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SpongeGuard on Duty

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This is the page about the episode. For other uses, see SpongeGuard on Duty (disambiguation).

"SpongeGuard on Duty" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 3. In this episode, SpongeBob becomes a lifeguard at Goo Lagoon.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

One day at Goo Lagoon, SpongeBob and Patrick are sunbathing. SpongeBob notices the adoration that the lifeguard, Larry the Lobster, receives, and fantasizes about how "cool" it would be if he was a lifeguard himself, but Patrick has no fondness for lifeguards. After being told to conceal his large gut by another beachgoer, Patrick stomps off to the snack bar. SpongeBob declares that he is already as cool as Larry and that nothing but an airborne ice cream truck striking him down could prove otherwise.

One such collision later, Larry helps SpongeBob up and sees that vanilla ice cream has been smeared on his nose. Thinking that it is sunscreen and that therefore he is a lifeguard, Larry enlists the all-too-eager SpongeBob in helping him with his duties. As a lifeguard, SpongeBob becomes very popular and does many fun activities and is happy to accept taking the second shift solo. However, Larry hears a swimmer drowning and saves him, prompting SpongeBob to realize too late that the role of a lifeguard is actually serious business of protecting people from mortal danger.

SpongeGuard on Duty 096

"That's the last time I read and swim!"

His shift now over, Larry heads off for the tanning booth with some girls, leaving SpongeBob, who cannot swim, in charge of the beach. SpongeBob thinks nothing won't happen until imagining the sea of swimmers in the lagoon as a sea of tombstones instead. In a panic, he alerts all the fish to an "emergency" and orders to get them out of the lagoon. When asked what is happening, he claims that sharks have infested the lagoon, a comment that does not sit well with a family of sapient sharks in the crowd. He then raves about a sea monster and is then confronted by an actual sea monster who scolds SpongeBob for stereotyping him. The frustrated crowd then disperses and heads back to the lagoon, much to SpongeBob's dismay after saying somebody went.

Stressed out from watching the beachgoers engaging in risky activities, SpongeBob resorts to luring everyone out of the lagoon with free ice cream. Once everyone has some to eat, SpongeBob points out that they must now wait one hour to re-enter the lagoon, then binds them with police tape to enforce this rule. Patrick (who has been in the restroom) runs out in search of ice cream when SpongeBob gloats about how his trick makes him superior to Larry. Misreading the police tape as a sign for ice cream, he breaks through it to go into the lagoon, where he gets butt cramps and starts drowning in the ankle-deep "water".

The crowd tries to alert SpongeBob to this real emergency, but he initially refuses to believe them. However, he eventually sees Patrick and springs into action, desperate to find a way to save him without having to swim. First, he tries tossing a life saver, which does not go very far to reach; then he grabs a straw to simply just drink all the "water" in the lagoon so he will not drown, but accidentally drinks up Patrick too, in which the starfish gets trapped inside SpongeBob, who has to spit him and the lagoon back out. He then confiscates a boatmobile from a couple in the parking lot, though he returns their hot dog.

SpongeBob rows the boat out to the lagoon in a rescue attempt, but the frantic Patrick tears it apart in a panic while flailing his arms. Upon realizing his actions, he and SpongeBob both start drowning, with Patrick actively harming SpongeBob up to stay afloat. The beachgoers leave the charlatan lifeguard and his friend to their fate. As they say their goodbyes, Larry arrives to unenthusiastically pull them up from the ankle-deep "water."

SpongeGuard on Duty 200

"Ow! Butt cramps!"

Realizing that SpongeBob does not know how to swim, and hearing SpongeBob admit that he isn't a lifeguard, Larry sets him and Patrick to work practicing their swimming in a kiddie pool and they get butt cramps, which ends the episode with Patrick still lamenting his lack of ice cream.

Production[]

This episode was in production in 2001.

