SpongeBob Squarepants-related stories
Posted Nov 9th 2009 6:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
I'm always amazed at how many seasons
JAG lasted. It started on NBC in 1995 then went to CBS, and I really thought it was the type of show that wouldn't last beyond three seasons, but it lasted ten! I thought the same thing about
NCIS, and look at what happened there too. Obviously I don't do well predicting how shows with all caps in their titles will do.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Vol. 2
- Dawson's Creek - Complete Series
- Discovery Collection - Complete Collection
- G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero Collector's Set
- Heartland - Season 1, Part 2
- JAG - Season 9
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 4:30PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Reality-Free

The popularity of
SpongeBob SquarePants amongst kids (and many adults) is almost beyond explanation.
Don't get me wrong. It's a fun show that skillfully blends little kid appeal with occasional bursts of adult-worthy humor. It also boasts an impressive voice cast, including Tom Kenny and Clancy Brown. But there are kids who can't live without this little tie-clad yellow blob.
To celebrate the little champ's tenth birthday, Nickelodeon has announced
SpongeBob's 10th Anniversary Celebration (Nov. 6 at 8 p.m.) with a list of A-list celebrities, including Rosario Dawson, Craig Ferguson, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, LeBron James, Pink, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Robin Williams.
That impressive collection will appear in an hour-long special featuring
SpongeBob flashbacks.
The special is hosted by Patchy the Pirate, "President of the SpongeBob Fan Club (Encino Chapter)." He sets off for Burbank -- home of Nickelodeon. (It's on Olive, near Victory -- in case you were wondering.)
Posted Oct 13th 2009 4:26PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Animation, Reality-Free

I'm not sure how this is going to change the show (though a show with freaky sponge/squirrel mutant children might be interesting), but SpongeBob SquarePants is getting married! Yes, the yellow square will finally tie the knot with the lady squirrel in the bowl, Sandy.
Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive sneak peek of the SpongeBob wedding. Guests will include Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, LeBron James, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Will Ferrell, Craig Ferguson, and Rosario Dawson!
Posted Sep 21st 2009 6:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
This is the first week in quite some time that I'm definitely, definitely, definitely going to buy one of the DVD sets that is being released. And that would be
30 Rock. Can't wait for the fourth season to start in October.
As for
The Mentalist, I love it but I can't imagine watching the episodes again, you know?
- 30 Rock - Season 3
- Being Erica - Season 1
- Brotherhood - Final Season
- Castle - Season 1
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted Jul 20th 2009 6:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.I don't care how much controversy there is, why would anyone want to buy the
Jon & Kate Plus 8 DVDs? Would you really want to sit around a year or two or five from now and watch the episodes again? Why?
There's a new
Route 66 DVD set out, Season 3, Volume 1, but if you got the Season 3 collector's set from Best Buy or Critic's Choice,
they've issued a recall.
- Charlie's Angels - Season 4
- The Donna Reed Show - Season 2
- Hotel - Season 1
- Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Season 4, Vol. 2
- The Lucy Show - Season 1
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted May 8th 2009 2:04PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Commercials, Children, Reality-Free

Ads for fast food kids' meals usually try to appeal to children. Not the child in all of us, actual children.
Burger King's new Kids' Meal ad doesn't just try to appeal to the parents in the room who don't care about their child's cholesterol intake. Its choice of music tries to appeal to the parents who are deaf.
The ad features a new rendition of Sir-Mix-A-Lot's classic big butt anthem "Baby Got Back" that talks about how he now "likes square butts and cannot lie."
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood isn't as amused and has started
a letter writing campaign against the restaurant chain and the Nickelodeon network to express their disgust for cubed booty.
Continue reading The most annoying commercial of all-time of the week: BK's square butts ad
Posted Feb 17th 2009 1:01PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Ratings, Reality-Free

