Chocolate with Nuts

"Chocolate with Nuts" is the first half of the twelfth episode of the third season and the 51st overall episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It was written by the storyboard directors, Paul Tibbitt and Kaz, alongside Kent Osborne and Merriwether Williams with Andrew Overtoom as animation director and Carson Kugler as the storyboard artist. It was produced in 2002 and aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on June 1, 2002. In this episode, SpongeBob and Patrick become entrepreneurs in an attempt to live the fancy life.

"Chocolate with Nuts"
SpongeBob SquarePants episode
Title card
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 12a
Directed by
Written by
Narrated byTom Kenny
Original air dateJune 1, 2002 (2002-06-01)

Plot

SpongeBob accidentally receives Squidward's Fancy Living Digest magazine in the mail, inspiring him and Patrick Star to become entrepreneurs. Per Patrick's suggestion, the pair become door-to-door chocolate bar salesmen, which results in them purchasing large quantities of chocolate bars from the Barg 'n' Mart. Their first customer is a crazy fish who maniacally and repeatedly screams "CHOCOLATE!", which scares the pair away. Afterwards, SpongeBob and Patrick attempt to sell chocolate to another fish, who cons them into buying chocolate-carrying bags twice in a row. They then try to sell to a woman who wants to buy a chocolate bar, but when SpongeBob is not able to find one because of all of the carrying bags, the customer loses her patience. When SpongeBob finally finds a chocolate bar, he and Patrick are chased away again by the chocolate fanatic.

After their disastrous results in their previous attempts, the two take a break at a diner, and decide to "try being nice". However, this is unsuccessful, ending in Patrick buying pictures of a customer as an overweight child, as is their attempt to "focus" (resulting in Patrick staring at a customer until the customer slams the door on Patrick's eyes). Then, they decide that the only way to sell chocolate is to "stretch the truth", which is successful when they convince a very old woman (to the dismay of her elderly daughter Mary) that it "makes you live forever". The lying continues, but after they attempt to help a seriously injured man (who turns out to be the same man who sold SpongeBob and Patrick the carrying bags in disguise) by buying his chocolate, their profit is lost. However, the chocolate fanatic catches up to them, and, in a turn of events, buys all of the chocolate that SpongeBob and Patrick have. They then use the money to rent out a fancy restaurant, allowing access only to themselves and their dates: Mary and her mother.

Production

"Chocolate with Nuts" was written by Paul Tibbitt, Kaz, Kent Osborne and Merriwether Williams, with Andrew Overtoom serving as animation director. Tibbitt and Kaz also functioned as storyboard directors, and Carson Kugler, William Reiss and Mike Roth worked as storyboard artists.[1] The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on June 1, 2002, with a TV-Y parental rating.[2]

"Chocolate with Nuts" was the last episode Kaz and Paul Tibbitt had written together since "Nasty Patty".

"Chocolate with Nuts" was released on the DVD compilation called SpongeBob SquarePants: Christmas on September 30, 2003.[3][4][5] The episode was also included in the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 3rd Season DVD on September 27, 2005.[6][7][8] On September 22, 2009, "Chocolate with Nuts" was released on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes DVD, alongside all the episodes of seasons one through five.[9][10]

Reception

"Chocolate with Nuts" has received acclaim from both critics and fans alike and is often cited as one of the show's best episodes. Emily Estep of "WeGotThisCovered.com" rated the episode as the 10th best SpongeBob SquarePants episode, saying "The reason 'Chocolate with Nuts' is such a good episode is that it subtly and somewhat darkly hints at the concept of just how crazy the people who live around you are. SpongeBob and Patrick are mostly swindled into buying things from other people – actually, a single con man who keeps appearing – and nothing is more terrifying/hilarious than the man who simply starts screaming 'chocolate' repeatedly until SpongeBob and Patrick run away. 'Chocolate with Nuts' adds the complete absurdity of the program – like the old lady and her even older mother who remembers when 'they first invented chocolate. Sweet, sweet chocolate. I always hated it!' – and the aspects of SpongeBob's undersea life that mirror our own lives on land – like stranger danger."[11]

Nancy Basile of About.com ranked the episode No. 5 on her "Best SpongeBob SquarePants Episodes" list. She said "I can relate to the customer who spends this entire episode running around Bikini Bottom, screaming for chocolate. 'Chocolate with Nuts' is about Patrick and SpongeBob trying to get rich by selling chocolate bars door to door ... There are witty punchlines and silly sight gags throughout the episode." Her favorite scene was when "Patrick focuses a little too hard on their unsuspecting customer."[12]

SpongeBob's voice actor Tom Kenny considers this one of his favorite episodes. It was included in the iTunes collection "SpongeBob SquarePants: Tom Kenny's Top 20", where he called it "a very sick episode. You can spend hours theorizing about what these eleven minutes says [sic] about truth, lies, Big Business, entrepreneurship, and consumerism."[13]

gollark: In my time as unofficial and unwilling tech support person, I found that often the real problem with the computer setup was the user.
gollark: It's ridiculous, totally violating the constitution.
gollark: I asked the government for my bear arms, and they said "no", and when I got them *myself* they just went "those are an endangered species, why are you cutting off their arms, please stop that".
gollark: And should need a safe nuclear submarine to store it in.
gollark: Yes, recreational nuke owners should have to pass a nuclear weapons safety and operation test.

References
  1. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 3rd Season ("Chocolate with Nuts" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. September 27, 2005.
  2. "SpongeBob SquarePants: Chocolate With Nuts; Superfriends". TV Listings. Zap2it. Archived from the original on April 3, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  3. SpongeBob SquarePants: Christmas. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2003.
  4. Bovberg, Jason (October 6, 2003). "SpongeBob Squarepants: Christmas". DVD Talk. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  5. "SpongeBob SquarePants - Christmas". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  6. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 3rd Season. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2005.
  7. "SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 3". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  8. Pope, Bryan. "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Third Season". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  9. SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2009.
  10. 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.
  11. Estep, Emily (December 5, 2011). "Top 10 Episodes Of Spongebob Squarepants". WeGotThisCovered.com. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  12. Basile, Nancy. "Best 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Episodes". About.com. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  13. Kenny, Tom (2009). "SpongeBob SquarePants: Tom Kenny's Top 20". iTunes. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
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