As Seen on TV

"As Seen on TV" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season three.

Brief summary: After appearing in a commercial for the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob believes that he is now famous.

Time cards shown

• 3:28 A.M.

Characters:

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Mr. Krabs
• Squidward Tentacles
• Gary
• Pearl Krabs
• Krusty Krab Customers
• Fred
• Commercial crew
• Clown
• Mr. Doodles
• Mr. Krabs double

Songs:

• Striped Sweater

The best time to wear a striped sweater is all the time

One with a collar, turtleneck, that's the kind

Cause when you're wearing that.... one.... special.... sweater....

Plot

Mr. Krabs walks to work one morning to see the completion of the first ever Krusty Krab TV commercial, which is being directed by Squidward. However, upon seeing the expensive production values (which include putting a second Krusty Krab next to the original, among other things), he fires the cast and crew and he decides to direct it himself, using himself, Squidward, Pearl and Spongebob as the cast. Spongebob is extremely excited to see himself on TV, and watches the commercial when it airs (in the extremely cheap time slot of 3:28 A.M.). Despite the horrendous production values and quality of the commercial, and Spongebob's extremely small role in it, he proclaims it to be "the best 60 seconds of (his) life."

The next morning, while Spongebob is walking to work, an old man sees him and tells him that he saw him on TV last night (on a commercial for "Bran Flakes", which come in a yellow box). This makes Spongebob think that he is now famous, and at work he treats people as if they were his fans, and fails to perform his job properly. Eventually, he quits his job to become an entertainer, and is confronted by the angry and hungry customers, who he thinks want him to entertain them. He begins to juggle food items, and accidentally slips and falls to the ground. Just as he thinks that his career is over, a patty drops on the grill, which pleases the customers. Spongebob notices this, and continues to make Krabby Patties like normal, believing he is entertaining his customers.

Trivia/Goofs

• Spongebob was also compared to a cereal box in "Pre-Hibernation Week".
• Mr. Krabs' pet worm, Mr. Doodles, was previously seen in "Sandy's Rocket".
• The second Krusty Krab is similar to the "Krusty Krab 2" from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which this episode predates by two years.
• There is also a fish that looks suspiciously like Dennis from the movie in the background of Squidward's commercial set.
• The Krusty Krab commercial actually lasts eighty eight seconds, rather than sixty seconds like SpongeBob says.
• There is actually a cereal called Bran Flakes, which is made by Post Cereals.
• The background music playing during the commercial is the same as on the title card.
• The crowd, in unison, ask for "ONIONS! CHEESE!" but no cheese is shown being placed on the patties.
• The VERY first Krusty Krab commercials were seen in Truth or Square.
• At the very end of the episode, a patty being flipped by Spongebob freezes in mid-air as the scene fades to black.
• The number of patties on the grill near the end of the episode changes between different shots.
• Near the beginning of this episode, Mr. Krabs says to Squidward "What in Neptune's name is going on here?", the captions say "the toons' name" instead of "Neptune's name."
• The German title of this episode is "Der Fernsehstar", which means "The TV Star".
• The slogan for the Krusty Krab restaurant is "Come Spend Your Money Here!", according to the Krusty Krab commercial.
• Mr. Krabs keeps the clown for the commercial, but the clown is nowhere to be found in the commercial. It is possible that he was used as the cameraman.  

• Krusty Krab Commercial cast:

Mr. Krabs as himself

Pearl as Amy

Squidward as Jen

SpongeBob as himself (very minor cameo)

APM Music Identification

• Bad Tempi 1 - Title card; commercial music
• Hawaiian Link (b) - Opening shot of the island.
• The Tip Top Polka/Cliff Polka - Mr. Krabs walks Mr. Doodles.
• Too Tired - "I told you to rent only what was absolutely necessary!"
• Ta-Ra C - The clownfish (Get it? Clownfish?) smiles.
• So Tired - "Tonight?"
• On the Beach - Transition shot of the island as night turns into day and as SpongeBob walks to work; "Weren't you that guy on TV? Why yes, I am that guy. How kind of you to notice."
• Screw on the Loose - Bran Flakes commercial
• Stand-Up Comic B - SpongeBob's vampire joke.