Band Geeks

"Band Geeks" is an episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It is the second part of the 15th episode of the second season, and the second half of the 35th episode overall. 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 the animation was directed by Frank Weiss. Springer served as storyboard director, and Greenblatt served as storyboard artist.

"Band Geeks"
SpongeBob SquarePants episode
Title card
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 15b
Directed byNick Jennings (art)
Frank Weiss (animation)
Aaron Springer (storyboard)
Alan Smart (supervising)
Written byC. H. Greenblatt
Aaron Springer
Merriwether Williams
Featured music"Sweet Victory" by David Glen Eisley
Original air dateSeptember 7, 2001 (2001-09-07)

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, a sporting event. 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 and ultimately break into a fight instead of rehearsing on their last day before the Bubble Bowl, which makes Squidward quit in defeat. After he leaves, the band gets their act together, and they give the performance of their lives. At the Bubble Bowl, Squidward is successful and triumphant in front of his rival.

The episode received widespread acclaim, with many fans and critics considering it the best episode of the entire series. The episode won Best Sound Editing in Television – Animation at the 2002 Golden Reel Awards.

Plot

Squidward Tentacles gets a call from his former high school classmate and rival, 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. Squilliam derisively suggests that Squidward's band should substitute for his at the Bubble Bowl, believing that Squidward does not have one. However, to impress Squilliam, Squidward defiantly insists that he does in fact have a band and accepts the offer. He assembles a large marching band composed of various Bikini Bottom residents, including SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, Mrs. Puff, Larry, Plankton, and Mr. Krabs.[1]

During their one week of training, the band performs consistently poorly and fails to improve at all. The week starts when Patrick and Sandy get into a brawl. On the second day, while practicing a march, two flag twirlers spin their flags too fast (per Squidward's demand), causing them to fly into the air and crash into a blimp. On the third day, Squidward checks on Plankton's harmonica solo, but Plankton becomes exhausted and collapses from running back and forth between the holes, since the harmonica is too big for him. On the last day of practice, Squidward (theorizing that "people talk loud when they try to act smart") says if everyone plays loudly, they will be good. However, they take his theory a bit too literally; they play so loudly and horribly bad that they break the windows of the building. The band members start insulting and blaming each other for their poor performance as Squidward tries to bring down the tension but fails as the whole band gets into a huge brawl. After the brawl, band class ends, and everyone instantly calms down and starts filing out of the building; before they can leave, a grieving Squidward appears outside expressing 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 at the stadium in order to see Squidward fail, Squidward claims that his band died in a marching accident. However, Squidward's band shows up at the last minute, and he is forced to go through with the performance. They enter a large glass dome complete with human fans. Squidward cringes in fear as he conducts the band, assuming that the performance will be a disaster, but the band is tremendously successful, playing a rock ballad song called "Sweet Victory" (with SpongeBob's lead vocals provided by the song's actual singer, David Glen Eisley). Squilliam enters a state of shock and faints, leaving Squidward to celebrate triumphantly 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 writers started to work for "Band Geeks" with the idea of a rival.[3] 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."[3] 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."[3][lower-alpha 1]

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."[3] Hutchins thought "Well, let's take this one step further. What if they couldn't even play their instruments, let alone a tune?"[3] He brought his portable DAT recorder to a musical instrument retail store and met two men who worked on its loading dock,[3] packaging and shipping the instruments.[3] Hutchins made the two men play most of the instruments terribly.[3] He said, "I got these two guys to squeak, blast, and squawk on most of the instruments they sold."[3]

Upon returning to the studio with the sound effects, he built a marching band, one instrument at a time.[3] Hutchins said, "They weren't in any key and had no rhythm whatsoever. When you heard it, you just had to say 'Ouch!'"[3] Hutchins played the sound effects for series creator Hillenburg for review. Hillenburg rejected it, saying "it was too far over the edge."[3] 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."[3]

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

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.[3] 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."[3] The writers were able to find music, as Nickelodeon has a library of royalty-free music.[3] The writers listened to various marching band tunes.[3] However, Greenblatt said, "The more we heard, it didn't seem terribly funny that the finale was just them playing marching band music well."[3]

