Pinned thread Season 1 Discussion

[Pugs4Thugs]

Given that I just reviewed every season 1 episode, I thought it would be a good idea to post my new scores and rankings of this season.

Help Wanted: 9.3/10
Reef Blower: 8.5/10
Tea at the Treedome: 8.7/10
Bubblestand: 8.7/10
Ripped Pants: 8/10
Jellyfishing: 8.4/10
Plankton!: 9/10
Naughty Nautical Neighbors: 9/10
Boating School: 9/10
Pizza Delivery: 9.4/10
Home Sweet Pineapple: 7/10
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy: 7/10
Pickles: 9.4/10
Hall Monitor: 8.5/10
Jellyfish Jam: 9.2/10
Sandy's Rocket: 8/10
Squeaky Boots: 7.5/10
Nature Pants: 6.9/10
Opposite Day: 7.5/10
Culture Shock: 9.7/10
F.U.N.: 9.4/10
MuscleBob BuffPants: 7.8/10
Squidward The Unfriendly Ghost: 9/10
The Chaperone: 8.5/10
Employee of the Month: 8/10
Scaredy Pants: 9.4/10
I Was a Teenage Gary: 7.8/10
SB-129: 9/10
Karate Choppers: 9/10
Sleepy Time: 8.8/10
Suds: 9/10
Valentine's Day: 7.8/10
The Paper: 8.5/10
Arrgh!: 9/10
Rock Bottom: 8.2/10
Texas: 9.4/10
Walking Small: 9.5/10
Fools in April: 9/10
Neptune's Spatula: 7.8/10
Hooky: 6.8/10
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II: 7.3/10

Top 5:
5. Pizza Delivery
4. Texas
3. Scaredy Pants
2. Walking Small
1. Culture Shock

Bottom 5:
5. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II
4. Home Sweet Pineapple
3. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy
2. Nature Pants
1. Hooky

Scoring:
Amazing: 18
Great: 12
Good: 9
Okay: 2
Mediocre: 0
Tolerable: 0
Bad: 0
Abysmal: 0

Additional Comments:
If you read any of my episode reviews, then you know that I find this season to be an excellent entry into SpongeBob SquarePants. It adequately reduces nearly every major player in the show, and does so with great humor. Sure, the writers and voice actors and everyone else involved are still getting their footing, so this season feels different to others, but it's still a great season, and one I love to revisit. SpongeBob himself is at his most adorable in this season, something we wouldn't return to fully until like season 10 or 11. Patrick surprisingly does not get as much use as I thought he did this season. The show, although limited in its character interactions, really did feel like an ensemble show from the beginning, as many main characters appeared a lot more often than they would for some points in the future (I'm largely thinking of Sandy, to be honest).

Season 1 is slower than other seasons when it comes to its stories and humors, but that works for it (and its animation style). The backgrounds used in many of the episodes of this season are absolutely gorgeous as well. Like dang, those artists really went off! You can tell a lot of love was put into this season, which pays off.

 

[meko1432]

Given that I just reviewed every season 1 episode, I thought it would be a good idea to post my new scores and rankings of this season.

Help Wanted: 9.3/10
Reef Blower: 8.5/10
Tea at the Treedome: 8.7/10
Bubblestand: 8.7/10
Ripped Pants: 8/10
Jellyfishing: 8.4/10
Plankton!: 9/10
Naughty Nautical Neighbors: 9/10
Boating School: 9/10
Pizza Delivery: 9.4/10
Home Sweet Pineapple: 7/10
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy: 7/10
Pickles: 9.4/10
Hall Monitor: 8.5/10
Jellyfish Jam: 9.2/10
Sandy's Rocket: 8/10
Squeaky Boots: 7.5/10
Nature Pants: 6.9/10
Opposite Day: 7.5/10
Culture Shock: 9.7/10
F.U.N.: 9.4/10
MuscleBob BuffPants: 7.8/10
Squidward The Unfriendly Ghost: 9/10
The Chaperone: 8.5/10
Employee of the Month: 8/10
Scaredy Pants: 9.4/10
I Was a Teenage Gary: 7.8/10
SB-129: 9/10
Karate Choppers: 9/10
Sleepy Time: 8.8/10
Suds: 9/10
Valentine's Day: 7.8/10
The Paper: 8.5/10
Arrgh!: 9/10
Rock Bottom: 8.2/10
Texas: 9.4/10
Walking Small: 9.5/10
Fools in April: 9/10
Neptune's Spatula: 7.8/10
Hooky: 6.8/10
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II: 7.3/10

