List of running gags
This is a list of all the running gags in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise. Running gags are basically recurring humorous instances. They may be used with specific characters or used more generally.
List
"My leg!"
"My leg!" is an exclamation, typically voiced by Doug Lawrence, that is present in many episodes. It is used whenever a character injures their leg, or as a stock sound effect in scenes of general agony. The phrase first appears in the episode "Boating School," and has been attributed to Fred since season 11, previously used with other incidental characters as well.
The episode "My Leg!" focuses around Fred and this gag. In the episode, Fred reveals that the reason he breaks his leg is so he can be with Nurse Bazooka, who he has a crush on. Several characters besides Fred exclaim "my leg!" or variants in the episode, in any scenario where a leg is mentioned.
Time cards
Time cards are frequently used to indicate a time skip in an episode. They are normally read by the French Narrator, but there have been occasional exceptions. "I Was a Teenage Gary" is the first episode to feature a time card, but it is not narrated. The second episode to feature a time card, "SB-129," has the French Narrator narrate it, and since then almost all time cards have featured the French Narrator or a different narrator.
In "Wet Painters," time cards are acknowledged by Patrick. Two time cards reading "One Hour Later" and "Two Hours Later" respectively appear while SpongeBob is nervously delaying painting a wall in Mr. Krabs' house. A third time card reading "Three Hours Later" appears, after which Patrick, holding the time card in his hands, requests for SpongeBob to hurry up and claims he is out of time cards.
In "Mimic Madness," SpongeBob imitates the French Narrator and narrates a time card reading "80,000 Impressions Later..." The real French Narrator proceeds to ask SpongeBob to stop imitating him, saying "Would you you please stop imitating me? It is starting to get very annoying."
Squidward
There are multiple running gags that are associated with Squidward.
Squidward kicking SpongeBob and/or Patrick out of his house
Squidward frequently kicks SpongeBob out of his house in the series. He also sometimes kicks Patrick out of his house, especially when he is joining SpongeBob in annoying Squidward.
"Typical"
In some episodes, starting with "Food Con Castaways," Squidward, or some form thereof, says "Typical," usually in a monotonous tone.
- In "Food Con Castaways," Squidward motions to a truck driver to pull down his lever and honk his horn. Instead of honking his horn, the truck driver pulls the lever, causing the truck exhaust to blow smoke in Squidward's face.
- In "Lost and Found," Squidward gets run over by SpongeBob, with the latter stepping into the former's old clarinets and breaking them.
- In "Welcome to Binary Bottom," SquidBot repeatedly stutters in a robotic manner while saying "Typical" before SpongeBot hits him with a wrench.
- In The Patrick Star Show episode "Backpay Payback," Squidward makes several attempts to enter the Star family home due to Cecil Star owing him a newspaper tip. Squidward eventually has his body parts severed, the last of which being his head that is cut off by Cecil shutting the window.
- In "Dopey Dick," Fishmael, with his tentacles tangled to a pole on Ye Olde Pineapple, is bored while watching Pat-Buck play the accordion as the anchovies dance.
- In "FUN-Believable," a stagehand interrupts Squidward's Everyone is Horrible show only for Squidward to complain that he still has 47 more "beefs" on his chart.
- In "Swimming Fools," Squidward, coming from outer space, crash-lands face down in SpongeBob's pool, causing his body parts to separate. His head then gets sucked by the pool filter.
- In "The Goobfather," Squidward, still chained to the Krusty Krab clam sign, asks for someone to unlock him amid the ice cream mess. The sign then traps him.
- In "Allergy Attack!," Squidward sprays his cheap cologne, but as he sniffs, he violently sneezes, causing his head to explode into confetti.
- In "BassWard," Squidward says "Typical" twice:
- When most of the seats are occupied after boarding the train to Jetsam City.
- When he and Bubble Bass miss their train ride back to Bikini Bottom and they owe Old Man Jenkins half of his plane.
- In The Patrick Star Show episode "5 Star Restaurant," after getting hired by Mr. Krabs, Squidward notices a "loser" graffiti of his head on the Krusty Krab window, a nod to the SpongeBob pilot episode "Help Wanted."
- In "PL-1413," after Plankton and Karen stop by a Squidward chrome sculpture 2,000 years into the future, the sculpture voices "Typical."
- In "Big League Bob," as the crowd is booing SpongeBob at the Culinary Stadium, Mr. Krabs tosses a paper airplane to him, containing an order of Krabby Patties, much to Squidward's chagrin.
- In "Kreepaway Kamp," as Squidward is leaving the Dinghy cabin at Kamp Koral, he steps on a loose floorboard, which whacks him in the face.
- In "Wiener Takes All," Squidward, afraid of being turned into a robot at Weenie Hut Sr's, panics as Weenie J. Wiener is about to attack him.
- In "MuseBob ModelPants," Squidward's painting of himself says "Typical" before being crushed into the garbage truck.