It's not just American children, immature American adults and
Japanese women who love the little yellow guy. It looks like
Chinese are big fans of
SpongeBob Squarepants as well. Creator Stephen Hillenburg must be kvelling.
The beautiful thing about the show is its ability to cross cultures. SpongeBob is such an overall silly character that he does well in translation. Not bad for a sponge who's been around for 10 years already.
Given that the Chinese will own the United States within a generation (or so I believe), it's good that Hillenburg is already making conciliatory gestures towards his new Chinese overlords with this series. As the rest of us work the salt mines to pay off our massive bailout debt, he (or his heirs) will be churning out new episodes in the comfort of a small, cramped state-run studio.
On an tangential note, I'm still waiting for Nickelodeon to bring back
Invader Zim. Still waiting...(sigh).
Posted Feb 5th 2009 7:01PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free

It looks like Nickelodeon is getting a little further into the games business by releasing both
SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly and
Dora The Explorer learning games for the iPhone. They will be available later this year.
My question is this: do children of that age really use the iPhone or iPod Touch that much? Most of the people I know who own one or the other are adults or at least teenagers. While I can see some market for
SpongeBob SquarePants (which has some adult crossover appeal), I just don't see the grown-ups buying
iCarly or
Dora.
Continue reading SpongeBob on the iPhone
Posted Jan 26th 2009 6:05PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.Wow ...
M.A.N.T.I.S.! Remember this show? It lasted for 23 episodes on FOX back in 1994-95. I had completely forgotten that it starred Carl Lumley from
Alias as the superhero. I didn't think it would ever come out on DVD (or maybe I should say I didn't really think of it at all in the past few years), and now here it is with a complete series set. By the way, the letters stand for Mechanically Automated NeuroTransmitter Interactive System.
As for
The Love Boat, I knew that was going to be out on DVD, but I'm not going to buy it.
- The All-New Superfriends Hour - Season 1, Vol. 2
- Blossom - Seasons 1 and 2
- Cheers - Season 11
- The Invaders - Season 2
- The Love Boat - Season 2, Vol. 1
- M.A.N.T.I.S. - Complete Series
- Meerkat Manor - Season 4
- The Pink Panther Show - Classic Cartoon Collection
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? - Vol. 1
- SpongeBob SquarePants - Spongicus
- You're A Good Sport Charlie Brown - Remastered
Posted Jan 19th 2009 9:03AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Animation, Children, Reality-Free
I didn't realize that the late 90s offered up so many cartoons that are still around today. A week or so ago, I mentioned that The Powerpuff Girls were celebrating a 10th birthday with a Cartoon Network special and complete DVD box set. Now comes news that a certain walking and talking sponge is celebrating a 10-year anniversary, as well.
Nickelodeon's pants-wearing sponge will be celebrating his decade of entertainment in a number of ways. If you go to the new SpongeBob.com you'll have a chance to play SpongeBob games, watch SpongeBob videos, and read the blog of Mr. SquarePants' creators. If you watch any of the networks of the MTV universe (which Nickelodeon is a part of) you'll be able to view a documentary on the character and its popularity. Finally, if you can wait a few months, you will be able to catch some new SpongeBob SquarePants episodes featuring Dennis Quaid (March) and Johnny Depp (April).
Continue reading A happy 10th birthday to Mr. Squarepants
Posted Nov 28th 2008 4:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris, followed by a new episode of The Game.
- PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, then new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
- MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
- Nickelodeon has two new episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants at 8 (two more new episodes air at 9).
- Also at 8: TCM has a new Elvis Mitchell: Under The Influence.
- Disney has the movie Camp Rock at 8.
- At 8:30, HGTV has a new Myles of Style.
- At 9, USA has a holiday episode of Monk, then a holiday episode of Psych.
- Lifetime has the movie Custody at 9.
- At 10, ABC has a new 20/20.
- E! has a new episode of The Soup at 10.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk show listings.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Everybody Hates Chris, Smackdown, Psych
Posted Oct 13th 2008 6:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.Lots of complete series sets this week, including two you probably thought you'd never see,
Quark and
Ultraman. I have no nostalgic memories of