Top 5:
5. Pizza Delivery
4. Texas
3. Scaredy Pants
2. Walking Small
1. Culture Shock

Bottom 5:
5. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II
4. Home Sweet Pineapple
3. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy
2. Nature Pants
1. Hooky

Scoring:
Amazing: 18
Great: 12
Good: 9
Okay: 2
Mediocre: 0
Tolerable: 0
Bad: 0
Abysmal: 0

Additional Comments:
If you read any of my episode reviews, then you know that I find this season to be an excellent entry into SpongeBob SquarePants. It adequately reduces nearly every major player in the show, and does so with great humor. Sure, the writers and voice actors and everyone else involved are still getting their footing, so this season feels different to others, but it's still a great season, and one I love to revisit. SpongeBob himself is at his most adorable in this season, something we wouldn't return to fully until like season 10 or 11. Patrick surprisingly does not get as much use as I thought he did this season. The show, although limited in its character interactions, really did feel like an ensemble show from the beginning, as many main characters appeared a lot more often than they would for some points in the future (I'm largely thinking of Sandy, to be honest).

Season 1 is slower than other seasons when it comes to its stories and humors, but that works for it (and its animation style). The backgrounds used in many of the episodes of this season are absolutely gorgeous as well. Like dang, those artists really went off! You can tell a lot of love was put into this season, which pays off.

if season had the pacing of seasons 2 and 3, i think most episodes would be a 10

also the animation is really dark which makes it feel a bit dull

 

[Squidwardspal]

if season had the pacing of seasons 2 and 3, i think most episodes would be a 10

also the animation is really dark which makes it feel a bit dull

I feel like the cel animation makes it seem very lively personally

 

[Squidwardspal]

Given that I just reviewed every season 1 episode, I thought it would be a good idea to post my new scores and rankings of this season.

Help Wanted: 9.3/10
Reef Blower: 8.5/10
Tea at the Treedome: 8.7/10
Bubblestand: 8.7/10
Ripped Pants: 8/10
Jellyfishing: 8.4/10
Plankton!: 9/10
Naughty Nautical Neighbors: 9/10
Boating School: 9/10
Pizza Delivery: 9.4/10
Home Sweet Pineapple: 7/10
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy: 7/10
Pickles: 9.4/10
Hall Monitor: 8.5/10
Jellyfish Jam: 9.2/10
Sandy's Rocket: 8/10
Squeaky Boots: 7.5/10
Nature Pants: 6.9/10
Opposite Day: 7.5/10
Culture Shock: 9.7/10
F.U.N.: 9.4/10
MuscleBob BuffPants: 7.8/10
Squidward The Unfriendly Ghost: 9/10
The Chaperone: 8.5/10
Employee of the Month: 8/10
Scaredy Pants: 9.4/10
I Was a Teenage Gary: 7.8/10
SB-129: 9/10
Karate Choppers: 9/10
Sleepy Time: 8.8/10
Suds: 9/10
Valentine's Day: 7.8/10
The Paper: 8.5/10
Arrgh!: 9/10
Rock Bottom: 8.2/10
Texas: 9.4/10
Walking Small: 9.5/10
Fools in April: 9/10
Neptune's Spatula: 7.8/10
Hooky: 6.8/10
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II: 7.3/10

Top 5:
5. Pizza Delivery
4. Texas
3. Scaredy Pants
2. Walking Small
1. Culture Shock

Bottom 5:
5. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II
4. Home Sweet Pineapple
3. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy
2. Nature Pants
1. Hooky

Scoring:
Amazing: 18
Great: 12
Good: 9
Okay: 2
Mediocre: 0
Tolerable: 0
Bad: 0
Abysmal: 0

Additional Comments:
If you read any of my episode reviews, then you know that I find this season to be an excellent entry into SpongeBob SquarePants. It adequately reduces nearly every major player in the show, and does so with great humor. Sure, the writers and voice actors and everyone else involved are still getting their footing, so this season feels different to others, but it's still a great season, and one I love to revisit. SpongeBob himself is at his most adorable in this season, something we wouldn't return to fully until like season 10 or 11. Patrick surprisingly does not get as much use as I thought he did this season. The show, although limited in its character interactions, really did feel like an ensemble show from the beginning, as many main characters appeared a lot more often than they would for some points in the future (I'm largely thinking of Sandy, to be honest).