However, David Glen Eisley's song "Sweet Victory" stood out from the other tracks in the library.[3] Greenblatt 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."[3] The writers gave it a freeze-frame shot for the ending.[3] 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").[3] The live action Bubble Bowl crowd is a combination of footage from a United States Football League game featuring the Memphis Showboats and the Birmingham Stallions on June 16, 1984 and footage shot specifically for the episode.[5]

Release

"Band Geeks" originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 7, 2001, with a TV-Y parental rating.[6] It was released on the DVD compilation titled SpongeBob SquarePants: Halloween on August 27, 2002,[7][8] and on SpongeBob SquarePants: Home Sweet Pineapple that was released on January 4, 2005.[9][10] The episode was also included in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 2nd Season DVD released on October 19, 2004.[1][11] 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.[12][13]

Reception

"Band Geeks" received widespread acclaim among fans and critics. Upon release, the episode was awarded and honored at the 2002 Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television – Animation category.[14] Tom Kenny, SpongeBob's voice actor, considers "Band Geeks" one of his favorite episodes.[15] 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."[16] The Guardian ranked "Band Geeks" the second best episode of the show, next to "Krusty Krab Training Video".[17]

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."[18] She praised the entire premise, calling it "funny just to think about."[18] Basile also lauded the ending "complete with a keytar and freeze-frame jump in the air."[18] Emily Estep of WeGotThisCovered.com ranked the episode as the fourth-best SpongeBob SquarePants episode, explaining that "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."[19]

"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.[20] In November 2007, as part of the "Top 100 Greatest Moments in Nicktoons History" during "Superstuff Nicktoons Weekend", it was ranked as the No. 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.[21] With over 160,000 votes cast, "Band Geeks" emerged as the winner.[22] It currently holds the highest rating and thus the No. 1 position for SpongeBob episodes on the series' IMDb page.[23]

Impact

The featured song "Sweet Victory" was later released on the series soundtrack album SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Album on November 15, 2005.[24][25] "Sweet Victory" went from being a largely unknown production music track, to selling three hundred thousand iTunes downloads in one year after its exposure on the show.[26]

After the death of series creator Stephen Hillenburg on November 26, 2018, a Change.org petition was created which requested that the NFL pay tribute to him by playing "Sweet Victory" during the halftime show for Super Bowl LIII. By January 11, 2019, the petition received over 1.1 million signatures.[27] On December 12, 2018, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the host stadium for Super Bowl LIII, posted a scene from the episode on their official Twitter account, hinting at a possible success from the petition's efforts.[28] On January 13, the headlining act, Maroon 5, also released a teaser video featuring a second of SpongeBob, which furthered speculation.[29]

During the halftime show on February 3, a short clip of Squidward and a snippet of the Bubble Bowl performance scene were used to announce guest singer Travis Scott, who Squidward described as "a true musical genius who needs no introduction."[30] Many social media users were critical of the failure to include the "Sweet Victory" song and found the brief animated segment to be an inadequate tribute to Hillenburg.[31][32] CBS News reported that the response by SpongeBob fans was mixed and noted the positive response from the animated show's official Twitter account.[29] Despite the show's mixed reception, "Sweet Victory," after the Super Bowl aired, increased 566% when it came to the on-demand streams it garnered, going up from 46,000 streams on February 1–2 to 310,000 on February 3–4.[33] This led the track to enter Billboard's United States Hot Rock Songs chart at number 23[34] and the Kid Digital Song Sales chart at number two, just under Pinkfong's "Baby Shark."[35]

The day after the game, the Dallas Stars' Twitter page uploaded a modified version of the full "Sweet Victory" sequence, in which the band's uniforms were altered from red to green to match the Stars' colors, with the title "The #SuperBowl halftime show fans deserve". The Stars' video had previously been shown during their February 1 game against the Minnesota Wild.[36][37]

Footnotes
  1. Hillenburg said that he was a "band geek" in high school who played the trumpet.[4]
gollark: fix it.
gollark: oh bees oh apio
gollark: Lisps and haskells are *elegant*, at least.
gollark: JavaScript is so JavaScript.
gollark: Yes. But obviously *I* can be trusted.

