"The Fry Cook Games" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 2. In this episode, SpongeBob and Patrick's friendship is tested when they compete in the Fry Cook Games for Mr. Krabs and Plankton.
Characters
- Realistic Fish Head
- Female Fry Cook Games competitor (debut)
- Male Fry Cook Games competitor (debut)
- Eugene H. Krabs
- Sheldon J. Plankton
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Patrick Star
- Incidentals
- Incidental 40
- Fred
- Incidental 14
- Incidental 30
- Incidental 69
- Incidental 16
- Incidental 23
- Incidental 30A
- Incidental 49
- Incidental 13 (normal; gray)
- Incidental 37A
- Incidental 9 (female)
- Incidental 41
- Incidental 46
- Incidental 45
- Incidental 7
- Incidental 24
- Incidental 92
- Incidental 6
- Incidental 37B
- Incidental 115
- Pirate 8 (debut)
- Incidental 2
- Incidental 4
- Incidental 152
- Incidental 65
- Incidental 39
- Incidental 68
Synopsis
"I've been working for the Chum Bucket for almost five minutes."
The episode begins at the Bikini Bottom's Fast Food Coliseum, where the 21st annual Fry Cook Games are underway. The top contenders for the gold medal have traditionally been Mr. Krabs and Plankton. This year, however, SpongeBob has been chosen to represent the Krusty Krab, and is diligently warming up to compete. Patrick wanders by and also wants to play in the games, but is shut down by SpongeBob, as only fry cooks may enter. Patrick scoffs at this, considering fry cooking to be no great feat. After a heated argument, Patrick storms off vowing to become a fry cook, while SpongeBob intensifies his workout.
Plankton soon enters the stadium and engages in verbal fisticuffs with Mr. Krabs. Plankton reveals he has also recruited a contender to represent the Chum Bucket and calls forth a colossal giant. The giant, however, is simply an intimidation tactic, as strapped to his back is Patrick, who turns out to have been hired as fry cook for the Chum Bucket minutes prior. Now standing on equal ground, SpongeBob and Patrick each vow to defeat the other, despite feeling more hurt than angry. Mr. Krabs and Plankton fan the flames of their charges' rivalry, inciting them to show no mercy in the games.
In their first event, the "Deep Fry Pole Vault," SpongeBob pulls off a nearly perfect jump, while Patrick only manages to scald some audience members into fish sticks. Next, during the "Chocolate High-Dive," SpongeBob also does well, but Patrick is able to out-perform him with his concentration and impeccable form. The events continue, the two combatants maintaining an even score all the way to the final challenge: "Bun Wrestling."
As the bell sounds for the fight to begin, SpongeBob and Patrick rip off their robes to reveal muscularly toned bodies before leaping up and colliding with each other midair. They go at each other in fury, their grudges driving them more than their loyalty to their restaurants. They pull off increasingly dirty moves, practically torturing one another. They eventually end up in a grapple, each straining to bring the other one down, and they're about to finish each other off, until the strain finally proves too much for their pants to take. They tear away to reveal that all along, SpongeBob and Patrick each wore underwear in the color of his best friend and they both cry and hug each other.
Moved to tears, the two friends reconcile and agree never to fight each other again, mutually forfeiting the match and walking side by side out of the arena. This does not sit well with the spectators, Mr. Krabs or Plankton, and the managers try to get them to come back and fight again. As the episode ends with SpongeBob and Patrick leaving the arena, the latter notes that his underwear was originally white.
Production
Storyboards
Art
Music
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
‣ Up She Rises - Sam Spence [title card]
‣ Unknown Drums - ? [faint drums at the opening]
‣ Age Of Discovery - Sam Spence [lighting the torch]
‣ Bonnie Blue Gal - Sam Spence [announcer talks about the rivalry between Krabs and Plankton]
‣ Unknown Drum Roll - ? [drum roll]
• Idea Vibe - Nicolas Carr [after drum roll]
‣ Heavenly Voices (B) - David Farnon [choir]
• M'Wanna - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Choir overlays "Heavenly Voices (B)"]
‣ Andy Anorak - Chris Marshall [SpongeBob and Patrick arguing]
• ? Vibes - Nicolas Carr ["What's that smell in the air?"]
