Some SpongeBob fans are just now discovering that one of the most well-known episodes from the show has been removed from streaming platforms.
SpongeBob Squarepants is one of the most iconic cartoons of all time, but with some episodes now almost 24 years old, it’s not too surprising that not all of the content has aged particularly well. As UNILAD reports, one example of this comes from the episode ‘Mid-Life Crustacean’, which first aired back in January 2003 and was removed from Nickelodeon re-runs in 2018.
Take a look at the clip that got the episode pulled from streaming below.
‘Mid-Life Crustacean’ is a very memorable episode for meme-related reasons, as is often the case with SpongeBob. The plot centres around Mr Krabs feeling his age and hanging out with SpongeBob and Patrick in an attempt to feel youthful again, which led to the “are you feeling it now, Mr Krabs?” moment. Although the audio of that quote has definitely been taken out of context in many meme videos over the years, it wasn’t the moment that got the episode in hot water.
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The problematic scene was the panty raid moment - where SpongeBob, Patrick and Mr Krabs decide to break into a girl’s house to steal her underwear (that girl ended up being Mr Krabs’ mum). Obviously, this is a joke that probably went over most kids’ heads - to innocent minds, it just sounds like a silly thing to do. On reflection though, Nickelodeon clearly didn’t want to promote such behaviour to its audience, and so the episode has been shoved under the rug on official platforms.
Various other episodes of SpongeBob have been censored and pulled over the years - a more recent episode called 'Kwarantined Krab’ didn’t air as planned due to its plot having similarities to the real-life COVID-19 pandemic, but it since made its way to screen last year.
Featured Image Credit: NickelodeonTopics: TV And Film