You know, the first time I heard of “SpongeBob SquarePants” was about four years ago, and I was immediately turned off. My son was the one that told me about it, and having seen his other favorite show, “Ed, Ed & Eddie”, I cringed at the thought of watching the misadventures of a little square sponge. But then something odd happened. I sat down one night (no that’s not the odd part, I sit down a lot of nights) and just happened to turn on the TV right when an episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” was starting. My son plopped down on the couch with me, and together we watched. I ended up laughing my darn fool head off. Luckily this was also a night where the station was running a block of “SpongeBob SquarePants”, so I got to watch several episodes. I was completely ‘hooked.’ I was totally into the style of animation, which seemed to be a combination of Tex Avery and John Kricfalusi, but even more impressive was the style and strength of the humor.

Created by Stephen Hillenburg, the jokes in the Spongebob cartoons come fast and fresh. There are an enormous amount of cultural references, many of which are undoubtedly lost on its younger audience, but help to make the show more than enjoyable for parents willing to take the time to sit with their kids.

Paramount started releasing DVDs of some of the episodes a couple of years ago, and I enjoyed watching some of the ones I had missed. But then they followed these up with full season sets, which is my preferred method of collecting. I watched that first full season set with only a slight hesitation. As I was so hooked on the show, I was worried that I would be glued to the set for a one-time sitting through all 3 discs. But I was smart. I paced myself and spread them out over a few days.

That set featured all 40 episodes from the first season and introduced us to Spongebob and all the denizens who lived in the township of Bikini Bottom. Among them were his best friends, the lovable - but dim - sea star named Patrick; the ill-tempered perfectionist Squidward; an athletic squirrel named Sandy who lives in an undersea treedome and a penny-pinching old crustacean named Mr. Krabs, owner of The Krusty Krab.

For what I originally thought was just some little cartoon, I surprised to find out the identities of some of the voice talent behind the characters. Patrick the sea star is voiced by none other than Bill Fagerbakke. He is best known for his role on the hit TV series “Coach”, but I remember from his terrific turn as Tom Cullin in “Stephen King’s The Stand.” The funny thing is, his voice is so recognizable that I should have known it was him. Then, the bigger surprise came when I saw that the voice behind Mr. Krabs is the great character actor Clancy Brown. I first saw him as the evil Kurgen in the original “Highlander” movie, and have seen him in numerous roles since. You may not recognize the name, but I guarantee you’d recognize the face. More recently he played the role of the evil Brother Justin Crowe in HBO’s ill-fated “Carnivale.”

The voice behind Squidward is Rodger Bumpass, whose name I don’t expect any of you to recognize, but I caught immediately. I had seen him just once in a live theatrical production that aired on Showtime called “Footlight Frenzy.” I saw the production over 20 years ago, but his turn as the bumbling janitor in a school that was putting on play was so memorable as to have stuck with me all this time. There had even been several early episodes where you can find Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway as Mermaidman and Barnacleboy. (Trust me, they’re funny.)

About a year after the release of the 3rd season, Paramount released a 4th season. Well, actually part of a 4th season. It was being split up into two sets, which Paramount has started doing with some of its shows. I'm still not sure I like this format…. ok… I really don’t like the format. I'd rather have full season sets. They’re easier to manage collection wise and seem like they offer you more for your money. I was hoping they would get away from this with the 5th season… but no such luck. This month they released "Spongebob Squarepants: Season 5, Volume 1."

This first volume contains the 20 cartoons that make up the first 9 episodes. What surprised me was that aside from the half season packaging there are also very little extra features. The early sets offered quite a few, but here all we have is a pop-up trivia feature on the episodes "Friend or Foe" and "The Krusty Sponge" and some short animated bits from "Friend or Foe." Quite disappointing if you ask me.

Still, I really find it hard to completely knock the release since the series is still so darn funny. After all this time that I’ve been a fan, I’m still surprised at how fresh and funny it can be. Even when Paramount released a full-length motion picture into theatres, I was the first to doubt they would be able to pull off the humor in such a large venue. However, as I am often wrong, I was wrong about that. “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” was one of the funnier films of that year, so much so that I’ve seen it numerous times with my son (and a couple of times by myself…).

If you’ve never seen “SpongeBob SquarePants” I recommend giving it a try. I guarantee it will appeal to anyone with a sense of humor and imagination, or that has at least one creative bone in their body.

In the meantime sing with me:

Captain: Are ya ready kids?

Kids: (Aye aye, captain!)

Captain: I can't hear you!

Kids: (AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!)

Captain: Ohhhh......Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Kids: (Spongebob Squarepants!)

Captain: Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!

Kids: (Spongebob Squarepants!)

Captain: If nautical nonsense be something you wish,

Kids: (Spongebob Squarepants!)

Captain: Then drop on the deck, and flop like a fish!

Kids: (Spongebob Squarepants!)

Captain: Ready?

Everyone: (SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS)

Captain: Spongebob.................Squarepants!

Episodes:
Friend or Foe (a 2-part episode)
The Original Fry Cook
Night Light
Rise and Shine
Waiting
Fungus Among Us
Spy Buddies
Boat Smarts
Good Ol' Whatshisname
New Digs
Krabs a la Mode
Roller Cowards
Bucket Sweet Bucket
Breath of Fresh Squidward
To Love a Patty
SpongeBob Vs. the Patty Gadget
Money Talks
Slimy Dancing
The Krusty Sponge
Sing a Song of Patrick

Extras: Bubble Burst Trivia, Friend of Foe Shorts
Specifications: Full Screen, English Stereo
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 9/4/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Spongebob Squarepants: Season 5, Volume 1 a B.