A Day Without Tears

Characters

• Template:Data:Links
• Radio DJ ^{(heard only)}
• Eely Dan ^(mentioned)
• Lionel Fishie ^(mentioned)
• Squidward Tentacles
• Eugene H. Krabs
• French Narrator
• Patrick Star
• Scallops
• Bikini Bottom Men's Choir
  • Frankie Billy
  • Ivy
  • Dave
  • Fred
• Gary the Snail
• Margaret SquarePants ^(mentioned)
• Harold SquarePants ^(mentioned)
• News reporter Template:Debut
• Dale
• Dave's snail Template:Debut
• Gus
• Miss Rechid
• Manatee ^(mentioned)
• Mermaid Man ^(mentioned)
• Barnacle Boy ^(mentioned)
• Unnamed son Template:Debut
• Unnamed father
• Little Angler ^(mentioned)
• Jack Template:Debut
• Jill Template:Debut

Synopsis

File:A day without tears 015.png

SpongeBob wakes up, stubs his toe, and starts crying. He rips his favorite shirt and starts crying again. He goes downstairs and hears a sad song on the radio, and he cries some more.

At work, he flips a Krabby Patty, which lands on the ground when Mr. Krabs startles him. SpongeBob then cries once again. Squidward gets irritated of SpongeBob's crying, and he yells at him. SpongeBob then cries, wailing, "You yelled at me!"

Squidward tells SpongeBob that he cries too much; SpongeBob denies it, but Squidward pulls up a TV and plays a video of a trillion tears and millions of places where SpongeBob has cried over those years. Watching the video, SpongeBob realizes he does cry a lot and promises to stop, but Squidward rebukes his words as he makes a bet with SpongeBob that he couldn't last until midnight without crying. If SpongeBob does, he has to do various chores for Squidward for a year; if he doesn't, Squidward has to sleep over at SpongeBob's place for a night.

After the bet is made, Squidward follows SpongeBob home to make sure he cries and tries to make SpongeBob cry over things like a beautiful sunset, sad news stories with funerals, a sad song on the clarinet, and a saddening bedtime story.

File:Crying Tears 002.png

Squidward tries to get SpongeBob to cry.

Amazingly, SpongeBob manages to hold in his tears until midnight, despite all of Squidward's best attempts, and after midnight, SpongeBob cries all over Bikini Bottom like crazy. With SpongeBob winning the bet over him, Squidward is forced to come over for a slumber party the next night, and the episode ends with Squidward crying and SpongeBob consoling him while watching television.

File:A Day Without Tears 209.jpg

Squidward begins to cry

Production

Release

• This episode is available on the Heroes of Bikini Bottom, Complete Seventh Season, and Next 100 Episodes DVDs.

Trivia

General

• This episode marks the second appearance of the Bikini Bottom Men's Choir, the first being "Choir Boys." The choir makes two brief cameo appearances in this episode; first half-way in the episode when Squidward gets SpongeBob to cry over the sight of the sunset, and then later at the end when Bikini Bottom is flooded with SpongeBob's tears.
• In this episode, SpongeBob has curtains on his window, but in most episodes he does not.
• This episode premiered 10 years after "Texas" and "Walking Small" and eight years after "The Algae's Always Greener" and "SpongeGuard on Duty."
• Patrick is correct after he answers SpongeBob's question: it is possible for somebody to not cry/sob for at least a day or two.
  • However, because of SpongeBob's great sensitivity over something dramatic or emotional, it is impossible for him to overcome a day without crying.
• This episode is similar in concept to "Funny Pants," as in both episodes, Squidward gets annoyed by SpongeBob's emotions and tries to prevent him from exhibiting them further or else consequences will follow.
• This is the first episode to use the tracks "Coconut Cream Pie" and "Aloha Bikini Bottom."
• It is revealed that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy airs eight times a day, but it is brought down to seven in this episode, according to the news anchor.
• Apparently, until this episode, SpongeBob was unaware that he cried so much. However, he showed some awareness in "No Weenies Allowed" when he revealed that he only cried for 20 minutes after stubbing his toe.
• Irony: SpongeBob says that the shirt he ripped was his favorite shirt, yet all of his shirts were the same.
• The videos of SpongeBob crying show he:
  • Dropped a Krabby Patty on the floor.
  • Didn't find what he needed at the Barg'N-Mart.
  • Failed his boating test (as usual).
  • Broke his jellyfishing net.
  • Could not find an unoccupied bathroom stall.
  • Missed the bus.
• Squidward's attempts to get SpongeBob to cry:
  • Watch the sunset
  • Watch Gary sleeping
  • Get a letter from his parents
  • Watch sad stories on TV and hear bad news reports
  • Play a sad song
  • Read a made-up sad story
• SpongeBob mentions crying after stubbing his toe in "No Weenies Allowed" and does exactly that at the beginning of the episode.

Cultural references

• On the radio, the announcer says the song is by Eely Dan. This is an obvious reference to the jazz rock band Steely Dan.
• Also, the next song is by Lionel Fishy. This is a reference to Lionel Richie.
• The radio announcer also states that the song's name before "Sad Songs" was Aja, a song by Steely Dan on the album of the same name and a song called "Sad Song" by Paul Williams.

Errors

• When SpongeBob cries during "Sad Song," his tears come out his upstairs bedroom's window, but he is in the kitchen, completely opposite and downstairs from his bedroom.

File:SpongeBob wearing his hat when some of them, he isn't at the Krusty Krab.png

SpongeBob wearing his Krusty Krab employee hat when some of them are not at the Krusty Krab.

• During the slideshow Squidward made of SpongeBob's breakdowns over the years that were seen, SpongeBob wears his Krusty Krab employee hat in all of the clips that were seen even though some are not set at the Krusty Krab.

File:B0A7BA61-24A5-47A7-B445-9309FB11EB1B.jpeg

Squidward's mouth is missing

• After Squidward says, "Clean out my rain gutters," his mouth disappears for one frame.
  • This error also occurred in "Just One Bite."
• SpongeBob can be seen shedding a tear during the news story about the snail, which means Squidward won the bet all along.

Running gags

• SpongeBob crying repeatedly.
• Squidward tries to get SpongeBob to cry, but he resists it.
• The Bikini Bottom Choir showing up.