This whole list thing looks fun, so I figured I'd jump in.
These are my top 10 premovie episodes (in no particular order) that I think are really good but people don't talk about them enough or hate them when they're actually good episodes (in my opinion, no more valid than yours). This list might be blinded a bit by personal nostalgia so there might be some controversial picks, be warned.
#10: Pranks a Lot (Season 3)
This is a prime example of an episode that I'm sort of biased by personal nostalgia for it, so be warned. Anyways, this episode is really funny and back when I first watched it I thought Invisible Spray was the coolest thing ever.. I still want some. It has a lot of good gags, a hilarious ending, overall solid episode. I don't see people talking about this one much, so I figured I'd mention it since I think it's a really funny episode.
#9: Bossy Boots (Season 2)
I'll admit it- I'm a big fan of Pearl. I know that it's kind of unusual for a show like Spongebob to tackle teenage drama, but Pearl is an amazingly funny character and whenever they bring her out for an episode it's always really well made and funny. This is a good example of that, and I believe one of the first Pearl episodes they made. It's an interesting concept, has lots of great jokes, and the whole thing about Mr. Krabs not wanting to have to fire his own daughter and asking Spongebob to do it (but then it turns out that she wanted to be fired anyways) is a really neat story element. A lot of the Season 2 episodes seem to get kind of mixed in and not talked about often, so I figured I'd bring this one up.
#8: The Paper (Season 1)
This episode is probably the best example of a standard SpongeBob-annoys-Squidward type plot. It's pretty simplistic, probably thanks to it being a Season 1 episode, but there are just so many great gags and they all hit their mark, building up to the hilarity of Squidward being so jealous that SpongeBob has the paper that he literally trades everything he owns for it. It's just so simple yet so funny. They need to do more episodes like this nowadays, but Season 1 was sort of the era of these simplistic gag-based episodes so I doubt they will.
#7: The Smoking Peanut (Season 2)
It might be a bit risky putting this one on the list since it seems to be entering 'reverse underratedness' (where something is so commonly referred to as underrated that people start liking it just because and it eventually becomes overrated), but I really like this episode and it's not talked about much so I figured I might as well. Not much to actually say about it though, just an episode with a really interesting story and plenty of fun gags. Really good example of a Season 2 episode that needs a bit more love.
#6: Squid on Strike (Season 2)
I'm not entirely sure if this one counts as underrated, since people seem to mention it a bit more than most other episodes I've put on this list so far and it's not really hated from what I gather, but it's still not as often listed as I think it deserves to be so it gets a spot here. The plot is a great concept, SpongeBob joining in with the strike and affecting it with his own understanding of what a 'strike' is is hilarious, and it's just an altogether great and classic episode, that also manages to be really unique.
#5: Sleepy Time (Season 1)
In truth, there are many, many Season 1 episodes I could put on this list, but I'm keeping them down to keep some variety. Season 1 has a lot of episodes which are just not well known or talked about often, yet really good especially by the general standards of Season 1. This is an episode that I almost NEVER hear discussed- it's from the part of Season 1 that people sort of gloss over, there's nothing really notable about the episode itself, no memes made out of it, etc. which leads to a very obscure episode. The episode itself is really creative, somewhat bizarre, and overall really fun, although the ending is kind of stupid and definitely my least favorite part of the episode.
#4: Snowball Effect (Season 3)
It's sort of a minefield putting Season 3 episodes on this list, since Season 3 has a lot of really famous and highly praised episodes like KKTV and Chocolate With Nuts, that in turn have attracted attention to the rest of the episodes in this season, so there aren't many Season 3 episodes you could really call underrated. However, this episode is one I can (hopefully) safely say is pretty underrated. People talk about Idiot Box all the time, which is another Season 3 episode decently similar in plot to this one, but this episode kind of gets mixed in, probably because it's so similar to Idiot Box and it's a snow-themed episode, which might make people who haven't seen it in a long time confuse it with Christmas Who or Survival of the Idiots. Anyways, as I said, this episode is very similar to Idiot Box, another Season 3 episode which I really like (but is most definitely not underrated) and The Paper from Season 1 (which is already on this list) in terms of basic plot. Spongebob and Patrick start doing something, Squidward gets jealous and wants in, hilarity ensues. Really funny episode, tons of great gags, not much more to say. It also manages to be unique despite the core plot being roughly the same as quite a few other episodes. Don't forget about the statue snowball gag at the beginning though
#3: Walking Small (Season 1)
This episode is pretty much The Abrasive Side if it were in Season 1, but with Plankton. Or rather, The Abrasive Side is Walking Small but in Season 7, and without Plankton. Anyways, you get the point. It's a great episode with a ton of good gags and a really good plot, and it shows that Plankton episodes can be done in more ways than just another generic Plankton-tries-to-steal-the-Krabby-Patty-formula plot. They do these episodes sometimes still, but the same thing over and over gets old, and I wish they did more interesting episodes with Plankton still like this. In this episode, he manipulates Spongebob, but for reasons that aren't even related to the Krusty Krab at all! Again, it's in that forgotten part of Season 1, so not a lot of people know it exists, and it deserves more love.
