The popular cartoon franchise Spongebob SquarePants is continuing to grow. Patrick Star, the beloved starfish and Spongebob’s best friend, has his own show this time around. The Patrick Star Show was released on Hulu and Nickelodeon on July 9th, 2021. It seems like an obvious choice for a spinoff, as Spongebob Squarepants is the longest-running cartoon on Nickelodeon. When the trailer was first released in May, Twitter users were outraged at the series, claiming that Stephen Hillenburg, the original creator who passed away in 2018, wouldn’t have wanted this.
The reasoning behind many fans' frustration tracks back to 2009 when Hillenburg was interviewed for Television Business International. When asked about a Spongebob spinoff focusing on other characters, Hillenburg said he didn’t believe a show revolving around a side character would work. He claimed that the original show is about Spongebob and his relationships with other characters, but those side characters didn’t need their own show. In particular, Hillenburg thought that a show surrounding Patrick would be “a bit too much.”
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Spongebob Squarepants was first released on Nickelodeon on May 1st, 1999. The show revolves around Spongebob, an extremely happy and opportunistic yellow sponge who lives in a Pineapple in Bikini Bottom along with his snail Gary. The show chronicles his adventures, including his job as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, where he is constantly disliked by his coworker and neighbor Squidward Tentacles, as well as his relationship with his starfish best friend, Patrick. Spongebob Squarepants is a comedy for both young and old fans and is still on the air today.
The new spinoff The Patrick Star Show is a prequel and will focus on Patrick’s own talk show. There will be new and old characters, but the show will mainly focus on the Star family. Bill Fagerbakke is reprising his role as Patrick, Tom Wilson is voicing Patrick’s dad Cecil Star, Cree Summer is Patrick’s mom Bunny, Dana Snyder is Patrick’s grandpa GrandPat, and Jill Talley will voice Patrick’s sister Squidina.= Each episode will surround Patrick’s everyday life in Bikini Bottom with his family and best friends. Fans looking forward to the show will be thrilled to know that original Spongebob Squarepants characters will be making cameos. These include Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), Squidward Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass), Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence), and even Spongebob Squarepants. (Tom Kenny). With original characters returning, the prequel looks a little more promising.
The announcement of The Patrick Star Show isn’t the first time Spongebob Squarepants fans were upset about Nickelodeon going against Hillenburg’s wishes. When Stephen Hillenburg passed away in 2018 of ALS, just six months later, another Spongebob spinoff called Kamp Koral was announced. The show is also a prequel, focusing on a 10-year-old Spongebob and his friends at sleepaway camp. Fans were livid, stating that Nickelodeon and Viacom were using Hillenburg’s adored cartoon as a cheap cash grab. Kamp Koral was released on Paramount+ in March of 2021.
The show announcement upset so many fans that a petition was even created to cancel the remake. A fan named Marcus Turner started a petition begging Nickelodeon to cancel the Kamp Koral spinoff. He was so furious at Nickelodeon for using Hillenburg’s recent death as a way to milk the Spongebob franchise as much as possible. Many fans agreed, as the petition to cancel Kamp Koral continues to grow every day, and it currently has over 7,000 signatures.
Not only were fans upset, but so were original crew members of Spongebob Squarepants as well. Paul Tibbit, the former showrunner of SpongeBob, tweeted: "I do not mean any disrespect to my colleagues who are working on this show. They are good people and talented artists. But this is some greedy, lazy executive-ing right here, and they ALL know full well Steve would have HATED this. Shame on them." If an original crew member was upset about this, fans seem to be right that this is nothing but a greedy way to continue the loved franchise.
The Patrick Star Show goes against the wishes of Stephen Hillenberg yet again. Stephen Hillenburg was a marine biologist and animator who wanted to share his love of the ocean and aquatic animals with children worldwide. What started as a creative and unique show for all ages has turned into two pointless spinoffs that don’t have the same magic as Spongebob Squarepants. With the amount of negative attention surrounding Kamp Koral and the number of petitions to cancel it, it seems that The Patrick Star Show is doomed before it barely begins.
With most original Spongebob fans well into adulthood, it seems that The Patrick Star Show is mainly aimed at the younger generation. It’s upsetting that younger fans won’t get the original magic that Hillenberg brought to Spongebob Squarepants, but reboots and spinoffs are just a staple in 2021, and this isn’t seeming to change. As upset as original fans are about the spinoff, the show just isn’t created for them anymore.
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