SpongeBob SquarePants (season 4)

The fourth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from May 6, 2005 to July 24, 2007, and contained 20 episodes, beginning with the episodes "Fear of a Krabby Patty" and "Shell of a Man". The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg, while writer Paul Tibbitt acted as the showrunner. The show underwent a hiatus on television as Hillenburg halted the production in 2002 to work on the film adaptation of the series, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Once the film was finalized and the previous season had completed broadcast on television, Hillenburg wanted to end the show, but the success of the series led to more episodes, so Tibbitt took over Hillenburg's position as showrunner and began working on a fourth season for broadcast in 2005.

The show itself received several recognition, including the three Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Cartoon from 2005 to 2007. The episodes "Fear of a Krabby Patty" and "Shell of a Man" were nominated at the 57th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour). It also received a nomination for its episodes "Bummer Vacation" and "Wigstruck" at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards for the same category.

Several compilation DVDs that contained episodes from the season were released. The SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 4, Volume 1 and 2 DVDs were released in Region 1 on September 12, 2006 and January 9, 2007, respectively, while the complete set was released in Region 2 on November 3, 2008 and Region 4 on November 7, 2008. On November 13, 2012, The Complete Fourth Season DVD was released in Region 1.

Production

The season aired on Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom, and was produced by United Plankton Pictures and Nickelodeon. The season's executive producer was series creator Stephen Hillenburg. In 2002, Hillenburg and the show's staff members decided to stop making episodes to work on the 2004 film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, after completing the third season. As a result, the show went into a two-year "self-imposed" production hiatus. During the break on television, Nickelodeon expanded the programming for the third season to cover the delay, however, according to network executive Eric Coleman, “there certainly was a delay and a built-up demand.” Nickelodeon announced nine "as-yet-unaired" episodes would be shown during the break.

Once the production on the film was completed, Hillenburg wanted to end the series "so the show wouldn't jump the shark", but Nickelodeon wanted to do more episodes. Hillenburg said “Well, there was concern when we did the movie [in 2004] that the show had peaked. There were concerns among executives at Nickelodeon.” Hillenburg resigned as the series' showrunner, and appointed Paul Tibbitt, who previously served as the show's supervising producer, writer, director, and storyboard artist, to overtake the role. Hillenburg considered Tibbitt one of his favorite members of the show's crew, and "totally trusted him". Tibbitt still holds the showrunner position and also functions as an executive producer. Hillenburg no longer writes or runs the show on a day-to-day basis, but reviews each episode and delivers suggestions. He said, “I figure when I'm pretty old I can still paint. I don't know about running shows.”

In 2004, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, and the rest of the crew confirmed they have completed four new episodes for broadcast on Nickelodeon in early 2005, and planned to finish about 20 total for the then-fourth season. In particular, Kenny said, “Kids were happy watching them for the 3,000th time. It was the parents who've been busting my chops for new episodes.” He remarked that it would be "the same show, the same sponge". On May 6, 2005, the season premiered with the episodes "Fear of a Krabby Patty" and "Shell of a Man". "Fear of a Krabby Patty" was the first episode to be broadcast after the show's intermission. It was written by C.H. Greenblatt and Paul Tibbitt, while Alan Smart served as animation director.

Animation was handled overseas in South Korea at Rough Draft Studios. Animation directors credited with episodes in the fourth season included Larry Leichliter, Andrew Overtoom, Smart, and Tom Yasumi. Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Casey Alexander, Steven Banks, Mike Bell, Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash, Zeus Cervas, Greenblatt, Tom King, Tim Hill, Kyle McCulloch, Dani Michaeli, Chris Mitchell, Mike Mitchell, Aaron Springer, Tibbitt, Vincent Waller, and Erik Wiese. The season was storyboarded by Alexander, Bell, Brookshier, Cash, Cervas, Greenblatt, King, Chris Mitchell, Springer, Tuck Tucker, Brad Vandergrift, Waller, and Wiese.

Cast

The fourth season had a cast of six main actors. Tom Kenny provided the voice of the title character SpongeBob SquarePants and his pet snail Gary. SpongeBob's best friend, a starfish named Patrick Star, was voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, while Rodger Bumpass played the voice of Squidward Tentacles, an arrogant and ill-tempered octopus. Other members of the cast were Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel from Texas; Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, a miserly crab obsessed with money and SpongeBob's boss at the Krusty Krab; and Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, a small green copepod and Mr. Krabs' business rival. The season had a number of secondary characters including Jill Talley as Plankton's computer wife, Karen; Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob's driving instructor; Lori Alan as Pearl, Mr. Krabs' daughter; and Brian Doyle-Murray as the Flying Dutchman.

In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from many ranges of professions, including actors, musicians, and artists. For instance, in the episode "Have You Seen This Snail?", American comedienne and actress Amy Poehler guest starred as the voice of Grandma, a sweet old woman who adopted Gary after he ran away. Musician Stew also appeared as a voice, performing the song "Gary, Come Home". Show writer C.H. Greenblatt made an appearance in the episode "Selling Out" as Carl. Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway returned in the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy: VI The Motion Picture", reprising their roles as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively. In "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired", English actor Robin Sachs voiced Sergeant Sam Roderick, a driving instructor who took over Mrs. Puff in teaching SpongeBob. Christopher Ryan, Nigel Planer and Rik Mayall appeared in the episode "Chimps Ahoy" as Sandy's bossesâ€"Professor Percy, Dr. Marmalade and Lord Reginald, respectively. In the entry "Karate Island", Happy Days and The Karate Kid actor Pat Morita guest starred as Master Udon, a scammer who kidnaps SpongeBob to make him buy real estate. Morita died in November 2005, and the May 2006 episode was dedicated to Morita's memory.

Reception

The season was well received by media critics and fans. The episodes "Fear of a Krabby Patty" and "Shell of a Man" were nominated at the 57th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour), but lost to South Park‍ '​s "Best Friends Forever". The show was also nominated at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards for the same category for the episodes "Bummer Vacation" and "Wigstruck". At the 33rd Annie Awards, C.H. Greenblatt, Paul Tibbitt, Mike Bell and Tim Hill were also nominated for Best Writing in an Animated Television Production for the episode "Fear of a Krabby Patty". "Fear of a Krabby Patty" won for a Special Award at the 2005 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. At the 2006 Golden Reel Awards, the episode "Have You Seen This Snail?" was nominated for Best Sound Editing in Television: Animated. The show itself received several recognition, including the three Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Cartoon from 2005 to 2007. It also received a nomination at the 21st TCA Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming, but lost to Degrassi: The Next Generation, and at the 23rd TCA Awards for the same category. However, the series did not win.

Episodes

Key

• In the â„– column the number refers to the order it aired during the entire series.
• In the # column the number refers to the episode number within its season.
• The following episodes listed in the chart are arranged according to their production order, rather than by their original air dates.

DVD release

The first ten episodes of the fourth season were released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment in the United States and Canada on September 12, 2006. The "Volume 1" DVD release features bonus material including animatics and featurettes. The remaining ten episodes of the season were also released under the title "Volume 2" in the United States and Canada on January 9, 2007. The DVD release also features bonus material including music videos, shorts and featurettes. In Region 2 and 4, the DVD release for the season was a complete set. On November 13, 2012, The Complete Fourth Season DVD was released in Region 1, five years after the season had completed broadcast on television.

Notes

References

External links

• Season 4 at TV.com
• Season 4 at Metacritic