SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 4, Vol. 1 (1999)
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The first three seasons of Spongebob were great. It was an absurd masterpeice of the highest order that made Ren and Stimpy look like "Washington Week in Review" in comparison. It had comedy that kids could relate to as well as something for us adults, mainly in the characters that resemble people we see in real life every day: the eternal optimist (Spongebob), the psychotic best friend (Patrick), the "foreigner" just trying to adapt to new surroundings (Sandy), the "accomplished neophyte" that lacks any real skill (Squidward), and the cheapskate (Mr. Krabs).

Unfortunately, in its fourth season, Spongebob jumps the shark, probably due to the departure of creator and marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg. The cartoon inhabitants of Bikini Bottom have become just exaggerated caricatures of their past incarnations - they are cartoons of cartoons. The clever dialogue and straightforward storylines of past seasons have been replaced with slap-stick physical comedy and overly complex storylines that are boring for children and too inane for adults.

So why, you might ask, am I giving it three stars? Because it still has its moments. In particular, I really loved "Patrick Smartpants" which was nothing short of a series classic. Patrick and Sponge Bob are jellyfishing when Patrick runs off a cliff and loses his head, which Sponge Bob (accidentally) replaces with brain coral. Patrick then becomes a genius, discussing classical music with Squidward and complex physics and calculus with Sandy. I also liked the half hour episode, "Have You Seen This Snail? (Where's Gary?)" in which SpongeBob tries to beat a paddle-ball world record and forgets to feed Gary -- for 10 days. Gary runs away to downtown Bikini Bottom where he is taken in by a kindly old woman who indulges him in every way possible. This is fine with Gary until he finds out why he is being fattened up, and promptly returns home to a lonely and penitent SpongeBob.

There were other good episodes, but the bad episodes are pretty awful. For example, I found myself just plain bored with "Dunces and Dragons", in which Spongebob and Patrick get transported to medieval times, and the season openers "Fear of A Krabby Patty" and "Shell of a Man" were so bad they were just plain embarrassing to watch. Also, although this show has always had some mild adult humor built into it, mainly in the form of witty dialogue, the episode "SquidBob TentaclePants" is way too scary for small children. It is very much like the 80's version of "The Fly" - where SpongeBob and Squidward get spliced together in Sandy's transporter machine. The results of these animated Frankenstein-like mixtures might be funny to adults, but I can see it inducing nightmares in small children. Graphic horror is just not what you expect when you tune in to SpongeBob.

All in all, I think these first twenty episodes of season four form a "take it or leave it" kind of season, which is just not how I would have ever expected to describe any season of SpongeBob.