Summary
SpongeBob SquarePantsjust broke a 24-year streak by airing an episode that doesn’t feature the titular SpongeBob SquarePants in any capacity.SpongeBob SquarePantshas consistently aired new episodessince the show’s first season debuted all the way back in 1999. The massively popular cartoon is easily Nickelodeon’s biggest success, becoming a blockbuster franchise that includes everything from feature-length films to video games to theme park attractions.
Even thoughSpongeBob SquarePantshas been on Nickelodeon since 1999, the show just recently entered its 14th season. This is becauseSpongeBobseasons are typically multi-year affairs.SpongeBob SquarePantsSeason 14 premiered on November 2 with the episode “Single-Celled Defense,” and its latest episode, “BassWard,” aired on November 23.
The"BassWard" episode inSpongeBob SquarePantsis all about Squidward and Bubble Bass coming into conflict as they both try to travel to Jetsam City for separate conventions.According to Fandom, SpongeBob doesn’t appear in the episode at all, marking the first time this has happened in the show’s 24-year run. It’s rather surprising that SpongeBob doesn’t at least make a cameo in the episode, and one has to wonder why the decision was made to finally produce an episode ofSpongeBob SquarePantsthat doesn’t feature the title character. It will be interesting to see if this is the last time it happens or if any future episodes ofSpongeBob SquarePantsare made without the world-famous sponge making an appearance.
There should be plenty of opportunity for futureSpongeBob SquarePantsepisodes to be made without SpongeBob, as the show is showing no signs of slowing down. Nickelodeon will keep commissioning new episodes forSpongeBobas long as it remains its most popular show, so fans can likely look forward to years of new content. And that’s not even counting the multipleSpongeBob SquarePantsspin-off showsthat are still airing new episodes as well.
Of course, theSpongeBobfranchise has become much bigger than the TV series, and so fans can expect plenty of new content in other media arenas as well. MultipleSpongeBob SquarePantsfilm projects are in active development, and it is highly likely that many moreSpongeBobvideo games will be produced in the years to come. In fact, 2023 has already been a pretty big year forSpongeBobin terms of video games, withSpongeBob SimulatorhittingRoblox,SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shakelaunching at the beginning of the year,SpongeBobDLC added toPowerWash Simulator, and SpongeBob taking on a lead role in theNickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2platform fighter.
