There are some shows that are for lack of a better word iconic as there've been with us now for so long that everybody knows what they are with a good example of this being The Simpsons. Another such example is oddly enough Spongebob Squarepants as even if you've not seen a single episode of the show you are still aware of the character be it due to the show or one of the characters SEVERAL movies and well I thought that now would be the right time to go back and look at the very first episode of the show and so then join me as I review the episode that introduced the world to a yellow sponge and his square pants with the episodes segments being called simply just "Help Wanted" , "Reef Blower" and "Tea At The Treedome" enjoy.
The plot of "Help Wanted" is Spongebob finally has the chance to work as a fry cook at his favorite restaurant but when several fish come in at once demanding service it's up to the young cook to prove his worth in "Reef Blower" Spongebob causes mayhem when a reef blows near his house and he has to clean it up and finally in "Tea At The Treedome" Spongebob and Patrick meet a land squirrel called Sandy and when they go round to her house they discover that she does things a little bit differently to them. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with "Tea At The Treedome" having the best plot of the episodes three segments just due to the fact that "Help Wanted" had to do alot of the heavy lifting as it had so much to set up for the rest of the show and "Tea At The Treedome" was therefor more free to just go and do it's own thing which is something that it did really well how much like with "Reef Blower" the plots for these segments weren't the strongest that they could have ben with this being something that does make alot of sense as this is a show that only has segments that last a few minuets and nothing more then that therefor none of this episodes can be that strong in the first place and this is great as it does mean that all of the episodes segments can be more focused on giving us good jokes without having to worry about the plot of the episode making sense with the plot of this episode being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants , The Narrator , A Sub Driver , Gary and some Anchovies . Also starring in this episode is Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles , John Wick: Chapter 4 , Green Lantern 2011 and A Nightmare On Elm Street 2010 star Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs , Jennifers Body star Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star and some Anchovies and Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this being something that was quite surprising as you usually don't expect the first episode of a TV show to have good acting in it and while yes this shows acting would of course get alot more better over the years the fact that this episode and these three segments all had some really strong acting in it from all of the episode actors is still something that was truly shocking to behold with it just going to show you that these bunch of actors are a really good group of actors as they knock out of the park with there characters right away with all of these characters being really well cast and while this is kind of obvious now looking back n this episode but it is really hard to picture anyone else playing these characters with it really being hard to say just who the best actor in this episode really is as by all rights anyone of this episodes actors could make that claim and it would be totally justified but if push did indeed come to shove then i'd have to say that the best actor in the episode is Tom Kenny just due to the fact that he voices more characters in this episode and each one of them sound distinctly different from one another with the acting that's in this episode really being helped by the fact that the scripts for this episode are just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Rough Draft Korea. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good as really all three segments of this episode have some really high quality animation in them even taking into account that not only was this episode made in 1997 before being aired in 1999 but also the fact that this is a TV show and therefor it would have been understandable if the makers of this episode did indeed cut corners to make the episode for alot more cheaper and yet you can tell right away that the people who worked on this episode from an animation point of view put al of there love an attention into all three segments as all three segments look really good with all of the episodes characters having these really nice and fluid movements to them that help to make the animation in this episode feel more alive then what it really should have done if there's one grips to be had with the films animation it's that they don't go zany enough with it as this is a show that does allow you to have those more zany character movements and yet for some odd reason the makers of this episode don't go that route which has the add on effect of making the show feel alot less fun to watch in the process and yet if they did have some zany animation then it would have made scenes like the big anchovy scene with Squidward and Mr. Krabs be all the more funnier then what it already is in the first place but credit where it's due this episode still does look really good even all of these years later.
In what could be seen as being a surprising move this episode does have it's middle segment "Reef Blower" be pretty much a silent cartoon. With this being something that does work really well as it does harken back to those early days of Hollywood where there would be no lines of dialog and all of the action came from the characters body language and that is present in that segment with that segment being all the more better for it as not only is it the shortest of the three segments its also one that doesn't really need any kind of dialog to put across just what the story of the segment is meant to be in the first place and infact the only piece of sound that we hear in that whole segment is just the musical score for the segment and that's really it and that is something that does work really well for this segment with it also making you wonder why there aren't more Spongebob segments like this as it's segments like this that do force the animators to step up their game as usually you could have a voice actor express what it is that there meant to be feeling but now that you don't have that to rely on it all has to come across in the animation and while that doesn't exactly work alot of the time the times that it does work is where that segment really does shine it's brightest with the even the idea of the segment just being Spongebob wanting to remove this one reef from the front of house being such a simple one as it allows the characters to go as crazy as they need to and be as cartoony as they need to and while this might have been shortest segment the idea of making it a silent cartoon is weird enough for this show that it could have worked as a full twenty two minuet episode of the show due to the fact that the idea itself is more then strong enough to support it in it's own right.