#2: Ugh (Season 3)
The title of this episode also describes the feeling I got when I first considered putting it on this list- it's fairly well known, being a special and all, but it's definitely one of the lesser known specials and its reputation isn't that great, so I've decided that it deserves a spot even though it's probably better known than anything else on this list. Just like Pranks a Lot, this is an episode I have a lot of personal nostalgia for, so that might be blinding my opinion on it too. In any case, I really like this episode. The lack of (actual) words can be a bit annoying considering the fact that it's so long, but it fits the theme of the episode well and it allows for some pretty funny visual humor and humor that plays with the made-up language. The Patchy segments are awesome too, with a great song (When Worlds Collide) and some classic Patchy charm-filled antics.
#1: I Had An Accident (Season 3)
It's not special compared to any other episode on this list (aside from how weird the episode is), but these are in the order I think to include them, so this is my #1. This is yet another episode that I have a lot of nostalgia for, and it really stuck out in my mind among all the SpongeBob episodes I watched when I was little because of how weird this episode is. It's definitely the most surreal episode of pre-movie SpongeBob, with the exception of the Fly of Despair in Shanghaied. I love this episode mainly because it's so weird- SpongeBob's slow descent into insanity, the gorilla at the end, etc. just make this a freakishly awesome episode. It definitely needs more love, and I think it's odd that it's talked about so infrequently, considering how exceptionally bizarre it is compared to other episodes.
Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed my list!
These are my top 10 premovie episodes (in no particular order) that I think are really good but people don't talk about them enough or hate them when they're actually good episodes (in my opinion, no more valid than yours). This list might be blinded a bit by personal nostalgia so there might be some controversial picks, be warned.
#10: Pranks a Lot (Season 3)
This is a prime example of an episode that I'm sort of biased by personal nostalgia for it, so be warned. Anyways, this episode is really funny and back when I first watched it I thought Invisible Spray was the coolest thing ever.. I still want some. It has a lot of good gags, a hilarious ending, overall solid episode. I don't see people talking about this one much, so I figured I'd mention it since I think it's a really funny episode.
#9: Bossy Boots (Season 2)
I'll admit it- I'm a big fan of Pearl. I know that it's kind of unusual for a show like Spongebob to tackle teenage drama, but Pearl is an amazingly funny character and whenever they bring her out for an episode it's always really well made and funny. This is a good example of that, and I believe one of the first Pearl episodes they made. It's an interesting concept, has lots of great jokes, and the whole thing about Mr. Krabs not wanting to have to fire his own daughter and asking Spongebob to do it (but then it turns out that she wanted to be fired anyways) is a really neat story element. A lot of the Season 2 episodes seem to get kind of mixed in and not talked about often, so I figured I'd bring this one up.
#8: The Paper (Season 1)
This episode is probably the best example of a standard SpongeBob-annoys-Squidward type plot. It's pretty simplistic, probably thanks to it being a Season 1 episode, but there are just so many great gags and they all hit their mark, building up to the hilarity of Squidward being so jealous that SpongeBob has the paper that he literally trades everything he owns for it. It's just so simple yet so funny. They need to do more episodes like this nowadays, but Season 1 was sort of the era of these simplistic gag-based episodes so I doubt they will.
#7: The Smoking Peanut (Season 2)
It might be a bit risky putting this one on the list since it seems to be entering 'reverse underratedness' (where something is so commonly referred to as underrated that people start liking it just because and it eventually becomes overrated), but I really like this episode and it's not talked about much so I figured I might as well. Not much to actually say about it though, just an episode with a really interesting story and plenty of fun gags. Really good example of a Season 2 episode that needs a bit more love.
