User blog:Ponyo Fan/Ponyo's Honest Reviews: Basket Sponge

This is a new, frank critical analysis blog for various spinoffs on the wiki. I take no bias to any particular spinoff, even if written by a friend and give my own opinions on written episodes in a work.

Final score meanings
0-3 - No comment

4-5 - Skip it

6-7 - Try it

8-10 - Read it

An average will be made out of all the scores for episodes.

Season 1
A Legend Begins - 5/10. While decently-written, plot events important to the entire series just occur way too fast, in one sentence or less without any real explanation as to what's going on.

Practice Makes Perfect - 5/10. The spinoff at least is still making coherent sense at this point, but there's also the gratuitous 'couch' gags introduced in this episode that really, really aren't funny. Maybe the first time, but definitely not as they're repeated throughout the episodes.

The Shoes of Jordan - 5/10. The show's still not doing anything that makes it's particularly bad or good. It's just...eh.

Prisoners of The Match - 4/10. This episode is marked down due to the sequence of unfunny 'basketball' sexual jokes leading up to a pop culture reference. This is beginning to feel too much like Family Guy. I know some people like Family Guy, but I am not one of them.

The Beginning of a New Era - 6/10. This is probably the most 'okay' episode so far. Except for the 'Uranus/my anus' gag. Groan.

The New Member - 5.5/10. This isn't a bad episode, and I like Mr. Krabs' tension with wanting to be good enough for his daughter and the introduction of Sandy. Some forced gags unfortunately weigh it down a bit.

Betrayal - 4.5/10. Another 'meh' episode, with more Family Guy humor.

Leaked Footage Reel - 5/10. There's nothing I can really say about this other then 'okay'. Nothing in particular made me laugh or groan.

Blue Balls - 3/10. A recycled article turned into a Basket Sponge episode was almost doomed for disaster. This really isn't funny.

Part of the Team - 4/10. Please no more butt humor. Please.

When Commitments Commit - 5/10. The Bugs Bunny gags in my opinion save this from being a below-average episode. They don't feel crude or tasteless like other humor in the series.

Reborn Nights - 4/10. This episode doesn't feel like it's doing much for the plot at all.

Cheerleaders - 4/10. In this episode, the viewer continues to have the idea forced in their head that they're supposed to have a bit of sympathy on Patrick, though he is really unlikable from everything he does in this spinoff.

The Parting Of The Ways - 4.5/10. "I had LOTS of balls in my mouth!" Are you kidding me?

Approaching Storm - 3/10. Really, nothing in this episode happens that the show couldn't live without. The character of Ash only serves to further confuse the plot in a show that already gets more and more confusing the more characters added.

Fundraiser Scrimmage - 5/10. Compared to the last episode, this is...well, okay.

Substitute Coach - 5/10. Another 'okay' episode, with gags that briefly crack a smile but nothing more.

Teamwork - 4/10. Why were the dead crossover characters necessary? Why?

Failure is Not An Option - 4/10. Every time Basket Sponge makes a forced 'balls' gag, a baby worm gets squashed in a revolving door.

Climatic Conditioning - 6/10. I actually quite enjoy this one over the streak of meh-to-oh-god-why episodes we've had since Betrayal. We get an actual apology out of someone in Basket Sponge for being a bad person.

Tournament Terror - 4.5/10. Well, I just...expect more out of a season finale. This was just sort of a 'that happened' episode.

Season 2
Army Of Ghosts - 3/10. I really don't like this Venice-and-Ash episode, as both of them are quite unlikable to me. If the rest of the season is like this I will be very disappointed.

It's Saturday Night and We in the Spot - 4/10. "Is it me or is this episode going NOWHERE FAST?" Can't say I disagree with Plankton here.

Skills and Thrills - 4/10. I really hope this isn't Basket Sponge's new 'okay' standard for an episode. I am not having a good time.

The Bulldogs Training Video - 1/10. The only episode where someone has stood back and went "oh my god what are we doing". Thank you, Doctor Bugs, for your comment. Nothing in this episode happens that shows Basket Sponge even cares about keeping a coherent plot anymore.

Why, Social Media? - 4/10. Hey, remember when people played basketball in this show, or am I just crazy?

The Team That Never Sleeps - 3/10. The pop culture references are getting more forced and unfunny as we go along. This isn't how it's supposed to work. Writers are supposed to improve from their beginnings.

New Jerseys - 3/10. To be frank, the basketball in this show is becoming an excuse to write strings of unfunny gags that just. 'Never. End.

Team Plankton - 4/10. I don't feel like anything's particularly bad about this episode except for the pop culture references. Guys, I get it. It's funny to be like "haha do you guys know what this is?", a couple times it's excusable, I do it in Ttyl. too (though not as obviously). But this is just feeling gratuitous and holding the plot back.

Two Squids and a Squirrel - 3.5/10. Squidward and Sandy's relationship was one of the unique features of this show that I liked, so it's a shame to see it made into such a poor episode.

Underwater Goodbye - 3/10. Basket Sponge gets a little intense. Too bad the gags are still here.

Suicide King - 3/10. The original draft of this episode contained a homophobic slur forced in there early on to be 'edgy', and the rest of the episode just continues to go in a bad direction.

The Power of Love - 1/10. I can not think of a single reason for this to be here.

Rubix Cubes - 3/10. "This gets old. Fast." You know it's gone really, really bad when your characters recognize what a redundant spinoff they're in.

A Glimpse of the Future - 3/10. At this point I am out of criticisms. Basket Sponge continues to repeat the same things, over and over, because that's all it knows how to do.

Cinco De Mayo - 1/10. Why. Why is this here. What does any of this have to do with basketball? Where is the plot going? This could be an episode in Azumanga Sponge or SpongeBob's Greatest Adventures with very minor modifications.

Gluteus Maximus - 3/10. So Pearl is collecting nipples now. Every single character in Basket Sponge has lost any redeemable qualities.

Fancy Footwork - 3/10. I just want a sign. Someone give me a sign that this show will turn around.

An Ultimate Return - 2/10. I don't feel like this is what Basket Sponge is meant to be. Like, at all.

Overall consensus
'''Season 1: 4.5/10. 'Skip it'. In the show's defense, there is some decent-to-okay writing throughout this season. But it's episodes like Blue Balls which unfortunately foreshadow a downfall of the show we see in season 2.'''

'''Season 2: 2.9/10. 'No comment'. I really didn't want to give this score, because I was really hoping the second season would have at least one charming episode like the first season's Climatic Conditioning. But it just didn't happen, and the focus shifts more and more away from basketball as the show continues.'''

Disclaimer
'''This is a constructive criticism of the show. It is not intended as a personal attack on the writers of Basket Sponge. I repeat, it is not intended as a personal attack on the writers on Basket Sponge. You guys aren't bad people.'''

'Another warning, you can argue if Basket Sponge is a good show or not in the comments, but I beg of you, please'' do not insult anyone for their taste in spinoffs. That is sad and pathetic. I really don't want to have to stop giving constructive criticism simply because you guys aren't mature enough to handle it without flinging insults.'''

Another thing
The original theme song for Basket Sponge was the opening theme to the Western action anime Trigun. While I like Trigun, I don't think the song's a good fit for the show. However, I have another suggestion...