SpongeBob and Patrick are watching a TV series centered around the famous superhero duo - Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, and subsequently roleplay as them. They then visit Squidward and pretend he is the supervillain Reflecto. However, Squidward is quickly annoyed at his neighbors' antics, and tell them that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy actually live in a nursing home, having retired years earlier. As a result, SpongeBob and Patrick decide that these crime fighters have resume their careers, and go to the Shady Shoals Rest Home, where they are met by the male nurse. He escorts the friends to the superheroes and tells them not to surprise them. SpongeBob tells them that superheroes should no longer be retired, but they should continue to fight evil. Mermaid Man creates a panic when he hears the word, "evil," leading the caretaker of the nursing home to throw SpongeBob and Patrick out for surprising them.
While the former crime fighters are going to the cafeteria for lunch, SpongeBob, refusing to give up, arrives and makes an inspiring speech about how superheroes should not be retired. After SpongeBob is done with his speech, Mermaid Man angrily pronounces SpongeBob man and wife (meaning that he'll be kicked out of Shady Shoals), alerting the caretaker, who is told to "kiss the bride" (help kick SpongeBob out).
File:Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy 121.pngAn irritated and fed up Barnacle Boy telling SpongeBob to be quiet because Mermaid Man is sleeping (thinking SpongeBob is still kicked out).
SpongeBob and Patrick come up with a new plan to free the superheroes from retirement, so they would know SpongeBob was still kicked out of the retirement home: SpongeBob, disguised as a woman, "complains" about the weight of a purse he is holding, and Patrick, disguised as a criminal, "steals" it. Suddenly, Barnacle Boy, who is in no way deceived by the disguises, comes to SpongeBob and tells him to pipe down because Mermaid Man is taking a nap (with his eyes open), but he tells Barnacle Boy to stop shouting and they start arguing, until SpongeBob interrupts them and says that he and Patrick have painted their invisible boatmobile. After telling SpongeBob and Patrick that their invisible boatmobile is supposed to be invisible, Barnacle Boy becomes fed up with them bothering and irritating him and Mermaid Man, as he decides to end the argument and convinces Mermaid Man that evil is right in front of them, as he is shocked to discover that SpongeBob is back to Shady Shoals for revenge on them for kicking him out. He takes out their rings, and they resume their careers. The newly reunited crime-fighters get into a fight with SpongeBob and Patrick, who are impervious to their attacks and joyed that they have brought their heroes out of retirement. Finally, the heroes are lucky: they are helped by elderly residents of a nursing home, who pick up SpongeBob and Patrick and throw them away from the retirement home. The heroes then celebrate on a job well done.
Eventually, a new show of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy is created: The New Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The duo play checkers until the phone rings. Mermaid Man picks it up upside-down, fails to hear the person on the other line, and hangs up, thinking the phone is broken. The announcer says, "Will our heroes ever get their phone fixed? Tune in next week and find out." SpongeBob enjoyed the episode and thought it was better than the old show, which Patrick says was thanks to him. SpongeBob gives a thumbs up and winks, causing a "Wink!" bubble to appear.
Production
This episode's recording script was completed on December 15, 1998.
