Culture Shock

Template:Episode "Culture Shock" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season one.

Brief summary: When the Krusty Krab's profit goes down, the Krusty Krew arranges a talent show in order to gain publicity. Time/Date:

• 12:15 PM: Customer walks into the Krusty Krab.
• 3:00 PM: The stage is first shown.
• 6:35 PM: Gary recites his poem.

Characters Present:

• Squidward Tentacles
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Eugene Krabs
• Pearl Krabs
• Sheldon J. Plankton
• Gary the Snail
• Mrs. SquarePants
• Harold SquarePants
• Bikini Bottomites
• Patrick Star
• Sandy Cheeks
• Tom
• Fred

Songs: None

Plot

The Krusty Krab has hit a rut in business, and Mr. Krabs decides that the restaurant needs a new gimmick to attract more customers. He, Squidward, and SpongeBob eventually decide upon a talent show. SpongeBob begs Squidward to let him perform on stage, and even shows him his various talents, but Squidward only gives him the job of cleaning up the set afterwards (SpongeBob believes this to be a good start to his acting career). Squidward, however, would headline the program.

On the show's night, most of the acts are complete failures. Squidward's act—an interpretive dance number—throws the audience into complete riot. As he storms off the stage, SpongeBob appears on stage to clean the set. The audience cheers heavily for this new "act", making the talent show a success and inspiring Mr. Krabs to arrange for another show, the following week.

Trivia

• The talent show is originally slated to be an annual event, but by the episode's end Mr. Krabs begins planning for the next week's show. It is possible that the talent show became so popular because of SpongeBob, that Mr. Krabs decided to change the show into a weekly event.
• In the beginning of the episode, the background music on the season 1 box set is different than on the TV version.