sponge vertical slice

Tonight, we'll be comparing episodes from Season 9 and Season 1 of Spongebob. They have similar structures, take place at night, and have a unique tone. In Season 1's Culture Shock, the music sets the mood and the scene plays out normally at the Krusty Krab. In Season 9's Sharks vs. Pods, Spongebob plays rock and roll music while cleaning. The episode is a homage to Happy Days and features guest stars from the original show. The introductory scenes in both episodes have a mix of sound effects and the music stops at the end. Now that we have some foundation, let's reveal what episodes we'll be comparing tonight. Season 9's Shark vs. Paws, the greaser episode you heard a clip from, and Season 1's Culture Shock. We'll run these and dissect them scene by scene. These should be pretty apt comparisons for a couple of reasons. They have a similar structure, largely take place at night, feature spoilers, a VX performance of Squidward, and they both go for a more unique tone than your typical Spongebob hijinks. So, let's get started. Scene 1 of Culture Shock is already an impressive start. The music for this scene is K55 by the Woodies, a rock and roll band. It's got this mellow, moody tone. This melody is carried by a steel guitar and beat with a bass and bongos, which all keeps the beachy feel that works with Spongebob so well. For the opening sequence, we have some light folly work as Squidward flips through his magazine. Spongebob obsessively clings a table. And Mr. Krabs tries to act casual when he gets his new free salad bar. When they do get a customer, listen to that quick beat of silence we get here. A customer! Hear that underwater ambience? The scene plays out pretty normally after that, with the moody Woodies replaced with a brief stint of the track Oyster Girls, which is actually a traditional English dancing song. Welcome to the Krusty Krab! For Spongebob, cater to his every whim. And don't screw this one up. Aye aye, sir! Before segwaying right into the tip-top polka by the Kelmsford Folk Band, something of a theme for the Krusty Krab. One thing I do wish they had done for this is muffle Spongebob's voice during the end of this line. Because he throws himself onto the table face-down, it probably would just be a bit more immersive. After the customer tips Spongebob one cent, which Mr. Krabs swiftly takes, one thing I like is that the song doesn't play its ending note right there, it holds it for a couple of seconds until the beginning of the next scene where we see Mr. Krabs putting the penny in the safe. Sharks vs. Pods starts with Spongebob all alone at work, mopping. To make the process a little less boring for himself, he plays a very traditional rock and roll song on the jukebox, which the Krusty Krab has in this episode for some reason. The song is Kung Fu Rock, written by Shelly O'Brien and Eden Schroeder, written for the show. Since it was written for the show, it's timed in such a way that once the titular sharks show up, along with the music itself dipping in volume just a little bit, it has a long instrumental break so the vocals of the song and the voice acting don't clash. Because this episode is a big homage to Happy Days, the show, the episode brought on Henry Winkler, Michael McKeon, and David Lander as guest stars, all of whom are actors from that original show, which really adds to what this spoof is going for. Next, there's a nice mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sound effects as Spongebob completes his cleaning routine and ends the introductory scene. And of course, the music stops right as the sequence does.