Top 20 Greatest SpongeBob Squarepants Running Gags

If you had to guess which Spongebob character said that someone looked “madder than a rattlesnake in a room full of rocking chairs”, we bet you point to a certain squirrel. Sandy brings her quirky and often long winded turns of phrases to a variety of situations. While they’re always funny to listen to, the gag gets more hilarious when people call her out. Sandy’s Texan sayings are some of the most memorable lines on this very quotable show. But before you try to repeat them to her, we just want to remind you that she’s not a fan of people making fun of her state.

While this recurring physical joke reached its peak way back in season 1, it definitely deserves time in the spotlight. The setup was always the same. When Patrick wanted to greet his neighbors from the comfort of his home, he’d stick to the bottom of his rock. But he’d always forget how to cling and faceplant into the ground. This simple bit of physical comedy never failed to put a smile on our faces. As the show went on, this particular Patrick-ism was swapped out in favor of more sophisticated boulder bits. However, we’ll never forget the first few times we saw this star fall.

This tiny evil genius can’t help but brag about his big brain at every chance he gets. Plankton particularly likes to remind everyone that he’s reached a certain educational milestone. Since this joke is aimed at older audiences, it only has gotten better over time. The reason we love Plankton’s college callouts so much is that they often come at unexpected times. It doesn’t matter if he’s furious, frustrated or feeling sad. If there is a way to work college into the conversation, Plankton will find it. He honestly deserves an honorary degree in running gags for constantly cracking us up with this bit.

Throughout the run of the series, the protagonist has proven that he can do a bunch of unique things with his spongey physiology. However, the trait that has been most often used for comedy is Spongebob’s ability to detach and regrow parts of his body at will. He has no problem literally lending a friend a hand if they need it. And whenever Spongebob gets grievously injured, he shakes off the blow and keeps going. The writers have gotten really creative with how many limbs he can generate in one shot. Since this gag has so many possibilities and variations, the punchline is always slightly different. We can never predict how Spongebob will use that unique body of his to make us laugh.

Whenever Spongebob or his friends decide to visit the surface world, there’s a chance that they’ll look a lot different than we’re used to. Their cartoony bodies and animated expressions have been swapped out in favor of more realistic versions of the characters. At the same time, the show keeps the voice acting intact as the sea creatures explore the land. Admittedly, the franchise has sidestepped this gag whenever they prefer to see the animated characters. That exception to the rule has led to memorable occasions where animated and realistic characters share the screen. It’s been fun watching Bikini Bottom residents take full advantage of real world visuals whenever they can.

It only took a single episode for this gag to become legendary among fans. While Patrick and Spongebob are out selling candy, they meet someone who is very vocal about chocolate. This hyperactive fish follows them around for the rest of the episode while screaming just one word. Although he initially terrifies the duo, his hilariously over-the-top vocals leave us in stitches each time he suddenly reappears. This brilliant running gag ends with the fantastic reveal that he was just such a big fan that he couldn’t contain his manic energy. As much as we love this character for making us laugh, we are seriously worried about his future dental bills.

If this Bikini Bottom resident wasn’t so villainous, we might actually feel bad that he’s constantly subjected to this recurring joke. Since Plankton is already so close to the ground, his enemies often deal with him by stepping on his small body. This gag definitely works well when his larger opponent is mad at him. However, the best Plankton squashes occur when his bigger foe does it by accident. There are several occasions in the series where one of his speeches or plans is cut short simply because someone decided to take a step. At this point, we’re not sure why Plankton is much of a problem at all. The characters all know the funniest and most surefire way to stomp out his evil plots.

Since Spongebob’s world often looks cute and clean, it always catches us off guard when we’re suddenly subjected to gross artwork. This joke usually tasks the artists to zoom in uncomfortably close to a character or object so we can take in all the gross details. There’s also plenty of occasions where the ugly artwork will also appear in wider shots. Admittedly, there were times where the show pushed the gag so far that fans legitimately wanted to turn away. The mixed reaction to the splinter episode served as a notable example of how divisive the joke can be. Fortunately, for every instance where fans are grossed out, there are three more times where the odd artwork greatly enhanced a scene.

Longtime fans know that Krusty Krab’s cashier wants nothing more than to make a living as a famous artist. Unfortunately, numerous creatures under the sea disagree with him. Multiple Squidward performances have ended with audience members rebelling or walking out. It doesn’t matter whether he’s singing, dancing or painting. The other fish in the sea just tend to reject whatever he tries. And don’t even get us started on how much Bikini Bottom loathes his infamous clarinet. Admittedly, Squidward actually does have a few fans and moments of artistic brilliance. However, it’s much more common and a whole lot funnier whenever characters absolutely bash his art.

Did you know that the owner of the Krusty Krab really likes money? If you answered no, then we’re not sure that you’ve ever seen an episode of the show. It feels like we’re reminded once an episode that Mr. Krabs is absolutely obsessed with cold and probably wet cash. His greed constantly pushes him to take extreme measures to preserve every single penny that he earns. Additionally, Mr. Krabs loves money so much that he was even willing to marry a talking pile of cash that was secretly Plankton in disguise. The show constantly finds new ways to capitalize on the businessman’s greedy character trait in each and every installment. By sticking with this gag, the audience gets constantly rewarded with comedy gold.

