Are you ready kids? (Aye, aye captain!) I can't hear you! (Aye, aye captain!)

Oooooooooo...

Guess who's been asked to do 26 episodes for TV?

(SpongeBob SquarePants!)

Nickelodeon submitted the order for more hilarity!

(SpongeBob SquarePants!)

The show that Stephen Hillenburg helped create

(SpongeBob SquarePants!)

Now has episodes that total 178!

(SpongeBob SquarePants!)

Ready?

The Nickelodeon family of networks is recruiting all of its top stars to fill its holiday line-up.

You might need to take a break here, as this is a pretty extensive list of specials and such -- all featuring Spongebob Squarepants and his fellow animated megastars. For all listings, make sure to check local listings for times, etc.

Starting off, on Saturday, Dec. 12, the network's "Naughty or Nice Night" will feature new holiday episodes of True Jackson, VP and The Troop.

Nickelodeon will also show repeats of holiday-themed episodes of hit SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly and The Fairly OddParents, starting this week -- with a marathon on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. The network will also serve up "Miranda Madness" from Dec. 14 through Dec. 24, from 4 - 8 PM, featuring themed marathons of iCarly and Drake & Josh.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

There are several different versions of the season 5 set for Lost being released this week, from a regular set (actually called an "Expanded Edition") and a Blu-ray version of that set, plus a "Dharma Initiative Orientation Kit" set in both regular format and in Blu-ray. Those sets have the extras you see in the pic above (deleted scenes, bloopers, interviews, etc), plus...a videotape! That's one of the cooler extras you'll find in a DVD set, eh?

• Friday - Complete Series
• The Fugitive - Season 3, Vol. 2
• Get Smart - Season 5
• Highlander - Season 1 (Blu-ray)
• The Jerry Lewis Show - The Jerry Lewis Show
• The Judy Garland Show - Collection
• Lost - Season 5
• McLeod's Daughters - Pilot Movie
• Perry Mason - Season 4, Vol. 2
• Rescue Me - Season 5, Vol. 2
• SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 6, Vol. 1

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Popularly licensed and profitable is he!"

That's not how the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song goes, but the statement is factually correct. The Nickelodeon yellow legend is still immensely popular across various age ranges. And that gives you some easy gift ideas for kids in and around your family.

Rather than merely give the kid in question a stuffed sponge for the holidays, you can dig a little deeper and offer up a couple Spongebob board games from Hasbro for less than $25 each.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Edition of "Kid Cranium" mixes up artistic activities with a trivia-based board game to let kids express themselves while they kick your grown-up butt.

• At 8, ABC has a new Supernanny, followed by new episodes of Ugly Betty and 20/20.
• 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.
• HGTV has a new Divine Design at 8.
• Nickelodeon has two new episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants at 8, then two new episodes of The Penguins of Madagascar.
• At 9, USA has a new Monk, followed by a new White Collar.
• Travel Channel has two new episodes of Ghost Adventures at 9.
• Also at 9: HBO2 has a Bored To Death marathon.
• At 10, Food Network has a new "best of" Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
• At 11, VH-1 has a new Storytellers with Foo Fighters.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

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.)

• Nickelodeon has a SpongeBob SquarePants marathon all night.
• At 8, NBC has a new Kings.
• ESPN has World Cup Softball at 8, the U.S. vs. Japan at 8.
• Versus has Tour de France coverage at 8.
• HGTV has a new Divine Design at 8.
• At 8:30, FOX has a new Cops, then a new America's Most Wanted.
• At 9, CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show.
• BBC America has a new Primeval at 9.
• VH-1 has the movie The Jacksons: An American Dream at 9.
• TBS has the season premiere of The Bill Engvall Show at 9 (two episodes).
• At 10, ABC has a new Dirty Sexy Money.
• At midnight, Cartoon Network has two new episodes of Bleach.

Check your local TV listings for more.

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.

Watch more YouTube videos on AOL Video

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).

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.

• HGTV has Christmas programming all night.
• SoapNet has old Christmas episodes of General Hospital all night.
• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour Deal Or No Deal.
• TNT has the Cavaliers/Wizards game at 8, followed by the Mavericks/Trailblazers game.
• Comedy Central has Bad Santa at 8.
• Alton Brown makes cookies on Good Eats at 8, on Food Network.
• Nickelodeon has Christmas episodes of various shows starting at 8: iCarly, SpongeBob, Home Improvement, George Lopez, and more.
• Also at 8: Disney has Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas.
• TCM has Casablanca at 8, then The Big Sleep.
• At 9, Hallmark has the movie Our First Christmas.
• TLC has two Christmas episodes of Little People, Big World at 9.
• Lifetime has the movie A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride at 9.
• At 11, Lifetime has two Christmas episodes of Will & Grace.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I know we all have our favorite shows that we buy on DVD, but I can't understand how anyone - anyone - would want to buy Gene Simmons' Family Jewels on DVD. Do buyers of these sets actually pop them into the DVD player and watch them over and over?

The Burke's Law sets continue with those annoying "Season/Volume" packages, but the last season of the Odd Couple season 5 set contains all of the episodes and completes the series.

• Bones - Season 3
• Burke's Law - Season 1, Vol. 2
• Charmed - Complete Series
• Daniel Boone - Season 6
• Death Note - Box Set 1
• Doctor Who - Season 4 and The Infinite Quest
  
• The Dog Whisperer - Celebrity Edition
• Fairly Oddparents - Season 6, Vol. 1
• Gene Simmons' Family Jewels - Season 3
• Hannah Montana - Season 1
• Hawaii Five-O - Season 5
• McHale's Navy - Season 4
• Monty Python's Flying Circus - Collector's Edition Megaset
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - 20th Anniversary (Regular set)
• The Odd Couple - Season 5
• SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 5, Vol. 2
• Star Trek - Season 3 Remastered

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

Yes! The second season premiere of Burn Notice hit #2 this week! Sure, it was expected, but that doesn't mean it's not fantastic news. USA has a ton of shows in the top 10, actually, taking six of the spots. Those Sprint Cup races seem to make an appearance every week now, as do Army Wives on Lifetime and something on Disney Channel that features a Hannah and/or a Jonas brother.

1. Monday Night RAW (USA)
2. Burn Notice (USA)
3. Sprint Cup - Chicago (TNT)
4. In Plain Sight (USA)
5. Monday Night RAW (USA)
6. Law and Order: CI (USA)
7. Picture This (ABC Family)
8. Camp Rock (Disney)
9. Law and Order: SVU (USA)
10. Army Wives (Lifetime)

There aren't a lot of TV shows that I can watch with my kids and enjoy them. They love crap on the Disney Channel and I love The Daily Show. While we both love Spongebob, I can only see the same episode so many times.

One show that seems to hold up for all of us is The Flintstones. The kids especially like the later episodes with Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

That's right, not only does Monday Night RAW retake the #1 spot on the cable ratings this week, it takes up three spots in the top 10. That doesn't seem fair, does it? I can hear the people at Disney asking, "why aren't the two hours of Camp Rock split into two different spots? Or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Fine, we'll just run Camp Rock every hour for the entire week and we'll see what the ratings are!"

(And yes, SpongeBob is on the list yet again. It's comforting to see him there almost every week.)

1. Monday Night RAW (USA)
2. BET Awards (BET)
3. Sprint Cup Racing - Loudon (TNT)
4. Monday Night RAW (USA)
5. In Plain Sight (USA)
6. Camp Rock (Disney)
7. Monday Night RAW (USA)
8. Law and Order: CI (USA)
9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Disney)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)