A SpongeBob Spin-Off?

[Ron]

We have a whole spin-off section here dedicated to projects involving SpongeBob characters and they originally were legitimate hypotheticals of "What might happen if (blank event) happened to (blank character)?" We've gotten away from that, now spin-offs aren't realistic in the least and often use SBC characters. 

 

But would you be here for an actual spin-off from the show utilizing a primary character (Planet Sheen), a secondary character (The Penguins of Madagascar), characters in the future (All Grown Up!), etc.? Would it be a good idea? How would it play out and in what circumstances do you think it'd work?

 

Depending on how they did it, I honestly think it could be great to continue the soul of the show in a new way once the original has ended. Using one of the lesser developed characters and adapting it into something new and progressive like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gravity Falls, etc. would be poetic in thats its another step the franchise takes like the first show. I could see it working out well with a character like Larry, Plankton, Sandy, or even Squidward. I don't think either Patrick or Mr. Krabs would work out successfully because they're too saturated, too obnoxious, and too in the limelight of the show. Squidward has remained reserved enough to where he could go off into a backstory of a new show without the audience feeling they know him too much.

[Joe Biden]

Fred Rechid spinoff or die

[Grubby Grouper]

If they did a Mermaid Man and Barnacly Boy cartoon I think it could be awesome. Obviously they couldn't use the same actors that played them old but if they could get Adam West and Burt Ward or even someone who sounds enough like they did to do a young adventures series, and use some of the writers for the MM + BB comics in the SB series, it definitely could be great.

Other than that, a Squidward themed spin off could be good too, with the right writers and ideas.

[Clappy]

I would definitely be open to the idea of a spin-off, but primarily one on much lesser developed characters.  The ones I'm thinking of are Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy as Grubby Grouper already mentioned.  But here's my take on why.  One of the best newer episodes I saw was Mermaid Man Begins primarily because it was one of the most compelling story lines I've seen from newer SpongeBob due to expanding the MM&BB universe more so than what we already know.  That would be the spin-off I know I would want to see more so than any others.  I like Squidward, I like Plankton, I like....eh Sandy's ok.  But what more could they actually do with them than what recent Nick spin-off Planet Sheen did by taking one of the major characters and move them from Point A to Point B and have them meet new people and get into adventures.  I would definitely prefer seeing minor characters that we know of and expand on them much more.  Plus superhero cartoon usually tend to be pretty good and why not two from a universe as well known as SpongeBob's.

[4EverGreen]

Another idea; they could take a page out of MY books and put Spongebob characters (as well as a BUNCH of Nicktoons characters) and put them into a "Total Drama" situation!  OBVIOUSLY, not using the exact same episode ideas, but new ones. Preferably, ideas that REFERENCED the actual Nickelodeon cartoon shows and their episodes! I think that would be a GOOD way for Nickelodeon to attract older viewers, the same way Cartoon Network did!

[Zaid]

Spongebob And Devin Oliver(Real one) Meet in a series i call "Living with the Sponge"

[Clappy]

Another idea; they could take a page out of MY books and put Spongebob characters (as well as a BUNCH of Nicktoons characters) and put them into a "Total Drama" situation!  OBVIOUSLY, not using the exact same episode ideas, but new ones. Preferably, ideas that REFERENCED the actual Nickelodeon cartoon shows and their episodes! I think that would be a GOOD way for Nickelodeon to attract older viewers, the same way Cartoon Network did!

Viacom almost did that with an adult version of SpongeBob and thank goodness it didn't because Adult Party Ren and Stimpy was terrible enough. The last thing I would want them to do is aim for an older audience that way.

[Ron]

Viacom almost did that with an adult version of SpongeBob and thank goodness it didn't because Adult Party Ren and Stimpy was terrible enough. The last thing I would want them to do is aim for an older audience that way.

 

I think a slightly older audience might work out, like a Gravity Falls-level audience.

[Kaiju]

A spinoff revolving around Gary would be amazing

[illiniguy34]

If an SB spin-off goes in the direction of Planet Sheen, I don't see it going too well honestly. But who knows, maybe it'll surprise everyone.