This snail’s got such a way with words. Snails have been classified as the felines of the sea; so naturally, Gary’s dialogue mostly consists of one word – “meow”. While initially making small kitten noises during the show’s early seasons, as time progressed and he became a much more prominent character, Gary soon began meowing in near full sentences. What makes this even funnier is that, aside from SpongeBob, nobody fully knows what Gary’s actually saying. He could be offering words of wisdom, or giving SpongeBob an attitude; we may never know …and we’re not sure we’re ready to find out.

Of all the citizens of Bikini Bottom, very few have been name-dropped as much as Old Man Jenkins. What makes this mysterious elderly fish so interesting is that he’s been seen in many different shapes and sizes. One day he could be a wide guy with a noisy jalopy, the next day he could be a bluefish eaten by a seahorse, or even an angry farmer who’s bitter towards city folk and their flying machines. In recent years, this particular gag has slowed down since the creators finally settled on Old Man Jenkins’ design – a skinny green fish with overalls whose lights aren’t always on upstairs.

They don’t call her Mrs. PUFF for nothing. Whenever involved in an emotionally stressful situation, she rapidly inflates like an oversized balloon. On the one hand, it’s sad to see how stressful Mrs. Puff’s life has become thanks to SpongeBob – it’s gotten to the point where she actually has a criminal record. However, it’s hard not to chuckle at how she’s her own personal airbag – made even more fitting by the fact that she’s a pufferfish. But Mrs. Puff better be careful not to get too worked up or she just might pop. Literally.

Did we mention that this show is an explosive success? Turns out that that’s also a literal statement since explosions are a common occurrence in Bikini Bottom. Sometimes they’ll happen when someone comes crashing down, or when they’ve eaten too many Krabby Patties; and then there are times all it takes is a light tap and the whole place goes up in smoke. Of course, the best kinds of explosions are the ones that happen for no actual reason – which in turn increases the cartoony, zany charm that we love about this absorbent show… so long as we don’t get caught in the crossfire.

Need a hilarious method of emphasizing how much time has passed in an episode? The series excels at this with its own colorful, handy dandy time cards – conveniently read aloud by the series’ French Narrator. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed –a few hours, a couple of days, or even nearly 2000 years – it could even take so long that they need a new narrator. What makes this gag even funnier is when the cards display an absurd or silly saying that really shows off how painfully long something can take. Here’s to hoping that they don’t run out of these cards, as there is no shortage of hilarity as time passes.

For years, Plankton has tried –and failed- to steal the Secret Formula to Mr. Krabs’ world-famous Krabby Patties. There is no level that Plankton won’t stoop to (pun intended) to achieve his goal. His schemes range from ingenious and conniving to harebrained and full of holes. Despite him putting his best foot forward, it always ends in failure either because of his own arrogance or because he’s been outsmarted by Mr. Krabs– and it usually ends with him being launched all the way back to the Chum Bucket. It’s really for the best that Plankton never finds out the Secret Formula, or it’ll spell certain doom not only for the Krusty Krab, but for all of Bikini Bottom.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were once the greatest superheroes under the sea. However, decades of crime-fighting have taken its toll on the duo, especially the former. In any given situation, he will panickedly scream the word “EVIL”. Sometimes he’ll even shout it if he hears someone say it. The way his voice cracks whenever he screams the line is just too priceless, and late voice actor Ernest Borgnine owned it in a way that his character’s stand-in actors could only dream of. We wouldn’t exactly classify laughing at a senile old man as appropriate, but the way the show sells it with both his voice and overall reaction is comedy gold.

How did Squidward ever get surrounded by such crazy neighbors? Nearly every day, this grumpy cephalopod finds himself reluctantly dealing with SpongeBob and Patrick’s shenanigans. They could be disturbing his peace and quiet with their playtime, show up at his house uninvited, or even worse, they could end up destroying his personal property, with Squidward getting hurt in the process. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to get rid of them or keep them quiet – and any attempt to do so always makes things worse. To their credit, our favorite knuckleheads don’t usually try to ruin Squidward’s day on purpose, but it’s hard to ignore them when they have a tendency to cause so much chaos.

SpongeBob has taken his driving test more times than anyone in history, and it always ends in failure. No matter how confident and optimistic he may be, he’s a reckless disaster behind the wheel – much to the agony of poor Mrs. Puff. Even if there’s a slight chance of him finally earning his coveted license, it’s yanked away by the end of the episode; he can’t even get his license in his dreams. It could be easier to just GIVE SpongeBob a license just to end the cycle, but that would only spell a greater doom for Bikini Bottom. Plus, we’d lose the chaotic yet hilarious dynamic between SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff, so perhaps it’s for the best that SpongeBob’s quest is a fruitless endeavor.

Taking our number one spot is the Wilhelm scream of Nickelodeon. Whenever there’s pandemonium or destructive chaos in Bikini Bottom, you’re almost always guaranteed to hear the painful cry of “my leg!” in the mix of it all. One recycled sound bite used throughout the first few seasons blossomed into one of the funniest catchphrases of the series – brought to life by series writer and voice actor, Doug Lawrence. There have been several variations of the line, but the hilarious, agonizing context is what makes this gag so iconic – seriously, you know a throwaway line is popular enough when they make an entire episode as an homage to the joke.