Like alot of debut episodes the first segment of this episode did have alot of heavy lifting to do as it had to set up four of the main characters, get across what there personalities are like and set up the relationships for the show moving forward. Which is something that would have been seen as doing far to much for a short segment and yet to be frank it was something that did work but it didn't work as well as it perhaps could have done as while Patrick is formally introduced in that segment the segment doesn't give him alot of screen time with him only appearing at the start and at the end of the segment and that's it which is fine as the segment did have more important things to do but at the same time tho given just how beloved he is as a character in his own right it was weird to see that they fully didn't set up just who Patrick is and what his relationship to Spongebob is in that or even the final segment for that matter with this being something that they very easily could have done just by having one of the characters say to the other that there friends and that's it as it could have been said when Patrick is trying to give Spongebob a pep talk and while nothing is lost from not fully setting him up as a character in this opening segment as it could be argued that the segment was made before the creators of the show even had any real idea just what there relationship was meant to be like it is still something that is weird to see them not set up as first episodes by right of passage have to set up alot of things and one of those things is character relationships heck Spongebobs relationship with both Squidward and Mr. Krabs is set up in that segment and there not even meant to be his best friend but his best friend doesn't get his character fully set up at all.
Whilst the Spongebob movies especially the first one are known for having really dark and dramatic moments in them, This is something that was actually set up in the third segment of this episode "Tea At The Treedome" where Spongebob starts t slowly die and dry out after not having water for a long time with both him and Patrick pretty much dieing for a small portion of that episode which for a kids show is pretty dark and even tho that scene is played for laughs it is something that does let you know right away that this is a show that's not afraid to go to those dark places albeit in a more kid friendly way with the thing that makes it more dark being the fact that we see Spongebob suffer and grasp for air all throughout the segment with this being something that alot of kids shows even today dare not do and yet here it is in the first episode of an iconic series and while yes alot of it is played for laughs as we the audiences know full well that Spongebob can't breathe without water its the fact that we see him and later Patrick grasp for air and then dry out that makes it a really dark moment and while the show really doesn't go to those dark places all that often the fact that they still did it in the movies does show you that the makers of this episode really did know what they were doing with the only thing that could have made it better if we got to see both Spongebob and Patrick running around the Treedome looking for any bit of water as that is something that would have made that really dramatic scene all the more funny and heck you could have had them run into Sandy alot of the time but without her knowing it and just to hit home how much they've learnt from being in the Treedome Spongebob should have said to Sandy that they needed water on screen and not have it happen off screen.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty three minuets and forty nine seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this episode to have with all three of the episodes segments ranging from six to eight minuets with the second segment being around about two minuets and forty eight seconds with all three segments having the right amount of plot there to cover there respective running times and yet in saying this tho both "Help Wanted" and "Tea At The Treedome" don't use there running times all that wisely as they don't use there respective running times to fully develop there plots which in the case for the first segment does make sense as they have to set up alot of things for the show moving forward and yet it's also the case in the third segment with it feeling like that things are just happening for the sake of happening rather then because of the fact that they make sense in context of there plots with this slightly being true for the episodes character development as well as both of those segments don't really put there characters in situations that help to fully develop them as characters but it could be said that those segments don't fully develop there characters because of the fact that they get there character development in all of the other episodes and movies however the character still need to be have that development started which is something that both the first and final segment don't do however it is understandable that the second segment doesn't fully develop it's plot and characters as that segment isn't even three minuets long but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With the episode on the whole having some really funny jokes in it all of which work really well because of how well done that the episodes characters are with all of the episodes jokes feeling there very character driven and heck it's even in the episodes jokes where the episodes animation on the whole gets to really come alive and make them as funny as they could possibly be due to the fact that we get some really funny facial expressions which help to sell us the audience on the joke with the best joke in the whole episode being in "Help Wanted" when Spongebob goes to lift weights and we see that his weights are two teddy bears which he struggles to lift which is a dumb joke and an easy joke to make but that's exactly why it's so good and why it's so funny in the first place as it is the obvious joke with all three segments having some really good jokes in it as well and heck even "Reef Blower" could be argued is one big joke due to the fact it's just Spongebob trying t get rid of one reef and that's really it but it's that simple joke that works all the more better because of the fact that you could see a character like Spongebob actually struggle to life up to kids toys with the sound effect being made when the toys hit the floor again being the icing on the cake and heck really of this episodes jokes are some really good and funny jokes as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall if this first episode was anything to go by then it was easy to see why Spongebob Squarepants become as big as it was and still is as this first episode had three really good segments in it and while yes some where better then others the episode on the whole was really good in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
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