Top TV Memes: The Best Formats From 'SpongeBob'

There is no other show out there quite like SpongeBob SquarePants. Many have tried, but no children’s show has ever achieved the same level of greatness. Nothing can compare to hundreds of nonsensical plots about a talking yellow sea sponge who works as a fry cook, voiced by the famous Tom Kenny. It contains some of the best childhood stories we’ve ever seen and lots of jokes we didn’t understand until we were older. In short, it’s become a huge part of internet culture and a recognized form of humor on its own.

SpongeBob was the best part of our childhoods, and we never outgrew it. It only gets better with age, except for anything beyond season three. Some of the best memes you’ll ever find came from episodes of SpongeBob, as well as some of the formerly popular templates like Mocking SpongeBob and SpongeGar. The popularity and nostalgia of the show are so universal that more are found every day from old episodes we haven’t watched in decades.

Most Popular Memes: Season 1, Episode 9A: "Nature Pants"

"Nature Pants" holds the title for the most meme-filled episode of SpongeBob. Venturing all the way back to season one, there’s no other episode that has given us quite as many formats — the most famous of which is probably Tired SpongeBob, followed instantaneously by Patrick hovering above him with a jellyfish net, stuck to the bottom of an arch. A zoomed-in image of this scene led to the meme Evil Patrick. At another point in the episode, SpongeBob hides within a jellyfish nest while Patrick hunts for him, which also became a reaction image.

Yet another popular one is Ol’ Reliable, a one- or two-panel object-labeling meme of SpongeBob’s jellyfish net, which he leaves to Patrick before running off to live amongst nature in Jellyfish Fields. There’s also an older meme of Squidward partying alone in his house to celebrate SpongeBob leaving. A scene in which SpongeBob is surrounded by flames like the This Is Fine dog is yet another famous meme. So many of our SpongeBob memes come from this single episode that the meme community owes "Nature Pants" for years of viral humor.

Most Meme Potential: Season 3, Episode 15B: "Mid-Life Crustacean"

This is one of only two episodes of SpongeBob that has been officially banned from airing ever again, as of 2018. The other episode is season 12’s "Kwarantined Krab," and you can probably take a guess as to why that episode never aired in the US. Being a lost episode somehow makes "Mid-Life Crustacean" even better. Like some ancient treasure, it’s impossible to find this episode on TV or on a streaming site, but that only makes us want to see it more. It’s led to a viral debate over whether or not the episode is inappropriate and if we’re forever "psychologically destroyed" from watching it as children. For a glimpse into the past, here is the resurrected scene deemed the most inappropriate out of all SpongeBob episodes, a true crime against humanity:

Every SpongeBob fan remembers the quote "Are you feeling it now, Mr. Krabs?" This is the origin of the line we’ve had stuck in our heads for decades. Forever lost to the youngest generation, "Are you feeling it now, Mr. Krabs?" has become a great meme for the rest of us. Another scene in this episode that likely went over our heads as kids was the moment in which SpongeBob, Patrick and Mr. Krabs are participating in a DnD campaign in costume. These two parts of the episode have been used as memes for decades, but are much less common than other SpongeBob memes out there, even though they’re just as great as the rest.

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