SpongeBob SquarePants in popular culture

TV

SpongeBob SquarePants is a popular cartoon, and has been referenced in popular culture numerous times. Several of these references are from other Nickelodeon shows and shows from another networks.

Guinness World Records 2016

In the Entertainment section of the book in the TV section, SpongeBob was listed for holding the world record of most wins at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Above the listed fact is a licensed stock art image of SpongeBob waving hello, with a small fun fact talking about his origins on the side.

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

In the episode Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion, Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen go into the ocean to look for a tracking device, and when they find it, a pineapple can be seen at the mid-right. A commercial stated that the pineapple was SpongeBob's house.

America's Funniest Home Videos

In one episode, a guy in a SpongeBob costume was shown running around in circles and then he falls. The show's host at the time, Tom Bergeron calls him "SpongeBob ClumsyPants."
In another episode, a SpongeBob birthday cake is seen.
One episode shows a boy picking his nose who was wearing a SpongeBob T-shirt.
SpongeBob is also seen on other peoples T-shirts at times in some videos.
Another episode showed a guy stuck in a SpongeBob costume, trying to get out. Tom Bergeron calls him "SpongeBob StuckPants".

American Dad

In the episode "A Smith in the Hand," after Stan announced his new station Clean TV, in one scene, several kids can be seen crying to their mother with one of them saying "Where's SpongeBob?" and another saying "I want Patrick!"
In "Toy Whorey," an angry banana shaped SpongeBob toy is seen.
In "Scents and Sensei-bility," an orange SpongeBob piñata is seen.

Angelo Rules

Peter has a yellow square toy. It is very similar to when SpongeBob screams in "SpongeGuard on Duty." Angelo has the same toy, but it's orange.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

In a episode named "The Last Last One Forever And Ever," A live-action episode. Meatwad (Who is portrayed as a yoga ball) is helping Master Shake (Who is portrayed as a human named "Don Shake") write a story, and suggests writing a story about "A sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea." Shake says "Hasn't that already been done?" and Meatwad replies "No. I don't think so."

Avatar: The Last Airbender

In part one of the first season finale, Master Pakku coyly stated to one of his students, "Nice work... a couple more years and you might be ready to fight a sea sponge." The show's creators later said in the audio commentary of Siege of the North Part I that his statement was a friendly poke at SpongeBob SquarePants.

The Big Bang Theory

In the episode, "The Earworm Reverberation," Sheldon is trying to think of a song that he can't remember, so he's trying to guess songs off the top of his head, and one of the songs he thinks about is the SpongeBob SquarePants Theme, and even sings the first line.
In the episode, "The Justice League Recombination," Zack says that a starfish was killed and came back to life, to which Sheldon replies, "Was it wearing shorts? Because it was probably Nickelodeon." It's a reference to Patrick Star and the shorts he wears.
In the episode "The Separation Oscillation," Howard says "I'd like to SpongeBob Her SquarePants."
In the episode, "The Locomotion Reverberation", Raj and Stuart are left to watch Halley, who is Howard and Bernadette's baby daughter. After talking on the phone with them and hearing how incompetent they seem, Bernadette moans "I may have just left my infant daughter with Patrick and SpongeBob".

Big Time Rush

The episode "Big Time Strike" has a similar plot to "Squid on Strike."

Black-ish

In the episode, "The Word," Jack says The N Word, which gets him expelled. When Diane asks "How Was Home," Jack Replies "SpongeBob was Great."

The Cleveland Show

Early in the episode "Buried Pleasure," Cleveland has holding a banana-shaped stuffed toy that looked like SpongeBob.
In another episode, Holt mentions SpongeBob.

The Creative Pet Grooming Show 2013

When a woman walks into a room, the SpongeBob theme can be heard.

The Daily Show

In the May 2, 2011 episode, Jon Stewart jokes that Osama bin Laden now "lives in a pineapple under the sea," showing a picture of him sitting on Conch Street.
In the April 23, 2015 episode, Jon Stewart says "Dear God, SpongeBob, what have they done to you?" upon seeing the NSA's recycling mascot.
In the May 28, 2015 episode, the "lives in a pineapple under a sea" quote is used again, this time to refer to Bernie Sanders.

Doctor Who

In "The Vampires of Venice," Rory insults an alien species called the Saturnyn, and uses the word SpongeBob.

Drawn Together

Wooldoor Sockbat is a parody of SpongeBob, spoofed also with Stimpy (from The Ren & Stimpy Show) and the Looney Tunes characters, also he has theme music similar to SpongeBob's.
In the DVD version of the episode "Captain Girl," between Toot jumping through the water and Toot inside it, the narrator says "Three weeks later," then it shows the island of SpongeBob, with the Drawn Together house between the palm trees.
In "Unrestrainable Trainable," a newspaper describes Wooldoor as a "poorly conceived SpongeBob parody."

