As early as season 2, episodes of the series have been scheduled to air on one date at a certain time, but was moved to another timeslot, another airdate, or both. Often times, these changes are done due to preferred scheduling by Nickelodeon. Certain episode pairings and numbers are changed during the process of episode scheduling, often causing episodes that were swapped out to remain as artifacts on schedule listings. As an example, the episode pair of "Captain Pipsqueak" and "Say Awww!" were originally paired as #276, and were scheduled to air on May 20, 2022 together. During the time the episode was scheduled and the May 20th airdate, #276 was repaired as "Say Awww!" / "Patrick the Mailman," and "Captain Pipsqueak" was delayed.[1]
"Gary Takes a Bath" was initially supposed to air on July 19, 2003, but was pushed a week back due to the premiere of the Rocket Power TV movie, "Reggie's Big (Beach) Break."[3]
The first episodes written by Sam Henderson were expected to premiere by summer 2001,[7] although his first penned episode to premiere aired on October 5, 2001.
The first episodes written by Kaz were expected to premiere as early as fall 2001,[7] although his first penned episode to premiere aired on February 22, 2002.
Nickelodeon initially planned to ration out the last few episodes of the series' original run throughout 2003,[8] although this would eventually be extended to 2004 up to the movie's release,[9] and at one point, 2005.[10]
Episode 60 was initially reported by a sealed sticker on The Seascape Capers DVD set to not be airing until January 2005.[10] The specific date seems to have been January 17, 2005, as a new SpongeBob episode is listed for that date at 8:00pm in the December 2004 / January 2005 issue of Nickelodeon Magazine. The marathon leading up to the episode started at 3:00pm,[18] the same time the event leading up to the episode's premiere, Bikini Bottom's Most Wanted, began.[19] These premieres would ultimately be pushed ahead and a marathon and premieres for The Fairly OddParents! would air instead.[20]
Earlier on, "Chimps Ahoy" was packaged as episode 73B, and thus was listed as being set to premiere on September 29, 2006,[32] although "Once Bitten" would replace it.
According to The Washington Post, season 5 was initially expected to start rolling out in 2006,[33] but it didn't start airing until 2007. However, "Best Day Ever," which was produced for the fifth season, but packaged as a part of the fourth, aired on November 10, 2006. Multiple season 5 episodes were also completed in 2006.
During the "Nicksgiving" event, the episode "Porous Pockets" was originally scheduled to debut at 8:30pm, with The Penguins of Madagascar sneak peek episode "Gone in a Flash" airing after it at 8:45pm.[38] This order would ultimately be swapped.
The final schedule revision would swap episodes 141b and 142b around, and push them up to the 8:00pm half-hour, while the 140 pair was pushed back to 8:30pm. On the 29th, "Trenchbillies" would air, but "The Curse of the Hex" was delayed and held over to air in June as a part of "SpongeBob's Summer of New Premieres."
"Fiasco!" (then known as "The Priceless Patty") was originally scheduled to air after "Planet of the Jellyfish" on March 31, 2012 at 10:15am[52] and was its original sister episode,[53] but "Are You Happy Now?" later took its slot,[54] and the episode wouldn't air until April 5.
"It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" was originally going to premiere on December 9, 2012 at 7:30pm on Nickelodeon, on a Sunday night, but was eventually pushed ahead to December 6 at 8:00pm, after every Sunday primetime premiere for the series had been moved.[1]
In a press release, "License to Milkshake" was stated to premiere at 8:00pm,[55] although the episode had already been figured out to be scheduled for 5:00pm.[56]
"Little Yellow Book" and "Squid Defense" are stated by many TV guides to have aired that day, implying these were original choices for the premieres.[58]
"Squid Defense" would eventually be spun-off to air as a part of the "Karate Pants" event on January 1, 2013; however, according to the announcement for the Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay DVD, the episode and event were originally going to broadcast on January 18.[59]
Sunday night was formerly considered to debut "Little Yellow Book" and "Bumper to Bumper," airing on November 25, 2012 at 7:30pm, although it would eventually be pulled. Both episodes would air on November 17, 2012 and March 2, 2013 at 10:30am respectively, during Saturday mornings.[1]
These were cancelled episodes of the series that were produced during the first half of season nine, and were once set to air. The episode numbers listed are the packaging numbers they originally took up before they were cut.
Notes:
"Best Friends For Never" was the original 200th episode,[64] and was going to be sneak peeked in 2013, and was scheduled to air in 2014 to celebrate the series 15th anniversary.[65] It was pushed to 2015 to air as a part of a friendship-themed campaign before being canned.[66]
At some point, episode were initially scheduled to return on Friday nights in January 2016, according to a statement in December 2015 by Vincent Waller.[68]
During summer 2016, Waller announced that 12 episodes of the series were to be spread throughout October[69] and November,[70] expected to air weekly.[71] Three episodes from season nine were planned to[69] and would air during October weekly on Saturdays, although November's premieres would eventually be pulled and rescheduled.[72]
The season was expected to premiere in 2015,[66] and later 2014.[79][80] Due to production delay caused by the second movie and the ninth season, it didn't begin production until 2015, and did not air until 2016.