[CyanideFishbone]

I'm personally unsure. It depends on what the crossover would be about, but I think my general opinion is a flatout no. 

[PatBack]

The only way I could realistically see a spin-off series working is if they used an entirely new staff of writers. Let's face it: SpongeBob's current writers are as dried up as the sponge himself. But most of all, it'd lead to a different tone. Whether it be a MM&BB spinoff or a Squidward spinoff, it needs a way to distinguish itself from its predecessor. Otherwise why watch it?

[Ron]

^ well said

[Young Nug]

I think a slightly older audience might work out, like a Gravity Falls-level audience.

this goes with what patback said but i dont necessarily feel like Gravity Falls targets an older audience persay. I feel like it gained another older viewerbase simply because it is written competently. The SpongeBob writers of the Season 6-8 era aren't hacks, but they are definitely not the best people working in the industry today, and I feel that today we want a spin-off just out of the hope that the spin-off would be better than the show in it's current state. I feel like Gravity Falls and SpongeBob actually target the same age audience, but Gravity Falls treats it's audience with more respect if that makes any sense - views them as more intelligent than SpongeBob does. And because of that the writing is more intelligent, more competent, and therefore it's better, and seems as if it skews older.

 

I'd like a SpongeBob spin-off but it'd have to be something totally different. A mystery show with Mr. Krabs' nephews, a musical dramedy about Squidward pre-Bikini Bottom, just a deep mini-series about Mr. Krabs' life in the Navy- there's so much lore that you can pull out of the show and make up, that could easily go into a totally different direction with. But I think it's necessary we get something other than the mediocre comedy that we've been letting slide for about 5 years now. Things need to change, whether in the show or in a spin-off. It's been the same for too long.

[Ron]

this goes with what patback said but i dont necessarily feel like Gravity Falls targets an older audience persay. I feel like it gained another older viewerbase simply because it is written competently. The SpongeBob writers of the Season 6-8 era aren't hacks, but they are definitely not the best people working in the industry today, and I feel that today we want a spin-off just out of the hope that the spin-off would be better than the show in it's current state. I feel like Gravity Falls and SpongeBob actually target the same age audience, but Gravity Falls treats it's audience with more respect if that makes any sense - views them as more intelligent than SpongeBob does. And because of that the writing is more intelligent, more competent, and therefore it's better, and seems as if it skews older.

 

I'd like a SpongeBob spin-off but it'd have to be something totally different. A mystery show with Mr. Krabs' nephews, a musical dramedy about Squidward pre-Bikini Bottom, just a deep mini-series about Mr. Krabs' life in the Navy- there's so much lore that you can pull out of the show and make up, that could easily go into a totally different direction with. But I think it's necessary we get something other than the mediocre comedy that we've been letting slide for about 5 years now. Things need to change, whether in the show or in a spin-off. It's been the same for too long.

 

Not to discredit any of your suggestions, but I think the commercial potential of said spin-off is just as important as the quality. From the perspective of Nickelodeon, I'm not sure how appealing a show revolving around Squid's dance career or Mr. Krabs in the navy would be to kids. I think the creators of a spin-off would have to decide whether they want something long term and nearly as successful (Frasier), or something that serves more as an extension of the original show (The Golden Palace).

[Young Nug]

Not to discredit any of your suggestions, but I think the commercial potential of said spin-off is just as important as the quality. From the perspective of Nickelodeon, I'm not sure how appealing a show revolving around Squid's dance career or Mr. Krabs in the navy would be to kids. I think the creators of a spin-off would have to decide whether they want something long term and nearly as successful (Frasier), or something that serves more as an extension of the original show (The Golden Palace).

that brings into question what would even be a good idea and why most kids network spin-offs don't work out 

 

Planet Sheen is a good example because it's literally exactly the same as Jimmy Neutron except much much worse and didn't warrant a spin-off and ended up crashing and burning after the first episode. All Grown Up is probably the only example of a spin-off that worked because it spun into a totally different direction but was a logical extension of the Rugrats series but aside from that I can't really recall a kids spin-off that has worked as well except for maybe Girl Meets World?