‣ Six Powerful Cues (D) - Wilfred William Burns ["I smell Plankton!"]
• Krap Piano Feature - Nicolas Carr [Krabs and Plankton running towards each other to the sound of piano trills.]
‣ Superquick B - Daniel Jean Jeannin [Krabs and Plankton approach each other]
‣ Iron and Steel Fanfare - John Epping, Cristoph Narholz ["Are you ready to do or die, Krabs?"]
‣ Monster Bug A - Gregor F. Narholz [Plankton introducing his competitor]
‣ Unknown Timpani Hit - ? [Timpani]
‣ Royal Gala - Dick Stephen Walter ["...Patrick Star!"]
• Steel Licks 5 - Jeremy Wakefield ["I can't believe it, Mr. Krabs."]
‣ Big Ed's March - Sam Spence [Plankton and Krabs' pep talks]
‣ Caesar's Entry [#7.4] - Gregor F. Narholz [deep fry pole vault]
‣ The Equalizer - Sam Spence ["For the Krusty Krab!"]
• Harp! - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob forms a number one sign]
‣ The Equalizer - Sam Spence ["Win this one because I told you to."]
‣ A Chilling Championship - Sam Spence [chocolate high dive]
‣ Timpani Roll - Sammy Burdson [drum roll]
‣ Tightrope C - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [snare roll]
‣ Who's This D - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [SpongeBob flips]
‣ Tightrope E - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["And toasted almonds, that's unexpected."]
‣ And Now... A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["And just look at that even coating!"]
‣ Zelle 501 - Gerhard Trede ["Almonds?! Curse him, that's good."]
‣ Zelle 505 - Gerhard Trede [Patrick on the high dive]
‣ Timpani Roll - Sammy Burdson [drum roll]
‣ Tightrope E - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [snare roll]
‣ Who's This B - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Patrick dives]
‣ Magic Moment A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Patrick splashes into the chocolate]
‣ Ta-ra C - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [live-action ice cream cone]
‣ Jungle Baby - Hans Ehrlinger [montage of events]
‣ Skills 2 Make Mills - David Robidoux [bun wrestling]
• Hooka - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]
Release
- This episode is available on the Seascape Capers, The Best of Nickelodeon: Summer Adventures, Absorbing Favorites, Complete 2nd Season, The First & Second Seasons, The SpongeBob Super Square Collection, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 3, Mighty Sporting of You, From the Beginning, Part 1, I'm with Hazo, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, Two for One with Nickelodeon!, Two for One with Nickelodeon! Volume 2, Two for One with Nickelodeon! Volume 3, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, First 100 Episodes, and Deep-Sea Games DVDs and on VideoNow.
- This episode is also available on the The Seascape Capers VHS.
Reception
- "The Fry Cook Games" was ranked #59 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
- "The Fry Cook Games" was ranked #11 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.
Trivia
General
- The "Please stand by" screen after the failed attempt of the torch is also seen at the ending of "Shanghaied," after Patchy attempts to make the viewers walk the plank. It is also seen in "Ugh", when Patchy loses his balance whilst riding a fake dinosaur.
The famous "My Name's Not Rick!" meme.
- The scene where Patrick yells, "My name's not Rick!" has become a famous internet meme. However in Latin Spanish, Patrick yells, "No one changes my name!"
- Innuendo: At the end of this episode, Patrick says his underwear was originally white, strongly implying he urinated in them.
- In this episode, SpongeBob is also stronger than usual, has a muscular body, and is seen at the beginning doing push-ups with relative ease. However, he had been shown to be very weak physically in "MuscleBob BuffPants" to the point that he wore a pair of inflatable fake arms to look strong, only for the arms to burst while he was struggling to throw a heavy anchor. He might have undergone physical training in between episodes.