#6: Squid on Strike (Season 2)
I'm not entirely sure if this one counts as underrated, since people seem to mention it a bit more than most other episodes I've put on this list so far and it's not really hated from what I gather, but it's still not as often listed as I think it deserves to be so it gets a spot here. The plot is a great concept, SpongeBob joining in with the strike and affecting it with his own understanding of what a 'strike' is is hilarious, and it's just an altogether great and classic episode, that also manages to be really unique.
#5: Sleepy Time (Season 1)
In truth, there are many, many Season 1 episodes I could put on this list, but I'm keeping them down to keep some variety. Season 1 has a lot of episodes which are just not well known or talked about often, yet really good especially by the general standards of Season 1. This is an episode that I almost NEVER hear discussed- it's from the part of Season 1 that people sort of gloss over, there's nothing really notable about the episode itself, no memes made out of it, etc. which leads to a very obscure episode. The episode itself is really creative, somewhat bizarre, and overall really fun, although the ending is kind of stupid and definitely my least favorite part of the episode.
#4: Snowball Effect (Season 3)
It's sort of a minefield putting Season 3 episodes on this list, since Season 3 has a lot of really famous and highly praised episodes like KKTV and Chocolate With Nuts, that in turn have attracted attention to the rest of the episodes in this season, so there aren't many Season 3 episodes you could really call underrated. However, this episode is one I can (hopefully) safely say is pretty underrated. People talk about Idiot Box all the time, which is another Season 3 episode decently similar in plot to this one, but this episode kind of gets mixed in, probably because it's so similar to Idiot Box and it's a snow-themed episode, which might make people who haven't seen it in a long time confuse it with Christmas Who or Survival of the Idiots. Anyways, as I said, this episode is very similar to Idiot Box, another Season 3 episode which I really like (but is most definitely not underrated) and The Paper from Season 1 (which is already on this list) in terms of basic plot. Spongebob and Patrick start doing something, Squidward gets jealous and wants in, hilarity ensues. Really funny episode, tons of great gags, not much more to say. It also manages to be unique despite the core plot being roughly the same as quite a few other episodes. Don't forget about the statue snowball gag at the beginning though
#3: Walking Small (Season 1)
This episode is pretty much The Abrasive Side if it were in Season 1, but with Plankton. Or rather, The Abrasive Side is Walking Small but in Season 7, and without Plankton. Anyways, you get the point. It's a great episode with a ton of good gags and a really good plot, and it shows that Plankton episodes can be done in more ways than just another generic Plankton-tries-to-steal-the-Krabby-Patty-formula plot. They do these episodes sometimes still, but the same thing over and over gets old, and I wish they did more interesting episodes with Plankton still like this. In this episode, he manipulates Spongebob, but for reasons that aren't even related to the Krusty Krab at all! Again, it's in that forgotten part of Season 1, so not a lot of people know it exists, and it deserves more love.
#2: Ugh (Season 3)
The title of this episode also describes the feeling I got when I first considered putting it on this list- it's fairly well known, being a special and all, but it's definitely one of the lesser known specials and its reputation isn't that great, so I've decided that it deserves a spot even though it's probably better known than anything else on this list. Just like Pranks a Lot, this is an episode I have a lot of personal nostalgia for, so that might be blinding my opinion on it too. In any case, I really like this episode. The lack of (actual) words can be a bit annoying considering the fact that it's so long, but it fits the theme of the episode well and it allows for some pretty funny visual humor and humor that plays with the made-up language. The Patchy segments are awesome too, with a great song (When Worlds Collide) and some classic Patchy charm-filled antics.
#1: I Had An Accident (Season 3)
It's not special compared to any other episode on this list (aside from how weird the episode is), but these are in the order I think to include them, so this is my #1. This is yet another episode that I have a lot of nostalgia for, and it really stuck out in my mind among all the SpongeBob episodes I watched when I was little because of how weird this episode is. It's definitely the most surreal episode of pre-movie SpongeBob, with the exception of the Fly of Despair in Shanghaied. I love this episode mainly because it's so weird- SpongeBob's slow descent into insanity, the gorilla at the end, etc. just make this a freakishly awesome episode. It definitely needs more love, and I think it's odd that it's talked about so infrequently, considering how exceptionally bizarre it is compared to other episodes.
Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed my list!
