hat (debut)
- Purple leech creature (single appearance)
- Squidward Tentacles (cameo)
- The Ugly Barnacle (mentioned)
Synopsis[]
SpongeBob wakes up one Sunday morning and decides to commemorate the occasion by having an ice cream "sundae" for breakfast. Unfortunately, he has no ice cream, and finds standard toppings like bananas and cherries to be boring. Gary ate all the peanuts from his peanut jar, so he instead creates a new type of sundae made from onions, ketchup, and the contents of a nearly dead potted peanut plant. Unbeknownst to SpongeBob, the result of eating the sundae is intensely rancid breath.

"You know what they say, Gary, I'm easy like Sunday morning."
After breakfast, SpongeBob begins his Sunday to-do list, which consists of saying "Hi!" to everyone in town. Unfortunately, the townspeople are universally disgusted by the smell of SpongeBob's rancid breath and run away from him. SpongeBob is very confused by this and asks Patrick if he notices anything wrong with him. Patrick, not having a nose, cannot smell the foul odor. After running down a list of possibilities, Patrick concludes that SpongeBob is simply ugly. He proves this by showing SpongeBob his reflection in a mirror, and the reflection SpongeBob takes a hammer and destroys the mirror. He then believes he is indeed ugly, since it seems that his own reflection can't stand the sight of him. SpongeBob is dismayed by this revelation and isolates himself in his home.
Later, Patrick visits SpongeBob, who has resigned to become a hermit and tells Patrick to just go run away from him like everyone else. Patrick then tells SpongeBob the story of The Ugly Barnacle, which fails to cheer him up. Patrick then encourages him to take pride in his ugliness. He helps SpongeBob get the nerve to "scream" and on the rooftop of SpongeBob's house, SpongeBob screams, "I'm ugly and I'm proud!" It works, and SpongeBob's confidence grows, so they decide to go see a movie at the Reef Cinema to celebrate.
As they take their seats, all of the movie-goers are disgusted and some even die once they smell SpongeBob's breath, which angers Patrick and sends him into a tirade. Patrick forces the other viewers to look at SpongeBob. With every word SpongeBob speaks, the viewers panic and flee, soon leaving no one in the auditorium. Patrick gets hungry, so they go to the lobby to buy a snack. However, no one is at the counter, and Patrick assumes the employees are on break. They cannot buy a snack, and SpongeBob remembers he has some of his sundae left in his pocket. He pulls some sundae out of his pocket and gives it to Patrick to eat. He likes it, but after eating it, Patrick feels a sudden urge to use the bathroom.
While washing his hands, Patrick asks a fish next to him for some soap, but the fish gives him money from his pocket, and he tells him to stay away from him, and runs away. Upon finding that no one will stay within his vicinity, Patrick fears he has caught "The Ugly" from SpongeBob and hides in a stall with a paper bag over his head. SpongeBob attempts to help him out by explaining that there's power in pride, which Patrick had taught him earlier that day.

