spongebob-related stories
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 Dec 25th 2008 5:33PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
- 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.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Deal Or No Deal, Christmas Movies, Benjamin Button
Posted Nov 17th 2008 6:21PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
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
Posted Jul 17th 2008 7:00AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
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)
Posted Jul 7th 2008 10:38AM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Animation, Ask TV Squad, Reality-Free
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.
Continue reading Stump the King: The Flintstones
Posted Jul 2nd 2008 10:01AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
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)
Posted Jun 26th 2008 2:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
Here are the cable ratings, by number of viewers.
Well, this is shocking (sarcasm): Camp Rock is number one this week! Disney can pretty much guarantee the top (or near the top) slot if they put the Jonas Brothers or Hannah Montana in a new movie. They could just keep doing this forever. Have the brothers go up against Hannah in a dance off, using the music of High School Musical, and have Zac Efron guest star. Oh, and throw in a guest appearance by someone from American Idol and maybe a subplot involving the gang from CSI. Instant hit!
1. Camp Rock (Disney)
2. Sprint Cup - Sonoma (TNT)
3. Monday Night RAW (USA)
4. Monday Night RAW (USA)
5. U.S. Open (ESPN)
6. Law and Order: CI (USA)
7. In Plain Sight (USA)
8. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
9. Wizards of Waverly Place (Nickelodeon)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
Posted Jun 18th 2008 2:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
OK, so auto racing makes it to number one for the second week in a row, but I'm just amazed at the power of SpongeBob SquarePants. Look, it's a great, fun show, but every week it has at least one episode in the top 10, and usually has two or three episodes on the list. Is it that strong with kids or is the talk that adult stoners and gays being really into it true?
1. Sprint Cup Racing (TNT)
2. Monday Night RAW (USA)
3. Monday Night RAW (USA)
4. iCarly (Nickelodeon)
5. Army Wives (Lifetime)
6. In Plain Sight (USA)
7. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
8. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
9. Top Chef (Bravo)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
Posted Jun 11th 2008 3:43PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
I'm always a little surprised to find Anderson Cooper 360 in the top 10 ratings. Shouldn't there be another cable news show in the top 10, like O'Reilly? Not sure why he's not represented, though I'm sure the primary coverage last week helped CNN.
USA is happy that their shows (In Plain Sight, Law and Order: CI) continue to do well. But bring on Burn Notice!
1. Sprint Cup Racing - Pocono (TNT)
2. Monday Night RAW (USA)
3. Law and Order: CI (USA)
4. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
5. Army Wives (Lifetime)
6. In Plain Sight (USA)
7. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
8. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
9. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
Posted Jun 7th 2008 1:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Reality-Free
We've talked a lot here at TV Squad about movies made from TV shows. A while back, Anna listed her picks for the 10 best movies based on TV shows, and then Paul listed his picks for the 10 worst. (I also chimed in with my picks for 5 TV shows that are better than the original movie). Now Rotten Tomatoes picks the 50 best movies made from TV shows, and the results are...odd.
Now, some of the choices are predictable if not accurate, including Star Trek II, Wayne's World, South Park, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, and The Brady Bunch Movie. And fans of Firefly will be happy to see Serenity on the list (and in the top 10!).
Continue reading What are the best movies based on TV shows?
Posted May 14th 2008 8:04AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
OK, I know that everyone is really excited about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but I'm still surprised that a repeat of an almost 30 year-old movie grabbed the number one slot in the cable ratings this week. Not only that, but the sequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, got the number six slot. Hasn't everyone seen these movies a gazillion times already?
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (USA)
2. NBA Playoffs - Hornets/Spurs (ESPN)
3. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Celtics (TNT)
4. Monday Night RAW (USA)
5. Monday Night RAW (USA)
6. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (USA)
7. NBA Playoffs - Jazz/Lakers (TNT)
8. NBA Playoffs - Hornets/Spurs (ESPN)
9. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
10. NBA Playoffs - Jazz/Lakers (ESPN)
Posted May 7th 2008 8:02AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
Looks like everybody was chasing Zoey this week, and not just the paparazzi. The Nickelodeon show got the top two spots in viewers (a movie and a regular episode of the show), knocking Monday Night RAW down a bit. TNT did really well with the NBA Playoffs.
1. Chasing Zoey (Nickelodeon)
2. Zoey 101 (Nickelodeon)
3. Monday Night RAW (USA)
4. NBA Playoffs - Suns/Spurs (TNT)
5. Monday Night RAW (USA)
6. The Hills (MTV)
7. NBA Playoffs - Lakers/Nuggets (TNT)
8. NBA Playoffs - Spurs/Hornets (TNT)
9. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
10. NBA Playoffs - Hawks/Celtics (TNT)
Posted Mar 19th 2008 3:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
OK, now this looks like the weekly cable ratings that we're used to seeing. Recent weeks have seen shows such as college basketball and election coverage get into the top 10, but this week we're back to the normal dominance of wrestlers and Nickelodeon stars.
1. Monday Night RAW (USA)
2. Monday Night RAW (USA)
Continue reading Nielsen cable ratings for the week ending March 16
Next Page >