- This is the third episode in the series in which, at no point, SpongeBob wears his normal clothes. The first is "Ripped Pants" and the second is "Walking Small."
- The music that plays when Patrick says, "Because you told me to!" is also the opening music to the Nick GAS sketch "Heroes of the Game."
- This episode reveals that SpongeBob polishes his fingernails.
- This is the first episode to use the tracks "M'Wanna," "Up She Rises," and "Hooka."
- This episode's title card has the same text font as the title card for "Neptune's Spatula."
- Technically, a fish eating a fish stick would be cannibalism. Though, cannibalism is quite common among fish and wild animals in general.
- In the episode "Ditchin'," eating fish-shaped candies, such as Quasi-Gummy Chewy Candy Fish, is considered illegal in Bikini Bottom.
- Since some cultures consider men holding each other's hands to be an inappropriate form of physical contact, the ending of this episode has caused it to be banned in some countries.
- SpongeBob's muscular design would later be used in the opening dream sequence of "Blackened Sponge."
- On the November 10, 2006 airing, this episode was paired with "Whale of a Birthday."[2]
- The Nintendo DS version of SpongeBob's Truth or Square has a minigame based on this episode. Also, the scenes of SpongeBob and Patrick competing (ex. Krabby Meal Hurdle) appear as obstacles in the minigame.
Cultural references
- The Fry Cook Games is a spoof of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
- Plankton’s broken antenna while competing may be a subtle reference to when Kurt Angle broke his neck in the 1996 Olympics.
- When SpongeBob and Patrick fly straight in the air and both yelling together is similar to a common motif found in Dragon Ball Z.
Errors
- After Patrick rips off part of the ground underneath SpongeBob, the next shot shows the ground fully intact, and a stone suddenly appears on the ground.
- When the fish holding Patrick arrives, he breaks the wall, but when he slightly raises his voice after Patrick and SpongeBob scream, the wall is seen intact.
- When Patrick is holding SpongeBob's foot in the wide shot, his sock is the same length as the other, but when Patrick is licking it in the close-up shot, it is longer than the other.
Two Nat Petersons two Freds, and two fish of model Incidental 23.
- When Plankton announces the Giant Fish holding Patrick and Frank tries to run away frighteningly, there are two Nat Petersons, Freds, and fish of model Incidental 23.
- When Patrick takes off SpongeBob's right shoe, the toes on his right foot are switched around, making it look like he has two left feet.
- SpongeBob's foot normally has four toes, but when Patrick is licking it, his foot has five toes.
Duplicate fish.
- When Patrick says, "Because I told you to" there are many duplicate fish in the audience.
- Also one fish was teal at first, but seconds later it's brown.
Plankton's mouth does not move.
- When Plankton says, "Almonds?" his mouth does not move.
- In one of the challenges in the montage scene, Patrick does not have his white shirt on.
- When SpongeBob and Patrick left the stadium Patrick is on SpongeBob's right, but moments later he is on the left. It is possible they somehow decided to switch sides in between shots.
- SpongeBob and Patrick hold hands together when they leave the wrestling ring, but instead they place their arms on each others back when they exit the stadium. This might have also happened in between shots.
- The storyboard artists are not credited in this episode. Only the storyboard directors are credited.
- This also happens in other earlier episodes.
- Since 2018, the title card is skipped on Nick@Nite airings for unknown reasons.[3] Though the reason for the error is unknown, Nickelodeon also uses an old, non-remastered print from 2001, while Nicktoons use a remastered print since October 2019, and the title card is always present for both instances.[4][5]
- On the remastered prints of this episode, the sound effect heard in the EBS color bars scene features an unidentified sound effect. This minor oversight is present on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+ releases, including airings on Nicktoons.[6]
- However, the non-remastered print from 2001 retains the original sound effect, which is available on DVD and is currently airing on Nickelodeon and Nick@Nite. This also occurred on Netflix releases.
- On the remastered prints of this episode, the sound effect heard in the EBS color bars scene features an unidentified sound effect. This minor oversight is present on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+ releases, including airings on Nicktoons.[6]
References
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