"The Nitwitting" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 12. In this episode, Patrick inducts SpongeBob into his prestigious society of dullards and doofuses.
Characters[]
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Patrick Star
- Incidentals
- Incidental 1ISH (single appearance)
- Steven
- John
- Incidental 6
- Incidental 12
- Incidental 14
- Dodo
- Carol
- Charlie
- Incidental 27
- Two Incidental 30s
- Incidental 30A
- Incidental 36
- Incidental 37A (green)
- Incidental 37B
- Scooter
- Incidental 39
- Incidental 40
- Incidental 42
- Incidental 45
- Incidental 46
- Incidental 48
- Incidental 49
- Incidental 67
- Incidental 69
- Harris
- Incidental 82
- Old Man Walker
- Incidental 90
- Incidental 92
- Incidental 93
- Incidental 105
- Incidental 106
- Incidental 107
- Three Lennys
- Incidental FG3
- "EHS" incidentals (debut)
- F.E.M.A. (single appearance)
- DoodleBob (cameo as a drawing)
- Man Ray (cameo as a drawing)
- Squidward Tentacles (cameo as a drawing)
- Larry the Lobster (cameo)
- Gary the Snail (cameo as a picture on the Snail-Po truck)
- One of the trash inspectors
- R.A. PennyPincher
- Ice Cream King
- Little idiot (single appearance)
Synopsis[]
In the beginning of the episode, SpongeBob and Patrick drive out of Barg'N-Mart on a unicycle, and they land into an area full of boxes. Patrick tells SpongeBob he is going to his club meeting. SpongeBob is intrigued about this club, so Patrick tells him the club is the Empty Head Society. SpongeBob decides to join, so the two go inside one of the boxes and see the club in its entirety. The two give their brains at the door and soon afterwards, the Empty Heads have a meeting.
The Empty Head Society.
Everyone goes to the meeting and the Ice Cream King is revealed to be the club president who started the meeting. He gets his secretary to read the minutes and then asks if there are any new recruits at the club. Patrick tells SpongeBob to go, as he wanted to join the club, so he goes up on the stage. The Ice Cream King checks to see if SpongeBob is dumb enough, and then tells everyone to pass a jar of saliva while SpongeBob drinks lemonade. However, SpongeBob thinks they are referring to the jar of saliva, and drinks that, causing everyone to get disgusted.
The ice cream king announces that it is time to help the citizens of Bikini Bottom, the event being called the "Nitwitting." The Empty Heads sing a song about them being empty heads and then go out to do their civic duty. However, the Empty Heads end up hurting Bikini Bottom more than help them, making SpongeBob ask if what the Empty Heads are doing counts as civic duty. Patrick does not think about this comment very seriously, so SpongeBob continues the "Nitwitting" with the other Empty Heads.
After SpongeBob makes a comment that the Ice Cream King finds to show that he is not dumb, he feels that he is not Empty Head material. SpongeBob eventually loses his last brain stem and becomes completely brainless. He starts to act goofy and do many awkward things, and soon ends up walking into a dark alley alone. Patrick finds SpongeBob in the alley and tells him he found his brain, though he just brought a bunch of brains inside a jar. SpongeBob finds his brain and eventually returns to his normal self. SpongeBob decides that he wants to fix the wreck the Empty Heads made, but it turns out everything was cleaned by Sandy and F.E.M.A., the club she is a part of. The episode ends with the Empty Heads crashing into SpongeBob and Sandy, singing the Empty Heads song once again, as the episode ends.
Production[]
The episode was confirmed by Vincent Waller on November 12, 2018.[1]
Art[]
Storyboards[]
Music[]
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
• The Nitwitting Song 2 Music Only - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card]
• Xylo Roll. - Nicolas Carr [Overlays "The Nitwitting Song 2 Music Only."]
• Shop O Rama - Nicolas Carr, Fabian Fernandez [Opening at Barg'N-Mart]
• Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob and Patrick riding on a unicycle]
• Gator - Steve Belfer ["I still don't understand why you had me wear a blindfold."]
‣ Danse Comique - Kenny Graham [Patrick tells SpongeBob about his club]
‣ Comikarama - Dennis Farnon [SpongeBob and Patrick enter at the clubhouse]
‣ Corny Playoff - Wally Asp [Ice Cream King walks up to the stage]
‣ Mr Wobbly - Norman Dane [Ice Cream King's secretary reads the minutes]
‣ Fight! Fight! Fight! (a) - Will Schaefer [Ice Cream King kicks his secretary off the stage]
‣ Slap And Tickle - Roger Roger [SpongeBob walks up to the stage]
• Unknown Track 70 - Nicolas Carr ["It's time to pass the jar!"]
• In the Cooler Tension Build Up - Nicolas Carr [Club members spitting in the jar]
• Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob drinks the jar of spit with disgust]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 35 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob burps]
‣ Flash Harry - Dick Walter [SpongeBob wins another badge]
• Proud to be a Hillbilly 4 - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["It's now time to go out in the community and help the citizens of Bikini Bottom by doing our civic duty."]
◦ The Nitwitting Song - Kaz Prapuolenis [Club members sing this]
• The Nitwitting Song 1 Music Only - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Background music to "The Nitwitting Song."]