This episode was announced in a press release on August 16, 1999.[3]
Script
On November 14, 2016, recording scripts for every episode from season 1 were publicly released, found on one of the asset discs for the PlayStation video game, SuperSponge. This included the recording script for "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy."[4]
‣The Lineman - Sam Spence [Title card] ‣Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin [Opening.] ‣The Adventure Begins - Jonathan Neal [SpongeBob and Patrick dressed as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.] ‣Enter the Villain - Chris Payne, Paul Rogers ["Reflecto, up to no good!"] ‣Super Hero - Tony Hymas ["Donuts!"] ‣Call to Destiny (A) - Ron Goodwin ["Creatures of the deep, assemble!"] ‣Police Car - Sam Spence [A jellyfish appears.] ‣Death Trap [#25] - Gregor F. Narholz ["Reflecto has found our secret lab!"] ‣Super Hero - Tony Hymas ["Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy reunite!"] ‣Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill [Rest home exterior.] •Gator - Steve Belfer [Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy watching TV.] ‣War Agitato - Jack Shaindlin [Mermaid Man panics/Mermaid Man panics again.] ‣Hymn of Achievement [#7.03] - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob's speech about old people.] ‣Queen's Aloha Oe B - Kapono Beamer, Queen Lili'uokalani [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy get lunch.] •You're Nice - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Do you remember when the food supply in Atlantis was running low?"] ‣Wedding Procession - Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Leslie Pearson [SpongeBob gets kicked out by Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy, and the caretaker.] ‣Hawaiian Link (A) - Richard Myhill [Later...] ‣Sweet Annabelle - Sam Fonteyn [SpongeBob dressed as a lady.] ‣Blackbeard - Sam Fonteyn [Patrick dressed as a burglar.] ‣Blood In The Gutter - Laurie Johnson [Mermaid Man sleeping with eyes open.] •Closing Theme 1 - Steve Belfer [Painting the Invisible Boatmobile.] ‣War Agitato - Jack Shaindlin ["Evil!"] ‣Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin [Fanfare.] ‣The Lineman - Sam Spence [water balls/"Sea creatures, attack!"] ‣Moloka'i Nui A - Kapono Beamer ["I feel five years younger."] ‣Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin [SpongeBob and Patrick watching the new show.] ‣Caped Crusader - David Farnon [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy playing checkers.] ‣Police Car - Sam Spence [Sting at the end.]
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy have five fingers as young men, though in their elder age, they have four.
When SpongeBob and Patrick are first asking the man at the front desk to see Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, an article on the inside of his newspaper reads, "School Drop Out Rate Soars." This has a double meaning, because "school" is also the name of a group of fish.
The old captain who winks when SpongeBob discusses the wisdom of the elderly is played by Don Newhouse, the man who guarded the gates at Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, California at the time. He later reappeared in "Sun Bleached" and is also the inspiration for the character "Old Kid" from Invader Zim.
When Mermaid Man picks up the phone during the game of checkers, the phone's ringtone is the same sound effect used for number 11 of the 13 bad words in "Sailor Mouth."
This is the only episode in which the Mermalair is called the Sea Cave.
When Mermaid Man talks with Barnacle Boy realize they are still strong enough to thwart evil, there are two Old Man Walkers, one green and one red.
The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy is a parody of the 1960s Batman TV show and Filmation's Aquaman animated series. The title for MM&BB is also similar to the Aquaman title card, particularly the whirlpool.
Young Mermaid Man here looks almost exactly like Aquaman, except with a star on his nose, a seashell bra and a belt buckle shaped like an M instead of an A.
The Aquaphone is a parody of the Bat Phone from Batman.
The doughnut Patrick uses as a stand-in for Barnacle Boy's ring is chocolate when he and SpongeBob touch their doughnuts together, but is orange in all other shots.
After Patrick takes SpongeBob's purse and peers out from behind the building, the purse is seen floating beside him.
Barnacle Boy puts the wrong ring on Mermaid Man's hand.
After Mermaid Man says the oath, both his and Barnacle Boy's rings disappear.
When Barnacle Boy shouts, "It's not me, old coot," the sclerae on both his eyes turn blue.
File:Straporange.pngMermaid Man with an orange bra strapWhen Mermaid Man says, "To the broccoli!," his right bra strap turns orange for a split second.
When Mable comes outside after Mermaid Man calls her and other Shady Shoals residents to assemble, the bottom of her cane flashes white for two different frames.
SpongeBob's pores are reversed when he says, "Excuse me, Mermaid Man."
When SpongeBob gets robbed by Patrick, his pupils become blue a few times.
When Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are playing checkers, the board they play checkers on is discolored because there are red squares where black squares should be (when the camera is zoomed out), but when the camera zooms in it is fixed.
Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway are not credited for voicing Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. However, in the opening credits, they were given credit.
Right after Barnacle Boy points at SpongeBob and Patrick, the former's bottom pores are missing.
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