Band Geeks

"Band Geeks"
SpongeBob SquarePants episode

Title card
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 15 (35b)
Directed by Frank Weiss (animation)
Aaron Springer (storyboard)
Written by C.H. Greenblatt
Aaron Springer
Merriwether Williams
Featured music "Sweet Victory" by David Glen Eisley
Original air date September 7, 2001 (2001-09-07)
Running time 11 minutes

"Band Geeks" is the second part of the 15th episode of the second season, and the 35th episode overall, of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 7, 2001. It was written by C.H. Greenblatt, Aaron Springer, and Merriwether Williams, and was directed by Frank Weiss. Springer served as storyboard director, and Greenblatt served as storyboard artist. The song "Sweet Victory" by David Glen Eisley was featured in the episode and was later released on the album SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Album in 2005.

The series follows the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. In this episode, Squidward tells a lie, claiming that he has a marching band, after his high school rival Squilliam Fancyson brags about being a successful bandleader. Squilliam offers to let Squidward and his band cover for him at the Bubble Bowl. Squidward accepts eagerly, but realizes he does not have a band. He recruits various citizens of Bikini Bottom to play in his band, but they perform terribly in rehearsal, which makes Squidward quit. SpongeBob, disgraced, gets the band together and they give the performance of their lives. At the Bubble Bowl, Squidward is successful in front of his rival.

The episode received critical acclaim, with several critics considering it one of the best episodes of the entire series. "Band Geeks" received a nomination and won at the 2002 Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television – Animation.

Plot summary

Squidward gets a call from his former high school classmate, Squilliam Fancyson, who is very successful and has succeeded in everything in which Squidward has failed, such as music. Squilliam reveals to Squidward that he has become the leader of a band and that they are supposed to play at the Bubble Bowl; but he will be busy at that time and will not be able to attend so Squilliam asks Squidward to allow his band to substitute for his at the Bubble Bowl, believing that Squidward does not have one. However, Squidward insists that he has a band and accepts the offer. He assembles a large marching band composed of various Bikini Bottom residents.[1]

During their one week of training, the band performs consistently badly and fails to improve at all. Patrick and Sandy get into a fight when Patrick kicks Sandy and, as a result, Sandy sticks him up a trombone. On the second day, while practicing a march, two flag twirlers are killed when they spin the flags too fast, causing them to fly into the air and crash into a blimp. On day three, Plankton plays his harmonica, but becomes exhausted and collapses from running back and forth, since he is very tiny. On the last day of practice, Squidward says if everyone plays loud, they will be good. However, they play poorly, and Squidward changes the plan of playing loud to quiet. A fish becomes annoyed, saying "We won't sound so bad if some of us didn't play with big, meaty, claws!" Mr. Krabs is angered by him and attacks, causing everyone to get involved in a huge brawl, smashing the instruments and hurting each other, causing the band to break up. A grieving Squidward expresses his disappointment in all of them and goes home in distress over his failure.

However, SpongeBob convinces the other band members to go through with the performance for Squidward's sake, and he takes command of their training. On the day of the concert, when Squilliam shows up in order to see Squidward fail, Squidward claims that his band died in a marching accident. However, Squidward's band shows up and he is forced to go through with the performance. They enter a large glass dome complete with human fans. Squidward turns his head away from the band before they begin, assuming that the performance will be a disaster, but the band is tremendously successful, playing a rock ballad titled "Sweet Victory". Squilliam enters a state of shock and faints, leaving Squidward to celebrate as he leaps into the air.[1]

Production

"Band Geeks" was directed by Aaron Springer, and was written by Springer, C.H. Greenblatt, and Merriwether Williams. Frank Weiss served as animation director, and Greenblatt worked as storyboard artist.[2] The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 7, 2001, with a TV-Y7 parental rating.[3]