Art[]

Animatic[]

SpongeBob_SquarePants_-_SpongeGuard_on_Duty_(storyboard)

SpongeBob SquarePants - SpongeGuard on Duty (storyboard)

Music[]

( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Surfin' Summer (b) - Richard Myhill [Title card]
 ‣ Beach Party - The White Caps, Harry Bluestone [Opening at Goo Lagoon/"Hey, it's Larry, the lifeguard."/"Hows's the tubage?"]
 ‣ Facing the Challenge - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob imagines himself as a lifeguard]
 ‣ Tympup A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Patrick's belly is shown]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (A) - Richard Myhill ["I'm cool."]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact (2) - Ivor Slaney [Lightning]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact (1) - Ivor Slaney [Flying ice cream truck]
 • Steel Licks 54 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Please do not land flying ice cream trucks on the bathers."]
 • Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr ["Hey!"]
 ‣ Saxaboogie - The White Caps, Harry Bluestone [SpongeBob and Larry patrolling the beach]
 ‣ Advance Attack - Sam Fonteyn [Larry rescues someone drowning]
 ‣ Advance Attack Alt. End - Sam Fonteyn ["That's the last time I read and swim."]
 ‣ South Pacific Island II - Victor Cavini [Larry leaves SpongeBob in charge]
 ‣ On Fire - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob orders everyone out of the lagoon]
 • Steel Licks 54 - Jeremy Wakefield [Everyone goes back in]
 ‣ Dangerous A - Mladen Franko [SpongeBob panicking]
 ‣ Dangerous C - Mladen Franko ["Free ice cream!"]
 ‣ Stars and Games - Alf Saro [Everyone eating ice cream]
 • Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield [Do not cross changes to Ice cream]
 ‣ Menace [#42] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Cramp!"]
 ‣ Danger Sign - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Patrick drowning]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact (3) - Ivor Slaney ["... Patrick isn't drowning!"]
 • 12th St Rag - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob trying to rescue Patrick/"Help, I'm drowning, I've got butt cramps, I want ice cream, and now it's dark!"]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (G) - Ronald Hanmer [SpongeBob and Patrick drowning]
 • Steel Licks 78 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Goodbye, Patrick!"]
 ‣ Beach Party - The White Caps, Harry Bluestone [Ending]

Release[]

Broadcast[]

Distribution[]

Trivia[]

General[]

  • According to the first half of the production code of this episode, (5571-187[1]) it was originally meant to be a part of season 2. However, it was later moved to the third season, later being given the code of 5572-187.[2]
  • This is the first episode for several things:
SpongeGuard on Duty 025

SpongeBob live-action costume with his normal clothes.

  • This is the fourth episode in which, at no point, SpongeBob wears his normal clothes, not counting the live-action SpongeBob costume since it was an imagination. The first was "Ripped Pants," the second was "Walking Small," and the third was "The Fry Cook Games."
  • The grunts that Larry makes would later appear in the online game Reef Rumble.
  • This and "Snowball Effect" are Incidental 30A's only appearances in season 3.
  • In the 2012 commercial for General Mills breakfast cereals, a clip of SpongeBob sucking up all of the "water" is used to advertise their SpongeBob squirters in specially marked boxes of brands.[6]
  • The SpongeBob mascot costume worn in numerous Nickelodeon theme parks appear in this episode during SpongeBob's fantasy.
  • The sea monster in the episode is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
  • In the scene where Larry saves the drowning fish, a crowd of fish is shown worried. In said crowd is a fish with the same Incidental model as the drowning fish.
SpongeGuard on Duty 121

Notice the shark fins.

  • When the beach goers go back in the "water", shark fins can be seen swimming around the fish in the lower right (the one sitting on a tube and reading), either implying SpongeBob was right that there were dangerous sharks in there, or the fins belong to the sapient sharks who feel insulted by SpongeBob's warnings.
  • Comcast/Xfinity listings miscapitalize the title of this episode as "Spongeguard on duty."[citation needed]
  • There are two DVDs named after (and featuring) this episode, one for the North American and British markets, and one for the Greek market.
  • This episode was paired with different episodes in certain marathons:
  • According to production art, this episode was originally called "Summer of Sponge."
  • The still shot of SpongeBob with huge eyes and his pants all up in a dorky manner when he says, "I'm cool!" has been used in a popular meme, where there are copies of him with insect wings and flying around, annoying Squidward who says, "We have come for your nectar," and a furious Squidward kicking them out.

