283b. Yellow Pavement

Ok for the most part season 13 has been a huge step in the right direction for the series. This wasn't because it was a blatant rehash of a season 5 episode. It's like they forgot they already made this episode or just was out of ideas and decided to try the concept again. I don't mind the episode but it just feels pointless when we've already seen it done before. The ending was at least unique and some of the visuals like Squidward getting continually more injured to the point of having a full body cast and IV bag was funny.

6.5/10
 
Anyone else notice that the audio was a bit out of sync with Mrs. Puff at the beginning?

Anyway as for the episode... it's Boat Smarts. It's literally just Boat Smarts. Honestly it's quite astounding. Not only do they blatantly reuse the plot, not only do they reuse the characters, not only do they reuse the JOKES, but they reuse (or reanimate) shots FROM THE EPISODE.
ffww.PNGvrev.PNG
The whole first scene, outside of the opening with Mrs. Puff, was almost identical to the start of Boat Smarts. They totally knew what they were doing, there's no excuse for this. And when they weren't blatantly ripping off Boat Smarts, they were blatantly ripping off Krusty Krab Training Video ('Can I get my license now?', 'no one wants to be a SpongeBob', R.A.G.E.). And this isn't done in a clever way where it fits alongside the original, or takes it in a new direction (like Plankton! & The Inside Job). They just take the previous two episodes, throw in some filler, and call it new. When I say it's unchanged, a lot of it is literally unchanged from those episodes. So what's the point of this episode then?

You can't really say "Well the reason for the episode is because the original episode was too short for this concept" because this episode doesn't extend that concept past the short length of the original - pretty much literally - which is why there are minutes and minutes of FILLER stacked onto the ending. And even still, some of the jokes that aren't reused from those episodes are still jokes they've done before. The slow motion in real time thing they do with those kids has already been done before with SpongeBob in Company Picnic, for instance. The whole bit with the glass was original for the show, and actually got a bit of a chuckle out of me, but one good joke doesn't save a bad episode.

The ending was pretty bad too. It wasn't funny at all, added practically nothing to the story, and showcases just how badly SpongeBob's character has been messed up this season. The entire scene of him trying to finish the movie was so blatantly out of character for him that it surprises me. It's not that it would be out of character for SpongeBob to want to finish the movie, or have it end with him getting his license - it's out of character for him to be so ignorant and so self-centered that he thinks he's saving the world by getting his license. It's not the same kind of behavior SpongeBob should normally have, it's like a completely different character. The episode should've just ended there, but even still, it keeps on going for almost a FULL MINUTE with all the kids driving out of the classroom, Mrs. Puff burning the film, taking back the fake license, it just keeps going on and on and on and on - if this isn't filler I don't know what is.

I've never seen an episode of any cartoon that blatantly rips off a previous episode of their show as much as this one. Even the Plankton disguise episodes mix it up a little bit. I know people have their own opinions on rehashes and such, but for me if they don't at least try to mix things up, they shouldn't exist at all. And this episode shouldn't exist.

1/10, the only reason it's not a 0.5 is because of the glass bit. It's a bottom 5 episode of the Season for me, and it barely even makes that list... I don't know how much more of this I can take.
 
A tad boring but I could find some entertainment in it, in the form of some creative slapstick moments and spongebob's presentation finishing.
 
Next up, we've got "Boat Smarts"! Ooh boy. Honestly, full disclosure—

Wait, what do you mean I’m not reviewing “Boat Smarts”? But I thought…wait let me check the episode name again…….ohhhhh I see. Yep, my B. Today we’re reviewing “Yellow Pavement”. And yes, this entire introduction is a bit, because obviously I know that “Boat Smarts” is a long time ago now. But I’ve seen this episode called a rip-off so many times now, I knew I just had to do a bit. So let me actually watch it now to see if this claim is true. And you guys know how hard it is for me to call anything a rip-off. And let me just say that the fact that this episode is a full-length, and “Boat Smarts” is a short, makes me wary of the claim that this episode is a rip-off already. That doesn’t automatically exclude it, but it does already differentiate “Yellow Pavement” from “Boat Smarts”.

