How to give up SpongeBob SquarePants?
Mikurotoro92
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That means I have no real expectations or high hopes for the film succeeding and both the new Avatar (non-Nick) & Disney's Zootopia 2 will ensure Search for SquarePants fails in box-office results!! !
Could this truly be the end for the little optimistic yellow sponge?!?
Admittedly, I haven't followed up on this series in a while now. I don't care for the movies and don't have high hopes for the movies to turn out good anyways. Though I have heard good positivity on Plankton's movie. The Nostalgia Critic reference in that Patrick Star spinoff was pretty funny although it doesn't influence me to watch that show.
My sister who is late Gen-Z (2006) one time mentioned only the classic episodes are good and the newer ones are crap. Despite the fact she grew up with the Paul Tibbet era. I mean, I have too. Makes me rest assured SpongeBob will still be beloved by later generations and the show will have more priority in comparison to the new spinoffs.
As for a decline in new media? Personally, I think any IP even very famous ones eventually loses its' relevancy. It's only a matter of time. Stuff like Care Bears and Pokemon are still making bank but for sure they were bigger during their hay day. Probably a better example would've been Casper. Which does have a reasonably sized (not very huge) fandom but it's been a while since I have seen a new show or movie made. I have seen him in Geico ad years ago though.
Well, sometime Nickelodeon/Paramount (Viacom) has to know when to give up!! !
It frustrates me that they are pouring all of their resources into keeping this rapidly-dying show on life support instead of investing in new IP that has the potential to become the "next big thing"!
But now, we FINALLY have some hope because the cartoon is beginning to falter & decay...
Do you feel shame for watching the show too often and being too into it? Especially when you think it dipped in quality objectively speaking. SB is clearly still very important to you, you're a ride or die whether you want to be or not. People are fans of far lesser media, they know it's crap but they love it anyway, there's no shame in that. One thing fandoms have in common is they're never satisfied with canon, they always have complaints and make their own stories anyway. The relationship between media and fan is complicated. I would suggest you try to diversify your tastes and keep spongebob as a treat so you don't drive yourself up the wall but it's easier said than done. I don't follow most media recommendations because most media isn't the media I already love! Seriously though, either watch the old stuff or make peace with being a ride or die.
My main media obsession is planet of the apes reboot and I have a whole list of complaints, so I turn to fan fiction! That might be a good option?
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jamie0.0
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I'm just going to answer the OP, i havent read all the posts here. But I feel the frustration in the OP about modern spongebob.
I've had a few shows recently where I just gave up on them, Simpsons and yugioh, both of which I've followed since I was a very small child. And they aren't the same anymore.
What i did was to "escape" those shows, because I can't simply decide not to watch them. Is employ the KonMari method.
I asked myself if these shows still sparked joy, and they didn't, so I watched a handful of my favourite episodes after which I thanked the shows for serving me, then promptly deleted all the episodes off my hard drive. Depending on how big a part SpongeBob plays in your life, the last step (deletion, or selling off the physical media) might be a challenge. But in asking myself if I still enjoy it, and purposefully saying goodbye I find the closure that I needed to rid myself of something that no longer serves me.
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Mikurotoro92
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I've had a few shows recently where I just gave up on them, Simpsons and yugioh, both of which I've followed since I was a very small child. And they aren't the same anymore.
What i did was to "escape" those shows, because I can't simply decide not to watch them. Is employ the KonMari method.
I asked myself if these shows still sparked joy, and they didn't, so I watched a handful of my favourite episodes after which I thanked the shows for serving me, then promptly deleted all the episodes off my hard drive. Depending on how big a part SpongeBob plays in your life, the last step (deletion, or selling off the physical media) might be a challenge. But in asking myself if I still enjoy it, and purposefully saying goodbye I find the closure that I needed to rid myself of something that no longer serves me.
Hmm...you utilized the Marie Kondo method to determine if you should still watch those shows?
And you "escaped" The Simpsons and Yu-Gi-Oh (in other words, escaped the trap of the Sunk-Cost Fallacy)?
If I do decide to stop watching SpongeBob SquarePants it would be either:
-After the current movie
-Once a main voice actor retires or dies
-If news surfaces of sexual abuse allegations within the show
Any of those conditions will automatically kill my remaining interest in SpongeBob!! !
"Does this still serve a purpose for me?"
Well that is the question, isn't it?!?
Last edited by Mikurotoro92 on 26 Dec 2025, 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
jamie0.0
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I've had a few shows recently where I just gave up on them, Simpsons and yugioh, both of which I've followed since I was a very small child. And they aren't the same anymore.
What i did was to "escape" those shows, because I can't simply decide not to watch them. Is employ the KonMari method.
I asked myself if these shows still sparked joy, and they didn't, so I watched a handful of my favourite episodes after which I thanked the shows for serving me, then promptly deleted all the episodes off my hard drive. Depending on how big a part SpongeBob plays in your life, the last step (deletion, or selling off the physical media) might be a challenge. But in asking myself if I still enjoy it, and purposefully saying goodbye I find the closure that I needed to rid myself of something that no longer serves me.
Hmm...you utilized the Marie Kondo method to determine if you should still watch those shows?
And you "escaped" The Simpsons and Yu-Gi-Oh (in other words, escaped the trap of the Sunk-Cost Fallacy)?
If I do decide to stop watching SpongeBob SquarePants it would be either:
-After the current movie
-Once a main voice actor retires or dies
-If news surfaces of sexual abuse allegations within the show
Any of those things will automatically kill my remaining interest in SpongeBob!! !
"Does this still serve a purpose for me?"
Well that is the question, isn't it?!?