Season 1 is slower than other seasons when it comes to its stories and humors, but that works for it (and its animation style). The backgrounds used in many of the episodes of this season are absolutely gorgeous as well. Like dang, those artists really went off! You can tell a lot of love was put into this season, which pays off.

great review again BUUTTT I am surprised that hooky is so low.. what made that episode less enjoyable than the others for you?

 

[Pugs4Thugs]

great review again BUUTTT I am surprised that hooky is so low.. what made that episode less enjoyable than the others for you?

I get a lot more into this in my review of the episode, but the short version is the second half of the episode is hard to watch for me because of all the secondhand embarrassment from what happens to SpongeBob.

 

[Squidwardspal]

I get a lot more into this in my review of the episode, but the short version is the second half of the episode is hard to watch for me because of all the secondhand embarrassment from what happens to SpongeBob.

ohh I forgot about that moment I see where you're coming from now XD

 

[meko1432]

 

[Nathan Shetka]

I love the early SpongeBob episodes

 

[JoeyBoi]

So I decided to back and revise all my season 1-5 ratings since they're all about 1 1/2 - 2 years old at this point, and I think I've overall gotten better at rationalizing my opinions by now. Starting with, of course, season 1. I'm not expecting my opinion on this season as a whole to change too much, but we'll see.

Weak (4)
41. Fools in April
Average (5)
40. Jellyfishing
39. Sandy's Rocket
38. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II
Okay (6)
37. The Paper
36. I Was A Teenage Gary
35. Valentine's Day
34. Nature Pants
33. Reef Blower
32. MuscleBob BuffPants
31. The Chaperone
Good (7)
30. Employee of the Month
29. Squeaky Boots
28. Neptune's Spatula
27. Tea at the Treedome
26. Scaredy Pants
25. Suds
24. Karate Choppers
23. Home Sweet Pineapple
22. Culture Shock
21. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy
20. Walking Small
19. Bubblestand
18. Boating School
Great (8)
17. Squidward, the Unfriendly Ghost
16. Jellyfish Jam
15. Arrgh!
14. Hall Monitor
13. Plankton!
12. Pickles
11. F.U.N
10. Naughty Nautical Neighbors
Amazing (9)
9. Help Wanted
8. Ripped Pants
7. Sleepy Time
6. Hooky
5. Texas
4. Pizza Delivery
3. Opposite Day
Perfect (10)
2. Rock Bottom
1. SB-129

Ratings:
Top-Tier: 9
Good: 21
Average: 10
Bad: 1
Bottom-Tier: 0

Number Rankings:
10/10: 2
9/10: 7
8/10: 8
7/10: 13
6/10: 7
5/10: 3
4/10: 1
3/10: 0
2/10: 0
1/10: 0

Ah, season 1. The primitive animation, subdued comedy and simple plots truly make this a one of a kind experience. Simply put, this is the most wholesome season of the show, back when everything had a more laid back tone and childlike wonder. This can be seen in many of the episodes' plots, such as Bubblestand, Suds, and The Paper. This makes even the worst episodes of the season at least somewhat enjoyable to watch, due to their charming and relatable character moments. There is some fine-tuning to be done with the pacing and humor, which is to be expected for the first season of any show, but it's impressive that they pretty much got the formula down on their first try. I think I'd still recommend seasons 2 and 3 to any newcomers over this one solely due to the slower pace of a lot of these episodes, but for anyone looking to get into the show this is a good season and a must watch for sure. The average score for all these episodes is 7.29, which is lower than previously, but honestly it's so similar that it doesn't really matter. I don't think any less of the season.

 

[JoeyBoi]

double post agahgagh

 

[SuperSponge1234]

Damn U reviewed again im too lazy to rewatch an epiosde anymore

 

[SuperSponge1234]

.

 

[Sara SquarePants]

This is when the show had the most charm IMHO

 

[Sara SquarePants]

This is when the show had the most charm IMHO

 

[Yummylesecond]

This is when the show had the most charm IMHO

I agree the cel animation really makes it stand out from other seasons its probably my favorite season if I were to just rank it based off animation alone

 

[zerocool]

GREAT (5/5), GOOD (4/5), AVERAGE (3/5), BAD (2/5), AWFUL (1/5), SCUMBOB (0/5).

