The show underwent a hiatus on television as Hillenburg halted the production in 2002 to work on the film adaptation of the series, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

Once the film was finalized and the previous season had completed broadcast on television, Hillenburg wanted to end the show, but the success of the series led to more episodes.

[1] In 2002, Hillenburg and the show's staff members decided to stop making episodes to work on the 2004 film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, after completing the third season.

"[7][8] Hillenburg resigned as the series' showrunner,[9] and appointed Paul Tibbitt, who previously served as a writer, director, and storyboard artist of the show, to overtake the role.

[10][13] Hillenburg no longer wrote or directly ran the show on a day-to-day basis, but reviewed each episode and delivered suggestions.

"[9][14] In November 2004, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, and the rest of the crew confirmed that they had completed four new episodes for broadcast on Nickelodeon in early 2005,[15][16] and planned to finish about 20 total for the then-fourth season.

[12][21] Animation directors credited with episodes in the fourth season included Larry Leichliter, Andrew Overtoom, Smart, and Tom Yasumi.

[a] Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Casey Alexander, Steven Banks, Mike Bell, Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash, Zeus Cervas, Greenblatt, Tom King, Tim Hill, Kyle McCulloch, Dani Michaeli, Chris Mitchell, Mike Mitchell, Aaron Springer, Tibbitt, Vincent Waller, Tuck Tucker, and Erik Wiese.

[a] The storyboard directors for this season were Alexander, Bell, Brookshier, Cash, Cervas, Greenblatt, King, Chris Mitchell, Springer, Tuck Tucker, Brad Vandergrift, Waller, and Wiese.

[a] The fourth season featured Tom Kenny as the voice of the title character SpongeBob SquarePants and his pet snail Gary.

Puff, SpongeBob's boating school teacher;[28] and Lori Alan as Pearl, a teenage whale who is Mr. Krabs' daughter.

[29][30] In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from a range of professions, including actors, musicians, and artists.

", American comedian and actress Amy Poehler guest starred as the voice of Grandma, a sweet old woman who adopted Gary after he ran away.

Puff, You're Fired", English actor Robin Sachs voiced Sergeant Sam Roderick, a driving instructor who took over Mrs.

[39] The Young Ones stars Christopher Ryan, Nigel Planer and Rik Mayall appeared in the episode "Chimps Ahoy" as Sandy's bosses—Professor Percy, Dr. Marmalade and Lord Reginald, respectively.

Greenblatt, Paul Tibbitt, Mike Bell and Tim Hill won for Best Writing in an Animated Television Production for the episode "Fear of a Krabby Patty".

Eventually, SpongeBob suffers a mental breakdown and develops a fear of Krabby Patties due to the nonstop work.

Plankton pretends to be a psychiatrist, naming himself Dr. Peter Lankton in order to treat SpongeBob's phobia, and in turn get the Krabby Patty secret formula.

Much to Plankton's dismay, SpongeBob stays asleep during a hypnosis session, where he overcomes his phobia in a dream, and goes back to the Krusty Krab fully rehabilitated.

Unbeknownst to them, Mr. Krabs' money was in the mattress that has been thrown to the dump, causing him to fall into a "cash coma" and end up in the hospital.

SpongeBob takes the "Dirty Bubble Challenge" with his new paddleball set and neglects Gary in the process, which causes him to run away and be adopted by a senile old fish who mistakes him for her snail.

"Chimps Ahoy": Sandy's benefactors from the surface threaten to pull her from the treedome if she cannot come up with an invention, and SpongeBob and Patrick decide to help her.

"Whale of a Birthday": Pearl is turning sixteen years old, and warns Mr. Krabs not to give her a cheap party and gifts, like in the past.

Mr. Krabs sends SpongeBob out with a credit card to buy presents for Pearl, and she turns out to love her party and gifts in the end.

"New Leaf": Plankton says he is giving up on his many attempts to steal the Krabby Patty formula, and has decided to turn the Chum Bucket into a gift shop.

When Patrick is hired as his temporary replacement, SpongeBob goes crazy and tries to get back to his favorite place, only to be kicked out by Mr. Krabs every time.

The first ten episodes of the fourth season were released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment in the United States and Canada on September 12, 2006.