During summer 2016, Vincent Waller announced that 12 episodes of the series were to be spread throughout October[69] and November 2016,[70] expected to air weekly.[71] One episode from season ten was planned to[69] and would air during October during weekly premieres on Saturdays, alongside another season 10 episode, "Mermaid Pants." However, November's premieres would eventually be pulled and rescheduled.[81]
"Sanitation Insanity" and "My Leg!" were set to continue weekly Friday premieres through April 27, 2018 at 6:30pm, but they were pulled and rescheduled for a premiere week in May.[1]
A premiere week of episodes was intended to air from October 22 - October 26, 2018 at 6:00pm.[84] However, these episodes were rescheduled throughout Sundays in October and November for the Sunday SpongeDay event.
"Hiccup Plague" was later planned to air with its sister episode ("Lighthouse Louie") on January 18, 2021, but was pulled and replaced with the premiere of "My Two Krabses."[1]
"Patrick's Tantrum" was supposed to air prior to the debut of The Patrick Star Show on July 9, 2021 alongside "Pat Hearts Squid," but was pulled and replaced with "Pat the Dog."[1]
"Captain Pipsqueak" was originally paired up with "Say Awww!" as episode 276, and were set to air on May 20, 2022. However, "Say Awww!" would eventually be repaired with "Patrick the Mailman," with "Say Awww!" being pushed up from 7:15pm to 7:00pm, and "Captain Pipsqueak" being delayed to July 22.[1]
"SquidBird" was originally paired to air with "The Goobfather" on August 9 at 1:10pm, and later 5:15pm, but the episode was eventually pushed to the next day at 5:00pm.[97]
On certain schedules and TV electronic programming guides, different listings for what episodes would air on television could appear. As SpongeBob episodes have the tendency to be repaired with different episodes and sometimes change episode numbers, certain schedules would often log in the wrong information. Sometimes, when episodes would air as a singular segment, its sister episode would be logged, despite not airing or being scheduled at all.
When an episode number is seen inside a red box, it means that it was the packaging number the episode originally had before being changed.
Episode 29 was originally going to air in its entirety on March 17, 2001.[2] Certain newspapers accidentally listed the original pairing of the episode ("Survival of the Idiots" / "I'm Your Biggest Fanatic")[102] instead of the current one ("Idiots" is paired with "Dumped.") Ultimately, "Survival of the Idiots" would air standalone, and "Dumped" would not air until May 11, 2001.
Some papers also listed the original pairing for episode 30 ("Squirrel Jokes" / "No Free Rides") as airing on April 14, 2001, rather than the current one, and the one that was broadcast ("No Free Rides" / "I'm Your Biggest Fanatic.")
"Wishing You Well" was originally paired with "Ghost Host" to make up episode 70, and was listed to air with it on May 5, 2006 on Nick.com.[104] Later on, 70 was repaired as "Ghost Host" / "Chimps Ahoy!," and as such, some sources seemed to have listed the episodes airing in that order.[105][106]
"Spongicus" and "Nautical Novice" were listed to air on March 6 and 7, 2008 on many TV guides,[110] but their sister episodes aired instead. This was due to the fact that their former episode numbers (103B and 102A[111][112][113]) were logged into episode guides, and were listed to air instead of their sister episodes that currently took up those episode slots ("Suction Cup Symphony" and "Penny Foolish").
"One Coarse Meal" was listed to air on March 24, 2010 at 5:45pm on an television guide, under its former title "Plankton Got Served."[114] It's unknown if this was a rerun or premiere, as the two episodes scheduled to air prior to it were reruns, and "Rodeo Daze" actually aired in the 5:45pm slot.[115]
"Safe Deposit Krabs" was originally listed to air on March 9, 2013 at 7:30pm on Nick.com's schedules,[117][118] although this didn't happen and a rerun of "Evil Spatula" aired. This was likely due to the fact that its original episode number was 184b, which was currently "Spatula"'s number.[119]
As a part of the special event The Tidal Zone, "The Switch Glitch" was going to air on November 25, 2022 at 7:45pm.[92] Due to production not being finished, the event was delayed until January 13 of next year. While the episode was initially set to mirror its November timeslots,[93] the episode would eventually be moved to 7:30pm, swapping with The Patrick Star Show's "Shrinking Stars." The segment eventually aired then, the only episode to have been properly scheduled in the space of its Tidal Zone chronology.
