Fools in April

Template:Episode "Fools in April" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season one.

Brief summary: On April Fool's Day, Spongebob is playfully pulling harmless pranks on everyone, much to Squidward's annoyance. Squidward responds by pulling a very harmful prank on Spongebob, which sends him running home crying. Squidward attempts to apologize to Spongebob to clear his conscience, but has difficulty in doing so.

Characters:

Plot

SpongeBob wakes up, and realizes that it's April Fools Day. He begins the day by pranking Gary and himself at home, then goes to work. Squidward looks at the calendar, and realizes that it's April Fools Day, which he says is Spongebob's favorite holiday. Squidward calls Mr. Krabs saying he's sick. Mr. Krabs says that there's an art collector in his office who wants to buy Squidward's art and name him artist of the month. Squidward immediately rushes to the Krusty Krab, only to find that it was a prank by Spongebob. Squidward resigns from his job, but Spongebob convinces him to stay, promising not to pull any further pranks on him.

However, Spongebob continues to prank everyone else in the Krusty Krab, much to Squidward's annoyance. He decides to show Spongebob what a "real" prank is, and sets a rope trap with a blob of mustard in the middle. SpongeBob goes to clean it up, and the gets his leg caught in the lasso. Squidward cuts a nearby rope, triggering a chain reaction which sends SpongeBob flying around the restaurant, hitting several objects and getting seriously hurt. Squidward laughs at Spongebob, who runs away crying. The customers are appalled by Squidward's cruel prank, and leave the restaurant, with one of them saying to him "April Fools, jerk." Squidward is overcome with guilt and decides that he has to apologize to Spongebob. He goes to Spongebob's house and attempts to apologize, but finds himself physically unable to say "I'm sorry" to him. Eventually, he is able to say it by putting a bubble over his head, so that Spongebob does not actually hear his apology. Squidward walks away, saying that his conscience is clear, but is confronted by memories of what he did, and goes back and genuinely apologizes to Spongebob. SpongeBob forgives him, but then fully opens his front door, revealing that everyone else is inside behind him, and witnessed Squidward's apology. They all say "April Fools!" to Squidward, who is flabbergasted by this. He states that he was fooling them as well before running away, laughing maniacally.

Template:MTranscript

Quotes

Evelyn: Do you know where the forks are?

SpongeBob: Right here.

Evelyn: Uhh that's a spoon.

SpongeBob: (Giggles) April Fools!!

Tom: Can I have a couple of ice cubes in my drink?

SpongeBob: Sure thing.

Tom: Thanks, (Drinks his Lemonade, SpongeBob is giggling)

SpongeBob: April Fools!

Tom: Huh? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DRINK?!!!!

SpongeBob: You asked for a couple of ice cubes, and I only gave you one!

SpongeBob: (Hugging his own tongue) Your shoe's untied, you don't even have shoes *SpongeBob laugh* APRIL FOOLS!
Mrs. Tentacles: You stink!!
Squidward: Mother!?!

Trivia/Goofs

The various pranks pulled by Spongebob include:
- Telling Gary that they were going to become peasants.
- Telling himself that he would drink dozens of glasses of lemonade for breakfast.
- Having Mr. Krabs tell Squidward that an art collector from the "Barnacle Bay Art Museum" is at the Krsuty Krab and wants to buy his art.
- Directing an old lady who asked him where the forks are to the spoons.
- Drawing a face on the back of his head and tricking a customer into thinking he was two different people.
- Gives a fish only one ice cube in his drink, when he had asked for "a couple".
- Telling his own tongue that its shoes were untied.
- Tricking Squidward into apologizing to him in front of a roomful of people.
This is Sandy's last appearance in Season 1.
The "You stink!" line was first heard in "Pickles".
A female fish wearing a bikini is heard speaking in a deep male voice.
Even after Spongebob reveals to the old lady his prank of giving her a spoon rather than a fork, she still walks away with the spoon.
This is the first instance of Gary crying.
When Squidward gives SpongeBob a message in a bottle, he puts a cork on it. However, as it rolls towards SpongeBob, the cork is gone.