Actually it was a play on the 60’s cartoon shorts of Aquaman and Aqua Lad. It was such a great parody that nearly choked on my morning bagel. My favorite moment is when Spongebob and pals try to show water breathers are beter than air breathers. To make their point they try living on land.
The moment they surface it switches from animation to plain video. We see an actual sponge, starfish and crab on a stick. Just hilarious.
I… have… never seen that episode! Damn, why do I miss all the good ones?! It’s like the “Lenin coming back from the dead” sequence on the Simpsons. Everyone else has seen it but I never seem to catch it. 
Though Mermaidman may dress like Aquaman, he’s always reminded me of Adam West as Batman, what with the cave-full-of-gadgets, phrases (“To the meatloaf!” “Leapin’ lampreys, Barnacleboy!”), and sound-effects-on-screen (“HANG UP!” “KING ME!”)
I’m surprised Persephone hasn’t jumped into this thread. It’s her favorite cartoon!
It’s one of mine, too, although I think Dexter’s Lab just beats it out.
The bubble-blowing episode always cracks me and eight-year-old Halford the Human Eel[sup]TM[/sup] up.
“Bring it a-rooouuund tooowwwn.”
But the line that always slays the boy is when Spongebob blows a balloon in the shape of an elephant and Patrick laughs like a happy idiot and exclaims,
“It’s a giraffe!”
“Rectangles!”
Some other things I thought of:
I enjoy the absurity of some of the dialog. For example: Spongebob has created a doodle with a magic pencil that comes to life. The doodle catches Spongebob and Patrick in a hole. Spongebob asks Patrick, “Are you okay?” Patrick replies with a non-sequitor, shouting as if in pain “FINLAND!” Some of the gags are as absurd and funny as well (Sponge and Pat carrying what they believe to be Squidward’s ghost, looking for a place to put him down: “Too wet…too dry…Toulouse-Latrec…”)
I also like the running gag that whenever there’s a big accident, you can usually hear a guy offscreen yelling “My leg!”
ewwwwww, nematodes!
Okay, just to show you what this show does to people, I submit (almost verbatim) the text of an IM between myself and Persephone during Spongebob this evening (reprinted with her permission) :
mrstrag7267: Oh yeah! The rancid breath one!
mrstrag7267: “Patrick! We’re not ugly! We just have rancid breath!!!”
Eutychus55: heh heh
mrstrag7267: I love this one!
Eutychus55: Wow! A parade!
Eutychus55: “My leg!”
mrstrag7267: Something weird is going on today.
mrstrag7267: “My eyes! My eyes!”
Eutychus55: Can I borrow some bath beads?
mrstrag7267: ROFL! I love this!
Eutychus55: Once there was an ugly barnicle.
mrstrag7267: “He was so ugly that everyone died. The end.”
Eutychus55: SCREEEAM!!
Eutychus55: I’M UGLY AND I’M PROUD!
mrstrag7267: “Is that what he calls it?”
Eutychus55: People respect self -esteem
mrstrag7267: “Hi. I’m very ugly. But you should enjoy the movie anyway.”
Eutychus55: It’s ugly, isn’t it?
mrstrag7267: LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT! LOOOOK AT IIIIT!
Eutychus55: I’ll bet there’s no line at the snack bar!
mrstrag7267: “What are you doing in there, Patrick?”
Eutychus55: You gave me the ugly
mrstrag7267: “That may be fine for you, but I was one of the beautiful people!”
Eutychus55: Oh my gosh …if my sister finds out
mrstrag7267: WOOHOO! We stink! We stink!
Eutychus55: WE STINK! WE STINK!
Thanks for calling me out, Dave & Euty!
Yes, I do indeed love this show. With the white-hot blazing passion of a thousand suns, I love this show. Euty & I both are such fans that before ChiDope, one of the things we planned to do was watch Spongebob together. All the things to do in Chicago, and we watch Spongebob.
And yeah, Gary is terminally cool.
My brother loves that one 
My favorite episode is the one where Spongebob gets stuck in the waaay bottom of the sea where it’s all dark. He always misses the bus and then when he runs across the street for some chips it passes by… he goes to chase it and then another guy takes his chips.
Oh, and the skies and backgrounds are so awesome.
Okay! I’m sold. I’m takin the plunge–
Spongebob, (sentimental pause0
I can’t wait to meet you.
(Sounds like it would be cool in 3D) 
Anyone got connections?
I was at Target this evening and I noticed some episodes are available on DVD.
My favorite episode is Hall Monitor, when SB and Patrick go hunting for the crazed madman and it turns out to be SB.
“I see him SpongeBob! He’s right under that streetlight!”
“Oh no Patrick! I’m under the streetlight! AAAHHHHHHHH!!!”
Cracks me up every time.
They just ran “Something Smelly” and that one has the most shocking joke I’ve ever seen on Nickelodeon. Spongebob’s lamenting that he’s all out of peanuts, Gary ate 'em. But Spongebob knows where he can get some. Pan over to the toilet! utter shock Turns out there’s a peanut plant in the window sill behind the toilet, but still, wow!
I’m the Flyin’ Dutchman!
Anyone ever see the “Hooks” episode? Despite the warnings from Mr. Krab that the hooks from above are not to be messed with, SpongeBob and Patrick start to play with them like they are toys! LOL! Patrick gets caught on one and is hauled up to the surface…where we see that “Fishing Guy” (the one who has his own fishing show in real life, whose name I can’t remember right now!) sitting in a boat!
LOL! That cracks me up.
And remember that episode where Patrick has a secret box with something mysterious in it, but he won’t tell SpongeBob what it is. SpongeBob sneaks into Patricks shell house when he is sleeping and steals the box. SpongeBob opens it and finds…
Sorry can’t tell, you’ll have to watch the show.
I love pbt the pbt Rock Bottom pbt episode pbt.
Just this morning I was singing,
“Oh I wish I were in Texas…
I miss my 20 acres, barbeques and pecan pies…
Yodeleheehoo…”
Sandy Cheeks is the best! My 14 month old daughter is hooked on SpongeBob, and thus, so are Mr. Elf and I. When we get home from daycare in the evening, she points to the TV and announces, “Ba Bob”. (Well, on the nights that she doesn’t say DORA!)
Believe me, I’d much rather watch Sponge Bob.:rolleyes:
Yeah. God, I love that episode! Especially the part where Mr. Krab puts out a Krabby Patty as bait, to see if Plankton will take it, and then he leaves, and it’s still there. Spongebob says something along the lines of “I told you so”, and then the patty falls over, and it turns out that Plankton did steal it, and substituted a two-dimensional replica on a wooden stand. That totally cracked me up!
mobo85: “To the meatloaf!” Hee hee hee!
And my favorite thing about Gary is that he meows like a cat! Sets me off every time.
Bridge… Rocks… WATERFALL!!!