Duck Dodgers

In "Finns of War," a sea sponge who looks like SpongeBob is seen.

Eat Bulaga!

SpongeBob SquarePants was mentioned multiple times in their sPOGIfy feat. Singing Baes segment.
- In one episode, Alden Richards mentions "Mga baes, tandaan, 'wag kayong magkanta parang si SpongeBob." (Baes, remember, don't sing like SpongeBob.)
- In another, it is mentioned "Huy! Ba't mukhang Squidward? Ngiti! Hahaha!" (Hey! Why do you look like Squidward? Smile! Hahaha!)
In their Juan For All, All For Juan: Bayanihan of da Pipol segment, in their October 16, 2014 episode, they visited a house with a SpongeBob backpack.

The Fairly OddParents

In "Wish Fixers," Timmy wishes to have running pants made of cheese, and then Cosmo calls Timmy "CheeseBoy SquarePants."
Another reference can be found in the episode, "Something's Fishy," where the king of Atlantis, Greg, states that the diets of the merpeople consist of "crabs, starfish, and the occasional underwater squirrel," as a joke to their fellow Nick animators.
Another reference can be found in the episode "App Trap" where the first kid with the smart phone has SpongeBob's pants, buck teeth, eyes, hair and freckles.

Family Guy

SpongeBob SquarePants has been referenced numerous times:
- In "Prick Up Your Ears," Stewie is seen playing with a green SpongeBob toy.
- In "Road to Rupert," Peter watches "The Camping Episode" during the scene where SpongeBob and Patrick sing The Campfire Song Song.
- In "Road to the North Pole," Stewie asks Brian if SpongeBob and Elmo were real and asked if SpongeBob really gives Squidward the business.
- In "Turkey Guys," a balloon of a SpongeBob parody called "SpongeCow" is seen during a Thanksgiving parade.

Fanboy and Chum Chum

In the episode, "Cold War," Kyle gets chased by Fanboy and Chum Chum clones in a similar way to the robot chasing the man in the episode "Krab Borg." Yet, the episode has a similar plot to "Naughty Nautical Neighbors," and when Kyle enters the Fanlair, it's similar to how Squidward enters SpongeBob's house in "Pineapple Fever."
The episode "Excuse Me" has a somewhat similar plot to "Ditchin'."
In "I, Fanbot," after Fanboy as a robot causes everyone to fail the test, all the students come charging for him, and he flies out of the angry mob only to land back in it seconds later. The same exact thing happens to SpongeBob in "Bubble Buddy."
Chum Chum's pirate name in "Fanboy A'hoy!" is "Chumbucket," which shares the name of Plankton's restaurant.

Frasier

In the episode "Caught in the Act," Martin refers to Nanny G as SpongeBob Hotpants.

Friends

In an episode of Friends, a woman and a boy had a conversation about basic facts of SpongeBob. This was also seen in Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Futurama

In "Yo Leela Leela," Abner Doubledeal says that Leela's show would be bigger than "SpongeBot SquareBolts," who is a robot that looks like SpongeBob.
In "31st Century Fox," Bender calls the store owner Squidward Scissorhands.

Galavant

In "It's All in the Executions," King Richard called Gareth, "Gare Bear," which is one of SpongeBob's nicknames for Gary.Template:Debatable

Genie in the House

In "World of Emma", Emma ended up wishing for Adil to make Sophie more like her. After he did, Sophie asked Emma if she had any pink nail varnish. Emma then replied with "Does SpongeBob have Squarepants?".

Glee

In "Asian F," when Kurt and Rachel are flipping through TV channels, SpongeBob appears briefly.

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

In "Be A-Fred, Be Very A-Fred," a creature resembling SpongeBob makes a couple of cameos.
The flower clouds have also been seen on The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy in the episode "Scythe for Sale," during the Sea Critters commercial.

Gurren Lagann

In episode 13 of the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Squidward makes a brief appearance behind Viral, who is piloting an underwater mech in the scene.

Harvey Beaks

In the episode "Fee's Pyramid," when Fee is showing Foo the baby mobile she made for him, there is a snail on the mobile that slightly resembles Gary.

House of Anubis

In the episode "House of Cameras/House of Numbers," Victor tried installing video cameras in order to try and keep a close eye on the students living in Anubis house. While trying to get rid of the cameras, Nina mentioned that they needed help from their house's comedic duo. Although she meant Alfie and Jerome, Amber thought she was talking about "SpongeBob and Patrick."
In the episode "House of Crushes/House of Vertigo," Poppy asked Mara about what her Dad's like. One of the things that Mara mentions is that he "dances like SpongeBob."