Squidward lying down
In some episodes, starting with "Mutiny on the Krusty," Squidward appears in a yamcha-esque troubled fetal position, sometimes with bones and a can on the ground. The gag also sometimes occurs after Squidward is spat out of something, which is when the bones and can tend to appear.
- In "Mutiny on the Krusty," Squidward is spat out by the monster and appears in this position.
- In "Out of the Picture," Squidward is spat out by a UFO belonging to martians and appears in this position.
- In "Feral Friends," Squidward is spat out by Pearl and appears in this position.
- In the Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years episode "The Jellyfish Kid," SpongeBob takes off a bowl Squidward is in and Squidward appears in this position. The bones and can are not present in this episode.
- In "Momageddon," Squidward appears in this position wanting his mother back after his father shows up. The bones and can are not present in this episode.
Plankton
There are multiple running gags that are associated with Plankton. These may be related to his rivalry with Mr. Krabs, or his small size.
Plankton getting stepped on
Plankton frequently gets stepped on and squished by characters due to his size, starting with his debut episode "Plankton!" He has tried to combat this in many of his appearances.
In "Single-Celled Defense," Plankton gets stepped on multiple times by various characters, so he starts working on a laser helmet that shoots a laser on any foot that steps on him. Plankton later partakes in karate lessons from Sandy, letting Plankton defend against being stepped on as an alternative to the laser helmet.
Plankton getting launched
In multiple episodes, starting with "Plankton!," Mr. Krabs kicks Plankton out of the Krusty Krab and launches him back to the Chum Bucket by various means, typically after a failed attempt at stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula.
As of "Truth or Square," Plankton has failed at stealing the formula and got launched 1003 times. In the episode, Karen reveals that she has all of the launchings on her hard drive, and showcases several instances of Plankton getting launched. Every time Plankton gets launched, he leaves a stain on the Chum Bucket, and these stains stay there, causing the number of stains to increase. The last clip features Mr. Krabs telling Plankton to launch himself as he is tired. Plankton proceeds to cry in the video, which Karen finds funny.
Mrs. Puff
There are multiple running gags that are associated with Mrs. Puff. They commonly appear after SpongeBob fails her lessons at her boating school and causes havoc in Bikini Bottom.
Mrs. Puff puffing up
Mrs. Puff frequently puffs up large throughout the series, often as a result of a boat crash caused by SpongeBob. The first episode this happens in is her debut episode "Boating School." In season 1, in addition to "Whirly Brains" and "Girls' Night Out," her voice deepens upon inflation. In "Demolition Doofus," she temporarily lost the capability to puff up and wanted SpongeBob to get seriously hurt as payback.
Mrs. Puff getting arrested
Mrs. Puff has been arrested many times in the series, starting with "Hall Monitor." The police normally arrest her instead of SpongeBob whenever the latter causes trouble in Bikini Bottom, with them claiming that Mrs. Puff is the sole person responsible due to being his teacher.
Other
Every customer leaving the Krusty Krab
There are several instances in which every customer in the Krusty Krab leaves the building simultaneously, often to Mr. Krabs' chagrin. In "Your Shoe's Untied," he claims it to be his money walking out the door. The customers have been shown leaving for various reasons, whether it be out of anger, disgust, fear, disappointment, or an interest in something else.
SpongeBob having a deep voice
SpongeBob has briefly had a deep voice multiple times in the series, mostly in earlier seasons.
Patrick falling from his rock
Patrick has fallen from his rock and crashed into his furniture multiple times, mainly in season 1. This gag first appears in the pilot episode "Help Wanted."
Mermaid Man shouting "evil!"
Mermaid Man frequently shouts "evil!" in the series in an exaggerated manner, often upon hearing the word.
Narlene startling SpongeBob
In Kamp Koral, as well as the main series, Narlene frequently startles SpongeBob when she shows up.
Old Man Walker in random places
Old Man Walker often appears in seemingly random places as a running gag.
- In "Fear of a Krabby Patty," he appears at the end of the Krusty Krab's 24 hour business montage.
- In "Toy Store of Doom," he is found in SpongeBob and Patrick's toy chest.
- In "Lost in Bikini Bottom," he appears tangled in a barbed wire that is covering SpongeBob.
- In "The Sewers of Bikini Bottom," Squidward and SpongeBob almost flush him down the toilet.
- In "Bulletin Board," he is posted on the bulletin board as a lost object.
- In "House Worming," he is part of Mr. Krabs and Squidward's long collection of objects to push a worm-infested SpongeBob out of the Krusty Krab.
- In "Call the Cops," he is labeled as "evidence."
Fish in the Krusty Krab bathroom
In "The Ballad of Filthy Muck," "The Krusty Bucket," and "Dirty Bubble Returns," a particular fish who wears a fedora appears in scenes within the Krusty Krab bathroom.
Old Man Jenkins' name
During the early run of the series, the name "Old Man Jenkins" had been used for other characters throughout, where it referred to various elderly characters. The gag would end in "Friend or Foe" as the character would get a permanent design.
See also
External links
- Running gag on Wikipedia