The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom.

Hillenburg halted production on the show to work on the 2004 film adaptation of the series, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

After production on the film, Hillenburg resigned from the show as its showrunner, and appointed staff writer, Paul Tibbitt, to overtake the position.

During its run, SpongeBob SquarePants became (and remains) the highest rated children's show on cable, with over 50 million viewers a month.

Celebrities—including Justin Timberlake, Kelly Osbourne, Britney Spears, Bruce Willis, Noel Gallagher, Dr. Dre, and Mike Myers—have been reported to be fans of the show.

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 production of the third season.

"[9][10] Hillenburg resigned as the series' showrunner,[11] and appointed Paul Tibbitt, who previously served as the show's supervising producer, writer, director, and storyboard artist, to overtake the role.

[12][14] Hillenburg no longer wrote or directly ran the show on a day-to-day basis, but reviewed each episode and delivered suggestions.

"[11][15] Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, and the rest of the crew confirmed they had completed four new episodes for broadcast on Nickelodeon in early 2005, and planned to finish about 20 total for the then-fourth season.

[13][18] Animation directors credited with episodes in the third season included Sean Dempsey, Andrew Overtoom, Frank Weiss, and Tom Yasumi.

Greenblatt, Sam Henderson, Kaz, Jay Lender, Joe Liss (The Great Snail Race only), Mark O'Hare, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, and Merriwether Williams.

[a] The season was storyboarded by Zeus Cervas, Dohrn, Greenblatt, Henderson, Kaz, Chuck Klein, Carson Kugler, Lender, Heather Martinez, Caleb Meurer, O'Hare, Osborne, Dan Povenmire, William Reiss, Mike Roth, Springer, Tibbitt, and Wiese.

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

Puff, SpongeBob's boating school teacher;[25] and Lori Alan as Pearl, a teenage whale who is Mr. Krabs' daughter.

[26][27] In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from many ranges of professions, including actors and musicians.

[41] At the 2003 Golden Reel Awards, the show won Best Sound Editing in Television Animation and Best Sound Editing in Television Animation — Music categories for the episodes "Nasty Patty"/"Idiot Box" and "Wet Painters"/"Krusty Krab Training Video", respectively.

"[44] Pope said that the season "remains the high point for the series" as it had produced "classic" episodes such as "No Weenies Allowed", "SpongeBob Meets the Strangler", and "Krusty Krab Training Video".

"[44] Furthermore, various celebrities—including Justin Timberlake, Kelly Osbourne, Britney Spears, Bruce Willis, Noel Gallagher, rapper Dr. Dre, and Mike Myers—were reported to be fans of the show.

[1] Its manifesto said it wanted to push "simple things like having fun and using your imagination", and even offered study courses on the show.

[46] Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom purposefully targeted marketing at women in the country as a method of the SpongeBob SquarePants brand.

[34] It was reported that SpongeBob-themed goods were the best-selling character merchandise at Hot Topic store at Park City Center.

[35] T-shirts, pillows, shoelaces, pins, sunglasses, and air fresheners were sold "extremely well if they have SpongeBob's likeness on them," said Erin Aguirre, lead sales associate of Hot Topic.

[47] The Wall Street Journal also raised questions about SpongeBob and Patrick in a recent article that pointed up the show's popularity in the gay community.

"The Algae's Always Greener": Plankton is still yearning for the Krabby Patty secret formula, so as a wish of him disliking his normal and dull life, he changes lives with Krabs.

Spongebob and Patrick try to use a novelty toy, the "Magic Conch Shell" (voiced by Sirena Irwin), to find their way home.

SpongeBob lets his supposed fame go to his head when an elderly man recognizes him (mistaking him as a cereal box from another commercial).

"No Weenies Allowed": SpongeBob and Sandy come across the Salty Spitoon, the toughest club in the city, after a karate duel at the beach.

"Krab Borg": SpongeBob stays up late one night to watch a horror film, where robots take over the world.

After getting insulted by Squidward, SpongeBob becomes competitive and enters his own pet snail, Gary, coaching him to the point of exhaustion.

The crustacean promises grand and exciting spectacles, along with a planned visit from the non-existent Krabby the Clown, but Mr. Krabs' greediness and lack of effort stops anything of the sort from occurring.