What made S1-S3 Spongebob so great?

Going along with the "not a manufactured product yet" thing, it was written like a lot of adult swim shows, "we make jokes based on what we think is funny" not what boardroom statistics say what the kids like these days like. Clever jokes that you have to think about, not surface level "lol so random" knock knock jokes.

1 guy, DEREK DRYMON

>Watched both classic and post-Movie SpongeBob as a kid
>Enjoyed them both about the same
>Watch them years later as an adult, can't stand anything beyond the first half of season 4
>Can still get a laugh out of any episode in the pre-movie seasons
Nah, the writing and gags in the earlier seasons were legitimately better

it had a reserved, yet happy and innocent, sense of humor (which was already rare in the late 90s-early 2000s) but didn't try to come off as counterculture with its laid back style like with hey arnold. instead, it basked in its optimism, sillyness, and genuineness instead of trying to be appealing or edgy

Was it?
I've heard that back in the early years of the show if one of the crewmembers didn't like something about an episode the crew would talk to them and they'd discuss what they thought didn't work about it.
I think it was on a page on how Spongebob lost it's spark, but it could be any interview really.

so it is nostalgia

dumb contrarian

The Ween

Found it
hoganmag.com/blog/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants

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Literally this. Can we end the thread already?

Man, this really seemed to help and work back then.
I doubt this very same method would even work with the new people in charge though, it's really about the staff in those moments.

the early shows didn't really have any specific age group in mind when writing. Sure, they kept it PG, but they made relateable characters with fairly realistic, grounded personalities that could appeal to anyone and any age group. Hell, my dad wore a Krusty Krew shirt for years and got a couple of the dvds for us to watch whenever we went camping. We still reference some of the old episodes and jokes to each other every once in a while. After the movie, a lot of the people that went into making the show in the first place left, and with it the idea of making a funny show, and the people that replaced them went into it trying to make a kids show. Characters got stupider and more flanderized, jokes became either gross-out, "THAT WAS RANDUMB!", loud noise, or le funni face.
or you could watch the emplemon video lmao

they actually had a wide variety of jokes besides just "dude funny faces lmao". dry humor, surreal humor, slapstick, and so on. the pacing and timing was top notch, too. it knew when to be subtle and take things slow or when to make things hectic and wacky. not to mention the great sound design and artwork to accompany the jokes.

the newer episodes on the other hand just feel like watered down ren and stimpy episodes which doesn't fit the show at all. they have absolutely no subtlety whatsoever. feels like they're aiming exclusively for toddlers with adhd now.

I liked that the world around Spongebob often felt like a decently normal place with Spongebob/Patrick feeling like they weren't the normal there which made a set-up for a lot of good reactions to their weirdness.

Newer seasons often feel like the whole world is portrayed as being goofy which doesn't have as much of a impact for characters reacting to Spongebob himself being weird. Spongebob himself was portrayed in a more real way as even he would get upset and annoyed by aspects of life while now he's constantly obnoxiously optimistic.

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like all things, it was funny when it started and was new.

but then the joke got old and so did episodic gag cartoons, not died, got old.

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This.

Agreed.

A lot of the jokes and gags were pretty clever, and unlike Family Guy or whatever they weren't tied to references that would later become dated. Can't think of any other cartoons that do similar at the moment, except for early Simpsons

>early spongebob didn't have lolrandom

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What about Chowder?

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the joke was that he was having a nam flashback except it was evil he was having an episode about since he was a superhero. Is that seriously such a high concept for you that you mistake it for lolrandom since your room temperature iq can't piece it together?

The timing of the jokes. There’s jokes and lines so perfect that they’re still said now.
>I wonder if a fall from this height could kill me.

>emplemon video
I really liked his analysis, rewatching it now and I still agree.

I've never watched Chowder, disappointingly enough. Is it good?

Hey Arnold was good though. It was pretty spot on as a show about a kid in a big city.

It's got the same wackiness as early Spongebob, but it's still less subtle.

never said it was bad, in fact i like it, but it was clear that the show wanted to have an objective philosophy and mood behind it.

Not on par with classic Spongebob's humor but still a really good and funny show.

When was the last time we got a show half as quotable? Unironically, Rick and Morty?

Based

Sadly, it seems so and, even so, R&M still doesn't come close in that regard. It's mostly normies that push the hell of it and eventually we won't really see much of it.

I think it's less "is it quotable?" and more "will someone get the reference?"
Though Spongebob lines I have missed do have that quotability.

He's an old man having what's basically war flashbacks, he's not doing it "just cause"

>What made S1-S3 Spongebob so great?
This vid, could help you out.

youtube.com/watch?v=cYu7Y52iiYI

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based

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this. I legit don't think there is a bad episode of season 2 whereas season 3 they started to become hit or miss.

Only one I can think of that wasn't incredible was "Spare a Dime," and even then that one's still pretty good. Also apparantly "Pranks a Lot" is season 3

Oh God that completely went over my head as a kid.

>not liking Can You Spare A Dime?

Aqua Teen, Futurama, and Drawn Together are all pretty quotable

>didn't try to come off as counterculture with its laid back style
care to explain that? i'd expect counterculture to be edgier rather than relaxed

As hard to believe as it sounds, the first three seasons were pretty down to earth, so the punchline of a crazier gag would it a lot harder.
You look at a newer episode and see that it's animated like Ren & Stimpy so it's 100% silliness through the entire episode, it gets tiring

> season 3 they started to become hit or miss.
What bad episodes does 3 have?
If anything season 4 was the first one to be noticably hit and miss

>season 3 hit or miss
nah

XRA.

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to be honest with ya, I still kinda enjoy some of Season 9 / 10 but of course not nearly in the same way as the first few seasons, and even though I liked them and I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that they're the same exact quality or some shit like that

The first three seasons had its own unique special personality, charm, and aesthetic. Then the movie, as is western tradition, threw all that out the window in favor of dumb mass appeal humor in order to draw in the biggest audience.

Then, as is western tradition, the movie influenced the show and the show had to change to appeal to newcomers introduced to SpongeBob through the movie instead of the other way around. The change stuck throughout the years and generations of kids now believe this is what SpongeBob was always meant to be like.

TL;DR: It's the movie's fault.

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Goddamn that was a good watch. Thanks, friend

You want to know why S1-S3 were so great?
Because back then, the show was on Spongebob's side the whole time.
He's always this young adult with childish yet optimistic traits that tries to see the good thing in everything and when something bad happens to him or he gets a taste of reality, the audience feels bad for him.
The idea of the goody two shoes character having to go through a bad time it's pretty sad and the show acknowledges it.
That's why the episodes with Squidward showing remorse are the best, because it explains why does it work.

Newer episodes still are in Spongebob side, but this time, the focus is on Squidward.
So what you have its the daily life of a dude who is constantly annoyed by his obnoxious neighbor which sucks and doesn't feel the same.

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Good writers

he gay

Dan Povenmire was part of that success.