‣ Ride Of The Valkyries - Richard Wagner, Cormac Dorrrian [All of the club members riding on mini boats through Bikini Bottom]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 26 - Jeremy Wakefield [At bowling alley]
• Greenhorn Rag - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Club members doing "civic duty" in Bikini Bottom]
• Planktons Ballpark Organ 3 - Nicolas Carr [Patrick hits parking meter with a baseball bat]
‣ Jubilee Sports - Dennis Berry, Stuart Crombie [SpongeBob replacing destroyed parking meters with soup bowls]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 37A - Jeremy Wakefield [Charlie throws a penny into the bowl of soup]
‣ Slippery Sid - Roger Roger [Patrick puts a garbage can over his head]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 6A - Jeremy Wakefield ["I guess I'm just not Empty Head material."]
‣ Slippery Sid - Roger Roger ["My name's Buddy now?"]
• Seaweed 2 - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob's head short-circuits]
‣ Shock - Cornelus Joh Bolten [SpongeBob's face begins to deform]
‣ Pig And Whistle - Paul Gerard [SpongeBob becomes brainless]
‣ Gorgeous Girl - Kurt Schick [SpongeBob talking to a lady]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 22A - Jeremy Wakefield [Lady hits SpongeBob with her purse and runs away]
• Blue Tide - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob walks into an alley and tries to sit down on a chair]
‣ Danse Comique - Kenny Graham ["Obviously not the sharpest tool in the... tool thing."]
• Stupid Plan-No Bass - Steve Belfer [Patrick gives SpongeBob his brain back]
• I'm Ready Fanfare - Nicolas Carr ["I'm ready! I'm ready!"]
• A Pinapple Luau - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob decides to repair all the damage]
‣ Jovial Jack - Philippe Pares ["Hey, you'd better hurry because you're getting smaller!"]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 32E - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob runs out of the alley]
‣ Fraidy Cat - Fredric Bayco [SpongeBob sees everything has turned back to normal]
‣ Alekoki - Kapono Beamer [Sandy cleaned everything up]
‣ Porky The Pig - Phillip Cardew [Club members riding on mini boats again]
◦ The Nitwitting Song - Kaz Prapuolenis [Club members sing this again]
• The Nitwitting Song 2 Music Only - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Background music to "The Nitwitting Song."]
• Xylo Roll. - Nicolas Carr [Overlays "The Nitwitting Song 2 Music Only."]
Release[]
- This episode is available on the SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 19 digital collection and The Complete Twelfth Season DVD.
Trivia[]
General[]
- During the original premiere, it was paired with a re-run of "FarmerBob," but since it has been re-airing with "The Ballad of Filthy Muck."[citation needed]
- The titular location from "Larry's Gym" returns, except it is now a generic gym and the anchor on the sign is gone.
- However, when the gym reappears in "Handemonium," the anchor and Larry's name on the sign return, thus returning to its original appearance.
- At the crossing where the shark draws smiles on the lights, the garbage truck and one of the trash inspectors from "Sanitation Insanity" can be seen.
- The fourth wall is literally broken at the end of the episode when Patrick rides into the camera and it shatters.
- This was the first episode of the series to premiere after Stephen Hillenburg's lifetime.
- This is the second episode in the series where SpongeBob and Patrick wear fezzes. The first was "Good Neighbors."
- This episode was paired up with "Lost and Found" during the SpongeBob Code-Catcher Challenge marathon.
- This marks the first episode where Man Ray appears without Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.
Episode references[]
- Many of the graffiti seen in the alley are references.
- Graffiti of DoodleBob appears on the corner of a building.
- A graffiti of Man Ray appears on the wall.
- The "Squidward Smells" graffiti from the Krusty Krab dumpster in "Sailor Mouth" and "Mall Girl Pearl" reappears.
- "I'M DIRTY DAN" is shown, but it is spelled as "I'M DIRTY DAH," referencing "Survival of the Idiots."
- Other graffiti tags include "KRABS," "Chum Bucket
4 LifeSTINKS!," "MY LEG," and "Man Ray was Here."
- A Kelp Shake from "Best Frenemies" returns in this episode.
Cultural references[]
- The F.E.M.A. acronym is a reference to FEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the United States.
- The melody of the "Nitwitting Song" is inspired by the Laurel and Hardy theme song.
- The Man Ray graffiti references Kilroy was here.
- Kilroy was previously referenced on the title card for "Teacher's Pests."
Errors[]
Bar 'N Mart.
- In the French dub, the G from the Barg'N-Mart's sign is missing.
Dave Cunningham is credited as supervising director.
- Dave Cunningham was credited as the supervising director in the original airing when it is actually Adam Paloian.[2] This error has now been fixed.[3]
- SpongeBob is darker shade of yellow when he gets out the saliva jar.
Patrick's tooth turns yellow.
- When singing the "Nitwitting Song," Patrick's tooth turns yellow for a frame.
- When SpongeBob says “Wrong brain”, he has three buckteeth instead of two.
Sandy's miscolored neck.
- When Sandy says, "Speaking of "brain vacation," her neck is white instead of brown for a few frames.
Videos[]
