The animated classic SpongeBob Squarepants franchise will get an additional 52 episodes across its three separate series. The original SpongeBob Squarepants show first aired on Nickelodeon in 1999, centering around a loveable yellow sea sponge named Spongebob who lives in an underwater town called Bikini Bottom, located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Both the show's first and second spin-offs (The Patrick Star Show and Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years) premiered earlier this year.
Spongebob Squarepants has been stealing the hearts of viewers since its beginning. For the last 18 years, it has held the top spot among children's animated television series and has cemented the SpongeBob character as a pop culture icon spanning two generations. Even before the two spin-off series, the SpongeBob Squarepants franchise was a powerful force. In 2004, the series spawned The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which proved a hit with fans. The film was then followed by two sequels, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020).
In 2021, the SpongeBob franchise is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. According to Deadline, Nickelodeon will be extending the three-series SpongeBob SquarePants franchise with a total of 52 new episodes. These are spanned across a 13-episode season 13 back order for the original SpongeBob SquarePants series, and 13 additional episodes for the first season of The Patrick Star Show. Both of these shows will air on Nickelodeon, while an additional 26 episodes of the CG-animated series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years will be developed for Paramount+, including a 13-episode season 2 renewal.
The spin-off series are both useful vehicles for capitalizing on another core element of the franchise's popularity: fans' love of Spongebob Squarepants' supporting characters. Both The Patrick Star Show and Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years feature recurring characters like SpongeBob's dopey but endearing sidekick Patrick the starfish (Bill Fagerbakke), his apathetic neighbor Squidward (Rodger Bumpass), and his boss at The Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown). Kamp Koral follows the adventures of a 10-year-old SpongeBob SquarePants, while The Patrick Star Show gives the fan-favorite his own talk show.
Nickelodeon's extension of the franchise underlines how popular and universal Spongebob Squarepants remains, bringing in a new generation of fans with its latest spin-off series. It will be interesting to see what kind of new adventures the beloved sponge and his friends will get into. If the network continues to invest this heavily in the franchise, it's likely that SpongeBob will be around for many more years to come.
Source: Deadline