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SBC's Top 30 Worst Episodes Ever (25th Anniversary Edition)


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GREETINGS COMRADES! 🫡

So it's been 3 years (!!!) since the last time we did this and to celebrate the sponge man's 25th anniversary we're bringing this tradition back and your favourite carrot will be the host! There are a few changes compared to other editions, and one of them, as you can see in the title, is that we're doing 30 episodes instead of 50!

Many of you know how this works but if you're new don't worry, it's easy. All you have to do is DM me your 15 LEAST favourite SpongeBob episodes on Discord (i prefer this way cuz i'm a lot more active there) but if you prefer or don't have a Discord account you can PM me your list here on SBC. Also, please send me your list in descending order (which means you start with #15 and end at #1, your worst episode) so that I can count points more easily on my excel sheet. If you need to change your list after you've sent it, please tell me right away!!! I don't accept more lists or changes after the deadline!!!

Oh yeah speaking of that, the deadline is MAY 8TH at 11:59:59 pm EST!!!! I will be like a college professor and not accept lists even a second late :funny: Anyways, have fun!!! 

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WEEEEEEELCOME TO THE SBC'S TOP 30 WORST EPISODES COUNTDOWN!!!! First of all thank you all for submitting your lists! So your professor Carotte ended up with 21 lists (see list of participants in spoilers below)...so one less than 2021 (a few late students could have made it higher smh...jk jk it's cool! you still pass!. We shortened this to 30 episodes instead of 50 to make it easier for you guys, especially people who can't just choose their worst episodes because they don't hate as much stuff anymore (and it's understandable) Also, we did some small changes to the point system: the #1 gets 25 points and not 15, so #2 gets 24 and so on until #15 which is worth 11 points so that each ep has a fair amount of points. So yeah, let's get moving!!!

List of participants:

Spoiler

Carotte
Winter
Cake
jjs
Jaic
WhoBob
Steel
4EverGreen
Trophy
OWM
Wumbo
More
dman
Clappy
Slug
BenPaz
OBAB
RDSP
Coffee
Pickle Man
Mythix

alright let's start this fr, ready?

SBC's Top 30 Worst Episodes Ever (25th Anniversary Edition)

30. "WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE???"

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Demolition Doofus - 57 points

4 of 21 lists (Highest ranking #10, @Bob Carotte) (-13)

Season: 8

Writers: Luke Brookshier, Marc Ceccarelli, Derek Iversen

Plot: Mrs. Puff finally finds a use for SpongeBob's reckless driving and enters him in the Demolition Derby.

Sooooo we begin the countdown with Demolition Doofus, one of THESE episodes I always hated ever since it was new. DD dropped 13 places compared to 2021, which is kind of a surprise to me but at the same time I get how forgettable it can be. This episode is pretty much known for Mrs. Puff being unusually aggressive to SpongeBob. I get SpongeBob failed his boating test like 3472 times but despite this Mrs. Puff always shows some support to him and tries to help him. Here she doesn't even do any positive act and even tries to kill him by sending him to the derby to crash with these tough guys. I really hate how out of character Mrs. Puff is in seasons 6-9a, she isn't supposed to hate SpongeBob but this episode in particular pisses me off because she goes way too far. It's a shame because this episode had a nice concept, but it was ruined by her. I should add that in the end, Mrs. Puff can inflate again without explanation after another crash and it's done, finished...it doesn't even make sense.

29. Jellyfishin'? What kinda tomfoolery is jellyfishin'?

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Trenchbillies - 60 points

3 of 21 lists (Highest ranking #4, @WinterArcanine) (-4)

Season: 7

Writers: Aaron Springer, Richard Pursel

Plot: SpongeBob and Patrick find themselves held prisoner by a backward gang of hillbillies.

this one should have made it to the top 1 for being the gayest episode of the show smh 

...right, this is a serious post

Ah yes, one of the episodes from the failed Legends of Bikini Bottom special. Trenchbillies dropped 4 places which is not a big deal but it still would make a bottom 30. I almost included it on my list but decided not to. This episode is such a borefest that it's more effective than sleep medication. All SpongeBob and Patrick do is doing various activities with the rock bottom rednecks with no plot in sight, it's just all over the place. I should add that the trenchbillies designs are so unappealing and hard to look at.

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Will we eventually get a list of all the episodes that were chosen on People's lists (but didn't make enough points to make it on the Official list) see where they ranked as (DIS)-Honorable Mentions?