"We stink! We stink! We stink! We stink! We stink! We stink!"
During the conversation that follows, SpongeBob eventually smells Patrick's extremely foul breath and tries to tell the rambling Patrick before shouting at him to get his attention. He then tells Patrick that it is not his appearance, but his breath which stinks, much to Patrick's relief. SpongeBob then asks what he ate, which Patrick replied, "Some roast beef, some chicken, a pizza." just this morning. Knowing there must have been more than that, SpongeBob says, "What else?" and Patrick replies "Well I had some of your sundae." Then, it dawns on him. It was the sundae SpongeBob made. SpongeBob realizes that they are not ugly, but simply have bad breath from the sundae.
Immensely relieved their appearance was not the problem, the two begin to run around shouting, "We stink!", causing their noxious breath to melt down the theater. SpongeBob and Patrick run into Squidward, looking at wigs in a window display. SpongeBob cries out in joy, "Guess what, Squidward? We stink!" as they hug him, leaving Squidward staring blankly as SpongeBob and Patrick start running away into the distance, laughing and cheering as the episode closes.
Production[]
Art[]
Sketches[]
Background design[]
- Sourced from the Internet Archive, done by the crew in-house at Nickelodeon.[5]
Music[]
( ‣ ) Production music |
( • ) Original music |
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
‣ Dangerous C - Mladen Franko [Title card]
‣ Hawaiian Hula - Terry Day [Opening]
‣ Lonely Violin - Dick Stephen Walter [Gary playing violin]
‣ Hawaiian Hula - Terry Day [Peanut plants]
‣ On The Beach - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob has bad breath after finishing the sundae]
‣ Nostalgic Hawaii - George de Fretes, Jan Rap [SpongeBob saying hi to everyone]
• Fish March - Nicolas Carr [parade]
‣ Shock (F) - Dave Hewson [Everyone runs away]
• Gator - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob finds Patrick sitting on a bench]
‣ Harry's Back - Hans Ehrlinger ["Maybe it's the way you're dressed."/"You gotta be kiddin' me.."]
• Steel Licks 78 - Jeremy Wakefield [Reflection test]
‣ The Nightmare Begins (A) - John Devereaux [SpongeBob asking people if he is ugly]
‣ Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill ["I'm ugly...!"]
‣ The Last Judgement - Peter Lea-Cox [Organ music]
• Organ Gliss - Nicolas Carr [Organ glissando downwards]
‣ Monster Chords (C) - Peter Lea-Cox [Organ music]
• Organ Gliss - Nicolas Carr [Organ upward gliss overlays "Monster Chords (C)"]
‣ A Day by the Sea [#20] - Dick Stephen Walter [The Ugly Barnacle]
‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill [Spiraling]
‣ Me for You - George Callert ["Okay, now, say it."]
‣ The Land Is Ours - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob saying he is ugly and proud]
‣ Hawaiian Link (A) - Richard Myhill [Movie theater exterior]
‣ Legends of Hollywood (a) - Ron Goodwin ["Pardon me, ugly sponge coming through."]
‣ Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill ["I'm not always as confident as I look."]
‣ On Fire - Gregor F. Narholz ["What is wrong with you people?!"]
‣ Vibe Link (b) - Richard Myhill ["Oh wait, Patrick, I just remembered."]
• Closing Theme 2 - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob saved some of the sundae]
‣ Samoa Hotel - Salvatore Assenza, Franco Zauli [Inside the bathroom]
‣ Shock (C) - Dave Hewson ["I caught the ugly!"]
‣ Samoa Hotel - Salvatore Assenza, Franco Zauli ["Patrick, is everything okay in here?"]
‣ Hawaiian Breeze - Jon Jelmer [Patrick with a bag over his head]
‣ Shock (P) - Dave Hewson ["You gave me the ugly!"]
• Gator - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob smells Patrick's breath]
‣ Vibe Link (b) - Richard Myhill ["Sundae..."]
‣ Hawaiian Link (A) - Richard Myhill ["We're not ugly, we just stink!"]
‣ Chief Taravana - Kapono Beamer [Ending]
Release[]
Distribution[]
- This episode is available on the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies, Complete 2nd Season, Squidward's Day Off, Imitation Krabs, Sponge Crazy, Your Shoe's Untied, SpongeBob on DVD, First 100 Episodes, Really Big Box Set, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 2, Complete Second Season, From the Beginning, Part 1, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, The First & Second Seasons, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs and on VideoNow.
- This episode is available on the Nautical Nonsense and Undersea Antics Volume 1 VHS tapes.
- This episode is also available on the It's a SpongeBob Christmas! Blu-ray.
Reception[]
- "Something Smells" was ranked #70 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.
Trivia[]
General[]
- This is the first episode for several things:
- In airing order, the first SpongeBob SquarePants episode of season 2 and the first to be animated with digital coloring.
- The first episode that Aaron Springer and C.H. Greenblatt worked on together, as mentioned in the audio commentary.
- This is also the first episode written by Greenblatt.
- The first episode to play "Dangerous C."
- The first time that "Steel Licks" plays. It would become a commonly used track afterwards.
- The first episode where "Chief Taravana" plays in the normal pitch.
- Patrick's new "Z" shaped eyebrows, first made a mainstay of the character's design in this episode, first appeared in the final music video scene of "Your Shoe's Untied" during the part where Patrick gets a shoe as a scoop of ice cream. This is the first episode where Patrick's "Z" shaped eyebrows fully replace his sideways "M" shaped eyebrows from season 1.
- Patrick's "M" shaped eyebrows would reappear throughout early season 2 in the episodes "Squid's Day Off" and "Big Pink Loser", before the "Z" shaped ones become a permanent fixture in "Wormy."
- This along with its sister episode were the first episodes to use the 2000-2006 Nickelodeon Productions logo at the end.
- SpongeBob's grunting as he adds the ketchup is recycled from "Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost."
- It was also used in "Your Shoe's Untied."
- "My leg!:" The marching band gets irritated with the stench of SpongeBob's breath after they bump into buildings that they got thrown into.
- SpongeBob's grunting while running away after the anchovies bite a hook is reused from "Hall Monitor."