Ultraman, but
Quark was a show I enjoyed. It's also neat to see shows like
The Shari Lewis Show or DVD.
I wonder why the
Back To You set isn't a complete series set instead of just Season 1? Maybe it was already in production before the show was canceled.
- Back To You - Season 1
- CSI - Season 8
- Charlie and Lola - Vol. 1-8
- The Deputy - Best Of
- Life with Derek - Season 1
- Lil' Bush - Season 2
- Lovejoy - Christmas Specials
- Nash Bridges - Season 1
- The Partridge Family - Season 3
- Quark - Complete Series
- Rules of Engagement - Season 2
- The Sarah Silverman Program - Season 2, Vol. 1
- Scott Baio is 45... - Seasons 1 and 2
- The Shari Lewis Show - A Shari Lewis Christmas
- SpongeBob SquarePants - Who Bob What Pants
- Survivorman - Season 2
- That 70s Show - Complete Series
- Ultraman - Complete Series
- The Unit - Season 3
- The Universe - Complete Series
Posted Jul 17th 2008 10:33AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Smallville, Animation, Supernatural, Children, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Reality-Free, Comic-Con
Whew! After several days of sore feet (and sore booties from sitting on the hard floor waiting for the next panel), dwindling funds, and tons of TV-related panels, San Diego Comic-Con comes to an end. That doesn't mean that all of the television folks have packed up an left in order to catch the Silver Bullet train to Los Angeles (does a train even run between San Diego and Los Angeles?) or an aeroplane to Vancouver. There are still some panels waiting for your utmost attention.
It's Kids' Day at the convention, so there are panels on a Mr. SquarePants, Phineas and Ferb, The Backyardigans, and those wacky Muppets from Fraggle Rock. For the more adult crowd there are Q&As for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Supernatural, Smallville, and another panel on cartoon voices. The final TV-related event is a rousing sing-a-long with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Once More With Feeling." After that, you can climb into your hotel bed, train berth, car seat, or nearby street corner resplendent with the fact that you had taken in everything television at the Comic-Con.
So, if you are staying just one more day, here are the television-related events for Sunday, July 27th. For a full schedule of events you can check out the official schedule on the Comic-Con website. And, for old times sake, remember that times, panelists and events can change at a moment's notice. That, and the panels are on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Continue reading Comic-Con Countdown: Sunday, July 27th
Posted Jun 5th 2008 8:06AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
The big news I guess is that this week, in between all of the NBA Playoffs and the usual slots taken up by SpongeBob and wrestling, is that the debut episode of USA's In Plain Sight hit number 6 in the ratings. With the NBA Finals on ABC, next week's cable ratings should look a lot different.
1. NBA Playoffs - Lakers/Spurs (TNT)
2. NBA Playoffs - Lakers/Spurs (TNT)
3. NBA Playoffs - Celtics/Pistons (ESPN)
4. NBA Playoffs - Celtics/Pistons (ESPN)
5. NBA Playoffs - Celtics/Pistons (ESPN)
6. In Plain Sight (USA)
7. The Andromeda Strain - Part 2 (A&E)
8. The Andromeda Strain - Part 1 (A&E)
9. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
10. Monday Night RAW (USA)
Posted Jun 2nd 2008 2:41PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Animation, Adult Swim, Children, South Park, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free

Due to the complicated and apparently outdated Emmy Awards nomination rules, prime-time animated shows like
Family Guy, The Simpsons, American Dad,
South Park and others have had to choose which Emmy category they want to compete in, animated or comedy series. Then, that decision impacts eligibility for writers and animators on those shows in other categories. Well,
Family Guy is in a unique position this year, as their "Blue Harvest"
Star Wars parody was classified as a special. And as the animated category looks at single episodes,
Family Guy can submit "Blue Harvest" to the animated category, and the show itself, to comedy series.
I'd say it's a tremendous long shot that an animated show can be nominated over the live-action comedy series it will be facing. But there's always a first time for everything; when Disney's animated
Beauty and the Beast picked up an Oscar nod for "Best Picture" it was groundbreaking in the same way. It's a tough debate. These shows compete with prime-time comedies every week and yet get put up against the likes of
Spongebob Squarepants come awards time. How do you compare
The Venture Brothers and
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?
Continue reading Family Guy to vie for comedy series Emmy nod
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