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1 hour ago, Dragonball Z said:

Will we eventually get a list of all the episodes that were chosen on People's lists (but didn't make enough points to make it on the Official list) see where they ranked as (DIS)-Honorable Mentions?

yes i'll send the full list when it's all done and i'll name a few dishonorable mentions later in the countdown

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Demolition Doofus is a very interesting episode. Mrs Puff becoming so angry, hateful, and even violent against SpongeBob after his one millionth accident makes her physically disabled is so out of place in this show, so I get why people hate it. But honestly.....I kinda find it interesting? It's just so crazy that this is even a thing in this show, and it honestly is pretty fun to watch. It's very unique and interesting, and I honestly get why Mrs Puff would react like this considering everything SpongeBob has done to her. Her line "WHY. ARE. YOU. STILL. ALIVEEEEEEEEE!" is very out of place in this show, but it is interesting to see in this show, and ngl, it kinda goes hard. I enjoy the demolition derby stuff too, its fun. This episode is not on my list, or even close to it, but I get why it's here.

Trenchbillies on the other hand is an awful episode and it's a shame it dropped. I hate this episode. Most of this episode is just painfully unfunny. The hillbilly humor throughout the episode is just not funny and is even quite annoying. Speaking of the hillbillies (trenchbillies here), their designs are awful too. They are very ugly, and are both unlikable and uninteresting. They're just annoying hillbillies with no funny humor. The episode is also full of gross moments, such as the belching scene and the spitting scene, and they're awful to watch (this is a common trend you'll find among episodes I dislike; they're commonly gross. I do not like grossout humor at all). But even when the episode isn't being gross, it's just either unfunny at best and annoying at worst. I guess the idea of Mr Krabs being forced to marry one of the trenchbillies is kinda funny, but its too little too late at that point. I appreciate the gay representation this episode provides, but I wish it could've been used on a better episode.

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28. WHEN I'M ON THE ROOOOOOAD

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A SquarePants Family Vacation - 63 points

3 of 21 lists (Highest ranking #1, @RD Rockruff) (+9)

Season: 8

Writers: Aaron Springer, Sean Charmatz, Derek Iversen

Plot: Patrick goes on vacation with SpongeBob's family to the Great Barrier Reef.

Not surprised this episode jumped 9 places because damn, this episode is another borefest but in 22 minutes and it almost made my list as well. I think it's another episode with wasted potential because the idea of a family vacation can be interesting but here it's just not. The Road song is one of the worst songs in the show and I will say it now, it makes the Atlantis songs look like masterpieces. Also, it's weird how this episode is the first major role of SB's parents but then they disappeared for years. I'm glad they already made a great episode for them in S13 but that's another subject for another day.

 

27. ASSAULT YOUR OWN BABY

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Slide Whistle Stooges - 64 points

4 of 21 lists (Highest ranking #1, @Wumbo) (-3)

Season: 6

Writers: Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Derek Iversen

Plot: SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward play with slide whistles.

Not a big change compared to 2021 but Slide dropped a few spots. I used to hate this episode a lot but now I'm a bit more soft because of a few funny lines. The sound of this instrument is not annoying to me but I think SpongeBob and Patrick annoy Squidward too much. Then Squidward starts to like it and begins playing it all over the city, annoying all of Bikini Bottom to the point of them celebrating when he crashed a truck. I thought that was too harsh but this is how rude the Bottomites are.

 

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A Squarepants Family Vacation wasn't on my list but it is a bottom 50 ep for sure IMO. For being 22 minutes, it really doesn't feel like much happens at all. It's just boring and dull, for double the length of a regular Spongebob episode. This episode could easily have been 11 minutes, and it really should've been considering how boring it is. The road song is super lame and is one of the worst songs in the entire series, it may not be offensively bad but it is super boring and lame. The only good joke I can remember is the gift shop scene, which was very funny, but otherwise this episode just feels empty. 