Duplicate Incidentals.
- At Reef Cinema, multiple duplicate Incidentals can be seen:
- When the duo walks into one of the stadium rooms, the same few Incidentals are seen several times.
- When Patrick says, "Look at it!" two blue Incidental 1 models and two Incidental 6 models can be seen.
- Patrick mentions that he does not have a sister in this episode. However, this is later retconned by the episode "Big Sister Sam," where he is indeed revealed to have a sister. Also, in The Patrick Star Show, he has an adopted sister named Squidina.
- At the beginning of the episode's audio commentary on the Complete 2nd Season DVD, it was revealed that this episode was originally going to start with SpongeBob going out to buy every gallon of ice cream in town and not knowing the flavor of ice cream he buys is onion, then getting bad breath from eating it. But they later decided that he would make his sundae with ketchup, raw onions, and peanut plants.
- The audio commentary also mentions a scrapped line that would've played at the very end of the episode. After SpongeBob and Patrick hug Squidward and run away, he would say, "Ugly and smelly, two for one," but it was cut due to the whole screen fading to black at the end.
- A large number of characters were killed over the course of this episode:
- Norton's body layers fall apart.
- SpongeBob's reflection commits suicide by smashing himself with a hammer.
- Two anchovies commit suicide by reeling themselves up with a hook.
- SpongeBob causes a car to explode, killing Incidental 110.
- SpongeBob's bad breath causes two fish to go belly-up in the movie theater.
- Another fish gets her face destroyed by SpongeBob's breath.
- Several scenes from this episode have become popular internet memes:
- SpongeBob walking out of the kitchen after finishing his sundae.
- SpongeBob's initial to-do list (which only consists of "go to work").
- Patrick telling SpongeBob "Maybe it's the way you're dressed?" became a meme in September 2019, due to a snippet of the audio (the 'ay' portion in 'Maybe') sounding similar or being the likely origin to the dialogue audio used for Sans in the RPG game Undertale.
- Patrick's ugly barnacle story.
- SpongeBob saying, "I'm ugly and I'm proud!"
- Troutenheimer's reaction to SpongeBob's bad breath and saying, "Deuueaugh!"
- Patrick saying, "Look at it!"
- SpongeBob's long-lasting extended laugh after Patrick told him that maybe it's his voice, which became used all over the internet, including social media platforms and even some YouTube videos.
- There is an online game based on this episode titled SpongeBob's Stinky Swagger.
- In this episode, Patrick is unable to discern SpongeBob's rancid breath because he does not have a nose, which also comes into play in "No Nose Knows." However, he was able to smell without a nose in some episodes such as "Rock-a-Bye Bivalve," and has a small nostril in "Wet Painters" and "That's No Lady," while he was able to grow a nose in "The Battle of Bikini Bottom."
- On the March 29, 2003 airing, this episode was paired up with "Suds."[6]
- In real life, peanuts do not actually grow on plants like the one SpongeBob has. They grow from the roots under the plants in the dirt.
Dub facts[]

French title card.

German title card.
- In the French dub, the background for the title card is the exact same background from "Big Pink Loser."
- In the German dub, the background for the title card is the exact same background from "The Smoking Peanut."
- The same goes for the German versions of "Prehibernation Week," and "Artist Unknown."
Episode references[]
- The giant calendar that SpongeBob is flung into by his bed at the beginning was seen earlier in "Boating School."
Cultural references[]
- After SpongeBob finishes his sundae, he says to Gary, "You know what they say, Gary... I'm easy like Sunday morning," which is a reference to the chorus of The Commodores' 1977 song "Easy."
- The shot with SpongeBob playing the organ and wearing a mask is a reference to The Phantom of the Opera.
- The Ugly Barnacle is a reference to the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, The Ugly Duckling.
- The glasses SpongeBob wears in this episode are a parody of Groucho Marx.
- In the scene with the marching band, SpongeBob says, "...and hello, Dolly!," which could very well be a reference to the 1964 musical, Hello, Dolly!.
Errors[]

Should be written as "Edgar Larrazábal."

Edgar Larrazábal spelled correctly in later reruns.
- In the opening credits, when Edgar Larrazábal is credited as an animation director, his last name is misspelled as Larrazabla.[7] This error was fixed in later American airings of this episode[8] and the iTunes version.

SpongeBob with sleeves on when he does not have them in any scenes with him in his underwear.
- At the beginning when SpongeBob's alarm clock goes off, SpongeBob has sleeves on, but in all other bedroom scenes of SpongeBob in his underwear, he does not have any sleeves on.

SpongeBob's bedroom on the wrong floor.
- After SpongeBob goes from his bedroom to his kitchen to make the sundae, when he opens the door, his bedroom wallpaper is shown instead of his living room; SpongeBob's bedroom is not located next to his kitchen.