 

Adult shows, on the other hand, are a lot freer to do whatever because there are a lot of genres to choose from that aren't restricted by the nature of kids and what network executives think they like. Better Call Saul goes in a much more relaxed direction than Breaking Bad, taking another "how do we get there" story to it's more binary extreme with the confines of a law drama spun around it. This time it's not "how do we get from Mr. Rogers to Scarface", it's "How do we go from Jimmy McGill, upstanding lawyer with the world against him, to Saul Goodman, fast talking, scumbag sleaze criminal lawyer". It's kiiiiinda the same thing, but with a different spin, and that new skin makes it look much fresher. A comedy show can't do that as well because there's only so much you can do without it feeling the same. It has to be completely different, and how SpongeBob could do that with such a rich setting and characters would be really interesting to see, because I don't think it can. Not comedy wise, anyway. 

 

(also totally random but golden palace was highkey nowhere near Golden Girls level)

 

the quality of something i mentioned like Mr. Krabs in the Navy would no doubt be a strong foundation to lay a series on but the fact that "the kids won't like it" prevent it and things that do go in a deeply different direction from premiering on kids television because the execs think comedy is the only thing a kid will actively watch. and that's kinda sad, really

 

but yeah i get what you are saying

[Ron]

that brings into question what would even be a good idea and why most kids network spin-offs don't work out 

 

Planet Sheen is a good example because it's literally exactly the same as Jimmy Neutron except much much worse and didn't warrant a spin-off and ended up crashing and burning after the first episode. All Grown Up is probably the only example of a spin-off that worked because it spun into a totally different direction but was a logical extension of the Rugrats series but aside from that I can't really recall a kids spin-off that has worked as well except for maybe Girl Meets World?

 

Adult shows, on the other hand, are a lot freer to do whatever because there are a lot of genres to choose from that aren't restricted by the nature of kids and what network executives think they like. Better Call Saul goes in a much more relaxed direction than Breaking Bad, taking another "how do we get there" story to it's more binary extreme with the confines of a law drama spun around it. This time it's not "how do we get from Mr. Rogers to Scarface", it's "How do we go from Jimmy McGill, upstanding lawyer with the world against him, to Saul Goodman, fast talking, scumbag sleaze criminal lawyer". It's kiiiiinda the same thing, but with a different spin, and that new skin makes it look much fresher. A comedy show can't do that as well because there's only so much you can do without it feeling the same. It has to be completely different, and how SpongeBob could do that with such a rich setting and characters would be really interesting to see, because I don't think it can. Not comedy wise, anyway. 

 

(also totally random but golden palace was highkey nowhere near Golden Girls level)

 

the quality of something i mentioned like Mr. Krabs in the Navy would no doubt be a strong foundation to lay a series on but the fact that "the kids won't like it" prevent it and things that do go in a deeply different direction from premiering on kids television because the execs think comedy is the only thing a kid will actively watch. and that's kinda sad, really

 

but yeah i get what you are saying

 

That's why I was thinking something along the lines of Gravity Falls - it's still a comedy, it's still a kids' show, it's still in the vein of SpongeBob, but it's a completely different direction. Comparing present-day SpongeBob and Gravity Falls is like comparing a Camry and an Audi. I personally think a show involving MM & BB or a character like Larry would work out well. And then crossover possibilities. <3 

[President Squidward]

That's why I was thinking something along the lines of Gravity Falls - it's still a comedy, it's still a kids' show, it's still in the vein of SpongeBob, but it's a completely different direction. Comparing present-day SpongeBob and Gravity Falls is like comparing a Camry and an Audi. I personally think a show involving MM & BB or a character like Larry would work out well. And then crossover possibilities. <3

Would rather take Present-Day SpongeBob because Gravity Falls annoys the hell out of me

[Ron]

Would rather take Present-Day SpongeBob because Gravity Falls annoys the hell out of me

why

[President Squidward]

why

I just feel like the episodes just focus on the annoying characterss like Mabel, Soos, etc.

Also, I find it so predictable, but the animation is pretty.