How To Be Indie

In the episode, "How To Fix A Friendship Fail," Marlon mentions a character named SnailBob StinkPants.

I Didn't Do It

In several episodes of this series, Delia calls Garret "Gare Bear" at one part. Gary is often called Gare Bear by SpongeBob.

Instant Mom

In a commercial for Instant Mom, the lady plays a game where you tell if it's real or fake and asks,"Is SpongeBob real?"

King of the Hill

In the episode "Tears of an Inflatable Crowd," Kahn mentions SpongeBob when he wants to create a diversion. Hank and Peggy look at him oddly while Kahn replies "I don't know what kids like."

The Loud House

The track "Vibe Link (b)" is used often. Examples include in "Get the Message" when Lori sees Lincoln's note on the bathroom floor and in "A Tale of Two Tables" when Lincoln looks at Bun-Bun on his bed.
The track "Caped Crusader" plays throughout "Sleuth or Consequences."
In the episode "Left in the Dark," SpongeBob and Patrick can be briefly seen on the television.
In the episode "The Loudest Yard," the music that plays on the title card is the same that is used on the title card of "The Great Snail Race."
In the episode "Making the Grade" a poster in Lisa's kindergarden class shows characters from this show: a red krab (Mr. Krabs), a yellow sponge (Spongebob), a pink starfish (Patrick) and a blue squid (Squidward).

MAD (TV series)

SpongeBob was parodied in some segments of this Cartoon Network series during its three year run:
- Opening: A clay-animated character resembling SpongeBob is shown.
- "Celebrity Birthdays" - Mort Jenkins, a jellyfish who landed the role of Jellyfish #56 on SpongeBob SquarePants, is one of the celebrities whom's birthday is being celebrated.
- "WALL·E·NATOR" - The WALL·E·NATOR squeezes a round SpongeBob (who has eaten too many Krabby Patties) back into a square.
- "Cliffordfield" - The Sesame Street character Big Bird gets squashed into SpongeBob by a rampaging Clifford the Big Red Dog, disproving his statement that he's "a one-of-a-kind children's character".
- "Who Wore it Better?" - In this sketch, SpongeBob is one of the candidates among various others, who are being debated on who wore a white sundress best.
- "MAD vs. Wild" - Bear Grylls, attempting to survive in the wild, plucks Gary from a tree stump and eats him, although regretting that he ate him while he still had his shell.
- "Celebrities Without Their Makeup"- SpongeBob, dressed like an elf, is depicted as a fruitcake when seen without his makeup.
- "¡AY Carly!" - A Mexican version of SpongeBob, named "Sponge-Roberto Squarepants", is shown at the end of the sketch.
- "Law & Ogre" - A framed picture of SpongeBob is seen at the Big Bad Wolfgangbucks restaurant.
- "Pirates of the Pair of Tweens" - Plankton goes "planking" with Captain Jack Sparrow on the roof of the "Crabby Crust."
- "SpongeWOW" - SpongeBob is seen as SpongeWOW, a parody of the ShamWOW towel, in this infomercial spoof. He is used by a spoof of Vince Offer to wipe up various spills against his will, including twelve bottles of non-FDA-approved hot sauce, which leaves his face burning, and he even says, "Kill me now!"
- "Abs-Duction" - Actor Taylor Lautner goes to Mr. Krabs' house, thinking he is his real father. Mr. Krabs responds by slamming the door at him, angrily.
- "New Gill" - Ariel from The Little Mermaid tries to find a new boyfriend after being dumped by Prince Eric for Ursula, and ends up dating SpongeBob, who she finds to be too chipper for her.
- "iChronicle" - SpongeBob and Patrick can be seen on a Nickelodeon blimp.
- "Fart or Chair" - In this game show spoof, SpongeBob is seen sitting in a massage chair.
- "The Blunder Games" - A SpongeBob balloon is seen at a parade (in a parody of the 2012 film The Hunger Games).
- "Taking Nemo" - SpongeBob is interrogated by a furious Liam Neeson on the wherabouts of Nemo (from Disney/Pixar's film Finding Nemo).
- "Dark Knight at the Museum" - SpongeBob is seen shouting "I'M READY!"
- "SpongeBorg SquarePants" - In this sketch, SpongeBob is a cyborg that turns the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom into cyborgs.

Marvin Marvin

Marvin's host father was bitten by an alien, and started hallucinating, he then held up an umbrella and said "Here's your clarinet Squidward."

