Riding 20-year success wave of nautical nonsense

BY MICHELLE WILSON

Gracenote

There are many notable cartoon characters in TV’s history, but none quite like the absorbent, yellow and porous “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

Believe it or not, two decades have sailed since its splashy debut, which is unique in the fact that it crosses generations of parents growing up on the show and then passes it along to their children while it’s still on-air. The four-sided title character and his friends prepare to party like it’s 1999 (when the series actually began) as they mark the milestone with the special episode “SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout,” premiering today on Nickelodeon.

Here, SpongeBob, Patrick Star, Mr. Krabs, Sandy Cheeks, Squidward Tentacles and Plankton play human versions of their animated characters, which also features guest star David Hasselhoff as himself, the same “role” he had in 2004’s “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.”

There’s sadness surrounding this celebration, however, as series creator Steve Hillenburg passed away in November 2018 from ALS. Hillenburg, a former marine biology teacher, used his love of the sea and artistic talent to create stories and illustrations that he would use as teaching tools for his students that ultimately transformed into the residents of Bikini Bottom.

There are reports of some spin-off series in the works, and though no specifics had been released as of this writing, potential ideas could focus on Sandy, Plankton or BFFs Patrick and SpongeBob.