The writers started to work for "Band Geeks" with the idea of a rival.[4] Williams said, "We always wanted to do a rival show, and I think we tried to do a rival show for SpongeBob, and it wasn't working. So we came up with the idea of a rival for Squidward and, in some ways it's Squidward's story, and SpongeBob and Patrick are just kind of around."[4] The idea of having a band was unspecified. Williams remarked, "I forget who was in band. I was not in a band, but I think maybe Doug [Lawrence] was in a band. I think Steve [Hillenburg] was in a band, too."[4]

When storyboard artist Greenblatt, with the writers, was storyboarding "Band Geeks", they thought of "a big number" at the end, where everyone would rally together for Squidward.[4] Greenblatt said, "The story outline called for making it a really great marching band sequence, and it usually helps to have the music ahead of time to board to, so we started searching around."[4] The writers were able to find music, as Nickelodeon has a library of royalty-free music.[4] The writers listened to various marching band tunes.[4] Greenblatt said, "and the more we heard, it didn't seem terribly funny that the finale was just them playing marching band music well."[4]

They thought of using David Glen Eisley's song "Sweet Victory" for the final act.[4] He said "It was different than what we were looking for, but it was so amazing that we knew we had to use it. So we boarded the sequence to the music, and it felt like such a better ending than any song we could have written on our own."[4] The writers gave it a freeze-frame shot for the ending.[4] Greenblatt's favorite part was director Springer's drawings of Patrick on the electric drums and SpongeBob saying, "It's the thrill of one more kill" (an excerpt from "Sweet Victory").[4] The live action Bubble Bowl crowd is footage from a United States Football League game featuring the Memphis Showboats and the Tampa Bay Bandits.[5]

David Glen Eisley's song "Sweet Victory" was featured in the episode.

The music used in the segment of the episode where Squidward's marching band is playing while coming down the street was from Nick Carr, the series' music editor. He found a piece of marching band music that was a band intentionally playing poorly, but sound designer Jeff Hutchins said, "You could still discern the tune."[4] Hutchins thought "Well, let's take this one step further. What if they couldn't even play their instruments, let alone a tune?"[4] He brought his portable DAT recorder to a musical instrument retail store and met two men who worked on its loading dock,[4] packaging and shipping the instruments.[4] Hutchins made the two men play most of the instruments terribly.[4] He said, "I got these two guys to squeak, blast, and squawk on most of the instruments they sold."[4]

Upon returning to the studio with the sound effects, he built a marching band, one instrument at a time.[4] Hutchins said, "They weren't in any key and had no rhythm whatsoever. When you heard it, you just had to say 'Ouch!'"[4] Hutchins played the sound effects for series creator Hillenburg for review. Hillenburg rejected it, saying "it was too far over the edge."[4] Hutchins said, "a lot of effort for something that lasts only 15 seconds on screen. In this case, the whole thing never made it on the air."[4]

The featured song "Sweet Victory" was later released in the series soundtrack album called SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Album on November 15, 2005.[6][7] The album featured 25 tracks, including the "SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song".[8]

"Band Geeks" was released on the DVD compilation titled SpongeBob SquarePants: Halloween on August 27, 2002,[9][10] and on SpongeBob SquarePants: Home Sweet Pineapple that was released on January 4, 2005.[11][12] The episode was also included in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 2nd Season DVD released on October 19, 2004.[1][13] On September 22, 2009, "Band Geeks" was released on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes DVD, alongside all the episodes of seasons one through five.[14][15]

Reception

"Band Geeks" received critical acclaim, and is regarded by many as one of the best episodes of the series. Upon release, the episode was awarded and honored at the 2002 Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television – Animation category.[16] Tom Kenny, SpongeBob's voice actor, considers "Band Geeks" one of his favorite episodes.[17] In a 2009 review, Michael Cavna of The Washington Post ranked the episode at No. 5 in his "The Top Five SpongeBob Episodes: We Pick 'Em" list. He said "Squidward's mix of artistic aspiration in the face of goading, humiliation and unrelenting sub-mediocrity made this a kids' episode that adults can experience on a whole 'nother level."[18] The Guardian ranked "Band Geeks" the second best episode of the show, next to "Krusty Krab Training Video".[19]

Many have such high regard for "Band Geeks" because it portrays Squidward as less of an annoyed neighbor and more of a sympathetic hero. Many say that the reason they like this episode so much is the fact that Squidward is so relateable in his struggle, in that everyone has a rival who is more successful than them, and we all want a chance to be able to beat them at something.