Millie Inbetween

SpongeBob is mentioned two times in Millie Inbetween, once mentioned and SpongeBob, Patrick and Mr. Krabs are shown on different pictures in a scene.

Mickey Mouse (2013)

In the episode "Road Hogs," Mickey's scooter topple over a row of motorcycles from a gang of pig bikers similar to how SpongeBob knocks over a row of fish bikers' motorcycle from "A Life in a Day." Ironically, all of the pig bikers are voiced by Clancy Brown, Mr. Krabs' voice actor.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

In the episode "Party of One," when Pinkie Pie gets in the hay, she is similar to SpongeBob.

Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide

In the episode "Photo Day," one of the kids wears a SpongeBob costume for their school photo.

Not Going Out

In an episode of Not Going Out, Tim mentions SpongeBob SquarePants.

Oggy and the Cockroaches

In "Casino," Oggy is seen hiding in the mailbox and pops out to receive his mail (Jack does the same thing later), which is similar to how SpongeBob scares the mailman in the episode "Chocolate with Nuts."
In "Run, Olivia, Run," one of the spectators is wearing a SpongeBob costume.
In "Oggy and the Magic Smile," SpongeBob's face can be seen in the upper-left corner of one scene in the joke shop.

Osmar: The Heel of the Loaf

In the pilot episode there is a cameo of an identical character to SpongeBob appearing at a nightclub between the characters. The character even makes it clear that is not SpongeBob, but a cheese while chatting with a female bread.

Phineas and Ferb

In a season 2 episode, "No More Bunny Business," Phineas scares a mailwoman similarly to how SpongeBob scares a mailfish in the episode "Chocolate with Nuts."
During the song in the episode "Atlantis," Ferb is drinking tea the same way SpongeBob and Patrick did in "Tea at the Treedome."
In "Phineas and Ferb-Busters," Doofenshmirtz runs away from a robot similary to the guy in the scary robot movie from "Krab Borg."
In "Summer Belongs to You," Phineas finds a sponge and a starfish while digging a hole on a deserted island, a reference to SpongeBob and Patrick.
In "Moon Farm," Phineas eats his ice cream the same way Sandy eats her Krabby Patty in "Someone's In The Kitchen With Sandy."
The episode "Oh, There You Are Perry," is similar in many ways to "Have You Seen This Snail?" For example both owners put fliers up all over town after they realize their pet ran away. The boys also sing a song similar to Gary Come Home.

Pretty Little Liars

In one episode, when Hanna is talking to Mona, she mentions SpongeBob & Patrick.

Robot Chicken

In That Hurts Me, a sponge and a starfish dance with each other, then run out of energy. They crawl offscreen, exhausted, and then they can be heard snorting cocaine, and then the two run back on screen with high energy and dance with each other again. The characters in this sketch resemble SpongeBob and Patrick.
In Tell My Mom, Sandy gets pregnant and SpongeBob realizes she used himself (a sponge) to protect her.
In Major League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, SpongeBob discovers Mr. Krabs' secret formula for Krabby Patties and reveals it to the patrons of the Krusty Kra: they are made from crab meat. He he also points out to Squidward that the calamari rings he is eating are actually made from squid (while oddly, Squidward is an octopus), and informs a customer that her "Chicken of the Sea" salad is made with tuna. An angry mob of customers approach Mr. Krabs and attack him. SpongeBob then says that he's glad nothing disgusting ever happens to a sponge, and the scene cuts to a nurse informing a morbidly obese patient that she will be scrubbing deep within his rolls of fat with a sponge, and his examination will then be over. SpongeBob then pushes the scene aside, reiterating, "Nothing disgusting ever happens to a sponge!" A squish is then heard from the other scene, and the nurse says, "I hope that's pudding in there".

Sam and Cat

In the episode #TextingCompetition, when Cat was mentioning what she could do with the speed boat, she said "Number 3, look for SpongeBob's pineapple!"

See Dad Run

Janie mentions being famous like SpongeBob SquarePants and David says you can't be famous just by popping out of a pineapple.

Sesame Street

An episode spoofed SpongeBob as "TriangleBob TrianglePants" which was Telly Monster's favorite show. The show starred a triangle man version of SpongeBob.

