"I've been working for the Chum Bucket for almost five minutes."
The episode begins at the Bikini Bottom's Fast Food Coliseum, 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 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. Strapped to his back is Patrick, who turns out to be the new fry cook Plankton hired five 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 the audience 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, 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, walking side by side out of the arena. This does not sit well with the spectators, Mr. Krabs and 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, Patrick notes that his underwear was originally white.
Production
Storyboards
Art
Music
( ‣ ) Associated 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 4 - 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]
"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.
The famous "My Name's Not Rick!" meme.
The scene where Patrick yells, "My name's not Rick!" has become a famous internet meme.
At the end of this episode, Patrick says his underwear was originally white. This means that he urinated in them.
In this episode, SpongeBob is able to do push-ups. However, in "MuscleBob BuffPants" during Sandy's workout, he hurts his arms after attempting to do just one.
In this episode, SpongeBob is also stronger than usual and having a muscular body, but he is shown to be very weak physically in "MuscleBob BuffPants" to the point that he wears a pair of inflatable fake arms to look strong, only for the arms to burst while he is struggling to throw a heavy anchor.
This episode is banned in some countries due to SpongeBob and Patrick's homosexuality towards the end of the episode.
SpongeBob's muscular design would later be used in "Blackened Sponge."
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.
Errors
After Patrick rips off part of the ground underneath SpongeBob, the next shot shows the ground fully intact and a stone appears.
When the fish holding Patrick arrives, he breaks the wall, but when he screams after Patrick and SpongeBob scream, the wall is put back together.
When Patrick is holding SpongeBob's foot, his sock is the same length as the other, but when Patrick is licking it, it is longer than the other.
Two Nat Petersons two Freds, and two other fish of the same physical appearance.
When Plankton announces the Giant Fish holding Patrick and Frank tries to run away frighteningly, there are two Nat Petersons, Freds, and two other fish in the audience.
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.
After SpongeBob does the "Deep Fry Pole Vault," one of the audience members has a deformed face.
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's on the left, they would have decided to switch sides while exiting.
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.
The storyboard artists are not credited in this episode. Only the storyboard directors are credited.
This also happens in other earlier episodes.
Title card left intact on Nickelodeon, from the November 24, 2020 airing at 4:30pm.
Title card cut on Nick@Nite, from the April 11, 2021 airing at 6:30am.
Since 2018, the title card is always skipped whenever this episode is broadcast on Nick@Nite.[2] Despite the oddity, the Nickelodeon broadcast uses an old non-remastered print from 2001 (which is what Nick@Nite also uses), while the Nicktoons broadcast uses a remastered print since October 2019, and the title card is always retained for both instances.[3][4]
On the remastered prints of this episode, the sound effect heard in the EBS color bars scene features an unidentified sound effect. This minor alteration is present on the Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+ streams, as well as the Nicktoons broadcast.
However, the non-remastered print from 2001 retains the original sound effect, which is available on DVD and is currently broadcast by Nickelodeon/Nick@Nite (and formerly on TeenNick). It was also present for the Netflix streaming version.[5]
Best Sound Editing in Television Animation – Sound
Nominees:Nicolas Carr (for "Karate Choppers;" 2000) • Andrea Anderson, Jimmy Lifton, Monette Holderer, D.J. Lynch, Vincent Gutisetti, Jeff Hutchins and Gabriel Rosas (for "Rock Bottom"/"Arrgh!;" 2001)
Best Sound Editing in Television – Animation
Nominees: Timothy J. Borquez, Jeff Hutchins and Daisuke Sawa (for "The Secret Box"/"Band Geeks;" 2002)
Best Sound Editing in Television Animation
Nominees: Jimmy Lifton, Jeff Hutchins, Tony Ostyn and Chris Gresham (for "Nasty Patty"/"Idiot Box;" 2003)
Best Sound Editing in Television: Animated
Nominees: Jimmy Lifton, Nicolas Carr, D.J. Lynch, Jeff Hutchins, Tony Ostyn, Chris Gresham and Paulette Lifton (for "Pranks a Lot"/"SpongeBob Meets the Strangler;" 2005) • Vincent Gutisetti, Jimmy Lifton, Nicolas Carr, Monique Reymond, D.J. Lynch, Mark Howlett, Jeff Hutchins, Aran Tanchum, Mishelle Smith and Paulette Lifton (for "Have You Seen This Snail?;" 2006) • Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Jason Stiff, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "SpongeHenge;" 2008)
Best Sound Editing: Television Animation
Nominees: : Chiho Oyamada Carr, Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Daisuke Sawa, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Eric Freeman, Dan Cubert, Lawrence Reyes, Jason Stiff, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "Suction Cup Symphony;" 2009) • Chino Oyamada Carr, Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Eric Freeman, Tom Syslo, Keith Dickens, Jason Stiff, Sergio Silva, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One;" 2010)
Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in Television
Nominees: Devon Bowman, Justin Brinsfield, Nicolas Carr, Andrea Anderson, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Eric Freeman, Tony Orozco and Danny Tchibinda (for "Gary's New Toy;" 2013) • Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Eric Freeman, Bobby Crew, Keith Dickens, Gabriel Rossas and Tony Orozco (for "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!;" 2013)