Slide Whistle Stooges was #12 on my list. Honestly, maybe I'm too harsh on this episode, idk, the last time I watched it I had a headache, so.....But even without a headache, the slide whistles are just annoying af, and you're constantly hearing it throughout the whole episode. And most of the humor in the episode is just that, the slide whistle annoying Squidward, and then everyone else once he starts playing it.....which brings two stupid writing issues with this episode. First of all, why would Squidward even get into the slide whistles? It was annoying him the whole time, and then all of a sudden he just suddenly enjoys it? I know this is a common type of Spongebob episode (or at least in earlier seasons), but those are things where it actually makes sense he would get into it. Here, it's just...annoying people with slide whistles that annoyed him before? It's just stupid, and feels like a failed attempt at that sort of episode. Secondly....why do the citizens find it funny when Spongebob and Patrick use the slide whistles, but hate it when Squidward do it? There's no actual difference. Also wtf is with the ending, where they do slide whistle gags with the hospital? I can't even explain why but something just....feels weird about it? idk. Also its funny to joke about but why the fuck was the "assault your own baby" line a thing lol

Typing this out, I'm realizing that no, I was right, it really is that bad. I'm not being too harsh. It's just a boring and bizzare (in a bad way) episode where the sound playing throughout the episode is super annoying.

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Cake reporting in:

Demolition Doofus wasn't on my bottom 15 list, but I'd definitely put in my bottom 50. I can safely say that in Demolition Doofus, ESH. SpongeBob came across as incredibly insensitive towards deflated Mrs. Puff, and Mrs. Puff took her rage way too far. The demolition derby was a novel idea, but it was ruined by Mrs. Puff's bloodlust.

Trenchbillies almost missed my bottom 15. Such an unfunny drag to get through. The character designs were hideous, 90% of the humor derives from tired hillbilly stereotypes, and the story just meanders about. I would safely say that this episode has more filler than low-quality pet food.

A SquarePants Family Vacation can be summed up in two words: painfully boring. Yeah, the road song was cool and all, but the whole episode is a nothingburger until the gift shop scene. It's a shame, because this episode had a lot of promise; the idea of SpongeBob and his parents taking a vacation sounded really interesting, but nope, we instead got a snorefest of a special.

Slide Whistle Stooges is mid-tier in my mind. Yeah, the sound of the slide whistles gets tiresome after a while, but I don't mind them all that much. Aside from the ending and the hypocritical Bikini Bottomites, it's hard for me to find any noteworthy flaws, but at the same time, it's also hard for me to find any laugh out loud moments. SWS is watchable, but not very memorable

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Emerging from the dirt to give my two cents:

Demolition Doofus is, admittedly, not an episode I can really bring myself to hate anymore. For Season 8 standards, I'd almost even consider it good. It's not exactly the most compelling story out there, mind you, but for what it's worth I'd watch it over half of the garbage in this season. Mrs. Puff having an actual, justifiable reason to hate Spongebob's guts was something I appreciated on my latest watch through, when before I'd have probably detracted it for the same reason. Plus, I felt the pacing was better here than in other episodes this season which moved slower than molasses, and the comedy was decent enough. I still wouldn't call it one of the greats though.

Trenchbillies, on the other hand, I cannot extend the same praises to. There's little to this episode outside of it being gross and sloggishly-paced. I think this one almost made my list, but I discounted it since the other episodes I listed were worse. Definitely not an episode I'd want to return to.

A SquarePants Family Vacation earned my top spot, and I'm disappointed to see it so low lol. I really don't care for this cartoon in the same way I used to, so I can't say I feel too strongly about most of the episodes that show up here or later on the list. However, this episode was easily the most dreadful to sit through; there's nothing to write home about with it, the writing is pure garbage, there's clearly not enough content to warrant 22 minutes of this slop, and Jesus Christ will you please stop singing that god-awful song. The, as one specific Spongebob reviewer who I don't feel like naming right now said, "calm and relaxing atmosphere" does not hold my attention. Good sleep aid, I guess.

And as for Slide Whistle Stooges, I found this one mildly annoying but not outright awful. There's not much I can actually say about this one, because most of it is just Spongebob and Patrick chasing Squidward around with slide whistles. Really not much you could write about that, I'd reckon. Skippable episode, but nowhere near the bottom of the barrel in my opinion. Also the "baby assaulter" scene was absolutely out of pocket, it gets a laugh out of me when little else in this episode does. That's about all I can say I enjoy about this one though.

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"Demolition Doofus" actually made my list at #12, due to how OOC Mrs. Puff is. "Trenchbillies" probably would've gotten on my list with 25 choices. "A Squarepants Family Vacation" is SO unmemorable, I didn't even THINK of it as a choice; and "Slide Whistle Stooges"...I personally don't consider it a BAD episode segment; certainly a LOT better than some episode segments I could MENTION! It will be interesting to see how what the other episode segments are!

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26. Let us apprehend that careless contaminator! 