References
  1. 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. Heintjes, Tom (September 21, 2012). "The Oral History of SpongeBob SquarePants". Hogan's Alley. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  4. Wilson, Tom (interviewer); Hillenburg, Stephen (interviewee) (May 29, 2012). Big Pop Fun #28: Stephen Hillenburg, Artist and Animator–Interview (mp3) (Podcast). Nerdist Industries. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  5. USFL 1985 Memphis Showboats at Birmingham Stallions on YouTube
  6. "SpongeBob SquarePants". Screener/Zap2it. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  7. SpongeBob SquarePants: Halloween. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2002.
  8. Long, Mike (September 5, 2002). "SpongeBob Squarepants - Halloween". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  9. SpongeBob SquarePants: Home Sweet Pineapple. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2005.
  10. Rizzo, Francis III (January 5, 2005). "SpongeBob SquarePants - Home Sweet Pineapple". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  11. Bovberg, Jason (October 11, 2004). "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Second Season". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  12. SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2009.
  13. Lacey, Gord (September 29, 2009). "SpongeBob SquarePants - The First 100 Episodes (Seasons 1-5) Review". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  14. "Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA". Motion Picture Sound Editors. March 23, 2002. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  15. 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.
  16. Cavna, Michael (July 14, 2009). "The Top Five 'SpongeBob' Episodes: We Pick 'Em". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  17. Elan, Priya (July 24, 2009). "Happy 10th birthday, SpongeBob SquarePants". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  18. Basile, Nancy. "Best 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Episodes". About.com. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  19. Estep, Emily (December 5, 2011). "Top 10 Episodes Of Spongebob Squarepants". Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  20. Guthrie, Marisa (November 9, 2006). "WORLDWIDE, SPONGEBOB MOPPING UP". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  21. "NICKELODEON CELEBRATES THE KING OF KRABBY PATTIES IN SPONGEBOB'S TOP 100". Viacom International Media Networks. April 10, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  22. "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.
  23. "With SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) (Sorted by IMDb Rating Descending)". IMDb. Amazon. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  24. "SpongeBob SquarePants To Release 'The Yellow Album'". Starpulse. October 31, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  25. "David Glen Eisley - Sweet Victory (The Yellow Album) video". NME. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  26. "Interview with Bob Kulick". Shut Up & Rock On. April 7, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  27. "People Want This Spongebob Song to Be at the Super Bowl". Time. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  28. "Mercedes Benz Stadium hints at 'Sweet Victory' for Spongebob fans during Super Bowl 53". FOX6Now.com. December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  29. Garrand, Danielle (February 4, 2019). "SpongeBob SquarePants fans have mixed reactions to tribute during Super Bowl halftime show". CBS News.
  30. Alexander, Julia (February 3, 2019). "Spongebob Squarepants' 'Sweet Victory' finally gets a Super Bowl tribute". The Verge. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  31. Shannon, Joel; Hafner, Josh (February 3, 2019). "Twitter wanted more SpongeBob, less of Adam Levine's nipples at Super Bowl halftime show". USA Today.
  32. Loughrey, Clarisse; "SpongeBob Squarepants fans furious at brief cameo during Super Bowl halftime show", The Independent, February 4, 2019
  33. Caulfield, Keith (February 6, 2019). "SpongeBob SquarePants' 'Sweet Victory' Jumps 566% in Streams After Super Bowl Halftime Cameo". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  34. "David Eisley Chart History (Hot Rock Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  35. "Kid Digital Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  36. Hayden, Joey (February 5, 2019). "Watch: Dallas Stars give fans the SpongeBob 'Sweet Victory' Super Bowl halftime show everyone wanted". SportsDaily.
  37. Fox, George J. (February 5, 2019). "Sweet Victory: The Dallas Stars Played The Full SpongeBob Song Like We All Deserved". 97.1 The Ticket.

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