SpongeBob with a backwards hand.
- When SpongeBob opens the giant ketchup bottle and squeezes it into his sundae bowl, his right hand is on backwards.
- Once SpongeBob squeezes the giant ketchup bottle into the bowl, steam is shown coming out of the ketchup. This is incorrect, as ketchup never has steam.
- When SpongeBob is making the sundae, the peanut plant vase that he throws in changes direction in-between shots.
- When SpongeBob walks to Patrick when Patrick is on the bench, Patrick's legs are missing.
- In all current Nickelodeon USA, Nicktoons USA, Nick at Nite, UK airings,[9] all digital and streaming releases on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and iTunes of this episode, SpongeBob walks up to a building and says, "Hi, building!" which causes the building to flee from SpongeBob's breath. He goes up to Patrick and says, "I just don't get it!" and Patrick says, "I don't either."
- However, on all DVD releases, the Nautical Nonsense and Undersea Antics Volume 1 VHS tapes, the Nick Scene It? DVD game, the VideoNow disc, the It's a SpongeBob Christmas! Blu-ray, Canadian airings on YTV and Nickelodeon Canada, Polish airings, French airings, Australian airings, and Arab airings of this episode, the scene instead goes like this:
- SpongeBob: [walks up to a building and waves] I just don't get it! [the building flees]
- Patrick: [off-screen] I don't, either. [SpongeBob walks up to Patrick; the rest of the scene goes as normal, resulting in the same lines being repeated].
- According to the audio commentary on the season 2 DVD, this was a sound mixing error. The music also repeats itself incorrectly at that point. It is made obvious since SpongeBob's mouth still clearly says the intended line. However, the closed-captioning on the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies and Season 2 DVDs still use the original correct line. But on The First 100 Episodes DVD, the closed-captioning has been updated to match the incorrect audio.
- The M&E track of the episode suffered the audio mixing error as well. As a result, many of the international versions of the show dub over the incorrect audio error dialogue, though the German, Japanese and Serbian dubs correct the dialogue.
- However, on all DVD releases, the Nautical Nonsense and Undersea Antics Volume 1 VHS tapes, the Nick Scene It? DVD game, the VideoNow disc, the It's a SpongeBob Christmas! Blu-ray, Canadian airings on YTV and Nickelodeon Canada, Polish airings, French airings, Australian airings, and Arab airings of this episode, the scene instead goes like this:
- When Patrick sees SpongeBob in his house, playing the organ, SpongeBob has a mask on, but after SpongeBob turns around and Patrick lifts him, the mask is gone.
- At Reef Cinema:
- When SpongeBob and Patrick enter a stadium:
- There are six seats per row, but a few seconds before SpongeBob and Patrick take a seat, there appears to be more seats per row.
- It is in a wide-shot, and Tom is next to the red fish, Harold. However, a couple seconds before SpongeBob and Patrick get to Harold, he is sitting next to the red-haired fish.
- Also, upon arriving, almost every seat has someone in it, but when SpongeBob gets to the front row, very few seats are filled.
- SpongeBob and Patrick first sit in the front row. But later, when Patrick lifts SpongeBob, they appear to be in the middle row.
- When SpongeBob and Patrick enter a stadium:

Two fishes in the background change color between scenes.
- When SpongeBob talks to the blue woman in the red dress, the fish in the background change colors from blue to green to red.
- When Patrick says, "Don't worry about him, SpongeBob," the fish turns back to green.
- After Patrick shouts "I want all of you to look at it!", seemingly everyone abandons the theater, leaving it completely empty. However, later, when Patrick goes to the bathroom, people are still there.
- In the bathroom, when SpongeBob first opens the stall door, Patrick's reflection does not move.
- When Patrick starts worrying about how his sister will react to his "ugliness," the outline for his eyes briefly change to pink twice.

SpongeBob's missing pores but his pores can be seen in his reflection.
- For a split second when SpongeBob starts screaming "Patrick!" a majority of his holes are missing. However, the reflection on the floor has holes.
Videos[]
Names in other languages[]
Language | Name | Meaning |
---|---|---|
French | Mauvaise haleine | Bad Breath |
German | Mundgeruch | Bad Breath |
Italian | Alito puzzolente | Stinky Breath |
Polish | Coś tu cuchnie | Something Smells |
Russian | Чем-то пахнет Chem-to pakhnet |
Something Smells |
Spanish (American) | Algo apesta | Something Smells |
Spanish (European) | Algo huele mal | Something Smells Bad |
References[]
- ^ Date listed on SpongeBob Exposed!, The First 100 Episodes, and the iTunes listing.
- ^ SpongeBob SquarePants - Nickandmore! Episode Lists
- ^ October 20, 2000 - Nickstory
- ^ Cable Guide (UK) October 2001 - pg. 98
- ^ SpongeBob Something Smells Paintings - Internet Archive
- ^ March 29, 2003 - Nickstory
- ^ Nickelodeon 2004 Screenbug (Someting Smells and Bossy Boots)
- ^ SpongeBob SquarePants Worldwide Day of Play 2009 Screenbug (Something Smells)
- ^ SpongeBob SquarePants - "Hi building!" (Nicktoons UK airing, 12/02/24)