Now why is the title card for this episode in freaking Calibri font??? That’s it, no more of these title cards, let’s get back to the normal style. Also, the title card music being Horlepiep…should I make a similarity counter? Sure, why not. “Boat Smarts” Similarity Counter: 1. Though this one barely counts, we all know that’s the premiere boating school track.

Oh dear, this episode is also an educating boating film, just like “Boat Smarts”. “Boat Smarts” Similarity Counter: 2. Though I must say that the older episode had the better idea with it being a video put together by a group against SpongeBob ever driving a boat LMAO. But yeah, I can see where the rip-off (or, from now on, rehash, as I think that's a better descriptor in this case) claims come from, especially as we see that it’s SpongeBob and Squidward who star in this video…”Boat Smarts” Similarity Counter: 3. However, I’m going to need more if I am to call this episode a rehash. Yes, it’s very similar to “Boat Smarts” where the basic plot is concerned, but there is still clear opportunities for differences here, and I won’t make a judgement until I’ve seen if those opportunities are taken. And also, I need to actually review the episode for what it is.

Frankly, as this episode begins, I’m getting more “Krusty Krab Training Video” vibes than “Boat Smarts”, probably because the purpose of the video we’re seeing is more similar to the former than the latter in ways that I find difficult to explain properly. So far, I’m liking the snide remarks form of the humor for this episode. Reminds me a lot of my favorite episode in the show. Moving on, we then get…oh dear. Yeah this five-point check bit is quite similar to the tire pressure segment of “Boat Smarts”. “Boat Smarts” Similarity Counter: 4. Not to be a DragonBall Super hater riding Toyotaro for art similarities but…yeah (or…yeah). And yes we did get the same beginning of a joke with SpongeBob filling up his tires too much. But the joke ends up much different to the one in “Boat Smarts” (as this section is about checking 5 parts of the boat…also the joke was good) so I’m not too irritated. However I am again reminded of “Krusty Krab Training Video” as this section ends with SpongeBob asking if he could get his license now. KKTV Similarity Counter: 1. Well shoot, I’m almost more inclined to call this episode a rehash of that one. I guess I could say it rehashes both, if I decide to come to that conclusion. I stay strong. For now.

The next section of the episode, entering traffic, was pretty amusing. I like how SpongeBob just came out of nowhere. The absolute force of chaos he is behind a wheel never fails to entertain, especially when we see him from an outside perspective like this. And yeah I’m really getting irritated at the joke pulled straight from “Krusty Krab Training Video”. Because that episode is so unique in the show, it feels wrong to have any joke that uses its unique format be used in another episode, even if it also has a similar format. You feel me?

The third lesson is about spotting pedestrians, and it is also decently amusing. I loved the part where Squidward’s like “how cliche!”. And then was that a thug life reference???? Oh my lord. Best part of the episode so far. And then I love how Mrs. Puff refers to SpongeBob with a scientific name at first. See, I’m liking this. I’ve actually liked most of the episode so far, which I’ll get to later. Is this part of the episode the origin of the “Hi Squidward” memes? (I know it’s not, because SpongeBob saying “Hi Squidward” before causing chaos in the guy’s life is a common joke in the show, but let me have my fun). Squidward ends up hitting a ripped lady, who throws him in a garbage truck. Yeah, best segment so far.

Next lesson is about navigation. I like how this episode has Squidward being progressively more hurt. This does differentiate it from “Boat Smarts”, which as you can see, I haven’t written down a similarity in a while. Yes, this episode does overall contain the similarity of the bad driver causing harm to the good driver, but I’ve already covered that in the 3rd hit on the similarity counter. Anyway, I feel like the slow children at play part is like…the first time I’ve liked the use of slo-mo. So yay! This section also ends in a random explosion, and y’all know I love those.

