--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: SpongeBob SquarePants image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d4a3797ae721b15/69869f32cd804d011bccc4fb/t100_tv_spongebob_free1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 12, 2014 # _SpongeBob SquarePants_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Everett Since its founding in 1979, Nickelodeon has developed many good-for-you programs—_Blues Clues_, _Dora the Explorer_—aimed at spurring kids’ education and development. _SpongeBob_ is not one of those shows. But it’s the most funny, surreal, inventive example of the explosion in creative kids’ (and adult) entertainment that Nick, Cartoon Network and their ilk made possible. Animator and marine-biology teacher Stephen Hillenburg translated the objects of his study in to the Dadaist world of Bikini Bottom, where the title character flips Krabbie Patties, creates disasters and gets by on good-natured innocence. _SpongeBob_ may not have a spine, or much of a brain, but he’s all heart. [Get This TV Series](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000C2IQB/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") SpongeBob SquarePants ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103815/spongebob-squarepants/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103815/spongebob-squarepants/"},"headline":"SpongeBob SquarePants","datePublished":"2014-08-12T15:32:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:01:51.793Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103815/spongebob-squarepants/","keywords":["Children","Comedy","nickelodeon"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d4a3797ae721b15/69869f32cd804d011bccc4fb/t100_tv_spongebob_free1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d4a3797ae721b15/69869f32cd804d011bccc4fb/t100_tv_spongebob_free1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103815/spongebob-squarepants/","name":"SpongeBob SquarePants"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"SpongeBob SquarePants","description":"Animator and marine-biology teacher Stephen Hillenburg translated the objects of his study in to the Dadaist world of Bikini Bottom, where the title character flips Krabbie Patties, creates disasters and gets by on good-natured innocence.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BjIQ2B8O/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2007-09-05T13:38:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BjIQ2B8O.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103815/spongebob-squarepants/","duration":"PT32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103815/spongebob-squarepants/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```