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Fungus Among Us - 67 points

3 of 21 lists (Highest ranking #1, @Clappy) (+2)

Season: 5

Writers: Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Richard Pursel

Plot: SpongeBob develops a case of Ick, the nasty itchy sea fungus that grows over everything it comes in contact with.

Well, what can I say? This is one of the most gross episodes the show has ever done. Fungus wouldn't make my bottom 15 but I would definitely include it if I were asked to do a bottom 25 list. I'm not a fan of gross-out stuff in general but this is actually not my main problem with this episode. This is another example where the Bikini Bottomites are pretty much assholes and attack SpongeBob just because he is the one who spread the ick. SpongeBob's bubble is popped twice, first by Patrick's stupidity which I guess I can take, but the customers had absolutely no reason to pop the bubble. Weren't they aware that this would make things worse? I guess what saves this episode from being a 0/10 is the ending where Gary, who is a bottom feeder, cures everyone and cleans the Krusty Krab by eating the ick.

 

25. Did we save Sandy?

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Rodeo Daze - 67 points

4 of 21 lists (Highest ranking #2, @Shark Tale) (+5)

Season: 7

Writers: Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash, Richard Pursel

Plot: SpongeBob takes Bikini Bottomites to Texas to save Sandy from a squirrel rodeo, but his attempt to save Sandy backfires.

I see Rodeo Daze ended up tied with Fungus in points, but it's higher on the list because more people included it on their lists. Anyways, this episode is so boring and lazy but I don't think it's awful enough to make my list. I even think the concept is pretty nice that could have been more trippy like most of the episode focusing on SpongeBob and company travelling to Texas but nope we got boring scenes of SpongeBob asking everyone to help and people always refusing to the point of SpongeBob insisting and kidnapping everyone in a big bubble with his pineapple inside, oh and the trip to Texas began around the 9th minute and this caused the ending to be rushed. We joke about "The Poor CGI" but this is one of the laziest attempts to animate CGI as you could see in the cows singing the awful Rodeo song and the ending in Texas. 

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Oh no, now I have to give my opinion on Fungus Among Us :funny: I'm going to be honest, I actually like this episode; I can understand why people wouldn't, though. It's got this weird atmosphere, and a lot of the comedy hinges on grossout (which I can't feel too grossed out by, seeing as how it looks more cartoonish than, take for instance, half the grossout in Seasons 6 and 7). It's right up my alley in terms of comedy, and I think my enjoyment of this one is very subjective on that account. There's another episode I'm sure will show up down the line that I hold similar sentiments to, get ready for that scorching-hot take.

AS FOR Rodeo Daze though, this one absolutely made my bottom 15. I debated whether it would fit on here, but upon introspection, yeah, this deserves a bottom spot for sure. Talk about a slog -- absolutely nothing happens for most of the episode's runtime. The plot is incredibly stupid too; I don't get why Spongebob decides he has to gather the entire town together to "save" Sandy from something she surely can handle herself. I think the plot would be funnier if it didn't take so long meandering and were written by the not-dead-inside (no shade to the writers though, I suspect they were all burnt out by this period of the show). It's really just a stupid, vapid episode. Also the animation suuuuuuuucks. The screenshot of the "Poor CGI" is just one example, but it gets worse when they actually go to Texas and everyone becomes flat stock images. Reeks of low budget to me, but I can't verify one way or another. Bad episode.

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Honestly, (No) Fungus Among Us isn't a very fun achievement to get. Not using a single mushroom in a nighttime level is extremely hard even on the easier nighttime levels, since Puff Shrooms are so good and having to plant a Potato Mine for every early zombie makes it super hard to save enough sun to even get a second Sunflower. I don't really enjoy this one at all. I'm not really sure why a Plants vs Zombies achievement is even on this ranking, but I can't say I disagree with it being here.

Rodeo Daze is honestly....overhated? Like, the first half sucks (besides the Plankton part which is really funny), the song is bad and most of the scenes with Spongebob asking people to help him save Sandy is boring, but I honestly kinda like the second half. Spongebob forcing everyone to help save Sandy by forcing them into bubbles is actually pretty neat, and its funny to see Spongebob do something like this. The music used during that scene gives it a really nice vibe as well. Then Spongebob and everyone else making it to the rodeo, and then Sandy having to save Spongebob, was also pretty cool. But, all of the Texas stuff happens in like 1-2 minutes. They really could've paced this episode better; if they had focused more on the Texas stuff, and less on Spongebob trying to convince people to help him save Sandy, it would've been a lot better. Overall, I think this episode is mid.