I think you've given yourself something to go off, the first condition you've given yourself to quit SpongeBob is after the movie. So, maybe after watching the movie, analyse how you feel about watching SpongeBob. If your first thought is, "ugggh I have to watch more SpongeBob" . Then likely you've lost interest in it. If your first thought is "yay more spongbob" then you should be allowed to watch SpongeBob guilt free untill the other conditions are met. There's no point in watching a show you don't have an interest in, and there's no point depriving yourself of watching something you enjoy.
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Mikurotoro92
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I've had a few shows recently where I just gave up on them, Simpsons and yugioh, both of which I've followed since I was a very small child. And they aren't the same anymore.
What i did was to "escape" those shows, because I can't simply decide not to watch them. Is employ the KonMari method.
I asked myself if these shows still sparked joy, and they didn't, so I watched a handful of my favourite episodes after which I thanked the shows for serving me, then promptly deleted all the episodes off my hard drive. Depending on how big a part SpongeBob plays in your life, the last step (deletion, or selling off the physical media) might be a challenge. But in asking myself if I still enjoy it, and purposefully saying goodbye I find the closure that I needed to rid myself of something that no longer serves me.
Hmm...you utilized the Marie Kondo method to determine if you should still watch those shows?
And you "escaped" The Simpsons and Yu-Gi-Oh (in other words, escaped the trap of the Sunk-Cost Fallacy)?
If I do decide to stop watching SpongeBob SquarePants it would be either:
-After the current movie
-Once a main voice actor retires or dies
-If news surfaces of sexual abuse allegations within the show
Any of those things will automatically kill my remaining interest in SpongeBob!! !
"Does this still serve a purpose for me?"
Well that is the question, isn't it?!?
I think you've given yourself something to go off, the first condition you've given yourself to quit SpongeBob is after the movie. So, maybe after watching the movie, analyse how you feel about watching SpongeBob. If your first thought is, "ugggh I have to watch more SpongeBob" . Then likely you've lost interest in it. If your first thought is "yay more spongbob" then you should be allowed to watch SpongeBob guilt free untill the other conditions are met. There's no point in watching a show you don't have an interest in, and there's no point depriving yourself of watching something you enjoy.
You have given me the solution to this long-standing problem @jamie0.0!! !! !!
So basically what you are saying is after I see the movie I MUST re-evaluate my interest in the show?
EDIT: Hmm...I wonder if I could use the same formula to resolve other current issues in my life like deciding to get married and have children...
jamie0.0
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Mikurotoro92
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Well, with stuff right now like the Burger King fiasco my patience is starting to wear VERY thin with SpongeBob although that's BK's fault for mishandling the promotion and also my fault for just assuming things wouldn't sell out by basically not anticipating the scalpers...
Last edited by Mikurotoro92 on 27 Dec 2025, 6:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mikurotoro92
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Good luck with what you decide to do.
Thank you but I just realized something:
I don't think I just need to re-evaluate my interest in SpongeBob SquarePants...
Rather, what I actually need to do is re-evaluate my interest in Nickelodeon as a whole!! !
From there I should be able to determine if I should truly discontinue watching/supporting SpongeBob!
EDIT: I can actually start the determination process right now even without having seen the movie yet
Nick has been losing respect with me for years for many different reasons including but CERTAINLY not limited to their over-reliance and dependancy on SpongeBob SquarePants
But people still continue to support the network primarily because of SpongeBob despite all of the crap they have done like the Dan Schneider sexual abuse allegations cover-up!! !
In other words, your support of SpongeBob SquarePants is what enables them to keep doing this awful s**t!
I will go as far to say that SpongeBob itself has brainwashed us into supporting an atrocious television channel!
And Nickelodeon has successfully created a captive audience as a result of using the Sunk-Cost Fallacy to their benefit
Shouldn't that be reason enough to stop watching the show?
Nick's actual content has been going downhill as well IMHO
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jamie0.0
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I think 2010 was right around the modern era of the simpsons, that's when they switched from hand drawn animation to computer generated animation. Which is the technology used in modern Simpsons.
I guess you're right though, modern is relative to what stage of life you're in. I dare say there'd be someone old somewhere who considers colour TV to be a " modern technology"
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Mikurotoro92
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I can't help but wonder what problems you think Nickelodeon is experiencing, and in what manner you feel that spongebob is responsible for them...?
Being basically OBSESSED with and laser-focused on one sole show for years to the detriment of their network
If SpongeBob SquarePants is not responsible for the mess Nickelodeon has found themselves in...then what actually IS?!?
Poor network management?
What I am really asking is:
Is SpongeBob the REAL problem with Nick or is it the victim?
Even great animated sitcoms like King of the Hill and Bob's Burgers had their decline. Although season 13 of KOTH was just hit and miss but at least it had a pretty good finale. Not sure if I will count the revival because that was produced a decade later.
As for Bob's Burgers I think it lost it's edge when some of the OG writers left and eventually the episodes became too "Full House-sque" for my taste and too much musical numbers. At least a lot of people apparently like the new episodes but for me personally I will stick to the older seasons.
Mikurotoro92
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Well, just as I had originally anticipated Search for SquarePants was a complete disappointment & let-down although I never really had any real confidence or high expectations for the movie anyway based on it's promotions with Burger King, Olipop pre-biotic drinks and Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
The Olipop drinks tasted absolutely HORRIBLE and Burger King was a total failure as well due to the items constantly being out-of-stock because of scalpers reselling on eBay, Facebook Marketplace and other second-market online auction websites & services!! !
Then there is the rap song "Big Guy" by viral rapper Ice Spice that I will describe as the "Yo-Yo-Yoshi" (from Nintendo 64 video game Yoshi's Story) of SpongeBob SquarePants
In other words, catchy but also non-sensical and terrible at the same time!
But the Yoshi's Story BGM is 100 times better because at least the composer Kazumi Totaka is well-known compared to Ice Spice...
