199b. Lame and Fortune

[Jjs Goodman]

 

Premieres: 

Monday, July 11th @ 5:30pm ET/PT

Encores:

Sunday, July 17th @ 1:45pm ET/PT

Plot:

When fortune cookies start predicting the future, Plankton realizes he can twist them into his own evil schemes.

Clips:

N/A

Mr. Lawrence wrote this episode, which will be his first episode on the series since the first half of Season 9, and the first episode he has ever written for SpongeBob to be in the new script format, so that will be interesting to see.

Edited July 11, 2016 by jjsthekid

[Jjs Goodman]

Reminder: This airs tonight at 5:30 PM ET/PT!

[Coolnnice]

I liked this episode and the humor in it I give it an A

[Jjs Goodman]

Pretty decent episode. I really liked the live-action bits in the beginning and end (it feels like it has been forever since we had those). The end bit reminded me a lot of Wishing You Well's ending, and this whole episode felt S4/S5-esque really. There was some nice banter with the character interactions (especially Karen's "our marriage" reply to Plankton), everyone was in-character, and the gags were pretty good. The plot was one of Plankton's better ones. The animation and pacing also felt much better, but maybe that was helped with the new HD intro. My only real criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed, I guess.

Also, did anybody notice Grandpa Redbeard made a cameo in Mr. Krabs' funeral imagination?

Grade: B+

Edited July 11, 2016 by jjsthekid

[Cha]

Good episode, kept me pretty entertained even if it was kinda obvious Plankton would admit the truth eventually. It also had some good facial expressions and shadowing. Karen had a pretty accurate attitude of his countless scheming. I actually did like Plankton's fortune idea and that it almost worked out for him. I thought he would make a fortune about taking the formula or randomly get a good one, but his idea was better. Had some funny gags (Squidward's award, the fortune cookie tellings and Plankton's shirt) as well and interesting live action. 

[SpongeOddFan]

I thought it was decent, and having fortune cookies at KK is good idea to get costumers. not much bad in there, so it's pretty solid. 9/10

Also, the ending re a bit of Wishing you Well tho.

[So Sejima]

It was generally a solid episode until they were sorta out of time and had to force Plankton to ruin the plan for himself, if they showed him getting agitated more then it would've worked. Also nice cameos with the krab family and all. Also the pencil from above water was magic, same for fortune cookies, anyone noting a pattern here?

8/10

[Ron]

On 7/4/2016 at 11:51 AM, jjsthekid said:

 

Premieres: 

Monday, July 11th @ 5:30pm ET/PT

Encores:

Sunday, July 17th @ 1:45pm ET/PT

Plot:

When fortune cookies start predicting the future, Plankton realizes he can twist them into his own evil schemes.

Clips:

N/A

Mr. Lawrence wrote this episode, which will be his first episode on the series since the first half of Season 9, and the first episode he has ever written for SpongeBob to be in the new script format, so that will be interesting to see.

new script format?

[Jjs Goodman]

1 minute ago, tvguy said:

new script format?

The show is using scripts for the episodes now instead of storyboards like it did from S1-S9.1. They still use storyboards, but the actual dialogue is written on scripts in advance now, instead of having the dialogue be on the storyboards first.

Edited July 11, 2016 by jjsthekid

[So Sejima]

1 minute ago, tvguy said:

new script format?

They used to go by writing with an idea, then storyboards, then a script. Ever since 9.2 started they went with the idea, then script, then storyboards. So one was used to fit with the other, and now it's a role reversal.

[NegiSpongie]

I thought the episode was really good. I liked the live-action bits and the animation during the crowd scene at the Chum Bucket. I thought it was interesting that the cookies were actually magic like the pencil. Maybe every land item that falls into the waters of Bikini Bottom ends up becoming magic?

[WhoBibbles]

Pretty nice. I really liked Plankton's scheme here, I'm impressed how much Plankton's plans have been really smart. Once again it has nice jokes and such. My only complaint is that I didn't feel like "formula" nedded to be brought up near end because Plankton has already succeeded and I feel like near the end the plot didn't know where to go, so "formula" plot device was shoehorned into it. I give this a B+

[NegiSpongie]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 4:47 PM, jjsthekid said:

Also, did anybody notice Grandpa Redbeard made a cameo in Mr. Krabs' funeral imagination?

I saw that. And I also noticed the cheapskate crabs and Mr. Krabs' three adorable nephews.

[Young Nug]

incoming writer fangasm sorry

The script format was always going to be the ultimate test for a real writer on this show. 