1. Pizza Delivery
2. Scaredy Pants
3. Pickles
4. Culture Shock
5. Employee of the Month
6. SB-129
7. Plankton!
8. Help Wanted
9. Arrgh!
10. Ripped Pants
11. Karate Choppers
12. Sleepy Time
13. Tea at the Treedome
14. Hooky
15. Opposite Day
16. Rock Bottom
17. F.U.N.
18. Bubblestand
19. Suds
20. Texas
21. Neptune's Spatula
22. Boating School
23. MuscleBob BuffPants
24. Naughty Nautical Neighbors
25. Jellyfish Jam
26. Sandy's Rocket
27. Home Sweet Pineapple
28. The Chaperone
29. Walking Small
30. Fools in April
31. Nature Pants
32. Hall Monitor
33. Jellyfishing
34. Squidward, the Unfriendly Ghost
35. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy
36. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II
37. Reef Blower
38. Squeaky Boots
39. Valentine's Day
40. The Paper
41. I Was a Teenage Gary

 

[WayslideCool]

Been rewatching Season 1 lately as part of a podcast I'm doing with my friends, and while going through each one, it's been fun sort of taking mental notes of Season 1's style, seeing how the show evolved. Here's some of the things I've picked up on:

• The humor of Season 1 seems to be pretty heavily character-driven. I feel like the show would go on to favor more punchy, gag-driven affairs, and I'm not gonna knock that style either since I think it can be just as effective, but looking back at my favorite jokes from Season 1, they're more often driven by dynamic characters bouncing off each other
• With the humor being so heavily character-driven, I think it goes to say that the characters are pretty strong in this season... mostly. Sandy is a bit of a work in progress, at least in the earlier episodes, where she'd often be boxed in as a weird love interest for SpongeBob (this angle gets dropped pretty quickly but is noteworthy in "Tea at the Treedome" and "Ripped Pants") or sort of just serve as a no-nonsense foil to SpongeBob (see "Sandy's Rocket"). We haven't got around to "Karate Choppers" and "Texas" yet, which I remember being pretty strong Sandy episodes, so hopefully she improves. Also may as well bring up Karen, who is a literal plot device in Season 1, to a degree that I'm not sure she even counts as a character yet.
• Besides those two, I think they pretty much nailed every character right out the gate. In fact, I don't know if this is a bold statement, but I think this might be Patrick's best season ever. You get a nice balance of "relaxed older brother Patrick" and "lovable oaf Patrick," which are pretty much the best versions of Patrick. Another shoutout has to go to Mrs. Puff, who doesn't get a lot of screentime in Season 1, but kinda nails every scene she's in, even if it's only a brief pop-in. She turns out to be a really good character foil to SpongeBob.
• Compared to Seasons 2 and 3, and honestly probably the rest of the show, Season 1 tends to take things at a much more relaxed pace. This is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand I like how Season 1 lets things breathe, the way it has this nice "hang-out" vibe to it, but on the other hand, this leads to some awkwardly-paced stories and gags that drag on much, much longer than they need to. Staring at "Jellyfishing" in this regard. It's not uncommon for Season 1 episodes to lull a bit in the middle because of this.
• Despite its all-around more relaxed tone and pacing, Season 1 has some very out-there and experimental concepts. "SB-129" and "Sleepy Time" I think are the most noteworthy episodes in this regard, but episodes like "Sandy's Rocket," "I Was a Teenage Gary," and "Neptune's Spatula" are pretty noteworthy too. Obviously I wouldn't say all these experiments are successes -- I'd argue "I Was a Teenage Gary" is easily the worst episode of the season, but I appreciate they wanted to branch out so much right out the gate.
• Really love the animation direction of Season 1. A lot of this can be attributed to the cel animation -- I really love the warmer color palettes you see here, but there's also some really expressive character animation, with the episodes "Naughty Nautical Neighbors" and "Sandy's Rocket" being major standouts to me thus far.
• On the subject of "Naughty Nautical Neighbors," I'm just gonna bring up that episode because I think it's a bit underrated. Like, I think most people agree it's good, but I'd honestly say it might be one of the best of the Season to me. The SpongeBob/Patrick/Squidward banter is so, so good in this one.

Probably the weakest of the first three seasons, but still obviously worthy of being part of SpongeBob's Classic Era. It has a handful of oddities you'd expect from a Season 1, but even more so it's kind of shocking how much they got right this early on. Obviously I still have a good bit of the season to go, so my opinions are subject to change, but I figured I'd bring up some of the things I've picked up on while revisiting it.

 

[Nathan Shetka]

I love all the Pre Movie episodes

 

[GetWelded]

Doing this for every season

Overrated - Pizza Delivery
Underrated - Suds
Overhated - Neptune's Spatula
Underhated - Nature Pants

 

[SpongebobMaster]

I like this one it has some sucky episodes like jellyfishing or musclebob buff pants or I was a teenage Gary definitely the worst classic but still pretty good