Dub facts[]

  • In the Middle East airings, the scene where SpongeBob and Patrick check on their "tan" is removed.[citation needed]
    • In some airings of the Malay dub, the same scene is cut, likely due to nudity.
  • In Greece, the title card of this episode is cut.[9]

Episode references[]

  • The shark father was previously seen in the episode "MuscleBob BuffPants" in the in-universe advertisement for Anchor Arms, as a picture of the spokesperson before he started using the product.

Cultural references[]

  • The episode's title is a reference to beach signs which say, "Lifeguard on Duty."
  • When the crowd of people is running while holding Larry, they can be faintly heard singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."
  • When Larry introduced SpongeBob to his friend, Annette she has the same first name as the late actress Annette Funicello from the 1965 film, Beach Blanket Bingo.

Errors[]

  • At the end of the montage, a bubble transition appears. In there is a little bit of a blue screen at the bottom by Rough Draft Korea, which was made sometime in 2001.
  • When SpongeBob raises his arms to call the people for ice cream, upon examining the crowd closely as he gives the ice cream out, he never visibly lowers his arms as he gives it to them.
  • In the shot where the sea monster asserts his people's strides in science and literature, Annette's hair is missing.
    • It is not Evelyn, however, because two shots later and for the rest of the episode, Annette has her hair back.
Nose error in SGD

SpongeBob's nose turns normal.

  • During the montage where he enjoys his "duties" as lifeguard, SpongeBob is shown struggling to lift a barbell made of two soda cups, yet later, he is shown capable of lifting an entire boat and holding it up with one hand.
  • When Patrick smashes an anchor on SpongeBob's head, the cream on the latter's nose disappears for a frame or two.
  • When SpongeBob sees that Patrick is drowning, his eyes burst through and break the lenses of his binoculars, but the lenses are back when SpongeBob announces his intentions to rescue Patrick.
  • When SpongeBob hands out ice cream, the white fish is shown with a pink ice cream cone in his hands. In the next shot of him, the ice cream is white. In the same scene, Incidental 41 is shown with a red popsicle in his hands. In the next shot of him, the popsicle is blue.
  • During Larry's line, "Let's go, guys," SpongeBob's lips also move to, "Let's."
  • After Larry says, "Very good. You fellas are learning fast," his mouth closes very briefly and takes on a similar shape to when he speaks for the rest of the shot, despite no further dialog.
  • When Patrick looks at the Do Not Cross sign, there is one part of the sign that says "Do No Cross."
  • The "water" SpongeBob and Patrick "drown in" is ankle-deep. However, Patrick is shown sinking under the "water" multiple times, and appears far out where the "water" would not come up to the ankles.
    • Also when Larry returns and sees SpongeBob and Patrick drowning, they are not in the ankle-deep zone of the lagoon.

Videos[]

On_Duty_🏖️_in_5_Minutes_SpongeBob

On Duty 🏖️ in 5 Minutes SpongeBob

SpongeBob_SquarePants_-_Patrick's_Butt_Cramps_(S3,_E1)_-_Paramount+

SpongeBob SquarePants - Patrick's Butt Cramps (S3, E1) - Paramount+

Names in other languages[]

Language Name Meaning
French Le sauveteur qui a peur de l'eau The Lifeguard Who's Afraid of Water
German Bademeister SpongeBob Lifeguard SpongeBob
Italian Bagnino all'opera Lifeguard at Work
Russian Спанч Боб — спасатель
Spanch Bob — spasatel'		 SpongeBob's the Lifeguard
Spanish (Latin America) El salvavidas Esponja en acción The Lifeguard Sponge in Action
Spanish (Spain) Esponja socorrista Rescuer Sponge

References[]

  1. ^ a b File:SpongeChad production painting.jpg
  2. ^ a b Spongeguard On Duty (2002) Season 3 Episode 41B. - The Big Cartoon DataBase
  3. ^ Nick UK - New Spongebob episodes in January - Nickdisk
  4. ^ Jay Lender on Facebook
  5. ^ March 22, 2002 - Nickstory
  6. ^ General Mills TV Spot, 'SpongeBob Water Squirters'
  7. ^ August 9, 2010 - Nickstory
  8. ^ February 17, 2014 - Nickstory
  9. ^ SpongeBob - SpongeGuard on Duty title card - Greek
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