For years we've gotten very vague descriptions as to what exactly a writer contributes to the show. Episode quality was always more dictated by the directors rather than the actual writers, not just visually, but in writing style, because the storyboard directors control how an episode goes moreso than the actual "writers". For the first 8 and a half seasons, the term "writer" really just meant who came up with the plot, while the storyboard director(s) had the most say in how the episode eventually turned out. Some writers ended up being more prolific than others - Merriwether Williams immediately springs to mind - but often an episode's quality would depend equally on how strong the plot was and the strength of the team directing it. Weaker directing teams like Casey Alexander and Zeus Cervas depend almost entirely on the writers, writing at the level of the plot they're given. Given a strong, classic outline like Friend or Foe, they will deliver with a fantastic episode - while they had a giant hand in it, I feel like Friend or Foe's success is more due to Tim Hill and (yes) Steven Banks than the people who fleshed it out. On the other hand, when you have a guy like Richard Pursel delivering you hot trash in the form of A Pal For Gary's 3 page outline, it's hard to write or direct above that, hard to salvage some garbage like that. Meanwhile, Luke Brookshier (and whoever his partner of the season was) managed to elevate whatever plot he was given, imbuing each outline with his signature positive energy. Writers were important, some made their mark more than others, particularly Iversen, Michaeli, and, coincidentally, Lawrence, but the directors always had the final say in how an episode turned out.

Until now. 

With the script format, we get to see how a writer really is. We got to see Merriwether Williams write a full 11 minutes of Johnny Test, and could deduce that maybe she's better with coming up with hilarious plots than filling in the space for said plots. Kaz has written some episodes this season that have told us that while he is a funny man, it looks like a lot of that bombastic hilarity he conveyed originally has been used up on Phineas and Ferb, although he's still a great writer. And Andrew Goodman's episode last afternoon confirmed that, yes, his full episodes are indeed as middle-of-the-road as his outlines would have had you believe.  So, with writers like the great Kaz not exactly living up to their old standards, how would Mr. Lawrence, the oldest active vet on the show, fare? His comeback era has been rather hit or miss, but a lot of that may just be due to the burnt out nature of the people fleshing out his plots towards the tail end of Season 7- Season 9. Now, after nearly 17 years of doing plots, our good buddy Doug gets to write a full script. And how does he do?

Spectacularly.

Mr. Lawrence has always been a jack of all trades - he's not only a voice actor and a writer, but he's also a director and a storyboard artist, and a great one at that. Most of Rocko's best stuff was directed and written by him. His pre-movie plots were nearly always slam dunks, and his post-movie work has suffered a bit, but Lawrence comes here with full control, busting out with a plot that's sort of random, but certainly inspired, backed up with a ton of great gags. Whether it's Karen's deadpan delivery of "Our marriage?", the "my leg" joke, Mr. Krabs' imagined funeral, or the horrified faces of the customers after they read the bad fortunes, it's funny from start to finish. Also, this episode uses the word copepod, and it's always great to see more underwater references. Speaking of that, the opening scene, while not exactly up to the standards of Lawrence's best above water scene (that honor goes to Frankendoodle), is still creative and just fun to see. The resolution of the plot is a bit rushed, but it's funny, and it works. And the live action scene at the Chinese restaurant at the end is just classic.

In summary, Mr. Lawrence shows up and writes a full 11 minutes that assert what we've all always known - he's fantastic and always has been and totally did your mom last night. But this is the guy who created The Fatheads - it couldn't have turned out bad.

 

[Invincibubble]

My fortune reads: "You will love a new SpongeBob episode"

This episode was a complete joy to watch. Anything from the ridiculous fortunes to Mr. Krabs' funeral, this episode was full of laughs. I really loved how the episode started with a nice calm opening with SpongeBob and Gary watching the clouds (flowers), this is something more episodes need, nice calm moments with SpongeBob and Gary because I really love to see these two characters interact, and recently we haven't seen much of Gary (with exceptions of "Sanctuary!" and "Pineapple Invasion"). I also really loved that all the fortunes would come true, because it really added more jokes and made the plot more interesting. Plankton's appearances in this episode were also comical to, especially Karen's impression of Plankton, that part really made me laugh. Wow, my fortune came true as well, I really did love this episode! Overall I would give this episode a solid 9/10, a overall great episode!

[4EverGreen]

This episode WILL be remembered, if for no other reason than it helped EVERYONE around the world learn what the world "Copepod" means! I don't know what it is, but it isn't QUITE perfect; a 99/100, but pretty close.

[SquiddyFace]

Really good episode. The plot was pretty good with some funny moments like the face expression and Mr. Krabs catching SpongeBob with a fishing rod but the best part was the funeral scene, it was hilarious.

Grade: B+