Boating School

Template:Episode "Boating School" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season one. There is a coloring book to tie-in with this episode.

Brief summary: SpongeBob tries to pass the driving exam to get his license, but things do not go well.

Time/Date:

• Wednesday, March 3
  • 8:00 AM: SpongeBob wakes up
• Thursday, March 4

Time cards shown: None

Characters Present:

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Mrs. Puff (debut)
• Squidward Tentacles
• Patrick Star
• Student who just got his license (debut)
• Ambulance Drivers (debut)
• Gary

Songs: None

Plot

SpongeBob is excited because Mrs. Puff's Boating School driving exam is today. If he passes it, he will get his license. First, he must pass the oral section of the exam. Having taken the exam thirty-seven times previously, SpongeBob is able to answer the questions before they are even asked. However, he panics in the boat and fails the driving portion of the exam. Later that night, Patrick attempts to cheer SpongeBob up with a "surprise", but SpongeBob is too depressed to laugh. He explains his problem to Patrick and mentions that he needs someone to help him think straight during the exam. Patrick quickly devises a plan. He puts a walkie-talkie inside SpongeBob's head so that he can talk SpongeBob through the test, hiding the antenna with a cowboy hat.

The next day, SpongeBob goes back to take the test again. When asked to start the boat, he initially panics, but Patrick's instructions keep him calm. This is followed by a video montage of SpongeBob acing the exam, interspersed with shots of Patrick eating SpongeBob's food and reading his diary while helping him. Mrs. Puff is floored by his sudden improvement and jokingly suggests that Spongebob's success is due to an antenna under his hat through which "some guy miles away is giving him all the answers." SpongeBob (and Patrick) finds this hilarious, until Mrs. Puff concludes, "But that would be cheating!" Upon realizing that he has been cheating, Spongebob goes into hysterics, driving wildly all over the course and sobbing while Mrs. Puff tries desperately to stop him. He crashes the boat and thus fails the test yet another time.