Nancy Basile of About.com ranked "Band Geeks" at No. 1 in her "Best SpongeBob SquarePants Episodes" list, writing "[The episode] has so many of the best elements of SpongeBob, crafted into a story whose rhythm flows smoothly and quickly to reach a poignant end."[20] She praised the entire premise, calling it "funny just to think about."[20] Basile also lauded the ending "complete with a keytar and freeze-frame jump in the air."[20] Emily Estep of WeGotThisCovered.com ranked the episode No. 4 in her "Top 10 Episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants" and said, "Most of the gags in 'Band Geeks' center around Squidward's bleak existence, but it's also stuffed with one-liners from and about each of the characters on the show, such as the line 'These claws ain't just for attractin' mates!' from an about-to-brawl Mr. Krabs, and when Squidward says, 'No Patrick, mayonnaise is not an instrument,' in response to an inevitable query from the stupid star."[21]

"Band Geeks" was one of the top episodes as chosen by viewers at Nick.com in the event "The Best Day Ever Marathon" held in 2006.[22] In November 2007, as part of the "Top 100 Greatest Moments in Nicktoon History" during "Superstuff Nicktoons Weekend", it is ranked as the #1 greatest moment of all time. In 2012, Nickelodeon in the United Kingdom launched an event called "SpongeBob's Top 100", where viewers can vote at Nick.co.uk for their favorite episode.[23] With over 160,000 votes cast, "Band Geeks" emerged as the winner.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 2nd Season. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2004.
  2. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 2nd Season ("Band Geeks" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. October 19, 2004.
  3. ↑ "SpongeBob SquarePants : The Secret Box; Band Geeks". TV Listings. Zap2it. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Heintjes, Tom (September 21, 2012). "The Oral History of SpongeBob SquarePants". Hogan's Alley. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Memphis Showboats". United States Football League. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  6. ↑ "SpongeBob SquarePants To Release 'The Yellow Album'". Starpulse. October 31, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  7. ↑ "David Glen Eisley - Sweet Victory (The Yellow Album) video". NME. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Spongebob Squarepants: The Yellow Album". AllMusic. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  9. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants: Halloween. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2002.
  10. ↑ Long, Mike (September 5, 2002). "SpongeBob Squarepants - Halloween". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  11. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants: Home Sweet Pineapple. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2005.
  12. ↑ Rizzo, Francis III (January 5, 2005). "SpongeBob SquarePants - Home Sweet Pineapple". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  13. ↑ Bovberg, Jason (October 11, 2004). "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Second Season". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  14. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2009.
  15. ↑ Lacey, Gord (September 29, 2009). "SpongeBob SquarePants - The First 100 Episodes (Seasons 1-5) Review". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA". Motion Picture Sound Editors. March 23, 2002. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  17. ↑ Johnson, L.A. (July 2, 2002). "'SpongeBob SquarePants' is soaking up viewers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  18. ↑ Cavna, Michael (July 14, 2009). "The Top Five 'SpongeBob' Episodes: We Pick 'Em". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  19. ↑ Elan, Priya (July 24, 2009). "Happy 10th birthday, SpongeBob SquarePants". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  20. 1 2 3 Basile, Nancy. "Best 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Episodes". About.com. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  21. ↑ Estep, Emily (December 5, 2011). "Top 10 Episodes Of Spongebob Squarepants". Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  22. ↑ Guthrie, Marisa (November 9, 2006). "WORLDWIDE, SPONGEBOB MOPPING UP". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  23. ↑ "NICKELODEON CELEBRATES THE KING OF KRABBY PATTIES IN SPONGEBOB'S TOP 100". Viacom International Media Networks. April 10, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  24. ↑ "SpongeBob's Top 100 Campaign takes Gold!". Viacom International Media Networks. March 20, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2013.

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