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On 5/9/2024 at 3:36 PM, Bob Carotte said:

WEEEEEEELCOME TO THE SBC'S TOP 30 WORST EPISODES COUNTDOWN!!!! First of all thank you all for submitting your lists! So your professor Carotte ended up with 21 lists (see list of participants in spoilers below)...so one less than 2021 (a few late students could have made it higher smh...jk jk it's cool! you still pass!. We shortened this to 30 episodes instead of 50 to make it easier for you guys, especially people who can't just choose their worst episodes because they don't hate as much stuff anymore (and it's understandable) Also, we did some small changes to the point system: the #1 gets 25 points and not 15, so #2 gets 24 and so on until #15 which is worth 11 points so that each ep has a fair amount of points. So yeah, let's get moving!!!

List of participants:

  Reveal hidden contents

Carotte
Winter
Cake
jjs
Jaic
WhoBob
Steel
4EverGreen
Trophy
OWM
Wumbo
More
dman
Clappy
Slug
BenPaz
OBAB
RDSP
Coffee
Pickle Man
Mythix

alright let's start this fr, ready?

SBC's Top 30 Worst Episodes Ever (25th Anniversary Edition)

30. "WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE???"

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Demolition Doofus - 57 points

4 of 21 lists (Highest ranking #10, @Bob Carotte) (-13)

Season: 8

Writers: Luke Brookshier, Marc Ceccarelli, Derek Iversen

Plot: Mrs. Puff finally finds a use for SpongeBob's reckless driving and enters him in the Demolition Derby.

Sooooo we begin the countdown with Demolition Doofus, one of THESE episodes I always hated ever since it was new. DD dropped 13 places compared to 2021, which is kind of a surprise to me but at the same time I get how forgettable it can be. This episode is pretty much known for Mrs. Puff being unusually aggressive to SpongeBob. I get SpongeBob failed his boating test like 3472 times but despite this Mrs. Puff always shows some support to him and tries to help him. Here she doesn't even do any positive act and even tries to kill him by sending him to the derby to crash with these tough guys. I really hate how out of character Mrs. Puff is in seasons 6-9a, she isn't supposed to hate SpongeBob but this episode in particular pisses me off because she goes way too far. It's a shame because this episode had a nice concept, but it was ruined by her. I should add that in the end, Mrs. Puff can inflate again without explanation after another crash and it's done, finished...it doesn't even make sense.

29. Jellyfishin'? What kinda tomfoolery is jellyfishin'?

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Trenchbillies - 60 points

3 of 21 lists (Highest ranking #4, @WinterArcanine) (-4)

Season: 7

Writers: Aaron Springer, Richard Pursel

Plot: SpongeBob and Patrick find themselves held prisoner by a backward gang of hillbillies.

this one should have made it to the top 1 for being the gayest episode of the show smh 

...right, this is a serious post

Ah yes, one of the episodes from the failed Legends of Bikini Bottom special. Trenchbillies dropped 4 places which is not a big deal but it still would make a bottom 30. I almost included it on my list but decided not to. This episode is such a borefest that it's more effective than sleep medication. All SpongeBob and Patrick do is doing various activities with the rock bottom rednecks with no plot in sight, it's just all over the place. I should add that the trenchbillies designs are so unappealing and hard to look at.

Moved Trenchbillies off of my list from 2019 or whenever it was for the record. It could have been higher if I kept it on but I didn't.

other notable entries here on my list were Rodeo Daze which is just a dreadful episode. SquarePants Family Vacation also made my bottom 10 it's an episode with just a complete lack of energy. It's not funny in the slightest besides remembering remarks about underwater atmosphere by members of the SpongeBob fandom. That's all I have to say for now I suppose.

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Fungus is yet another episode that barely missed my bottom 15. Not only is it pretty "ick"-y (*laugh track*), it's just devoid of anything interesting or funny. I wouldn't say that it's as revolting as Pet or Pests or The Splinter, but the scene where SpongeBob was in a bubble at the Krusty Krab made me seriously uncomfortable. The foreshadowing at the beginning was nice, but other than that, I can't say anything good about this one.

Rodeo Daze is such a snorefest of an episode. The rodeo song was okay, but the rest of the episode felt like the equivalent of cramming a major school project the night before it's due. For an episode called "Rodeo Daze", we only got mere seconds of an actual rodeo, and a terribly animated one at that. Again, the vast majority of the episode consists of nothingness, which is a recurring theme in season 7.

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