During June 2023, Nickelodeon initially plotted out a premiere month for the series on the AfterToons block, with a new segment airing each day at 5:00pm. These were eventually pulled, and SpongeBob SquarePants episodes would instead be chosen to air during the latter half of June.[97]
Nickelodeon moved episodes 113-115 and 121b to air during July 2023, with the first three episodes airing from July 10 - 12, and the standalone segment airing on the 13th at 1:00pm. Episode 114 would ultimately be spread apart July 11 and 12, and 115 would not air.[97]
During late July and August 2023, Nickelodeon would set premiere weeks for episodes 116-119, with "First Aid and Last Aid" through "The Jelly Life" airing from July 31 to August 3 at 1:00pm, and were later pushed to 5:00pm. "Lake Crashers" through "Kamp Kow" would air through August 14 to August 17 at 1:00pm, and were later pushed to 5:00pm. Due to episode 115 being pulled earlier, it would move in to form a premiere week starting with "Hill Fu" and ending with "Night of the Living Stench" from July 31 to August 3 at 5:00pm. The rest of the episodes wouldn't air until July 2024.[97]
Originally, Nickelodeon were set to air episodes 208-209 in pairs on April 4 and April 11, and split 210's segments amongst the weeks of April 18 and April 25.[128] 210 would be pushed ahead to air in a pair on April 18.[97] Ultimately, each episode pair would be pushed a week back: 208 aired on April 11, 209 aired on April 18, and 210 aired on April 25, as new programming was barred from airing on the 4th.[129][125]
As a part of the special event The Tidal Zone, "Shrinking Stars" was going to air on November 25, 2022 at 7:30pm.[92] Due to production not being finished, the event was delayed until January 13 of next year. While the episode was initially set to mirror its November timeslots,[93] the episode would eventually be moved to 7:45pm, swapping with Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years's "The Switch Glitch." The segment eventually aired at 7:01pm, mirroring its proper Tidal Zone chronology.
They would be replaced by the premiere of the Monster High episodes "Case of the Moondays" and "Portrait of a Monster"[132] and the Nickelodeon premiere of the movie The Secret Life of Pets,[133] respectively.
"Super Stars" through "Family Plotz" were scheduled to air from August 21 through August 24, 2023 at 1:00pm, and later 5:00pm, but were pulled. When the episodes were moved to November, they were set to air at 5:00pm, rather than 4:00pm.[97]
Nickelodeon laid out three different premiere schedules for The Patrick Star Show's fourth season:
The first would premiere the first five episode pairs of the season weekly from March 28 through April 25, 2025 at 7:00pm.[100]
The second would premiere the first three episodes in pairs weekly from March 21 through April 4, but would begin splitting off into standalone segments with "Two Pests in a Teapot" on April 11.[97]
The third schedule, and ultimately the one to be used, premiered each episode in pairs from March 21 through April 25, excluding April 4, when no new episode was broadcasted.[129]
On many recent occasions, Nicktoons has episodes scheduled ahead of Nickelodeon's premiere timeslots, but end up not airing. Two episodes from season 14 ("Buff for Puff" and "Blood is Thicker Than Grease") accidentally aired early on Nicktoons.
On January 1, 2020, Nicktoons was initially going to premiere unaired episodes of SpongeBob on the network during the early morning hours, which included "Boss for a Day," "My Two Krabses," "Pineapple RV" and "Shell Games,"[136] paired with their sister episodes. Ultimately, the episodes would not air, and their sister episodes were instead paired with the episodes that they aired with originally on Nickelodeon (as an example, "Senior Discount" was originally paired with "Broken Alarm" when it first aired.)[137]
The full pairing of "BassWard" and "Squidiot Box" was scheduled to air on November 24, 2023 at 1:30pm,[141] with "Squidiot Box" airing for the first time on US television. However, the latter episode would eventually be replaced by a rerun of "Shell Games."[142]
The full pairing of "Tango Tangle" and "Necro-Nom-Nom-Nom-I-Con" was scheduled to air on February 20, 2024 at 9:00pm, with "Nom-I-Con" airing for the first time on US television. However, the latter episode would eventually be replaced by a rerun of "Pet the Rock."[143]
The full pairing of "Blood is Thicker Than Grease" and "Don't Make Me Laugh" was scheduled to air on March 1, 2024 at 9:44am, with "Blood is Thicker" airing for the first time on US television. Both episodes would eventually be pulled for reruns of "Arrgh!" and "Rock Bottom,"[144] and "Blood" would ultimately air by accident on February 21, 2024 at 2:27pm, as a part of a SpongeBob compilation.[145] The original Nicktoons airdate is still listed as an artifact on one version of Zap2it's SpongeBob episode guides.[146]
The entirety of season 16 and the first two half-hours of season 17 were scheduled to stealth premiere on Nicktoons during the nighttime and early morning hours between September 14 and 15, 2025, despite some of the episodes likely not being finished at the time. A similar thing happened on TeenNick on October 6, 2024,[97] where the unaired episodes of the eighth season and the entirety of the ninth season of The Loud House were originally scheduled to air, despite the ninth season not having a single episode completed at the time.[152]
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