Next lesson is about proper passenger etiquette. Well I must say I’m loving all of these random lessons. I think having a bunch of new lessons also helps to differentiate this episode from “Boat Smarts”. And as I haven’t written a similarity in some time, I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be calling this episode a rip-off at all. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Poor Squidward is so brutalized by this point. I like that this episode supports my policy of not letting my passengers touch the aux lol. Yes I’m a control freak. This lesson leads right into the next, which is about road rage. See, that’s something I’ll never do. Because first off, I can critically think. And second off, I live in the US…anybody could have a gun. Remember that. In this section we see an appearance of Patrick, who’s driving quite the hot rod. And this sets off Squidward’s road rage. Okay now come on, the “RAGE” joke??? You just took “POOP”’s whole flow?? Oh h*** no! We don’t do that here. KKTV Similarity Counter: 2. And yes the joke was funny, but don’t think I didn’t see that ish. SpongeBob somehow manages to calm Squidward down in a pretty entertaining scene, and I like how it turns out to have caused a traffic jam. And then poor Squidward ends up brutalized once more, but at least we don’t have to see it.

And then I guess we were watching this video on a projector the whole time, as the tape ends up burning out. And then SpongeBob becomes the tape. I like the silhouette part of this episode, I think it’s a neat touch. SpongeBob finishing the video himself is also pretty cute. And, importantly, it also helps to differentiate the episode even more. Good.

Alright, so, “Yellow Pavement”…I actually liked this episode. It was pretty funny and entertaining throughout. Such a shame that it took so much from two episodes: “Boat Smarts” and “Krusty Krab Training Video”. Listen, episodes can be similar. If I didn’t believe that, I’d call every Krusty Krab episode a rip-off, every episode involving the core trio a rip-off, heck every boating school episode would be a rip-off. Y’all know I don’t care about episodes sharing some similarities. HOWEVER, “Yellow Pavement” goes above and beyond. While it is in no way a carbon copy of either of these episodes, and for the most part, the second half of the episode is pretty independent of the clear influences, this episode borrows quite a bit from the two aforementioned episodes. A bit too much, I’d say. From “Krusty Krab Training Video”, it takes two iconic jokes. That’s already unacceptable, because if you’re going to borrow jokes, don’t use the iconic ones! (And yeah, with an episode like KKTV, it would be hard to borrow from it at all because it’s an iconic episode. Hence why episodes tend to not do that.) From “Boat Smarts”, this episode not only takes its format (which itself was taken from KKTV), which wouldn’t be too bad on its own, but it also takes its characters, a couple plot points, and even a joke set-up. A couple of these things (between KKTV and “Boat Smarts”) would be fine, not a problem. But all of them? Oh yeah, no.

“Yellow Pavement” just barely can be called a rehash. Not because it doesn’t do that ish, because it totally does, but because it also includes a bunch of original stuff. There’s a lot more original jokes here than reused ones, and the last 3 or so minutes is completely new plot and format. So the entire episode isn’t a rehash, but a good chunk of it does fall under that category. Hence, just barely a rehash. So, what does this mean for my review? Well…I don’t think it means all that much. I’m more offended that one of the episodes that this episode partially rehashed was “Krusty Krab Training Video”, AKA my favorite episode. If it was another episode, I would not care nearly as much. And again, I actually really liked this episode! So…I’ll dock some points for it being a rehash (AKA it’s automatically banned from the Amazing and Great tiers), but I would for sure watch this episode again.

Episode Tier: Good
Episode Score: 7.9/10
 
Ugh. Of all the episodes they could've ripped off. Did it HAVE to be Boat Smarts? This might be bottom 10 material for me honestly. This episode is Boat Smarts, already a pretty terrible episode, except it's longer! The same problems Boat Smarts has mostly apply here and this brings absolutely nothing too. Sorry but this episode is HORRENDOUS in my opinion...

1/10
 
Season 4-11 said:
Anyone else notice that the audio was a bit out of sync with Mrs. Puff at the beginning?

Anyway as for the episode... it's Boat Smarts. It's literally just Boat Smarts. Honestly it's quite astounding. Not only do they blatantly reuse the plot, not only do they reuse the characters, not only do they reuse the JOKES, but they reuse (or reanimate) shots FROM THE EPISODE.
View attachment 18259View attachment 18260
The whole first scene, outside of the opening with Mrs. Puff, was almost identical to the start of Boat Smarts. They totally knew what they were doing, there's no excuse for this. And when they weren't blatantly ripping off Boat Smarts, they were blatantly ripping off Krusty Krab Training Video ('Can I get my license now?', 'no one wants to be a SpongeBob', R.A.G.E.). And this isn't done in a clever way where it fits alongside the original, or takes it in a new direction (like Plankton! & The Inside Job). They just take the previous two episodes, throw in some filler, and call it new. When I say it's unchanged, a lot of it is literally unchanged from those episodes. So what's the point of this episode then?

