SpongeBob Watching TV

About

SpongeBob Watching TV or SpongeBob Changing The Channel is a notable clip from the TV show SpongeBob SquarePants in which SpongeBob is seen watching television before he frantically changes the channel when Gary notices him and enters the room in an attempt to hide what he was viewing. This scene, coming from the 21st episode of season two, is often used in exploitable video memes by replacing the thing SpongeBob is watching on the TV to be something lewd, with SpongeBob then quickly changing the channel to football or another sport when Gary comes up to him.

Origin

The scene originates from the episode titled "Your Shoes Untied," which comes from episode 21 of season two that was released on November 2nd, 2000. In the scene, SpongeBob watches a sea anemone on television as a parody of adult entertainment. When Gary catches him watching the sea anemone, SpongeBob rapidly changes the channel and claims he was watching sports. This scene was uploaded to YouTube on September 27th, 2010, by the YouTube channel Ivi Moen,^[1] earning over 1.5 million views in 12 years (shown below).

In the early 2010s, the scene began seeing use as a meme format in which people swapped what SpongeBob was watching. One such early example was uploaded on February 12th, 2012, by YouTuber KhalidSMShahin which showed SpongeBob watching himself (seen below). The video accumulated over 54,000 views and 900 likes in roughly 11 years.

Spread

The meme continued to see usage online, eventually becoming a prominent format on TikTok in the early 2020s. For example, on May 7th, 2020, the TikToker fantasticferry^[2] uploaded a version in which SpongeBob was looking at the beginning of a video where Kendall Jenner opens the door and says to come into the bed with her, cutting away while the Pornhub Community Intro starts to play before Gary walks in, prompting him to change the TV and garnering over 600 likes in roughly three years (shown below).

On February 19th, 2023, TikToker mr.cleannnnnnnnn^[3] uploaded a TikTok using the video template with SpongeBob looking at a video of Fortnite version of Chun-Li dancing in a provocative way, earning over 6,000 likes in two weeks (shown below).

The following day, on February 20th, 2023, TikToker Xeo_Matrix^[4] uploaded a variant of the video meme using D.VA in a NSFW animation commonly associated with the character. The clip quickly cuts as Gary comes into frame, with the video earning over 265,000 likes in one week (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References