SpongeBob SquarePants’ pilot episode is a good introduction to the characters that lead the show, but it could have been very different – here’s what happened. SpongeBob SquarePants was created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg and made its official debut in 1999. Since then, it has become the most successful Nicktoon as well as one of the longest-running American animated series, and has expanded to other media, such as comic books, video games, and film.
SpongeBob SquarePants follows the daily adventures of the title character and his closest friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob is often accompanied by his best friends Patrick and Sandy, as well as his neighbor Squidward Tentacles (who SpongeBob considers a friend, even though the other can’t stand him), and they’ve shared many adventures since the beginning of the series. Patrick, Squidward, Gary, and Mr. Krabs made their debut in the very first episode of the series, which could have had a completely different story had the production crew gone with one of their initial ideas.
The pilot episode of SpongeBob SquarePants is “Help Wanted”, which follows SpongeBob as he applies for a job at the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs, encouraged by Squidward, doesn’t believe SpongeBob is the one for the job, so he tells him he can join if he gets a hydro-dynamic spatula. As SpongeBob goes to the store to get it, various buses filled with anchovies arrive at the Krusty Krab, creating chaos as Mr. Krabs and Squidward can’t handle them. SpongeBob arrives with the spatula and cooks many, many Krabby Patties, feeding the angry anchovies who leave the place satisfied. Mr. Krabs hires SpongeBob, and the rest is history. Though it’s a fun episode, the original idea was very different, and it would have had SpongeBob and Squidward at the front and center.
Hillenburg’s plan for the pitch of the series was that the writers would come up with a storyboard for a possible episode and then pitch it to Nickelodeon, Among those ideas was one where SpongeBob and Squidward went on a road trip, taking the 1989 movie Powwow Highway as inspiration. As they continued working on it, Hillenburg decided to go for another story for the pitch, and the road trip idea was left aside – for a while. The idea was later picked up and used to create season 1’s episode “Pizza Delivery”, where SpongeBob and Squidward have to deliver a Krusty Krab pizza and get lost on the way. “Pizza Delivery” used many of the ideas for the original pitch, so it’s the closest there is to the original pilot.
In the end, leaving the road-trip idea aside was for the best, as “Help Wanted” is a very good pilot episode that introduces the main character, his personality, quirks, friends, and job, as well as some of his closest friends but without making them the protagonists, which would have been the case with the original idea. This also benefited “Pizza Delivery”, as the SpongeBob/Squidward dynamic was already established, making it easier for it to finally bring the road trip idea to life.