You can't really say "Well the reason for the episode is because the original episode was too short for this concept" because this episode doesn't extend that concept past the short length of the original - pretty much literally - which is why there are minutes and minutes of FILLER stacked onto the ending. And even still, some of the jokes that aren't reused from those episodes are still jokes they've done before. The slow motion in real time thing they do with those kids has already been done before with SpongeBob in Company Picnic, for instance. The whole bit with the glass was original for the show, and actually got a bit of a chuckle out of me, but one good joke doesn't save a bad episode.

The ending was pretty bad too. It wasn't funny at all, added practically nothing to the story, and showcases just how badly SpongeBob's character has been messed up this season. The entire scene of him trying to finish the movie was so blatantly out of character for him that it surprises me. It's not that it would be out of character for SpongeBob to want to finish the movie, or have it end with him getting his license - it's out of character for him to be so ignorant and so self-centered that he thinks he's saving the world by getting his license. It's not the same kind of behavior SpongeBob should normally have, it's like a completely different character. The episode should've just ended there, but even still, it keeps on going for almost a FULL MINUTE with all the kids driving out of the classroom, Mrs. Puff burning the film, taking back the fake license, it just keeps going on and on and on and on - if this isn't filler I don't know what is.

I've never seen an episode of any cartoon that blatantly rips off a previous episode of their show as much as this one. Even the Plankton disguise episodes mix it up a little bit. I know people have their own opinions on rehashes and such, but for me if they don't at least try to mix things up, they shouldn't exist at all. And this episode shouldn't exist.

1/10, the only reason it's not a 0.5 is because of the glass bit. It's a bottom 5 episode of the Season for me, and it barely even makes that list... I don't know how much more of this I can take.
Click to expand...
THANK YOU for rightfully tearing this episode apart!
 
distinctincident5624 said:
Ugh. Of all the episodes they could've ripped off. Did it HAVE to be Boat Smarts? This might be bottom 10 material for me honestly. This episode is Boat Smarts, already a pretty terrible episode, except it's longer! The same problems Boat Smarts has mostly apply here and this brings absolutely nothing too. Sorry but this episode is HORRENDOUS in my opinion...

1/10
Click to expand...
Atleast it did the parody thing much better here and since the animation is more fluid the slapstick works this time
 
I really like this one now with more of a big length it does what boat smarts wanted to do!
  1. Salty Sponge (10/10)
  2. Welcome To Binary Bottom (10/10)
  3. C.H.U.M.S (9.5/10)
  4. Ma And Pa's Big Hurrah (9.5/10)
  5. Yellow Pavement (9.5/10)
  6. Patrick The Mailman (9.5/10)
  7. Karen For Spot (9.5/10)
  8. Say Aww! (9.5/10)
  9. Goofy Scoopers (9/10)
  10. Food PBFFT! Truck (8.5/10)
  11. Abandon Twits (8.5/10)
  12. A Place For Pets (8/10)
  13. Squidferatu (8/10
  14. Big Bad Bubble Bass (8/10)
  15. Under The Small Top (8/10)
  16. Squidward's Sick Daze (7.5/10)
  17. Sea Man Sponge Haters Club (7.5/10)
  18. Ain't That The Tooth (7.5/10)
  19. Spongebob's Road To Christmas (7.5/10)
  20. Walhalla (7.5/10)
  21. You're Going To Pay Phone (7.5/10)
  22. Arbor Day Dissarray (7/10)
  23. Potato Puff (7/10)
  24. Pat The Dog (6.5/10)
  25. Skin Wrinkle in time (6.5/10)
  26. Captain Pipsqueak (5.5/10)
  27. Lockdown For Love (5.5/10)
  28. Slappy Daze (5.5/10)
  29. Plane To Sea (3.5/10)
  30. There Will Be Grease (3/10)
  31. Upturn Girls (3/10)
  32. Something Narwhal This Way Comes (0/10)
 
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