The Simpsons

SpongeBob has been referred to several times:
- In the opening credits of the episode "Pray Anything" of The Simpsons, SpongeBob is mentioned in Bart's blackboard gag, which says "SpongeBob is not a contraceptive."
- In "A Star Is Born-Again," Ned Flanders says, "This movie is turning into SpongeBob NoPants."
- In "She Used to Be My Girl," Lisa, needing a god to pray to, tells a newscaster she is praying to Jesus, Buddha, and SpongeBob. Then the camera shows heaven, where Jesus, Buddha, and crudely drawn SpongeBob are. Buddha asks Jesus, "Perhaps we should help?" and SpongeBob interrupts, saying "Screw her!," then laughs insanely, while Jesus shakes his head.
- In "Fat Man and Little Boy," Krusty the Clown mentions a character called ScratchBob ItchPants while announcing character shirts.
- In "The Wife Aquatic," Marge and Lisa go to an aquatic museum where there is an exhibit that reads "The Science of SpongeBob" and it shows a SpongeBob statue next to it. Patrick Star also appears as one of the mollusk photos.
- In The Simpsons Movie, SpongeBob can be spotted in the angry mob that wanted to kill Homer for trapping them in the dome.
- In "Treehouse of Horror XX," a Frankenstein's monster was dressed in a SpongeBob costume. Later, SpongeBob told the Simpsons he was secretly very evil.
- In "Treehouse of Horror XXI," the episode director Bob Anderson was credited as "Sponge Bob Anderson Pants."
- In "Angry Dad: The Movie," Bart mentions SpongeBob when he claims he likes cartoons. He says: "I've always loved cartoons, going way back to the real early SpongeBobs."
- In "Yellow Subterfuge," When Krusty asks to Lisa if could sell foreign rights to your show, Lisa says that even SpongeBob did it. She shows him an Italian parodied version of SpongeBob SquarePants on her tablet called Spugna Roberto Quadrati Pantaloni ("Sponge Roberto Square Pants"). In the show, Spugna Roberto (a parody of SpongeBob SquarePants) gives a gift to Squiduardo Calamari (a parody of Squidward Tentacles) for his birthday; the gift is a landmine from World War II. Squiduardo declines the gift, and while he is talking, a non-anthropomorphic seahorse lands on the landmine's button, detonating it and blowing Spugna Roberto & Squiduardo to pieces. A fish arrives at the scene and exclaims "Calamari?, Noooo...!!!" and starts crying. In the parody, Roberto lived in a watermelon under the sea, spoofing SpongeBob's pineapple house.
- In "Brick Like Me," Comic Book Guy says that Bart's giant robot is made out of Batmobile, Hobbit-hole and SpongeBob LEGO play-sets. SpongeBob's pineapple from the Bikini Bottom Undersea Party set is clearly visible in some parts.

Sonic Boom

The episode "Don't Judge Me" has a similar plot to Krabs vs. Plankton.

South Park

In one episode, SpongeBob appears only he was green instead of yellow.
In another episode, SpongeBob was seen in the background several times.

Tanked

In the episode "Driving New Business," Brett and Wayde went to a aquarium featuring Bikini Bottom.

Teen Titans Go!

In the episode "La Larva de Amor," when Silkie meets Sonia, the Teen Titans cannot find Silkie. It is similar to Have You Seen This Snail?.
In the episode "Staring at the Future," the Teen Titans saying responsibility is similar to SpongeBob saying the word "imagination" the way he did in Idiot Box. Later in the episode when Beast Boy and Cyborg become traumatized at the thought of having to become responsible for their actions, the word "responsiblity" echoes similarly to the echo of the word "alone" from SB-129.

The Troop

SpongeBob has been shown and mentioned several times:
- In the episode "Tentacle Face," when Mr. Stockley is leaving Troop HQ, he's wearing a SpongeBob backpack.
- In the episode "The Substitute," the SpongeBob theme song can be heard on Mr. Stockley's TV when he's talking to Jake on the phone, and Mr. Stockley mentions SpongeBob & Patrick to his dentist.

Uncle Grandpa

In the episode "New Kid," Tommy imagines himself working at the Krusty Krab, also Squidward appeared green with one eye.

Victorious

In "Tori Gets Stuck," Tori ask Robbie why he was wearing SpongeBob underwear, which he covers with his pillow.
In "Tori Goes Platinum," the paparazzi think Sikowitz is the voice of Plankton.

The Weekenders

In the ABC cartoon The Weekenders, there was a rock band called the "Chum Bukkit," which is probably a reference to the Chum Bucket.

What's in the Bible

In the 4th JellyTelly DVD, Michael mentions his brother was wearing some SpongeBob underpants & later calls him "Mr. SpongeBob UnderPants."

The X Presidents

An episode of The X Presidents (from "TV Funhouse" on Saturday Night Live) depicts SpongeBob refusing to star in a pro-Gulf War II propaganda commercial, and getting held prisoner for it. Tom Kenny provides SpongeBob's voice, which is surprising as this clip has relatively adult content.